When we gather around the Lord’s Table, we all come to the table by the same grace from Christ and are brought into the same reality by Christ. Galatians 3:26-29 was the main focus of our time together last week. Whenever we come into Christ through baptism, it is Christ that is revealed in us, unites us, and makes us whole. Therefore, there are no distinguishing divisions between us in the eyes of God when we come around the table. All he sees is Christ in us. He does not see us as male or female, slave or free, rich or poor, American or non-American, Republican or Democrat, etc. Any divisions between people are washed away as they gather around the table together.
When the New Testament writers talk about the church, they talk about it as a New Temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17, Eph. 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10). This isn’t just metaphor but pointing to the reality of the existence and mission of the church. The temple was designed as a microcosm of the Creation. It is filled with imagery pointing back to the Garden of Eden. The texts in the First Testament use the Genesis 1 imagery of God speaking creation into existence and order by God giving instructions for the Tabernacle and Temple in seven speeches.
As I’ve been studying about the Lord’s Supper, the imagery started standing out that in the New Temple, the church, the Lord’s Table comes to represent the Holy of Holies. This is the space where we come closest to the presence of God, to take God within us, and then to carry God into the world that does not know his presence. We have the Spirit within each of us, but the Spirit is made known more fully when the church comes together in unity. The church, in unity, becomes the microcosm of what God intended the creation to be in the first place. To say it differently, the church is the beginning of God’s reconciliation of the world (Rom. 8, 1 Cor. 15, 2 Cor. 5). All of creation is longing for redemption (Rom. 8) because it knows that it was meant for something better and greater. This is what the resurrection is. In Jesus, we see the first glimpse of what is to come not only for humanity but for all of creation. So, when we gather around the Lord’s Table, we enter into the Holy of Holies to encounter the God of New Creation to shape us into the people we need to be to partner with God to cultivate his New Creation, the New Heavens and New Earth (Eph. 2:10, 2 Peter 3:10-13).
The imagery I’ve been trying to keep in my mind over the last few years is borrowed from David Fitch’s book “Faithful Presence.” He looks at the church and God’s mission for the church in three circles: The Close Circle, the Dotted Circle, and the Half Circle. The Close Circle is where we gather around the Lord’s Table where he is host. This is the place of the church where we come for transformation to then go into the world. We take God’s Presence with us where we become the host of God’s Presence at our tables. It is around our tables that we invite our neighbors and coworkers into the presence of God through us being host. We then are God’s presence as guest at the tables of the world. These are the restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, neighbors, etc. We are reminded that we are guests in these places, and we enter those spaces as those carrying God’s presence.
As host at your table: Is your house a refuge of peace for people to escape to from the chaos of the world? What are you doing to bring God’s presence into your house so that it might be transformed as a place of peace?
As guest at their table(s): In what ways do you see Jesus entering into peoples’ homes? How are their lives changed by his presence as a guest? When you enter someone’s life, do you bring peace, or do you add to their chaos? What area of your life do you need to work on right now to bring transformation into the image of Christ for the world?