Invitation To The Table Series

October 04, 2025

Jesus calls us to remember and partake in the Communion meal with him. However, we look at Communion 1 dimensionally and have reduced it to a cold, formal requirement. We sit. The pastor and elder tell us some stuff and the deacons pass us a tiny wafer and a minute glass of grape juice – job done. Communion over. Now potluck.

But that is not how Jesus saw the last meal he was to share with his disciples before his death.

Here are some details we might have overlooked that if considered might help to deepen our Communion experience:

• Communion as an Invitation to an intimate relationship:

Luke 22:14-15 - When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

For Jesus, this last meal was filled with emotion. He “eagerly desired” to be with His disciples. He wanted to Tabernacle (to dwell - be near) with those he loved. He was about to be betrayed. He would die and his disciples would scatter. He longed for their companionship this one last time.

In the same way, Jesus “eagerly desires” to be with you. Communion is an invitation to share in an intimate relationship with him. To share a moment of companionship with the God of the Universe. A moment to not just remember Jesus, but to experience him.

• Communion as an Invitation to Covenant Renewal:

Luke 22:19-20 - And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

The Old Testament Covenant was ratified with animal blood and animal sacrifice made atonement for the sins of the people and brought them back into relationship with God.

Jeremiah prophesied that a time was coming when a better covenant would be established. A better covenant that was necessary because of Israel’s inability to keep their side of the old covenant.

The Covenant Jeremaih was speaking of was better because it would be ratified through the death of Jesus – when his blood was shed to bring people back into a right relationship with God.

Hebrews 9:13-15a - The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant…,

If you have been baptized you are in a covenant relationship with God.

Communion is an invitation to believers to renew their commitment to God – to reaffirm the relationship with him that was made possible by the blood of Jesus.

• Communion as an Invitation to Personal Examination:

1 Corinthians 11:26-28 - For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, 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 Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

Paul was encouraging believers to test their hearts – examine their attitudes and motives before entering into a holy – intimate – moment with God. Are we holding on to unconfessed sin? Do we have a spirit of unforgiveness? Do we have a spirit of superiority? Are we not seeking forgiveness because we think we’re right? Do we have a negative or irreverent attitude? Are we grumblers or pot stirrers? Do our lives Sunday through Friday not reflect our claim to love and follow Jesus?

Such things must be confessed and dealt with before coming into Communion. To do anything else is to make a mockery of Jesus’ sacrifice – it is to come in before the King of the Universe, unwashed, unprepared, unrepentant and uncaring.

• Communion as an Invitation to Unity:

1 Corinthians 13:1-8a - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.