An Edible Oath

The apostle tells us that every time we come to this Table we do so in order to make a proclamation. Every time we eat and drink here, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Now this proclamation is something that occurs among the Lord’s people, for we are the ones invited to this Table, but the proclamation is meant to be heard by all that has breath. Every living thing is invited to worship the Lord.

We don’t need to know how God arranges for nonbelievers to hear this proclamation, or how they come to learn of it, but fortunately, we don’t have to. All we have to do is eat and drink with sincere love for God and for our brothers and sisters. God takes care of the rest. He is the one who called it a proclamation, and who called all of us His messengers.

One reason the proclamation is heard is because when we do this we are taking a blood oath—and this is a blood oath that obligates us to break down all the altars of all the gods in the land. The caretakers of these altars are not oblivious to our presence; they are not ignoring what we are doing.

We are renewing covenant with the God who calls us into His salvation, and we do not do this because the covenant was going to expire, like a lease. We don’t renew anything that way. We renew our covenant obligations the way food renews the body, the way sexual union renews marriages, and the way laughter and fellowship around meals renew family ties.

This meal is the way God has arranged for us to declare our allegiance. He invites us to His Table, and He also tells us that to try to eat from two tables is incoherent. Look at the bread. That is your only food. Look at the wine. That is your only drink.

So we declare our allegiance by renewing it. We renew our allegiance by declaring it. So here it is—an edible oath. So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.