You are communicant members of the body of Christ. That means that one of the great privileges of grace you have been given is that of participating, of communing, at this Table.
When we discipline someone, as we have done this morning, this is the center of what they are being excluded from. The prefix ex means out of, or away from, and so an excommunicant is someone who has been placed out of their privilege of communing with God’s people, here, in this Supper.
The barrier that is created is always our formal acknowledgement of unrepented sin, and not that person’s name, face, or history. This means that as long as life lasts, there is hope. We do desire their return to us, and we pray toward that end.
Can someone who is excommunicated attend church, sing the songs, hear the message, and so on? Certainly—unless their unrepented sin is of such a nature that their presence here would be a disruption. That sometimes happens, but not usually. But may you converse during the course of the week in a friendly manner with someone who has been excommunicated? Certainly, and we hope you do.
What this exclusion from the Table does is place all such activities in their proper context. What you may not do is pretend that all is well, that you are fellowshipping in the Lord together. So this exclusion from this Table contextualizes everything.
But as the Westminster Confession puts it, this action does not sever natural relations—whether husband and wife, or parents and children, or brother and sister. What it does is move the relationship into a different judicial setting. The person concerned is to be treated as an unbeliever, not as a leper.
God does not remove the grace of communion lightly, or for trivial reasons. He knows that all of us are sinners, and when we discipline someone it is not because we have forgotten this. Every service, we recall the fact in the confession of sin at the beginning of the service, and every week we are reassured that God’s grace is waiting for us here—the Table set. This is a glorious grace that we never want to abuse.