The people were wealthy, it may be that they attended some of the meetings but I do not recall, at any rate, they asked if I would dine with them. I duly arrived on time and was greeted by a servant who poured water for me (2 Kings 3:11 John 13:4 14) and I was expected to wash my hands (in India you eat with your right hand) and my feet, if that was necessary as well. As I did so my host welcomed me and conducted me to a room with a cloth on the floor and beckoned me to sit down. He himself went to an adjacent room, I could see him sitting, along with several members of his family and the servants brought the various dishes of food. We ate the same food but from different dishes, mine were separate from theirs. We did converse, but at the distance of a few meters. As a man from the west, without caste, it was forbidden that my highborn host, a Hindu, should actually have full table fellowship with me lest he be defiled.
Everything has meaning. Is fellowship at the Lord’s Table central to our personal life and the corporate life of the churches? The way many churches conduct their services you would think that the band, the songs and the so-called ‘worship’ was the most important element! If this is true we have wandered far from the truth. Instead ponder the symbol of the seemingly insignificant piece of bread and sip of red juice or wine. In some churches it is a tag on at the end of the service once a month, in others, it is non-existent. The early Quaker Christians of the seventeenth century rejected it entirely, partly as a reaction against the ritualistic deadness commonly found in its practice in the ‘steeple houses’ (their name for the churches) of their day. Yet Jesus instituted this feast and we should therefore not be casual about it. On the night in which He was betrayed, not many hours before He was nailed to the cross He commanded that His people should keep it (Matthew 26:26-29 Mark 14:22-25 Luke 22:19,20). Paul the apostle tells us that Jesus expressly told him that this celebration of remembrance should be instituted and practiced aright in the churches (I Corinthians 11:23-34). Evidently it is important and its proper use speaks volumes as rich and poor, black and white, Asian, African and Caucasian, male and female gather around the Lord Jesus. From every background they come, they are believers and lovers of Him Who is Head of His table and by partaking of the bread and wine they testify that He is the food that makes their souls strong and His life poured out (evidenced by His bloodshed) is their cleansing from the guilt and power of sin.
This simple meal has been given various names through the centuries, the Holy Communion, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper are among them. Paul uses some beautiful phrases to describe it, “the cup of blessing,” “partakers of the Lord’s table,” “partaker of the altar” and “cup of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 10:16-21). These are all the more beautiful when contrasted with the alternatives; the “Cup of devils,” “table of devils” and “fellowship with devils.”
It is instructive for us all to reflect on the practices of our particular churches as regards the Lord’s Table; our church traditions and habits speak and should be symbols of the true. My own church background was diverse. Most Sunday mornings I would attend a Christian Brethren church with my father. There everything centered on the table. The whole congregation was seated around it, the absence of any visible ‘head’ pointed away to the mystery of the Lord Jesus seated in heaven yet in the midst of His people. I freely admit that this celebration probably became ritualistic to many, but there was a simplicity about it as a single loaf of bread was broken, the wine poured out and every “believer” having examined their heart had free access to share with each other and with the Lord at His table. Sometimes I went to my mother’s Baptist church. On occasions it was a communion service. The habit there was a bit different because the pastor and elders/deacons sat behind the communion table on the platform facing the congregation. These men officiated and I always noted how the bread (usually it was little crackers) was already broken in pieces and the drink was already poured out into separate, tiny glasses and so the congregation participated. Remember, all these things speak!
I was intrigued the first time I attended an Anglican (Episcopalian) Church. Things were different again there. I have since learned that virtually every detail of the way the Anglican church buildings are constructed and the rituals are performed is full of meaning, some of which probably eludes many attending. It is not by chance that as soon as you enter the main door of an Anglican Parish Church the first thing you pass is a baptismal font. This signifies that to become part of the church of Jesus Christ you must be baptized. It is not chance either that the main body of the building where the congregation is able to sit is called the nave. This word comes from the Latin navis meaning ship, from which we get our English word “navigation.” The association of the church with a ship was meant to convey that the whole congregation, priests included are God’s passengers moving on a journey toward Him and His table. This is why the pulpit in an Anglican church is to one side, and the lectern with the open Bible on it is too. Central is the communion table, usually at the East end of the building so that the rising sun shines on it. The heart of the Anglican service is the Eucharist. I am aware that there have been all sorts of controversies as to whether the bread and wine become the body and blood of the Lord, but just take the word Eucharist for a moment and remember that it means “thanksgiving” and give thanks that the way is open for us to come and eat His flesh and drink His blood and live. The symbol speaks volumes. In some Anglican churches the altar rail has been removed and a table is set up at the front of the nave and the minister of the church representing the Lord Jesus gives cup and bread to those who come forward. Distance, separation and elevation are symbolically removed and the Lord Jesus, welcoming people to His table, is present by the Holy Spirit.
And what is the point of all that I have written? Mainly this, that, the heart of the Christian Life is, to be seated at the Lord’s Table and eat. He has spread a table before us, even in the midst of our enemies (Psalm 23:5). He welcomes home the returning son, the one who has wasted his substance and sets the festive board before him and bids his older brother to sit and eat also with him also (Luke 15:23, 28). We yet have much to learn about God’s inclusion and embrace. We sometimes find brother in Christ holding brother in Christ at arms length whilst the Father has welcomed the sinner home. In some groups of churches there are those eating the same Heavenly food, but in separate rooms! God’s table is not of this world with all its pride of race and pride of face and even strangely (in the churches) pride of grace. What will it take for the churches to be purged of pride of race and of face too? These ungodly, satanic attitudes are still around and we must reject them; they have no place in our Father’s house. The Lord’s ways are great, He seeks communion and has provided a way for all to come, find repentance, forgiveness and the power to live never returning to the paths of sin. The thoughts of His heart and the ways of His house are heavenly and in His Son they brought down to earth and will be very clearly manifested as the Holy Spirit is really allowed to work in the life and habits of the churches. Central to all is God’s table; at the same time it is the altar of sacrifice, Calvary, where Jesus was broken for us and His arms were spread wide to draw all unto Himself. It is His feast; Jesus is the bread of God, the bread from heaven, the bread of life (John 6:33,41,48) broken small enough for us fallen men and women to eat and live forever in the way that glorifies Him. The Father’s bread, upon which He has joyously fed eternally made available to His creature man now. The dividing veil between God and man He has torn away, the dividing wall between race, color, male and female, young and old, rich and poor has been removed in Christ and at His table we can all sit down. This is the heart of church life; communion with Christ and through Him with each other and from that centrality we will certainly become broken bread and poured out wine to others.
