When we gather at this Table, we are partaking of Christ and we are partaking with Christ. The thing that makes this an efficacious blessing is of course faith, but this faith does not work apart from what it was told to do. We were told to eat and drink, and so believing faith eats …
Simplicity and the Feast
In a number of places, the New Testament describes this meal as a feast, as a festival. In Jude, the saints are told to avoid the immoral men who defile their love feasts (Jude 12; 2 Pet. 2:13). Paul tells the Corinthians to get rid of the yeast of malice and wickedness as they observe …
Life From Bodies as Good as Dead
One of the things that a supper does is that it enables a family to gather around, and to do so as a family. One of the things that a family does in such situations is tell the story of the family. A people are shaped by the narrative that the people tell. Part of …
Simple Reception
The reason why faith is the grace that God uses to justify us is that faith is entirely about receiving. Hope and love are things that we actively do, and even if we grant that God is the one who gives us this hope and love, it would be easy to get confused. It would …
Nothing But Gift
One of the hardest lessons for us to learn is that our salvation is all of grace. We know that it is by grace; we struggle with the idea that it is all of grace. We want to shoehorn something in there that distinguishes one from another. But, though there are distinctions, and sharp ones, …
The Right Way to Take Grace for Granted
When we come to the Lord’s Table week after week it is with the expectation that God will feed us. We come here expectantly, and we are right to do so. We bring our children with us to this meal, and they are right to be expectant also. Food and wine were promised, and food …
Our New Birthright
As you teach your children how to come to this Table, one of the things you should be cultivating is this: we come because we were invited, not because we are entitled. The invitation proceeded from grace, and is extended to us in grace. We don’t deserve any of it. The response we should have, …
Herd Instincts in Church
We want to come to the Table in faith, and not because of superstitious attachment to ritual. At the same time, we don’t want to avoid superstitious ritual by avoiding ritual itself—that would be a superstitious attachment to the arid intellectual customs of the modern age. This stark contrast between faith and superstition can be …
In or Out
Our baptized children are welcome to the Table, together with us. But just as there are pitfalls in excluding them, so also there are pitfalls in bringing them. We must always remember that covenantal blessings are received by faith; they are not dispensed automatically.
Bread and Wine on Their Level
When we bring a baby home from the hospital, even though that baby doesn’t speak English, we begin speaking to the baby in English anyway. In fact, we speak English to the baby at the hospital. We do this, not because we are confused on the point, but rather because we understand that this is …