We have a tendency to look at the wrong things when preparing ourselves for this meal—and of course, we should prepare ourselves for it.
The Bible contains multiple warnings against trifling with the holy things of God. He warns the unrighteous about defiling this sacramental meal. But from this warning, the righteous have drawn many erroneous conclusions. Those who look to their own righteousness are unrighteous. Those who look to the righteousness of Jesus Christ are righteous in Him, and that is the only righteousness you need to be seated here—the fact that you are looking to another.
There is a place for soul searching in your life, but that place is not here. There is a necessary place for confession of sin, but that place is not here. There is a time to be reminded that you have stumbled in your Christian walk, but that time is not now. You confessed your sin last Thursday—why bring it up again now in unbelief? God said He forgave you—do you not believe Him? You confessed your sins at the beginning of the service, did you not? Then don’t worry at it now.
All such things, however pious they might appear, are designed to keep you from looking to Jesus Christ, crucified for you. All such introspective rummagings about in the heart keep you from seeing Jesus Christ in your neighbor, your spouse, your children, your parents. Discern the Lord’s body, we are told. We are not told to discern all the different ways we fail to discern it. The point of this Supper is not our sinfulness. That is not what we memorialize. The point of this Supper is God’s glad reception of us. We urge Him, in this memorial, to remember our cleansing, remember our forgiveness, remember that we are now His holy saints.
We call upon Him to remember the covenant He has made with us. And as we know He remembers, because we have reminded Him according to His Word, we remember it too.