"According to medieval legend, before King Arthur sent his knights on errantry to right wrongs and befriend the helpless, he would call them together at his round table, where each knight could see the face of the his king and the faces of his fellows.
Shall the followers of the King of Kings do less?" (John Frederick Jansen. Guests Of God. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956, p. 81). This legendary story reminds us of our commitment when we come to the Lord’s Table for Communion.
WE ARE BLOOD RELATIVES
There is the story of a minister who "… responded to an appeal, for blood donations. When he didn’t come home by the time his young son expected him, the boy asked his mother, "Is Dad going around visiting all of the sick people?" His mother replied, "He’s giving blood." "But we know its really grape juice don’t we, Mom
We sometimes need to remind ourselves that the grape juice that we drink at Holy Communion is symbolic that we are redeemed by Jesus’ blood, because He bought us with a price
1 Corinthians 7:23,24 Jesus who reconciles us to God and to each other has made us blood brothers and sisters because He has redeemed us all through His blood.
WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
In the Body of Christ, we are a diverse and a united group of people. We have unity in the Body of Christ in spite of our diversity because in Jesus Christ there is no east or west, no slave or free, no Jew or Greek, because we are all one in the Body of Christ (Galatians 3:28). "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:26-27).
In the Body of Christ, we are called to do more than just "coexist". When we are truly united in spite of our diversity, then we possess the quality of fellowship that can only authentically be found in the Body of Christ.
"It has been said that the real test of our nearness to God is the way that we feel about one another".
