4 Things You Should Keep In Mind When Coming to the Table

An excerpt from a recent sermon

What a joy it is to share from Scripture and to lead us to the Table this morning.

So one of the things I appreciate the most about Lakeside is our non-denominational status. And because we’re non-denominational, that means everyone here is from different denominations or streams of the Christian faith.

For example, I’m a 5^th generation Indian Pentecostal. And my Indian Christian ancestors - who have worshiped Jesus for 2000 years after being introduced to the faith by the Apostle Thomas - my ancestors have been everything from Orthodox to Catholic to Brethren to Anglican / Reformed to Pentecostal.

Over my past 8 months of attending church here at Lakeside I have gotten to know many of you and many of your stories. And many of your families’ stories. Some of you come from Baptist backgrounds, others Presbyterian, others United Church. Others from no church backgrounds. I don’t know if you realize this but our church is really unique in its theological diversity.

For example – if I were to go around the room asking us to share what we believe on baptism or gifts of the spirit or LGBTQ inclusion, I know that we would have a wide variety of opinions here. But we still gather together here at Lakeside Church. Because we’re united by someone greater than all our human divisions. We’re united by someone greater than all our theological divisions – and that someone is Jesus. It’s Jesus.

I don’t need to tell you this but we live in a very divided western church context today where Christians are obsessed with deciding who is in and who is out. And the concentric circles of who is in keeps getting smaller and smaller each year. It’s almost like we find new topics every 2 years to divide over. If it’s not theology, it’s politics. I mean – just look at our rowdy neighbors to the south and see how Christians go bananas on each other in an election year. If it’s not politics, it’s things like COVID restrictions like mask mandates, vaccines and things like that.

But we here at Lakeside Church are a Jesus-centered church. And this is why we gather at the Table regularly – to physically remind ourselves that we’re a Jesus centered church. Because Jesus breaks down the walls of hostility that divide us.

My text for us this morning as we approach the Table is one of the Anglican lectionary texts for this Sunday. In fact, this is a text that every Anglican church across the world is reading this Sunday in preparation for the Table. So let’s read from Ephesians 2:12-22:

“¹² Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (which you & I will receive in a bit). ¹⁴ For he (Jesus) is our peace; in his flesh (which you & I will also receive shortly) he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, ¹⁵ abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two (I love what Jeff taught us last week – that God is doing something new here at Lakeside Church – he’s forming a new humanity in us and through us), thus making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. ¹⁷ So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, ¹⁸ for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens (no longer Conservatives and Liberals, no longer affirming or non-affirming, no longer just Caucasian, Asian, South Asian, Black, no longer pro-Israel or pro-Palestine), but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰ built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (or Christ Jesus himself as the centerpiece); ²¹ in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”

So as we come to the Table this morning, there are four things I want us to keep in mind. But before we even go into that, I want to start by defining what I mean by The Table. Because ‘The Table’ can be a really confusing term – for both Christians and non-Christians. And many times, we think of the Table as either Communion or Community.

When I say Table, I don’t mean Communion or Community. I mean Communion AND Community. Because we receive communion while being in community. And communion is always done in community.

The sacrament of the Table is one that the Church has received directly from Jesus. It’s something that Jesus did on his last night on earth, with his disciples. And it’s something that he commanded his disciples to do regularly to remind themselves of Jesus.

So there are four things I want us to keep in mind as we approach the Table. Here’s the first thing:

1. Jesus is at the Table. Jesus is at the Table. His real presence is at the Table.

Now what I just said to you defies western logic. Western logic likes things to be neatly packed. There’s a box for everything! But that is not the context that Christianity came from. Christianity is an ancient eastern faith that is today a global faith. Again, my ancestors have been worshiping Jesus since many European ancestors were worshiping Thor. That’s a statement of fact. So we cannot squeeze Christianity into our preferred western boxes.

In fact for the first 1500 years of church history, until the Protestant Reformation, the global church strongly believed that Jesus was at the Table. Even Luther, the first Protestant Reformer believed that Jesus was at the Table. This wasn’t a Catholic thing; it wasn’t an Orthodox thing. It was a global church thing. But since the reformation, much of the western evangelical church has gotten really uncomfortable with the idea of Jesus being physically present at the Table. Like we in the western evangelical church get really uncomfortable with this idea that Jesus is actually at the Table. Because we can’t actually see him at the Table but we’re somehow supposed to believe that he’s actually at the Table.

You see, there’s something really eastern and non-western about seeing Jesus as being present at the Table. There’s something really mystical and beautiful about trusting that Jesus at the Table.

Rachel Held Evans, the late great author once said this:

"It was the sacraments that drew me back to church after l'd given up on it. When my faith had become little more than an abstraction, a set of propositions to be affirmed or denied, the tangible, tactile nature of the sacraments invited me to touch, smell, taste, hear, and see God in the stuff of everyday life again. They got God out of my head and into my hands. They reminded me that Christianity isn't meant to simply be believed; it's meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of other people. They reminded me that, try as I may, I can't be a Christian on my own. I need a community. I need the church."

Many of you probably resonate with these words. I know I do! It was the sacrament of the Table that drew me back to church after a really difficult time in my life last year. It was the sacrament of community that drew me back to church after experiencing racial trauma in the southern American church after George Floyd was killed in 2020. It’s remembering the sacrament of my baptism and confirmation that keeps me going when I can’t feel the presence of God in a difficult week. And after the most terrible weeks, it’s the sacrament of community here at Lakeside Church that puts me back together so I could go back and be functional again for another week.

The Table – a place where God gets out of our heads, and into our hands.

Here’s the second thing I want to remind us of as we approach the Table today:

2. The Table reminds us that it’s about Jesus over anything else. It’s about Jesus over anything else.

It’s Jesus who reconciles us with God and with each other. It’s Jesus who takes down the dividing walls of hostility between us. It’s Jesus who liberates us and calls us to himself so that we can join him in his work of liberating the world. It’s Jesus who heals us and calls us to himself so that we can join him in his work of healing the world. It’s about Jesus over anything else.

But it’s not just Jesus over anything else. It’s also Jesus over anyone else. It’s about Jesus over our allegiance to any earthly politician. It’s about Jesus over our allegiance to any church or denomination. It’s about Jesus over even our pastors or favourite Christian preachers or podcasters or musicians or authors.

You see something that happens often in the western church is that we elevate these celebrity pastors and preachers. And then when our favourite celebrity Christians disappoint us – sometime even by scandal – some of us lose our faith and we walk away from Jesus. Because Christianity and church was about our favourite pastor or preacher.

But here’s the thing: for 1500 years – 1500 years before the Protestant Reformation, church was never about the preacher. It was always about the Table. And it was always about having an encounter with Jesus at the Table.

I have a pastor friend in Calgary (Father David Harvey) who often tells his congregation, “You may come here one Sunday and not experience Jesus in the worship music. You may even come to church one Sunday and not experience Jesus in the sermon (like maybe this sermon). But you know what? When you come here on a Sunday when we gather at the Table – even if you don’t feel it, you can rest in knowing that you WILL meet Jesus at the Table – even if you don’t feel it. Because his real presence is at the Table.”

This is why when you receive the body of Christ and the blood of Christ this morning, the church leader serving you the elements will literally take a step back and put Jesus forward in your hands and tell you, “The body of Christ broken for you”, “The blood of Christ shed for you”. Because it’s not about the person serving you Eucharist. It’s not about me. It’s not about our pastors or worship leaders. It’s about us stepping back and making a way for you to encounter Jesus this morning at the Table.

Because it’s about Jesus over anything else. And it’s about Jesus over anyone else.

Here’s the third thing I want us to remember as we approach the Table this morning:

3. If Jesus is at the Table, then all are welcome. If Jesus is at the Table, then all are welcome.

Now I know that “all are welcome” is a bit of a trigger phrase for some of us because we’ve probably been at churches that said “all are welcome” where all were really not welcome. But the Table is not like that at all. Because the Table is meant to be the one place on earth that does not exclude anyone.

Now, I don’t know about you but growing up in the Church, I was terrified of the Table. Because I was told that if I participated in the Table in an unworthy way, I would be found guilty. I mean I actually thought I would die if I came to Table with unresolved sin. Anyone else here felt that way? Just terrified of the Table!

Here’s where I want point us back to what our pastors have been teaching us this whole time: If it doesn’t sound like Jesus, there’s more to the story. And if it doesn’t sound like Jesus, it’s not Christian.

What do we know about the life and ministry of Jesus? Did Jesus ever turn away anyone who came seeking him?

No, he welcomed them into his presence. It didn’t matter what you came with. It didn’t matter how many sexual partners you had. It didn’t matter if you were an outcast. It didn’t matter if you had shame about something in your life. It didn’t matter what you looked like, where you came from, what you believed in. It didn’t matter if you were just a little child. If you came to Jesus, he would always welcome you. And he would always make time for you.

Think about it – if Jesus should have turned anyone away from him, it should have been Judas. But Jesus, despite knowing that Judas would betray him never turned Judas away. In fact, at the first Eucharistic service in the history of the Church, Jesus washes Judas’ feet and then serves him Eucharist at the Table. Because the grace of Jesus and the grace of God is also for Judas. And even Judas has a seat at Jesus’ Table.

If Jesus welcomed even Judas to the Table then who are we to keep people from the Table? So believe me this morning when I tell you that ALL are welcome to Jesus’ Table.

Keep this in mind when we approach Jesus at the Table this morning: Jesus delights in you and he welcomes you as you walk into his presence. And for those of you here who feel unworthy to encounter Jesus at the Table this morning – be reminded of these words of Jesus in Luke 5:32:

^{“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”}

If you feel like a misfit at the Table this morning, welcome home. Welcome home. We are so glad you’re here. And Jesus rejoices that you’re here.

Here’s the fourth and final thing I want us to remember as we approach the Table of Jesus and the Table of grace this morning:

4. We receive the body of Christ broken for us so that we can be the body of Christ broken for the world! We receive the body of Christ broken for us so that we can be the body of Christ broken for the world.

Because we, the Church are the Body of Christ. And the Body of Christ was always meant to be broken for the healing of the world as an act of voluntary sacrifice.

You see, after working in international human rights as a Christian for the past decade, there are two places where I’ve experienced the real presence of Jesus – two places where I KNOW for sure that I WILL find Jesus: the Table and the Margins. The Table and the Margins. We’ll talk about the Margins next Sunday but I’ll say this for now: Being at the Table forms us to be Jesus on the margins. Being at the Table forms us to be Jesus to our marginalized neighbours.

Jesus gave himself freely for us so that we can give ourselves freely for the world that he loves so much. Jesus subjected himself to multiple forms of marginalization – literally as a colonized Jewish Palestinian born to a refugee family fleeing violence, who lived as a homeless man his entire ministry and was unjustly tortured and executed by a corrupt government authority.

Jesus didn’t have to do that. He’s God – he could have chosen an easy life of privilege and luxury for himself. Jesus could have showed up as a Kardashian if he wanted to. But instead, he  subjected himself to multiple forms of marginalization - so that we can do the same towards our marginalized neighbours.

And participating at the Table is our physical reminder to be the Body of Christ to the margins this week.

Here’s a quote from a female church leader centuries ago. By the way – dead authors are the best authors. Because they can’t disappoint you – especially if they’ve been dead a really long time like this author.

St. Teresa of Avila once said this:

“Christ has no body on earth but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which He looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands. Yours are the feet. You are his hands. You are his body.”

In a few moments, we’re going to participate in Jesus’ Table. But here’s what I want us to do before that. On the screen are two questions. I want us to take a few moments and reflect on these questions as we prepare for the table:

Are we being the Body of Christ here on earth after we gather at the Table this morning?

Are we embodying the Body of Christ broken for us to this world that God has placed us in?

Let’s take a few moments to reflect on these questions.

-————

Preached at Lakeside Church in Guelph, Ontario (Canada) on July 21, 2024.

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