God’s Loyalty

This is a family meal. Here we meet with Jesus. Here we meet with God our Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit. But that means that this is a covenantal meal. When you eat together, you are sharing peace, you offering, extending, and affirming love and commitment to one another. Or another way to say it is that when we eat and drink together, we are promising loyalty to one another. And this loyalty is deeper than all other loyalties. Jesus says that unless we love Him more than father and mother, more than son or daughter, we are not worthy of Him.

But in the first place, this table is God’s promise of loyalty to you through the shed blood and broken body of His Son, it is where He continues to promise you His Spirit, which is the guarantee of your inheritance. We are all traitors. There are no sinless, covenant keepers in this room. But this table isn’t for the sinless; it’s for the sinful. This table is not for the together; it’s for the broken. It’s not for the wise; it’s for the foolish. It’s not for the proud; it’s for the humble. This is God’s oath, His promise to you that He will never leave you or forsake you. He will always hear you when you pray. He is quicker to forgiven than you are to ask.

And so our loyalty to Him and to one another is just a response to that. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Love as you have been loved. These are your people. This is your family. Do not look longingly elsewhere. Do not lust and covet another family, the approval of others. Here is where your Father feeds you. Here is where your Father assures you of His love. Do not fear that you are missing something. Do not be afraid that there is something else out there. Here you find love and joy and peace without end.