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Communion meditation for October 12:
We all know that Paul teaches that the Supper tests and manifests what is on the heart. Some the Corinthians were weak and sick, Paul said, and some had fallen asleep because they took the Supper wrongly.
But this idea did not originate with Paul. All through the gospel of Luke, meals are occasions when the deep desires of the heart are made manifest. When Jesus eats and drinks with sinners, the Pharisees and scribes prove themselves to be harsh and judgmental. When Jesus eats at Simon's house, the meal reveals Simon's doubts about Jesus' prophetic status, and that same meal also reveals the deep devotion of the sinful woman. At the end of our sermon text, the meal at the home of Mary and Martha reveals the hearts of both sisters: it reveals that Martha does not really practice hospitality, and that Mary's attention to Jesus is the true measure of hospitality.
Whenever we eat and drink in the presence of Jesus, the same thing is true. This table reveals and exposes the heart. Are our hearts distracted with many things, are our distracted even by the preparations necessary to celebrate this meal? If so, we have lost the one thing needful: Which is to receive these gifts from the Lord of the banquet, and to give Him our full attention and devotion.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, October 12, 2003 at 08:09 AM
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