“EVERYONE OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY EAT OF THE BREAD AND DRINK FROM THE CUP.” —1 CORINTHIANS 11:28 (NIV)
An ancient covenant of hospitality in the Middle East decrees that if a stranger or foreigner comes across the door of your house, you are obligated to provide them with hospitality.
But hospitality in the Middle East is not just giving someone tea and holiday cookies. It means you are obliged to meet whatever pressing needs they have at the moment. If they need food or clothing, you provide them with it. Even more seriously, if their enemies are trying to attack them, you fight and, if necessary, die, protecting them. The covenant of hospitality is a very serious one. In the book of Hebrews, we are told: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without
knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2, NIV).
The author may have been referring to Abraham because he had three guests show up one day (Genesis 18). They came through the door of his tent, and the covenant of hospitality kicked in. Abraham had his wife, Sarah, baking bread and servants killing and cooking a calf.
But it wasn’t three men who showed up. It was two angels and the third one, Bible scholars believe, was the Lord. Something intense and profound happened that day as God made a promise and a covenant with Abraham.
God has a covenant with us, and it is also very serious. We acknowledge this covenant every time we take communion. And just as the human covenant of hospitality is not taken lightly, neither should we take lightly the God-given covenant we celebrate through communion.
Paul tells us just how serious communion is for us in 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, where he writes: “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many are dead.”
This is not something to take carelessly!
When we became believers, we crossed the threshold of heaven. We are in the family of God. Communion is God’s hospitality toward us. He shares His Son and through the death, burial, and resurrection, meets our deepest and most pressing needs. Next time you prepare to take communion, spend a few minutes deeply appreciating the seriousness of the covenant and thanking God for His profound hospitality.
