If you sat down at a dinner table, what might cause you to get up after a while unsatisfied? There might be nothing on the table, no food to eat. There might be no one else at the table, no fellowship to enjoy. There might be a family tradition passed down for generations that strictly forbids anyone from eating, the food is for display purposes only. Or, there may be no reason to eat because you ruined your appetite with junk an hour earlier.

These may be reasons why the communion Table doesn’t satisfy as well. Working backwards through the list of four above, those who come to a Table of grace full of their own works, who come to a Table of righteousness whose stomachs are full of selfishness, will not be nourished. Not only that, they may be judged by the Lord of the Table for unworthy participation.

Those who come to the communion Table believing that the table is for show, a picture to be seen, not a meal for participation, will not enjoy it. Celebration doesn’t fit their understanding of proper Table dimensions.

Those who come to the communion Table lost in the recesses of individualism will get something, but they won’t get communion; they won’t be sharing anything with the body. They may write about the goodness of fellowship in their journals but they won’t taste it.

And those who come to an empty table are going to some other table than the communion Table. The Lord’s Table is never empty and His portions are never scarce. The Son gave His life for us and all things are ours with Him. God’s grace and love know no bounds and fill up all who come to receive by faith.