As we come to the table, we are charged to flee from idolatry. We do this in two ways.
The first is that we leave all pagan idols behind. Whether these idols are actual gods made of wood or stone, or are idols of the heart and mind does not matter. We leave them behind in order to come here. In our nation, at this time, the latter case is more often necessary. We leave behind all the idols we have fashioned out of our own opinions and lusts.
But we also must leave idolatry behind in how we approach this table. Idolatry can be found in the adverb which describes how we come. We commit idolatry whenever we come to the table, speaking or thinking about it in a way contrary to how Scripture speaks of it.
This is a cup of blessing, and is not a mere memorial. When we drink the cup, we have fellowship with the blood of Christ. Note that we do not do communion, we have communion. That communion is a unity, fellowship, and identification with the blood of Christ. The same kind of thing must be said about the bread we break. The bread is fellowship or communion with Christ’s body, and you are that body. You therefore have communion with one another, around the common table. So be at peace.
The one loaf is broken, fragmented, so that a fragmented people can become one. Christ’s body was broken so that we could become unbroken. And we break the bread here because we imitate Christ in His sufferings — we are this loaf, and if we are united with Him in His death, in His breaking, we will also be united with Him in His resurrection. And all things will be made whole.