The Lord’s Table is a powerful opportunity to examine ourselves in a way that moves us towards repentance and confession—and ultimately into greater spiritual transformation and infilling of the Spirit. As we come to the Table, we find ourselves centered again.
This post is part of a blog series called This Is the Lord’s Table, exploring how the practice and discipline of communion is not just a church ritual or tradition. It is also a quiet act of resistance and transformation that recenters us in a chaotic and noisy world. The Lord’s Table radically realigns us to the Kingdom of God and reconciles us back to the heart of the Father. So far in this series, we have discussed how the Lord’s Table serves as a sacred pause for Examination, a Path to a Victorious Life, and a Promise of Trust.
When we practice the Lord’s Table, we surrender ourselves more fully to the work of the Holy Spirit and take part in a discipling act. This reflection focuses on how the Lord’s Table helps gather our scattered thoughts and center our distracted hearts—bringing both personal and communal alignment with Jesus.
The Table is the Center of the Scattered
Throughout the week, we are scattered into the places we live, work, worship, and play. In the swirl of busyness, chaos, and anxiety, we often find life undermining our sense of joy and identity. But when we gather at the Lord’s Table, something sacred happens: the scattered are gathered. Our distracted minds are centered again on the person of Christ and the redemptive work of the cross. We are realigned (both individually and as a community) for the week ahead. As we sit at the Table, we not only remember what Jesus has done for us, but we also recognize the burdens, wounds, and stories of those sitting beside us, and we stand in solidarity with them. The Lord’s Table shapes our hearts with Christ’s sacrificial compassion toward one another. And beyond our small gathering, we are reminded that the Church is much larger than our community—it is scattered across the globe. The Lord’s Table unites us with believers everywhere and reminds us of our shared calling to be the hands and feet of Christ in a world longing to be made whole.
From Full Bellies to Searching Hearts: A Call to Believe and Reflect at the Table
In one of Jesus’ most well-known miracles—the feeding of the crowds—it was only after their bellies were full that Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). This morning, we have probably come looking for Jesus for a bunch of reasons – some humble and some self-seeking. The Lord’s Table is a time of reflection.
Jesus then gives them a powerful challenge, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval” (John 6:27). At the Lord’s Table, we are reminded to fix our eyes on Jesus, not because of what he can do for us, but because he is the chosen one that God has placed his seal of approval on.
Missing the point of what Jesus was saying, those around ask about what works they must do, and Jesus replies simply, “…believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). There are some areas in our lives where we are constantly striving to survive, and other times, we are striving to try to earn God’s approval, affirmation, or favor. At the Lord’s Table, we are reminded to stop striving and that the only thing we can and must do, is believe. The Lord’s Table reminds us to trust the one we believe in.
Give Us This Bread: Remembering What Jesus Has Already Proven
Though Jesus had already fed their hunger, the crowd still demanded a sign to prove his authority. Though their scattered minds found themselves centered around his divinity, they wanted more. We do this too—asking God to show up again and again to reassure us. On those hillsides, Jesus was enough, but they wanted more. Jesus reminds them that in the wilderness, a place like they had just been in, God once gave their ancestors, the Wandering Israelites, “bread from heaven to eat” (John 6:31). Jesus reminds them that God did the miracle, not Moses; it was God proving himself, not Moses. However, in their situation, it was Jesus who just proved himself by being the one who did the miracle; he was God. He goes one step further and declares himself to be sustaining like manna and bread, “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (John 6:33). They excitedly cry out, “Give us this bread!” At the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that Jesus has already proven himself in the past, both in the scriptures, on the cross, and in our own lives. We become beggars at the table of heaven, declaring with other beggars that have found this same bread, “Give us this bread,” because we know the transformative power of what Jesus offers.
Jesus reminds them and us, “I am the bread of life..I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51). At the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that Jesus calls us to remember his victorious life and death, so that we can begin living into that restored state here and now, as we also look forward to the hope of the restoration that is yet to come.
A Mysterious Meal: Communion as Transformation and Community
In that story, Jesus also tells them, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (John 6:53-57). The disciples say, for good reason, that this teaching is hard to understand. At the Lord’s Table, we are reminded that there is something mysterious about this Spirit-filled act that brings about greater transformation in our lives – keeping us sustained in Jesus, keeping His presence in us, and pushing back on the carnal nature warring for primacy in our souls.
This miracle and teaching set the stage for what Jesus would do at the Last Supper, where our practice of the Lord’s Table comes from.
For these reasons, we do not take the Lord’s Table lightly “in an unworthy manner” (1 Corinthians 11:27). For this reason, at the start of this practice, we “examine [ourselves] before [we] eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). We also don’t take it alone. Jesus shared this practice with others, teaching and starting it in community. Paul reminds us to do it together whenever we gather to eat as the church. The early church saw it as a family meal—with brothers and sisters at the table and Jesus as the head—every time they came together.
At the Lord’s Table, a moment to pause and examine your heart. Reflect through confession. Usher forgiveness and accept God’s. Then pray for the church and one another with love. Find yourself centered on Christ’s work on the cross and be moved for sacrificial love for the confessional community of Jesus followers you are invested in.
Why We Come to the Table: Remembering in a Scattered World
On the night he was betrayed, when everything seemed to be falling apart and his followers would soon be scattered, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). Even in the moment of betrayal and looming separation, Jesus invited his disciples—and us—into remembrance. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26). As we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. In a world that scatters us in every direction, this act of communion re-centers us in the sacrifice of Jesus and realigns us with the way of life he calls us to—together.
This is why we come to the Table—not out of ritual or routine, but because we, too, are scattered. Our lives are pulled in different directions by stress, responsibilities, doubts, and distractions. Yet, when we gather as the church, the Lord’s Table becomes a sacred pause. It calls us back to what matters most. We share in the bread and the cup to remember Jesus—his body given for us, his blood poured out for us—and to proclaim his death and resurrection as our hope. This is why we do it: to be centered again in Christ, to be reconnected with one another, and to be reminded that we belong to a Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, that is greater than anything that divides or distracts us.
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
I’m Jeff McLain, a pastor and writer learning to follow Jesus in a quieter, slower way. This blog is where I reflect on faith, simplicity, and life on the margins. Explore more on the Resources page, browse past posts in the Archives, and stay up to date by signing up for my free email newsletter. If you’d like to connect, give the Lead a Quiet Life blog a follow on Facebook. You can also reach me at jeffmclain.com, where I share more reflections—including posts on the Lord’s Prayer, which is the focus of my doctoral work.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In