Invitation for Communion

It is traditionally common before momentous occasions like weddings to send out invitations to select people.  It would be nice to invite all family and friends who would enjoy attending an event, but due to space and budget restrictions it is not always feasible.  I am blessed God is not hindered with our limitations, for His invitation for people to come to Him to be forgiven and receive eternal life are given to all.  Like the parables Jesus told when servants were directed to seek out the blind and lame in the street to come to the feast already prepared, so the LORD seeks us out to compel us to draw near to Him in faith for salvation and continual fellowship with Him.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in regards to their observance of the LORD's supper, and this is an ordinance what is commonly called "communion" in Christian  circles.  He critiqued their factions, excesses and carelessness concerning one another.  Instead of the LORD's supper being a stand-alone rite or observance as it can be today, it was incorporated into meals they shared with one another--even as Jesus instituted communion during and after the Passover meal.  Paul said it was wrong some people went away hungry because they lacked bread whilst others were inebriated from wine.  Their observance of communion was a hypocritical display due to the lack of unity and love for one another Jesus modeled that is to mark the lives of every genuine believer.

Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 11:26-29:  "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. ²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."  Some people take this as a prohibition and warning against receiving communion to avoid judgment from God when it is actually the opposite:  it is an invitation to communion with God by repentance of sin.  It would be hypocrisy for professing believers to refuse to receive communion out of fear of judgment of sin by God when Jesus Christ has provided the means of forgiveness and true fellowship with God.  In thinking it is hypocritical to take communion when in sin, it is also hypocritical to refuse to repent when you know you are in sin.  The point is we ought to examine ourselves inside and out.  To the one partaking of the LORD's supper it was not merely bread or wine but symbols that point to the sacrifice of Christ and are partakers of the atonement by faith in Him.

No one is worthy of salvation or to partake of God's Spirit by "clean living," yet by God's grace He has sent Him to fill and regenerate people once dead in sins to new life.  We are unworthy in ourselves, but having been born again we can partake worthily by examining ourselves and seeking to walk in purity even as Jesus is pure.  God invites all people to have fellowship with Him, and receiving communion is a step of faith, obedience and identification with Jesus who was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead glorified.  Even as we eat food daily, self-examination is to be a daily exercise as our eyes are fixed on Jesus:  confession of sin, repentance, choosing to do things that please God according to the scripture, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, and heeding our conscience are disciplines that aid us to walk worthily of Jesus our Saviour who is our Life.