Failure to Feed

When we come to this Table, we are, most of us, coming to it again. God not only feeds us, but He feeds us continually, regularly. And even if you are coming here for the first time, it is the first time of many.

God’s purpose is to sustain you. He is the Creator of all things, but He is also the sustainer of all things. He feeds the beasts of the field, He feeds all the fish in the sea, He feeds all the sparrows in the parking lot at MacDonald’s, and He provides you with your physical food. God brings into existence, and then nourishes what He has brought into existence.

It is the same with your spiritual life. He summoned you into that life, and, now that you are here, He feeds you. Not only does He feed you, but He feeds you every week. Here are your provisions—the body of Christ as food and the blood of Jesus as drink. This is more than enough. When you need more, it will be next Lord’s Day.

When you need more, it will be important for you to be here. But note that you are not coming here to a Table only. You are coming together with the saints of God, who are bread and wine and for you. Unless providentially hindered, there is no way that you can stay away from the bread and wine without also avoiding the people that the bread and wine embody.

And when you stay away, you are saying that you don’t need your brothers and sisters in Christ, which is false. When your attendance at worship is intermittent, you are drifting away from the gathering of ourselves together, which was the manner of some as early as the first century. But not only are you saying that you don’t need them, which is false, you are also saying that they don’t need you, which is equally false. Remember, you are part of the body of Christ. This means that when you do not come, it is not just a failure to be fed—it is a failure to feed.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.