Where are the chairs?
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
This morning I expanded to include a few more lines of scripture than I gave to Dorothy.
I am guessing that having more scripture instead of less is not a problem. That doesn’t make the reading of scripture to be too long or anything does it?
I guess it is pretty obvious that we will be celebrating Holy Communion this morning. I don’t know about you but, communion has always been full of uncomfortable mysteries for me. I grew up Methodist and United Methodist. I have been around the traditions and rituals of our church since birth.
I was trying to dig back in this head full of trivia and grab some images or memories perhaps even a taste of communion as a child. I am sure that we used the little cups and the little crackers.
I do seem to recall that I was left in the pew when my parents received communion. I guess I get all the way up to middle school and High School before I have any clear direct recollections. But even then, I recall saying no when my parents asked if I wanted to go forward.
It took all afternoon yesterday, but I think I finally recall why. It had a lot to do with this scripture. I am sure that my pastor made other comments that got my attention as well.
But, I am sure that one of the reason’s I resisted going forward to receive communion was because I actually listened to the words of this reading.
Now in Paul’s day the Lord’s Supper was a supper a group meal. And it seems to have happened whenever the church gathered for worship. They came as a fellowship for dinner and worship or teaching.
From this description and the description elsewhere in the New Testament it sounds like a normal process.
That tells me that I must be spiritually sound in my love of a good fellowship supper.
In this church we set aside a special time for a group meal and dinner starts at that time giving everyone a chance to arrive. Different people bring their specialties, deserts, boxes of chicken . It is a real tough time to hang around the fellowship hall and wait for 7 o’clock to arrive.
In our scripture this morning, Paul sounds serious doesn’t he?
Perhaps upset or even angry.
“I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm that good.”
Whoa, what has he heard, who has been slipping him information?
How bad could it be really?
Let’s think about a few basic points, like who are members of the church?
Do they let wealthy people in the church back then? Of course they do.
How about merchants and trades people? No problem
What about day labors and delivery people? Well, yes
What about slaves? Ok
I think that is the reason Paul uses that description in Galatians 3:28 is because his understanding of a church body is a place of equality. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
In Paul’s day equality between people was not the norm. Slaves had noting, not even basic human rights. They were property. Women in general were just about as bad off. But the church that developed after Jesus Christ returned to be with the father was supposed to understand and be different that the rest of the world.
When people came together and still lived and acted as if there was a class difference…a priority difference, Paul was disappointed. And evidentially he was passionate enough to get angry at the shortsighted view of some of the people.
Who had the best opportunities to leave work early?
Who has the resources to bring best stuff, the good wine, the freshest bread and meats?
Probably, the people that had slaves to do all the work. People that has servants and workers to Handel the details.
So who would me most likely to arrive later in the evening? The day laborers and slaves. The poorer women.
Paul’s anger seems to rise from the point that they were gathering “as the church” and the real life differences that existed between church members were supposed to disappear.
At least in this one place in a weary and hard world, the playing field was leveled.
He is not worrying about differences in gifts and abilities; he was worried about how the people treated each other.
Not in the face to face sense but in how you act to ward them when they were not present.
Sharing between haves and have-not’s should at least happen within the church community even when the secular world could care less.
He is very subset that so few people were worried about the situation and he was not about to offer any kind of praise to a church that lived like the world.
The meal that became our celebration of Holy Communion started in the book of Exodus.
Jesus modifies the centuries old liturgy used to celebrate the saving grace of God in getting the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt.
Moses had instructed to people to take the meal as if they would have to run of the house at any moment. They were to roast the lamb and consume as much as possible before midnight and burn the rest. The bread with the meal was not to be give time to rise. They were to eat the meal standing up with their walking stick in their hand.
Jesus takes this special meal and marks a new kind of salvation.
Salvation from sin.
Again it was by the direct action of God that the object of God’s love and attention would be granted.
That modified meaning has passed through 2000 years with very few changes. Paul describes the wording that Jesus used in the upper room.
I believe that is point is that the celebration of the Lord’s supper is the reminder that we are all the same as we come into the presence of God.
Our social position or our wealth or even our holiness becomes insignificant in the presence of God. The vertical distance between any two people and God is not even measurable….our conditions are closer to the same that we like to imagine.
Then Paul makes the statement that strikes a discord in my soul.
Paul says in Verse 27-29, “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.”
I know that I am not alone in hearing this teaching and having a little worry about my spiritual condition bother me. I know because I know people that refuse to go to the Lord’s table. Not many mind you, but that is their privilege. That is their response to scripture. They evaluate themselves and decide that they are unworthy.
How many times have I heard it said that we can’t take communion if we are unworthy?
I had a brother named Ed. He was a much older spiritual brother in Jesus Christ.
He was a man that said what he thought and he might even say to someone, “If that’s what you think you’re going to hell.’ An that was to his brother in a Bible study class.
Whenever we had communion he would just stay seated and his wife would come forward, and return to his side.
This went on for several years. When one of his family members was in the hospital for an extended period, the family gathered as many do and sent long hours at the hospital everyday for weeks.
On one of my visits to the family, I found Ed sitting alone in a small waiting room.
I went in and sat down on the couch next to him and started some small talk.
Ed, stopped me, and said, “I bet you are wondering why I don’t take communion?”
I admitted to being curious but, I figured he would tell me when he was ready.
He said that he knew that he was not worthy and that scripture was very clear.
And that was why he stayed away from the table. He wanted to avoid the additional judgment.
I did not realize it at the time but I had refused the table on and off even into adult hood for exactly the same reasons. The same excuses….
I tried to talk to Ed about how none of us is worthy. How this passage seems to offer a different explanation beyond the readiness of the participants.
But Ed was not a man that easily change his mind, and his was made up.
We agreed to return to the subject again later on and talked about other things.
I am not sure when I over came other people interpretation of scripture. I am not sure when I read and researched the passage for myself and changed my mind.
It seems clear that it is talking not about the worthiness on the individual because Paul already teaches that none if us is worthy.
He explains in this passage that it is the manner of receiving that is a problem.
The church members that could afford or had the ability to arrive early automatically considered it their privilege to consume all they wanted without even considering the less fortunate.
So, they were unworthy and more importantly they were not open to the influence of Christ as to considering the needs of others.
Even to the point of excess, stuffing themselves and drinking too much.
Paul offers his correction for the benefit of the Christians, he talks about sickness and those that have fallen asleep. He suggests that their actions related to unworthy actions in Holy Communion caused them to have troubles.
It is easy as a believer to fear displeasing God by our actions but, that does not mean that we should separate ourselves from one of the ways that God comes to us. That God offers us some form of physical touchable , taste able interaction.
Holy communion, the lords supper, is a reenactment of the actions of Christ call for people to remember what he did. It is a means of Grace which is intended to help us come forward with a step of faith. It is a faith builder and should always be recognized as a wonderful gift.
-- More years passed and Ed had health issues that kept him from attending church for quite a while. He almost died a couple of times. And we spent more time in the hospital, sometimes discussing the goodness of God and praying for healing. Ed always said that he was ready if God was but that he hoped that God was not ready for a while.
It was a real effort for him to get to church each Sunday. Oxygen bottle and a walker had become standard equipment.
On one communion Sunday, when I looked up and there was Ed standing there, Oxygen tube under his nose, his wife holding the little tank and his arm.
In the corner of his eye was a little tear that broke loose and ran down his cheek. And the biggest smile on his face as he reach for the bread and the cup.
Ed finally realize that he was just as welcome at the Lord’s table as any other sinner.
He realized that it was his stubbornness that was cutting him off from a process a ritual that Jesus established to allow sinners to come closer to God.
Communion is a mystery. The cross and why god would even care are mysteries.
The reason we take communion is so that we can become more like Jesus Christ. We come to the Lord’s table to receive spiritual food that we only know about by faith.
We come to the table searching for forgiveness, for healing, to have Jesus reveal himself to us.
When we approach the table there are a few things we need to do. We must confess that we are sinners, we must repent of our sins.
We come and acknowledge what Jesus did for us.
We come to celebrate that his death was the tool God used to level the playing field, and the proof was in the resurrection.
Holy Communion is a bit like a picture of Jesus Christ. We hear the stories of the upper room and know the words by heart. We will never fully understand the mystery in this life.
We can never understand that it is a means of grace …not a right….not a privilege but a gift.
This morning if you come to the table we are saying that we intend to rededicate our lives to Christ, to remember to live for him?
Will we let this brief visit to the table remind us of our place in the kingdom?
There are no chairs at the Lord’s table, that is because we are entering into the presence of the Holy. We are approaching God and amazingly he has invited us here and serves us as individuals.
We come to the table and we all come as equals. What we take away form the table is up to us.
Will it be the assurance of forgiveness?
The strengthening of our faith?
The healing of our soul or even body?
God’s Son, Jesus Christ invites all to his table to celebrate a little taste of heaven.
All Glory be to God!
