A Table Prepared

A Table Prepared?

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and I will sup with him, and he with me."

We neglect communion, because, we say, "Practiced too often, it can become a meaningless ritual." But anything we do in church "could" become a meaningless ritual.

We could say the same of any part of our modern worship - the order of worship, the number of songs, even the preaching - all "could" become a meaningless ritual. In the evangelical world, being "led" in prayer at a particular part in the service becomes a ho-hum ritual that bears little relation to real prayer. The Pentecostal world definitely has its rituals - being expected to fall "slain in the Spirit" when anyone with the anointing so much as touches you is one that comes to mind. Any of these "could" be real and led by the Spirit of God, or any "could" become simply ritual, without Spirit or meaning. So then why is the only thing we back off of, because it "could" become a meaningless ritual, is the one rite of worship the Lord Jesus Himself instituted?

Let's take the "tithe," though, as the example of the biggest contrast to the way we approach the Lord's Holy Communion. We live in fear the Communion "could" become a ritual, but the way we pass the plate, or bucket, or bag - a ritual. How many times do we do it the same way before it becomes meaningless? The same words we mouth and the same prayers we make before or after to "bless the seed" - a ritual. How may times doing it the same way, with variations of the same words, before that's meaningless? "Let's hold our checks and envelopes up before the Lord as a "wave offering." Huh? New Testament chapter and verse? -- or our own ritual? How many times before that could become meaningless?

Yes, we are commanded to give, but the "tithe" taught in many churches is simply Old Testament, ritualistic legalism, brought forward. Jesus clearly states in both plain words and parables that we are to give, but He never commanded the tithe. When told that his own tithe (the temple tax) was due, what was His answer? Go get it from a fish's mouth - in effect, My Father will provide His own tithe. We loudly proclaim every week how we are "worshiping God with our giving," in a way that Jesus never commanded, yet we refuse to worship Him in the one way He did command: "Do this in remembrance of Me."

Why? Why do we accept the offering plate as a weekly ritual but relegate the Lord's Supper to a monthly, quarterly, yearly, or even less frequent "special"? One reason - the offering feeds the minister's dreams, passions, plans, and physical needs. The Lord's Supper feeds the flock spiritual food. It's time to ask if a church that pays more attention to feeding the ministry's physical needs than feeding the flock's spiritual needs is any longer the church of the Lord Jesus Christ - or a business set up to feed the ministry?

Why do we throw the Lord's Supper on the back burner, then? Because it "could" become a ritual. Try storing your collection plates away for three months alongside the communion plates, and you'll see what you're hanging onto as a ritual. But wait - the offering has lots of meaning - it means my plans, thoughts, and aspirations as a minister don't have to be put on hold until the church really "means" to give them to me. What if the church members were to examine their hearts and give only to those budget items that they had really thought about, prayed over, and intended to give to, instead of just a ritual of giving this much each week, and trusting that you spend it wisely? Would that still be something you asked them to do weekly? The Lord's Supper demands that we examine our hearts, lay down our sins, repent, and renew our fellowship with the broken body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Make a budget sheet for that and see if it's a weekly need for the spiritual giants in your congregation!

To be sure, the practice of communion can actually be dangerous, and should be approached with a sincere measure of fear. Paul warns (I Cor. 11:27-30) that to eat this bread and drink this cup unworthily can bring a sentence of condemnation, sickness, even death. So why are we unwilling to let the Lord sort out His Own? He is the only Judge of our hearts' worthiness to partake of His body and blood. Let Him say if any one among us deserves to fall ill because of his heart's condition. Perhaps then our prayers for their health may help them in this other matter where they have fallen into unworthiness, and perhaps that is the way the Lord intended it.

Instead, we judge unworthiness, not as not digging deep enough into our hearts and spirit, but as not digging deep enough into our pocketbooks. And teaching the tithe can be dangerous, from personal experience - if you are attending a congregation that teaches tithing and you choose not to do so, your finances will fall under a curse, no matter how righteous you are in every other area of life. Things will break, opportunities will dry up, accounts will drain away no matter what you try to do to stop it - short of ritualistically bowing to the tithe, whether your heart is in it or not. Do we withdraw in fear from that possibility, or say, "Oh, well, the Lord's just teaching him better"? And teaching the tithe can be a blessing - in fact, any business that tithes to some benevolent something will find itself blessed. This is a proven principle in the business world, maybe instigated by God, definitely applicable in the church, but also applicable anywhere. You don't even need Jesus to be blessed by this universal principle.

But, you do need Jesus to partake of His body and His blood in remembrance of Him. Revelation 3:20 - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and" -
- collect My tithe from him?
"I will come into him, and I will sup with him, and he with me." Will He find the table prepared when He knocks?