As you know, this is a table of fellowship, a communion table, and this means that it is a weekly communion with Christ and His saints through the bread and wine by the power of His Spirit. But remember that Judas was at the first communion table and what he was doing was not Christian fellowship, and there have been plenty of sons and daughters of Judas at communion tables ever since.
But Judas doesn’t happen out of nowhere. Being a hypocrite is not some kind of mystical secret. Hypocrisy manifests itself in rotten fruit. Jesus said that we can know someone by their fruit, and most importantly, we can know ourselves. Bramble bushes cannot produce real spiritual fruit. The gospels tell us that Judas had been skimming off the top of the offering box for a while when he decided to betray Jesus. Any kind of honest appraisal of Judas’s life could reveal the hypocrisy. Stealing is kind of a big deal. And it’s right out there in the open.
So what does that look like? It’s routinely speaking harshly to your wife and kids and defending it, calling it manly, or harping on your husband and kids and calling it concern, or bad mouthing the boss, or taking advantage of your boss and justifying it because he’s been strict or harsh, or letting your eyes and mind lust because you’re just human. It’s defending your sin, justifying your sin, clutching your sin. But you cannot have that sin and this table. What fellowship does light have with darkness?
And the point is not that sinners cannot be forgiven or welcome here. The point is that unrepentant sinners are being hypocrites by coming here. This is a table of fellowship and communion. This is a table for sinners – there are only sinners here – but it is a table for repentant sinners, for sinners who are running from their sin to Jesus their Savior. If that is you, then you are most welcome. And we don’t care if your sin was hounding you all the way to the door this morning.
If you know you need mercy, then come. If you know you need grace, then come. If you know you are dirty, then come. If you know you are weak, then come. If the thought of having some unconfessed sin makes you sick, come. If you know you have something you need to make right, then determine before God right now that you will go make it right as soon as you can, and come, this table is for you.
So Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Linh Nguyen on Unsplash
Leave a Reply