"Font and Table"

  

"When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at table. . . and he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' "

 

            This is the Communion Table. Some Christian traditions call it an altar, but the Covenant Church has consistently called it a table. There are a number of options for wording in the Communion Service in our Book of Worship, but the language of "table" is consistent:

            "Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! Many will come from east and west and from north and south and sit at table in the Kingdom of God. This is the Lord's Table."

            "Come to this sacred table, not because you must but because you may. . ."

            "As we prepare to come to the Lord's Table, we reflect on our reasons for thanksgiving and faith. . ."

            "This is the Lord's Table. It is Jesus himself who invites you to his meal. The table is open to all who believe and have professed faith in Jesus Christ."

            This is the Lord's Table and here we share in the Lord's Supper. It is a simple table made of wood. It is moveable and can be used to hold other things besides the Communion elements. When we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we place a simple white cloth on it, which is a symbol of the Resurrection, reminding us of the grave clothes of Jesus which were laid aside by his rising and form part of the evidence for his Resurrection.

            There are churches in different Christian traditions that use the language of "altar." They trace their understanding of this piece of furniture back to the Old Testament and the altar in the temple and tabernacle, which was a place of sacrifice and offering. An altar is the place where the offering is laid, and usually there is a priest who stands between the people and the offering as a mediator. The altar is a symbol of Christ, it is often made of stone, and can be placed next to a wall or it can be free-standing. The language is that of sacrifice, which is ongoing. The altar cannot be moved and it is only used to consecrate and distribute the elements.

            In Protestant churches from the Reformed, Baptist and Congregational backgrounds, including our church, it is not referred to as an altar because our tradition does not see the communion as sacrificial. The death of Jesus on the cross was the last sacrifice. Our church tradition speaks of believers gathered around a table. This is drawn from the Gospels, which describe Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper just before he went to the cross. In the New Testament the Communion service is always referred to as the Lord's Supper. In the early church it was part of a larger fellowship meal, and that is what Paul refers to in I Corinthians 11 when he says that some go ahead and eat and even get drunk and others go hungry.

When we celebrate the Lord's Supper we gather around the table. In an older Covenant Book of Worship this statement is made: "The officiating minister should stand behind the communion table, facing the congregation. His position is that of one who serves at a table and not of one who approaches an altar on behalf of people."

            The symbolism that we use in our church is very plain and simple. We gather at the table to have a supper with the Lord Jesus, who is present. When Kathy's parents still owned the farm in Kansas, the kitchen table was the gathering place. It was a place of welcome, of feeling part of the family, of informal conversation, of joyful sharing. That is the feeling we get at the Lord's Table.

Glen Wiberg would talk of Communion being celebrated with "solemn joy." It is a time of remembering the death of Jesus, and of experiencing his real presence together. It is a time of giving thanks. We receive the bread and cup with a sense of awe and also humility, never in a prideful manner. We proclaim his death until he comes. The communion speaks of our hope, our longing for the Kingdom of God, our assurance of eternal life. It is a joyful time, but not self-exalting. It is a celebration, but not a private party. It is a time for much grace, but not drunkenness. It is a time of remembrance, but not nostalgia. It is a time of longing for the heavenly banquet, but never demanding God's favor.

            Covenant Pastor C. Milton Strom wrote, "The fellowship of redeemed people is collected into its most meaningful form when they sit down around the communion table. The communion table is the place where every believer recommits himself to God as he again deliberately opens his soul to the presence of the living Christ."

            In I Corinthians 11, Paul writes that the services of communion that the church was having were not the Lord's Supper. Instead, they were nothing but "private meals." The rich went ahead on their time schedule and feasted with one another, while the poor were left out. They were simply acting like all rich people acted in that day. They saw no problem in what they were doing. The rich ate until they were over-full, even drunk, while others were excluded. Paul says that is not the Lord's Table.

            We do not eat a full meal in our observance of the Lord's Supper, but we say very clearly that all believers are welcome at this table. Eating together at this table is what shapes our relationships with each other. Because we are all welcome here, we are also all welcome at the picnic today. We are all welcome in each other's homes. When the students come from Alaska Christian College in a few weeks, we welcome them into our homes overnight and to sit at our tables, because we have been welcomed at this table today.

            But does this table really shape our relationships with each other? To answer that we have to move to the last piece of sacred furniture, the baptismal font. Baptism is commanded of us by Christ as a part of discipleship. In our church practice that can be both for believers when they remember their conversion to faith in Christ, or for infants in anticipation of personal faith. The font, a simple bowl, holds the water for baptism, and speaks of the washing of our sins through faith in the cross of Jesus. The font is a reminder of our sin, we need to be washed, cleansed. Without the font in the church, we might be tempted to think too highly of ourselves. We remember the baptism of Jesus in the muddy Jordan River. We use clean water, but there was nothing clean about the water at Jesus' baptism. The muddy water represented the sins of humanity, now taken on by Jesus in his death.

            Glenn Palmberg wrote, "As Jesus emerges from these dirty waters of the Jordan River, God declares his approval, and he identifies Jesus as his Son. It is significant that the identification of Jesus as the Son of God was not after one of his mighty acts, or one of his miracles, but it was after his identification with us sinners. That is when God declares and affirms him as his son."

            Then he goes on to say that during the 17^th Century, after a peasant child was baptized they would change the water before it could be used to baptize a child of the nobility. He continues, "At one point in German Pietism, the Pietists resisted the pressure and refused to change the water in the baptismal font between the baptism of the children of peasants and the baptism of the children of nobility, because all are equal at the font. The water made dirty by human sin is the same for all."

            So the font and table both speak of our equality, we are sinners. We have been saved by grace. It is good for us to remember the message that they speak.

            The cross – in Christ there is full and complete atonement. Christ is strong to save us.

            The pulpit – The word of God proclaimed is effective in our lives to teach, correct, rebuke and train us in righteousness.

            The Table – we are gathered around this tale to remember and to receive grace, for Jesus is present with us.

            The font – we are washed and cleansed of sin, and set on the path to discipleship.

            Amen.