Why do we sit as we partake of the Lord’s Table? What is the point of that? Might it not seem disrespectful, as though we were taking this too casually? Wouldn’t it be more respectful to kneel, or come to the front of the church and kneel? No, we don’t believe so.
There is an appropriate time to kneel in the worship of God, but this portion of the service is not that time. We are seated in this portion of the service because this is the posture of rule. Yes, you heard that right—rule.
We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. If we are crucified with Christ, we are also buried with Him. If we are buried with Him, we are raised with Him. If we are raised with Him, we have ascended with Him, and if that is so, then we are seated with Him at the right hand of God the Father. God has made us kings and priests.
Christ is our Lord, and so of course we do not dictate to Him. But it is equally true that He by His grace has made us His friends and counselors. He seeks our counsel. Esther was seated with her husband at a meal when she gave him her counsel.
As Jim Jordan has pointedly written, this is how we are to stop the killing in Darfur. This is how the abortion carnage can be brought to an end. This is how Europe will be returned to the faith. This is how China will be overrun by the gospel.
You confessed your sins at the beginning of the service, and so now is not the time to be focusing on your own petty lusts or anxieties. If a great president or emperor invited you to dine with him, and asked for your counsel, that would not be the time to bring up your annoyance with a paper cut on your thumb.
Partaking of this sacrament rightly is therefore a geo-political act. And being seated while we partake is the liturgical expression of our faith that this is indeed what we are called to do. We are not insecure kings and priests.