Often the attendants at the Lord’s table meeting do not come on time. At the start of the meeting, perhaps only onethird of the attendants are there; then gradually some more come. It may be twenty or thirty minutes later that all the saints have gradually come. This spoils the meeting very much. Suppose that five persons play in a basketball game. The first one comes to play by himself. Later another one comes, and after five minutes or more the third, fourth, and fifth ones come. What kind of game would that be? Suppose again that someone invites twenty people to attend a feast. First eight come, then six more, and then gradually the rest come. The food will be spoiled by that time.
We put so much stress on the Lord’s table meeting because it is very important and means very much for the church life. In order for the church to be strong, we must have a proper meeting for the Lord’s table. Therefore, we have to endeavor by the Lord’s grace to start the table meeting with all the members present. We should have a feeling of shame whenever we come late to the Lord’s table. It is a real shame to come late. If someone invites me to attend his feast and I am the last one to come, I would feel shameful. We are invited by the Lord to His table, so we have to come on time. If we all come on time, the meeting will be very much strengthened.
Sometimes, the way we seat ourselves in the Lord’s table meeting is too poor. At times there are many people on one side of the room and empty seats on the other, without any balance. It is hard for those who sit in the corner to hear the meeting. We all should learn how to seat ourselves when we come to the meeting. If we are the first ones to come to the meeting, we should sit in the front, a section at a time. Those that come next should fill in the second rows, and those who come afterward can fill the remaining rows. To fill the seats in a proper order truly strengthens the meeting. When we arrive in the meeting, we should look at the situation and know where to sit. This is why we ask some brothers to be ushers.
We all love the church, and we love the Lord. In order to have a proper church life, we must learn to care for these practical matters, even though they are small.
Third, we must learn to speak audibly in the meeting. When we pray, we have to exercise both our spirit and our voice so that others may hear. We need to take care of others’ ears. To announce a hymn weakly, for example, damages, kills, and quenches the meeting. When we announce a hymn, we have to announce it loudly and properly.
We should learn the above small matters so that the Lord’s table meeting will not have weaknesses. All the attendants should come on time; it is good even to come five minutes before the scheduled time. Then we should learn to seat ourselves in a proper way and pray and speak in a way that everyone can hear. These matters will help the meeting very much.
Even if the brothers and sisters come to the Lord’s table meeting on time and seat themselves properly, they may still not be ready in their spirit. If there is not much exercise of the spirit, if the spirit of all the attendants is dormant, we can all sense it.
The shortcomings in the table meeting are due to the silence of those who should be bearing the responsibility. At times, the sisters function too much because the brothers are late or “buried” when they come. If the brothers are “buried,” it is hard for them to care for the weaker ones. In this case, the weaker ones come in to take their place. This is the fault not of those who function incorrectly but of those who do nothing, who do not bear the responsibility for the meeting. If those brothers who should bear the responsibility do not do their duty, that becomes the weak point of the meeting. They should not complain about those who function wrongly. The two feet have to function, but if the feet do not function, the two ears will take the responsibility to walk. This creates a problem.
The biggest mistake in the Lord’s table meeting may be that many who should share the responsibility do not do their job; they just “retire.” Because too many retire, the wrong functioning comes out. If certain ones retire from their responsibility, we must then exercise our spirit to rescue the meeting, to bring the meeting back from being lost. We all need to learn, to be trained, and to practice these things.
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