When it comes to good places to eat, a person’s decision where to eat depends, in large measure, on reviews. Sometimes there are five-star reviews. Sometimes, they are “Oh, my stars" like these reviews:
We need reviews because we can’t afford to eat at the wrong place, when there is a better place to dine. When the Michelin Guide reviews a place to dine, it must pass a rigorous battery of questions to earn their three-star rating and review: Who is the chef? What’s on the menu? When is the best time to dine? Where are the locations? How is the atmosphere. If the “Who, What, When, Where and How” questions apply to the best tables of the world, even more so the greatest meal of eternity—the Lord’s Supper. What does the Lord have to say about His table?
The Bible is the Lord’s review of His Table. It answers five key questions to that leave no doubt that the Lord’s Table surpasses any human rating system.
As we conclude our mini-series—Reflection and Connection: An Examination and Execution of Communion—we will answer in this review, the four “W’s” and the “H” questions of the Lord’s Table, giving each question it’s star. This review is a call for you to reflect and connect to the Table and to lead others to taste and see how good the Lord is. And once you fully eat and understand, you’ll never eat a greater meal on earth because it is a foretaste of dining at its finest in heavenly places.
Star Question One: WHO should eat at the Table? There are three categories of people who should (or should not) come to the table. First, worthy proclaimers of the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection should come to the Lord’s Table. To be a proclaimer you must be a believer in Christ and His mission and ministry, who was crucified, died and rose from the grave for the sins of man. Believers should come to the table. They understand the meaning of the Table and its elements. A key verse for the proclaimer’s seat at the Table is 1 Corinthians 11:26b:
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1 Corinthians 11:26b
Those who should not take communion are also believers but who come to the Table unworthily. Their lifestyle and their agenda are against Christ’s love agenda at the Table—the love of God through grace, to bring the Body of Christ together as church—the community of God’s people to remember what Christ did with his body—the sacrifice for your sins. The “unworthy believer” comes dividing rather than bringing together. Paul pointed out this problem of “unworthy conduct” at the Table of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:23:
“whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord1 Corinthians 11:23
Third group of “who” is those who don’t believe in Christ. They should not come to the table because they don’t connect in Him, and understand what the elements of the table mean. Abiding is key according to John 6:56.
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 John 6:56
If you don’t believe, or abide in Christ, you have no fellowship with Christ, thus how can you have a portion of His body broken for you or His blood shed for you. Keep in mind that belief is a heart thing according to Romans 10:9: “if you confess in your mouth what you believe in your heart, you shall be saved.” If a person has an unction to come to the Table, who are we to judge their heart. That’s God’s domain. Let them come to the Table and let Him sort it out and judge their qualifications to have a seat at His Table.
Believers who come worthily are “who” should come to the Table. All others, eat out.
II. Star Question Two: WHAT is the Lord’s Table?
The Lord’s Table is a sacrament of grace, a memorial to cause us to remember what Christ had done for us and how much God loves us. What’s in a meal tells you a great deal how 5-star the meal is.The elements of the bread and wine are representations Christ’s sacrifice to release the Body of Christ from the power and penalty of sin. One key verse of the Lord’s Table is in Matthew’s version of the other synoptic Gospels of Mark and Luke where Christ institutes the Lord’s table, giving a redemptive meaning to the bread and blood of the Old Testament Passover meal.
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it…this is my body. 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks…; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28
The broken bread represents the sacrifice of Christ’s body broken so that the bondage of man’s sin is broken. The cup of wine represents the sacrifice of Christ’s shed blood so that the penalty of man’s sin is paid. Hidden in the “What” is the question “Why” we should do communion? Consider the Lord’s Supper as a matter of life and death—His death for your life. Look at John 6:54:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at last day. John 6:54
We are free and clear of sin to live a new life. That is what the Table is all about.
Star Question Three: WHEN should the Lord’s Supper be observed?
The Lord doesn’t explicitly say when and how often the Lord’s Supper should be held. But whenever God authorized a special memorial—a worship that calls us to remember like the Passover (annually), Feast of Tabernacles (annually), the Sabbath (weekly)— of which the Lord’s Supper is one—He always told man the day and frequency. But God not only teaches by command, but also by example. By example in Acts 20:7, the disciples were breaking bread on the first day of the week.
Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…Act 20:7
That “breaking of bread” was the Lord’s Supper, not the Agape love feasts that Paul admonished the Corinthian of doing in disregard of the purpose of the Lord’s Super. When God states the day for observing a memorial, the language also necessarily implies how often it should be done. Here, with the disciples breaking break on the first day of the week, the inferred frequency of the Lord’s Supper is weekly.
Since the word of God does not explicitly command the frequency of the Lord’s Supper, there is liberty. Some do it once a year, some once a month, some once a week. Since we have an example of the frequency in the early church, consider the Lord’s Supper as a weekly practice. It is vital to the life of the Church that keeps the Sabbath weekly. The Body of Christ lives on the worship of God, the preaching of His word, and the keeping of Sacraments. The call to remember and share what God has done through the Table is integral to focusing the community of God on the love of God and each other. Thus, the local early church held Communion often. Often is better than infrequent. Weekly is better than yearly for a healthy church. When we are healthy and growing is the “when” of the Table.
Star Question Four: WHERE should the Lord’s Table be observed?
Whereever there is worship, the Lord’s Supper is appropriate. It does not have to always be in a church. In fact, the first Lord’s Supper was in a home as Christ and his disciples celebrated the Jewish Passover. One key verse supporting worship as the central locale of where the Lord’s Supper should be held is Matthew 26:17-18:
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” Matthew 26:17-18
Where there is worship, the Table of the Lord is appropriate. If there is worship, then prayer is appropriate, also, specifically, prayers of thanksgiving. In Christ’s prayer at the Table, He blessed the elements. His focus was on giving thanks. That’s how He reflected and connected with what He would soon experience on the cross—the fulfilment of His mission to free man from sin. Reflection and connection of communion is more important than location, location, location, but purpose, purpose, purpose. Worship is the “where” of the Table.
Star Question Five: HOW do you lead in the execution of the Lord’s Table?
Model Christ as you lead in execution of the Lord’s Supper.As illustrated in Part 2 of Reflection and Connection, the best way to come and lead others to the table is seen in Christ’s approach to the table:
First come sharing. Christ shared The Lord’s Supper with His disciples. His disciples shared with other disciples like Paul. Paul shared it with the seven churches he started in three missionary trips. The Table is a participatory event, a reenactment of Christ’s story where we are supporting cast according to 1Cor. 10:16:
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 1Cor. 10:16
Second, come thankful. Christ blessed or gave thanks for the sacrifice he was allowed to make—his body and blood—on behave of the salvation of mankind. That’s why some denominations call the Lord’s Table the Eucharist. The table costs. So, be thankful.
27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you…Matthew 26:27
Third, come hopeful. Christ, in the words of His instituting the Lord’s Supper, showed us we need to come expecting another meal—with Him. Come expecting a greater supper in a better place. Bring your cares and hopes for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb where there will be no more sorrows, no more weeping, no more sickness. Each Lord’s Supper is an invitation to hope.
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Finally, come examined. You must look inside yourself and reflect on where you are and how you are coming to the table. If your motive and method—your menu, if you will—is not Christ’s menu of love of neighbor and love of God, you are guilty of a faith deserving of a rating worthy of the judgment of God.
28 Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 28 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1 Cor. 11:28-29
Menu matters. What you use for the elements don’t. Use grape juice and whatever bread or crackers you have available. Using juice is a great way to involve children while also being sensitive to anyone who might not drink alcohol. Remember, this is a spiritual meal. Menu matters only to the extent that your keep the main dish the main dish, the same as Christ’s—love.
CONCLUSION:
You can tell a lot about a good place to eat by the review it receives. There are five-stars and no-stars. The rating depends on the answers to the questions of who, what, when, where and how. God has issued His review of His table—the Lord’s Table. It’s a Five-Star because:
Who can eat at the table? It’s open to everyone who believes. There is no reserved seating for unworthy behavior.
What is served? Love is the main course; bread and blood, the ingredients; the costs to you, free and clear from sin.
When should you eat? Whenever the Body meets, the Body can eat. Follow the examples of the early church.
Where should you eat? Where there is worship, there is Table fellowship.
How you should conduct dinner? Come sharing, thanking, expecting, examining. Look within or eat out. Come correct.
With those answers, there can only be one rating of the Lord’s Table—Five-star. Nothing can compare because it is a foretaste of what will be served in heaven. For that reason, may I suggest a twist to what many believe the best meal on earth—Thanksgiving—that you lead your holiday table with the Lord’s Table. What better way to reflect and connect to the real reason we can all be thankful.
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