Corinthians: Church Matters (5)

Church Matters: Correcting the Corinthians (5)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 12/7/2014

A university student was seen with a large "K" printed on his T- shirt. When someone asked him what the "K" stood for, he said, "Confused." "But," the questioner replied, "you don't spell "confused" with a "K." The student answered, "You don't know how confused I am."

The church in Corinth could relate. They were about as confused as a chameleon in a bag of Skittles. This congregation wrestled with problems ranging from elitism to eroticism. They struggled with everything from successful marriages to spiritual maturity. As we turn to chapter 11, we find Paul addressing yet another problem in the Corinthian congregation. This problem centered on the way they observed the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a vital part of our worship experience here at the Grove, just as it was in Corinth twenty centuries ago. Communion is a visible representation symbolizing the death of Christ for our sins. It reminds us of Christ’s death and the glorious hope of his return. Our participation in it strengthens our faith through fellowship with Christ and with each other.

But for the Corinthians, communion had lost its meaning. It had been buried beneath a mound of selfishness, drunkenness, and gluttony. And so, Paul devotes the second half of chapter 11 to explaining the scope and significance of the Lord’s Supper as part of our worship.

In order to observe the Lord's Supper as God intended, they first needed to understand the meaning behind it.

• THE MEANING OF COMMUNION

In his book, Fearless, Max Lucado tells of one Sunday morning when he sat in his pew waiting for communion to be served and heard a small boy behind him asking, “What’s that, Daddy?” Max listened as the father explained in hushed tones the meaning of the bread. Then he prayed. The boy was quiet until the cup was passed, then he said again, “What’s that daddy?” His father again explained. Then he prayed.

When Max turned to give him a knowing smile, he realized the dad sitting behind him was David Robinson, NBA basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs. On his lap was his six-year-old son. Less than 24 hours earlier David had led the Spurs in scoring in a playoff game. In 24 hours he’d be doing the same in Phoenix. But sandwiched between nationally televised, high-stakes contests was David, the dad—explaining communion to David, the son.

Like a father with his child in his lap, Paul pauses to explain the meaning of the Lord’s Supper not only to the Corinthians, but to you and me as well. In doing so, Paul pulls back the curtain of history and takes the Corinthians to the evening before Jesus’ crucifixion. He writes:

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.” 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 11:23-25 NLT)

The meaning of the Lord's Supper is so simple, yet so complex. A child understands that the bread represents the broken and beaten body of Christ. A preschooler can see the likeness in the grape juice and the Savior's blood. At the same time, the depths of truth that surround the Lord's Table challenge great minds. How does one comprehend love that dies for the unlovely? How did God wrap himself in human flesh—in a body—in the first place? What is so significant about his death?

Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of Christ” reminded us of just how brutal and bloody Jesus’ death really was. There is an obscure detail in the crucifixion scene that probably goes unnoticed by most people, but it is a detail that says so much. When Jesus is being placed on the cross, the camera zooms in to watch as a large spike is positioned in the middle of Jesus’ hand. Then a mallet comes into focus, and a rugged hand swings it to drive the spike. Those are all things you expect to see.

But there is something you don’t see. You never see the face of the one who drives that nail. You never get a glimpse into the eyes or heart of the one who so assuredly pounds away until the spike has passed through Jesus’ flesh and comes to rest in the wood of the cross.

You might be interested to know that the person who plays that role in the movie is the director himself, Mel Gibson. But why does he never show his face? Why not give us the identity of the one who had the gall to put the Son of God to death? He didn’t show us that face because that face was not just his, but it was ours. We are the ones who put Jesus to death. It wasn’t the Romans. It wasn’t the Jews. It was our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.