There You Are, On the Table

Each week when we come to this Table, we are not only celebrating and remembering our communion with Christ, but also our communion with one one another in Christ.

This is why when the Apostle Paul instructs the Corinthians with regards to this sacrament, the whole thrust of his exhortation is focused on maintaining unity in the body. The divisions and factions in the church at Corinth were being manifested at this Table, communicating the exact opposite of what all this means. And so he charges them to examine themselves before partaking and to discern the Lord’s body—the church—rightly. 

There was a simple practice in the early Church that symbolized this reality. Each member would bring a small loaf of bread and a flask of wine to the service, and the deacons would collect these gifts and spread them out on the Table, with the wine all poured into one cup. In this, they were communicating that the whole congregation has been consecrated together in Christ. They were acting out what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). Or as St Augustine memorably put it, “There you are, on the table; there you are, in the cup.” 

Just as one loaf of bread is made up of many grains of wheat, so too is the one Body of Christ made up of many living saints, both here on earth and in heaven. Therefore, as you receive this bread and wine, do it with love for Christ and love for one another. Do it with your eyes open, discerning the Body surrounding you. 

And come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.