God at Work

We’ve said many times that this table is not for good people. This table is for sinners; this table is for those who know they need the grace of God. If you are baptized, you are welcomed to this table. It is a free gift of God, something you did not earn by memorizing Bible verses, saying the right answers, or being good. This is what it means to be justified, freely accepted by God only for the sake of Christ. But this table does not leave us alone. It does not leave us in our sins or make us comfortable with them. Sinners cannot come into contact with the God of the universe, who dwells in unapproachable light, and not be changed. And one of two things must happen: you must come in faith believing that God will deal with you, and through the course of your days and weeks, God shows you your sins and you confess them and forsake them completely. Or else, you come in unbelief thinking that you can hide your sins, that God does not see your secret sins. But the life of God is fierce and like opposite forces of a magnet either you must go or your sin. People who continue to clutch at their sins refusing to let them go become hardened and bitter and eventually their sin finds them out. But those who come in faith knowing that they are sinners who need the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they come with joy, knowing that at points it may hurt or be painful, but God is good and merciful and kind. Therefore come, eat and drink and believe that God is dealing with you here, and do not be surprised when he does.