What About Communion? Series

(taken from a message by Paul Snoddy)

SERIES: “IMPORTANT QUESTIONS”

TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34

TITLE: “WHAT ABOUT COMMUNION?”

OPEN: A. A little girl asked her mother one Sunday morning as she was preparing lunch, “Mommy, why

do you cut off the ends of the ham before you cook it?” The girl’s mother turned and looked at her

and said, “Oh, sweetie, I’m not really sure why, but I suppose you cut the ends off of the meat so

that the meat can better absorb the juices and spices and make it more tender. Maybe you’d better

ask Grandma since she was the one I learned it from. She always did it that way.”

The little girl called her grandmother later that day on the phone and asked her the same

question, “Grandma, why do you cut the ends off of the ham before you cook it?” The little girl’s

grandmother responded, “Oh, sweetie, I’m not really sure. I think it is so that the juices will be

absorbed better. Call your Nana. She is who I learned it from.”

The little girl began to get a bit frustrated with the whole idea, but decided to call her great-

grandmother anyway. “Nana, mom was preparing lunch the other day and she cut the ends off of

the ham before she cooked it. I asked her why and she said that she did it because the juices would

absorb better, making it more tender. She told me to ask Grandma to make sure since she learned it

from her. Well, I called Grandma and she said the same thing about the juices and all, but that she

learned it from you and I should ask you. Nana, why do you cut the ends off of the ham before you

cook it?”

There was a pregnant pause in the conversation and then the little girl heard what sounded like

muffled laughter coming from the other end of the line. “What’s so funny, Nana?” “Oh, sweetie, I

cut the ends off of the ham before I cooked it because my pan was too small!”

1. Many times, we end up doing things for the wrong reasons because no one ever stopped to ask

why.

2. We have developed habits and traditions sometimes based on nothing more than false

information.

3. The church at Corinth was having a multitude of problems

a. This multitude of problems showed itself severely in how they partook of the Lord’s Supper

b. 1 Cor. 11:17-22 – “ In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do

more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church,

there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be

differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. When you come together,

it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for

anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and

drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What

shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!”

B. What communion is not:

1. Communion is not your weekly dose of salvation.

a. Some Christians have the mistaken idea that the reason we take Communion every week is so

we can keep our salvation for another week.

--It’s like “filling up the tank.”

b. While Communion can be a source of encouragement for you, it is not your salvation

renewal.

2. Communion is not literally eating the flesh and the blood of Christ.

a. There is an old teaching that says when you eat the bread and drink the juice they would turn

literally into the flesh and blood of Jesus in your body.

b. We believe the emblems of Communion – bread and juice – are only symbolic.

C. So what about communion?

--Let’s look at four aspects of the Lord’s Supper directly from this passage of Scripture and see if

our practice lines up with what the New Testament describes

I. COMMUNION IS AN EXPRESSION

--1 Cor. 11:23-24 – “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night

he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which

is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’”

A. When we partake in communion, we’re expressing our love for Jesus Christ

--It’s a way that we can say to Jesus: “We love you and we remember what you did for us

1. When Jesus first instituted the Lord’s Supper or Communion, He did it at the time of the Jewish