We come here as Christians, which means that we come as those who are followers of Jesus Christ. We do not follow Him because we happened to be a crowd that happens to be going that way. We follow Him because He has called each of us, individually. We have heard His voice, according to the Lord’s teaching, because we are His sheep. We recognize His voice and want to be there. We follow Him because we love Him.
This Table of communion is therefore to be thought of as a way of displaying that love. We are not working our way through a liturgical checklist, we are communing with God the Father through our communion with His Son, and that communion with His Son is only possible because the Spirit of both Father and Son has been poured out upon us.
That is how it happens, but let us never forget what is happening. God is offering us His appointed tokens of His everlasting love for us, and we are responding by taking those tokens for ourselves, while at the same time returning the love. He gives us the bread and wine, but we do not return the bread and wine. We simply receive it. He gives us His love, but we are to return that.
That return is what makes this table fellowship what it is. That is what communion is. If God loved us, and we were cold toward Him, that would not be communion, but rather ingratitude. If we loved God, but He did not love us, besides impossible, that would be desperation.
But He has offered His love to us, here. He has authorized His ministers to bid you welcome. When we invite you to be seated here, we are not taking anything upon ourselves. We are simply stewards of the feasts, inviting you to be seated and to partake, all in accordance with the covenant. You have been baptized, you are invited. You have true evangelical faith, which means you have accepted the invitation.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.