Gaining Nutrition

One of the things that coming into the presence of God does is to make us very conscious of who and what we are. If we claim to be Christian but live our life like a pagan, being the presence of God reveals to us our true essence. On the other hand if we claim to be a Christian and live in accordance with that profession, our participation in the things of God reveals that too. We are able with the Psalmist to say, “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness!” (Psalm 7:8).

But what does this mean when we serve a perfect God with a perfect standard of holiness? It means we constantly trust in the provision Christ has made in his death on our behalf. We constantly go to the throne of grace for forgiveness and cleansing. And since we didn’t have a session of confession of sin this evening, this gives us an opportunity to go to God in humility, asking that he would forgive us:

Lord of Glory, we sin in many ways, we particularly ask that you would forgive us the sin of not remembering that we are always in your presence. We forget that you go everywhere we go, that you see everything we do, that you hear everything we say, that you know everything we think. Please forgive us therefore, for our sinful actions, our careless words, our wandering thoughts. Please forgive us for forgetting all the wonderful graces you give us and cleanse us by the blood of the Lamb. Amen.

When we have confessed our sins it is important to remember that when God forgives sin, he not only forgets our sin, because of Jesus’ death, he also gives us new life because of Christ’s resurrection. The Bible says that we died in him, and now because he rose from the dead, we also live in him.

But how should we live? The Book tells us to let love be sincere, to abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. It tells us to honor one another and to love one another. It tells us not to be lazy, but to be set on fire by the spirit of God. How is this possible? By offering ourselves as living sacrifices, by giving ourselves on the mercy of God and by remembering and rejoicing in the fact that he lives in us and through us to do his good will.

This supper that we are going to share in a moment was given to us as a means of gaining the necessary nutrition to live holy lives in the presence of God. Because you have been baptized, you belong to Christ. Because you belong to Christ, I call you, as a minister of the good news of Christ to come and eat. Taste that the Lord is good. Come and eat. Let the God of glory live in you as you love him by loving your brothers and sisters, your parents and children, and your neighbors and enemies.