Have you ever invited someone over to your house? Most of us have either invited someone into our homes for supper.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace; Foul, I to the Fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die. -Rock of Ages, Augustus Toplady, 1763
Have you ever invited someone over to your house? Most of us have either invited someone into our homes for supper. Or, you’ve likely been invited to share a meal by a kind friend around their dinner table. Whenever you’re invited to someone’s home there’s a certain dinner guest etiquette that we all tend to follow. It goes like this: “Thanks for the invitation. What can I bring,” You ask?
Your friend will usually respond by telling you what they’re preparing and ask you to bring a complementary side dish or a bottle of wine.
“We’re having lasagna. Why don’t you bring a nice merlot?” We’re having a backyard cookout. Why don’t you bring a dessert?
But, imagine you invite someone to your table who is weary- someone who you know has had a rough week- someone who is frazzled and burned out. When they accept your invitation to come, what will you ask them to bring?
If you’re a good friend, of course, you’ll insist that they bring nothing but an empty belly and their hunger. In fact, you’d probably reply, “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t need to bring anything! Just come and enjoy the feast that we’re going to spread for you!”
Our Lord’s Supper is just exactly like that. It is not a potluck. It is not a good meal made great by your own contribution. Rather, it is a feast made great by the Lord Himself.
We are weary. We are bankrupt. We are heavy laden. We come to His table to enjoy the bounty that he’s spread before us. We come to rest. We come to enjoy His good gift of Himself to us.
Repent of believing that you can come to the Lord’s Supper with any dishes of your own merit. Come to the Table with only the knowledge that your belly is empty.
“Come, everyone who thirsts,come to the waters;and he who has no money,come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” -sIsaiah 55:1
