(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
Passover meal.
a. In the Old Testament, God instructed the Jews to eat a meal in remembrance of how He delivered
them from slavery in Egypt.
b. Communion reminds us how Christ has set us free from sin.
2. Certain dates are easily remembered
a. We can easily remember July 4, 1776
--the signing of the Declaration of Independence
b. We can easily remember December 7, 1941
--the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor where over 3,500 servicemen were wounded or killed as a
result of that tragedy.
c. We can easily remember September 11, 2001
--terrorists attacked our nation, killing thousands.
B. In Communion we are remembering the high cost of our salvation.
--We can be free from sin because of the price Jesus paid with His body and His blood.
1. Ps. 34:20 – “he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
--While no bones of Jesus’ body were broken on the cross, His body was broken in many other ways –
His back was broken by the whip; His head with the crown of thorns; His cheeks when they ripped
the beard from His face; His hands when they drove the nails through them; and His side was broken
when they thrust the spear into it.
2. Communion is a time for us to express our love for Jesus Christ and say, “Thank you, Lord, that you
were willing to die for me.”
II. COMMUNION IS AN EXPLANATION
--1 Cor. 11:25-26 – “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.’ For whenever you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
A. Every time we gather at the Lord’s Table we are preaching a sermon that Christ is the Savior of the world
through His death on the cross.
1. Communion is an object lesson.
a. It is a visual sermon.
b. God knew that we retain some of what we hear but we retain much more if we both hear and see.
2. . Last week, we said that baptism is a place where we experience the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus
a. That occurs on a one-time basis
b. The Lord’s Supper is a place where we can re-experience it on a weekly basis
B. In God’s wisdom, He involved all five of the senses when we participate in Communion:
1. We see the emblems of the bread and the juice.
2. We touch the bread and the cup.
3. We taste the bread and the juice.
4. We can smell the bread and the juice; the aroma of the juice can get your attention.
5. We can hear the clink of the trays and the clink of the cups as they are placed back in the trays.
C. We remember Jesus’ death by using all our senses.
--With those senses we are drawn into the meaning of the cross.
1. Jesus could see the post as He started carrying that crossbeam.
--Simon of Cyrene then was forced to carry Jesus’ cross. Jesus could see where He would die
2. Jesus’ hands, feet, and back touched the wood of the cross.
--His shredded body was laid against that pole and then up righted.
3. Jesus tasted the wine-vinegar against His lips.
4. Jesus could smell death all around Him.
--With crucifixion being used by Romans quite often, the stench of death would have been in the air.
5. Jesus could hear the remarks of the passersby as they looked up at the cross and mocked.
--He could hear the cries of His own mother.
6. When God designed the Communion, He made it in such a way that we are completely drawn into it.
III. COMMUNION IS AN EXPECTATION
--1 Cor. 11:26 – “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until
he comes.”
A. We anticipate, by partaking Communion, that one day we will meet Jesus Christ.
--Communion is a time to celebrate our hope
1. Communion looks back to the cross but it also looks forward to the day Jesus will return in all His
glory!
2. We partake, with an attitude of reverence but we should also partake with an attitude of victory.
B. 1 Thess. 4:15-17 – “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who
are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with
the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are
left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever.”
1. We can look around and see some bad things – crime, alcohol and drug consumption, families being
torn apart.
--But, as we come to the Lord’s Table today, we can still be joyous in the midst of a troubled world for
Jesus will one day take us out of this world to a better place in Heaven!
2. Denver Sizemore in his book Thirteen Lessons in Christian Doctrine wrote: “Man builds his
memorials out of the most durable materials he can find. Christ, on the other hand, chose very fragile
and perishable materials. Bread will quickly mold and dry up. Grape juice, left for a short time, will
sour and spoil. This indicates that Jesus did not expect His monument to last because of the substance
of which it was made. Rather He knew that the permanence of His memorial would depend on the
love of God in the hearts of His people.”
IV. COMMUNION IS AN EXAMINATION
--1 Cor. 11:27-34 – “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine
himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without
recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are
weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come
under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be
condemned with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.”
A. A criticism the apostle Paul had for the Corinthian church was the fact they were showing favoritism in
the church services.
1. In the early Church, Communion consisted of a fellowship meal, followed by the actual Communion.
a. In the meal some Christians were being extremely insensitive to others.
b. If you read “between the lines” you can see these people were judging one another instead of
examining their own faults.
--1 Cor. 11:31 – “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”
1). The problem at Corinth is that there were divisions in the church and each of the groups thought of
themselves as superior to the other groups
--they were, therefore, more concerned about the how much better they were than “those other
people”
2). The focus of Communion, in regards to examination, is to be very limited – just yourself and the
Lord
--When done that way, communion is very revealing.
B. Here are some common questions about Communion that should assist us as we each examine our own
life:
1. Who should take Communion?
--Occasionally, some people wonder, “What must I do to take Communion?” Another question is,
“Does the church have restrictions on who can take communion?”
a. The “policy” for our church has been to practice what is called “open” Communion. That means we
do not have a group of Communion “police” telling people they can or cannot take Communion.
--Communion is “open” to those who wish to partake.
b. With that said, there seems to be some Biblical precedent as far as who is supposed to take
Communion.
--From what we can gather from Scripture, Communion is designed for those individuals who have
accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is a memorial to remember what Christ has done for
you.
c. If you’ve not accepted Christ as Savior, then the memorial would not have much significance.
--In the early church, people who accepted Christ as their Savior were people who believed in Him,
turned from their sins, called on His name, and were baptized into Him.
d. Children are often fascinated with the Communion service: “What’s this stuff?” “Why are they
serving a snack?” You can get all kinds of questions … and, that’s great! Since Communion is
designed for people who have accepted Christ as Savior, it is customary to have a child wait until he
or she is baptized to being taking it.
--I can think of two reasons you should have your child wait to take Communion until he or she is
baptized:
1). It provides a teaching opportunity. When your child asks a question about Communion, you
have a great opening to begin talking about spiritual things.
2). Also, it builds a sense of anticipation in the heart of the child. After a child is baptized, he or she
knows they can partake and remember Jesus’ dying for their sins.
2. What does it mean to take Communion in “an unworthy manner”?
a. If we believe that taking in “an unworthy manner” means that “if we have sinned” the week before,
we cannot participate, then none of us ever could.
--We wouldn’t even go to the trouble of preparing Communion every week.
b. If you keep the phrase “in an unworthy manner” in context, I think it can occur in three ways:
1). If you don’t examine yourself, then you feel no need for forgiveness extended to you by Christ’s
death.
--When you examine yourself, you come humbly to the Lord. When you examine yourself you
are less condemning of others.
2). 1 Cor. 11:29 – “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats
drinks judgment on himself.”
--recognizing the body of the Lord manifests itself in two ways:
a. You take in “an unworthy manner” when you do not recognize the Lord’s body – if you don’t
recognize the need for Christ dying for you, you are taking unworthily.
--Your mind has become so preoccupied with self that what Christ did for you no longer
matters.
b. You take in “an unworthy manner” when you do not recognize the Lord’s body
--the church is the body of Christ. When you fail to recognize that we’re all in the same boat –
that we all stand before the Lord as sinners saved by grace – you are taking unworthily
3. Why do we take Communion every week?
a. This probably the most asked question I get about our Communion service.
--And, honestly, there is not a place in the Bible that reads: “Thou must take Communion every
week.”
b. But, one of the things we do as Christians is to look to the example of those who directly inspired by
the Holy Spirit to start the church.
1). Acts 20:7 – “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the
people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”
2) We follow the precedent of weekly Communion, but I promise to not follow the precedent of
talking until midnight – and, everyone said, “Amen!”
c. I think one of the greatest abuses of the Lord’s Supper is neglect.
a. Some Christians go for months without every observing it.
b, And, is once a week too often to remember the One you claim to love?!
CLOSE: A. Rom. 56-8 – “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.”
1. The message of the cross is that even though we are all sinners who consistently fall short of
the glory of God, Christ died for us
2. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation but through our faith in Christ’s sacrifice for us on
the cross, we can receive salvation by grace
B. In Peggy Noonan’s book When Character Was King, she tells about a meeting between
President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. It was their first meeting as
world leaders and Bush wanted to be sure they connected-- that they looked for depth of soul and
character, not simply had a political meeting.
Bush brought up a story he had read about the Russian president. Putin’s mother had given
him a Christian cross that he had had blessed while in Jerusalem. Bush had been touched by the
story.
Putin told a story in response. He had taken to wearing the cross, and one day had set it down
in a house he had been visiting. Strangely, the house had burned down, and all Putin could think
about was that his cross was lost in the rubble.
He motioned for a worker to come to him, so he could ask him to look for the cross. The
worker walked over to Putin, stretched out his hand, and showed him the already recovered cross.
Putin told Bush, “It was as if something meant for me to have the cross,” inferring that he believed
in a higher power. Bush replied, “Mr. Putin, President Putin, that’s what it’s all about—that’s the
story of the cross.”
--The story of the cross is that God intended it just for you.
