Considering Christ and Conscience at Communion

At the Lord's Table, we keep the feast.  But how do we keep it?

First, we look to Christ, the Passover lamb.  We have no other protection from the destroyer, from the consuming wrath of God, than the blood of Jesus.  Under His protection death's dark angel passes by and we are safe.  We trust Jesus to protect us and satisfy God's justice for our sins.

Second, we judge ourselves, as best as we are able.  We are to keep this feast in sincerity and truth.  We resolve to put away all sin from our hearts and lives.  At the same time we know our resolution isn't what preserves us.  Our resolutions are always imperfect, it is Jesus we trust.  We cannot cling to sin stubbornly, or look away and hope it will go away on its own.  We must renounce it and let Jesus kill it.  We do this as best as we are able.  A toddler grows up learning manners at the table over time, and so we learn to judge ourselves over time.  But we don't withhold the food until some artificial point when they have officially learned table manners.  The Passover lamb was for the whole house.  And the children had to learn why that night was different from all others.

Third, we let the Lord purify us through this means of grace.  Jesus is really feeding us with Himself here.  The main work isn't our discernment or our purity of thought or resolution.  The main work is Christ communicating Himself to us, His purity.  We are truly unleavened, because Christ was sacrificed for us.  Receive Christ, your protective covering now.

Receive and rest on Christ alone today.

7/13/14