Our fellowship’s practice is to remember the LORD in the taking of the bread and the cup once a month. But this month will be a “three communion month” for me. As a church body we “proclaimed the Lord’s death” last Sunday as we customarily do on the first Sunday of the month. And next week, I will gather with believers to participate in the blood and body of Christ two more times. First, on Wednesday night with my men’s bible study group (every six weeks or so we pause from our study to gather for prayer and communion), and then on Good Friday when our church family comes together to reflect on the price paid for our redemption in anticipation of Easter’s resurrection victory.

For that reason, I may have hovered a little longer than usual over my reading in the latter part of 1Corinthians 10. And perhaps that’s why this post I did back in 2011 grabbed my attention.

Re-sharing my thoughts on fine dining.

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I’m not really one for fancy shmancy eating out . . . haven’t been to a lot of really “nice” restaurants . . . a few, but not very many or very often. Recently though, Sue and I went out for dinner with some friends to a nice restaurant. Not only was it nice because there was nothing on the menu you could “super size”, but because it was located up on bluff overlooking the city. And, while we didn’t reserve any particular table, we were seated at a table near the window . . . a table with a nice view of the cityscape below us. Not all tables had such a view . . . we could have just as easily been seated near the kitchen . . . or near the washrooms at the back of the restaurant. But we weren’t. And wouldn’t it have been kind of dumb to have said, “No” to the table with a view and instead asked to be seated at the back by the washrooms? I’m thinkin’ . . .

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? . . . You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.    (1Corinthians 10:16, 21 ESV)

Talk about your “fine dining” . . . talk about your “best seat in the house” . . . and you’re talking about the Lord’s table. Invited to pull up a seat with the Guest of Honor . . . no back row . . . no observing from afar . . . no hoping for leftovers . . . but given full access to participate in the “cup of blessing” and “the bread that we break.” Brought near, received onto holy ground, as we interact afresh with the life giving blood of the Savior. We, who were once on our own to wage war with sin and death, now made one body, identified eternally with the body of Christ. Oh, how easy it is to take such a seat for granted. How prone I can be to simply “go through the motions” during communion and never look up and behold the view . . . the view of the cross . . . the view of the empty tomb . . . the view of the land that awaits all those love His appearing.

And what’s worse is that not only can we fail to appreciate the table we’ve been called to, but often we’ll ask for a table at the “back of the restaurant.” We’ll chose to sit at the table with one leg shorter than the others . . . the one that’s dirty and not wiped clean after the previous patrons . . . the one that keeps getting bumped by the waiting staff as they rush in and out of the kitchen. And what’s more, we’ll settle for the “cheap meals” . . . we’ll ask to be served scraps with no lasting nutritional value. And, somehow, we’ll think we can jump back and forth between the table the Lord has set for us, and the one the world invites us to dine at.

Why would I give up a seat at the Lord’s table for a seat at the back? Why would I settle for the world’s junk food when I’ve been invited to participate in soul-filling fare of the Lord Himself? I don’t know . . . but sometimes I do . . . “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it . . . Prone to leave the God I love . . . Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, . . . Seal it for Thy courts above.”

Sometimes I need to be reminded of the privilege that is mine to have a seat at the table.

Reminded that the reservation was booked by God Himself, and that the tab was picked up by His Beloved Son. To not forget, when I’m at the table, to sit back and behold the view . . . considering afresh heaven’s love poured out that I might be redeemed . . . knowing again that my Savior lives and that I’m dining with Him . . . discerning the body of the Lord in the believer’s who surround me . . . appreciating anew the wonder of the fellowship that I have been grafted into. And, when I have known again the wonder of being invited to the table . . . and have been fed the food of heaven . . . then, by His grace, I will have no desire for the table set by the enemy . . . no hunger for the greasy offerings of the world.

A seat at the Lord’s table . . . now that’s fine dining . . . amen?