Reclining with the Whole Church

In our sermon text this morning, Jesus said, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is talking, of course, about the great “Wedding Supper of the Lamb” (as the Apostle John calls it) which will happen at the last day, and the Feast we are about to eat here on the Day of Yahweh is a foretaste of the Supper of that Great Day. There are about a hundred different ways we could tie this into the Lord’s table, but I want to focus on two quick things for us to remember as we come to the table this morning.

First, notice the posture that Jesus anticipates—”They will recline at table”. The Lord’s Supper is a place of rest and relaxation for us—we are called into the Lord’s presence and almost immediately we fall to our knees to confess our sins, then we rise from our knees and from the dead to hear the Lord declare that he has forgiven our sins. Then we stand to sing his praise, and to hear his Word as he cuts us to pieces, transforming and glorifying us, fitting us for fellowship with him. We stand as the Lord’s Host as he gives us our marching orders. Then, having been cleansed in the purification and transformed as we ascended into the Heavenly Holy of Holies, now we enter into our rest: a feast with God, and fellowship with him. He declares in this meal that he is at peace with us, by inviting us to recline at table with him. When we come to this part, we are not acting as his servants, we are acting as his guests, his friends, his bride. And so we sit with him, rejoicing in his kindness. The worship service moves from tension to rest, from confessing to feasting, from kneeling to standing to reclining.

Second, notice who is at the feast: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is important for us to remember. We make a great deal of the local congregation, and rightly so. This body is the context in which we work out our salvation. But let us not forget where this feast is taking place: not ultimately in the gymnasium owned by a Seventh Day Adventist church on 127^th St. East in Wichita, but in Heaven. And we are not only together with the Lord as the congregation of Trinity Covenant Church, but the rest of the church, here in Wichita and all over the world is here, too, and all the Saints throughout history are united in the Holy Spirit and are feasting at this table. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Job, Peter, James, and John, David, and also Polycarp, and Athanasius, and Irenaeus, and Calvin, too—not only these well known folks, but also every unknown faithful saint throughout the history of the church are in his presence as well. So let us remember the church, and discern the body of Christ, and rejoice to be graciously invited to this great feast.

This is the Lord’s Table…