Ethical Implications of the Lord's Table

The Lord's Table is an open Table, but it also has ethical implications. Read closely 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 and you'll discern that something ethical is under consideration -- that is, the way treat each other in daily life is related to how we gather at the Lord's Table.

Having quoted from Clark Williamson in my previous post on the Lord's Supper, I return to him once more. Clark notes 2 specific ethical implications, which I'd like to highlight.

1. [P]eople may not be barred from participating in the Lord's supper because they are members of the wrong race, age, class, ethnic group, or denomination, or have the wrong sexual orientation. In the Lord's supper we share in God's gracious gift to us and practice the open hospitality of Jesus, welcoming the stranger. It is self-contradictory to allow such forms of discrimination to rule our social, political, and economic arrangements in "the world" or in the church.

This speaks clearly to the openness of the table and its influence on how we live together in society. If we're one at the table, then surely we're one in every other area of life.

2. [W]e cannot be content with "spiritually" feeding the hunger of the soul, while allowing people to suffer from physical hunger, as though such hunger were not itself deeply spiritual. We must not forget that a major feature of Jesus' ministry was feeding the hungry, and that our earliest testimony to the eucharist shows that it was not a symbolic supper but the "full meal deal." We who celebrate the breaking of bread must see to feeding the hungry.

In this Clark makes the point that there is no spiritual/physical distinction made here, as if the faith celebrated at the Table is spiritual only and doesn't have physical dimensions. We're physical bodies after all. Feeding the hungry and caring for the poor is a direct implication of sharing in Jesus' table fellowship.

Reference:

Clark Williamson, Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology, Chalice Press, 1999, p. 289.