Introduction:
A. You know, funny things happen in church from time to time.
1. Whether it be the collection that gets dropped and the coins that roll around.
2. Or the fussy child that has to be taken out of the auditorium and shouts on the way out, “I don’t want to go out…somebody help me!”
3. I remember as a child getting a kick out of watching our beloved Doris Horning who always fell asleep during church, but had the curious ability to almost fall over, yet not fall over. She would lean to one side, then the other, and then forward.
4. She entertained many a child over the years.
B. But not everything that happens at church is funny.
1. Paul has already mentioned a number of very serious issues facing the church at Corinth.
2. As we move into chapter 11, we see that Paul is addressing several problems concerning the worship practices of the Corinthian community.
3. In the first section, verses 2-16, Paul discusses the issue of head coverings, which apparently was triggered by something the Corinthians had written him about.
4. In the second section, verses 17-34, Paul reacts to a report he had received about divisions occurring in their celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
5. Throughout this chapter, and the rest of the section that goes through chapter 14, Paul’s purpose is to encourage the Corinthians to conduct themselves in worship in a manner that respects God’s order of things, is motivated by love, and conducive to the common good.
6. As accustomed as most of us are to worship that is sober and orderly, it is hard for us to even visualize what was happening at Corinth.
7. So, let’s work hard to try to understand exactly what was happening in Corinth, and then see what we can learn from their mistakes.
I. Women, Head-Coverings and Propriety (11:2-16)
A. From what Paul writes to the Corinthians, it seems that they have appealed to Paul’s own teaching in order to argue for certain practices that seek to erase the distinctions between men and women in worship- practices of which Paul now expresses disapproval.
1. Paul’s reply no doubt came as a surprise to some of the Corinthians.
2. Rather than endorsing the freedom of the women to pray and prophesy without a head covering, he instructs them instead to maintain the discipline symbolized by head coverings.
B. Paul’s arguments about this subject are very difficult to understand for three reasons.
1. First, his line of argument is – by any standard – labored and convoluted.
2. Second, we are not sure how to interpret some of the key terms in his argument.
3. And third, we have to admit that there is a great deal we do not know about head coverings at Corinth and in the Greco-Roman world at large in the first century.
4. We know that heavy veils were worn by women at Jerusalem and throughout the East generally.
5. But there is good evidence to the effect that Greek and Roman women did not always follow the same custom.
C. Paul begins by praising the Corinthians for their general fidelity to “the traditions” he had delivered them.
1. Paul then called attention to the order of authority and submission which heaven has established and insisted that the Christians at Corinth respect that order.
2. Look at verse 3, “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
3. Christ is God’s equal in nature and essence, but He became subordinate to the Godhead for the sake of a particular function.
4. In the same way, woman is man’s equal in nature and essence, but she is subordinate to him for the sake of a particular function.
5. Women are to be subject to men and are to respect the leadership God has given them in the affairs of the church.
6. The appropriate signs of their acceptance of God’s order of authority at Corinth would be for the man to keep his head uncovered (11:4) and for the woman to keep her head covered in worship settings (11:5).
7. The word for “veil” actually occurs nowhere in the passage, and that’s why the NIV simply uses the word “cover.”
8. So what was the cover? Was it a traditional veil? Or was it just a way of wearing her hair?
9. In light of verses 13-15, in which Paul is clearly discussing hair, and in which he affirms that a woman’s long hair is “given to her for a covering,” some interpreters have suggested that the whole passage deals not with wearing a veil, but with having the hair bound or unbound.
10. They would explain that to have the head ‘covered” would mean to have the hair tied up on top of the head rather than hanging loose.
11. For women to have loose hair in public, was conventionally seen as shameful, a sign associated either with prostitution, or with women caught up in the ecstatic worship practices of the cults associated with pagan worship.
12. Therefore, for men to renounce their authority in relation to women by adopting the head covering would have been wrong, just as it would be wrong for women to challenge male leadership by refusing to have their head covered.
D. I do not want to address the issue of women leading in prayer or prophesy, because that doesn’t appear to be the issue that Paul is addressing in these verses.
1. He will have something more to say about that in chapter 14.
2. Obviously, there were women praying and prophesying one way or another, but the focus was on the fact that they were doing so with their head uncovered. That is a given.
3. So the issue here in chapter 11 seems to be the issue of clear role distinctions and clear lines of authority and submission.
4. Regardless of the particular application at Corinth, the trans-cultural principle about male leadership and women’s submission to men in the church must be taught and respected in all times and places.
E. A woman’s submission to her husband and to the male leaders in the church is not a denigration of her status before God.
1. To the contrary, by respecting those relationships she is demonstrating her obedience to God.
2. The respect both men and women have for God’s order of things on this point is not a tool for suppressing women, rather it is a humble acknowledgement of the context God has designated for her as man’s complement and helper in all things.
3. Complementary roles of leadership and submission are necessary both for maintaining marriages and building churches.
4. As women look to Christ, they find a perfect model of willing submission.
5. Jesus’ absolute submission to the Father in no way diminished His personhood, worth, or dignity.
6. Paul argues that man was prior to woman in creation and is “the image and glory of God”; thus he honors God by being in submission to Him.
7. Woman was created from and for man and is “the glory of man”; thus she honors her relationship with him by being in submission to his leadership.
F. I’m sure some would be very disappointed if I didn’t say anything about the phrase “because of the angels” in verse 10.
1. Among the many guesses about Paul’s meaning by commentators, perhaps two are worthy of mention.
2. Some interpreters have suggested that Paul regards uncovered heads of woman as sexual provocation to angels, but surely, if Paul had intended to express this rather bizarre idea, he would have offered a somewhat fuller explanation.
3. More likely is the hypothesis that Paul thinks of angels as being present with the worshiping community and therefore the community ought to behave in a manner worthy of the presence of these heavenly “dignitaries.”
G. Now, lest anything said to this point be taken as being negative toward woman, Paul immediately affirms her worth and mutual dependence with man on God.
1. Look at verse 11, “In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.”
2. There is to be a genuine partnership between the sexes with a mutual respect and mutual submission in spite of their very different roles. (Eph. 5:21-30)
H. Paul’s final argument against the rejection of the head covering for women is essentially a sociological one.
1. Paul appeals to their own sense of propriety in light of the community practice and in light of nature.
2. Paul’s point here seems to be that “nature” recognizes a distinction between the sexes.
3. The point is not to prescribe precise hair lengths or clothing styles but to uphold the necessity of clear role distinctions between the sexes.
I. Paul concludes the section with a statement for anyone who would object to what he has said, saying, “If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice nor do the churches of God.” (vs. 16)
II. Depreciating the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)
A. Having commended them earlier in the chapter for their general regard for his instructions to them, Paul now has little to commend about their behavior with regard to their practice of the Lord’s Supper.
1. “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meeting 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.” (vs. 17-18)
2. The divisions he mentions here do not seem to be the same as were mentioned earlier in the letter that had to do with philosophical, personality, or doctrinal differences, rather these appear to be purely social.
3. In any case, the meal that should be the symbol and seal of their oneness has in fact become an occasion for division and an occasion for some of them to shame others.
B. What we have to keep in mind is that the Lord’s Supper in the early church was not some kind of spiritual, liturgical ritual celebrated in a church building.
1. At this early date in the church, there were no separate buildings for Christian worship.
2. The Lord’s Supper was an actual meal eaten by the Christian community in a private home.
3. Therefore, the sharing of the symbolic bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper occurred as a part of a common meal.
C. It may be hard for us to imagine the wealthier Corinthian Christians acting in such an overt snubbing of the poor, but in the context of their first-century Greco-Roman culture, they saw their actions as completely normal.
1. Archaeological study of Roman houses from this period has shown that the dining room of a typical villa could accommodate only 9 persons, who would recline at the table for the meal.
2. Other guests would have to sit or stand in the atrium, which might have provided space for another 30 to 40 people.
3. The host of such a gathering would, of course, be one of the wealthier members of the community.
4. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that the host’s higher-status friends would be invited to dine in the dining room, while the lower-status members of the church (such as freedmen and slaves) would be placed in the larger space outside.
5. Under such conditions, it was not at all unusual for the guests in the dining room to be served better and more abundant food and wine than the other guests – just like first-class passengers on an airplane receive much better food and service than others on the same plane.
6. The wealthier ones may also have been able to arrive sooner than the poorer ones who couldn’t get away from their jobs, and by the time the poor showed up the food was gone and the wealthy ones were gorged and drunk.
7. The main point Paul is making is that the church’s common meal should symbolize unity through an equitable sharing of the food and drink.
D. Paul’s remedy for the problem is to focus their attention back on Christ and the meaning of the Supper.
1. Paul is not giving the Corinthians new information; rather, he is recalling to mind the story told them about Jesus’ redemptive event, a story that they themselves should repeat every time they gather at the Lord’s table.
2. The most striking feature of Paul’s re-narration of the tradition is the emphasis that he places upon memory – twice he instructs them to “do this in remembrance of me.”
3. The Passover meal for the Jews was instituted by God to be a “day of remembrance for you,” a day in which Israel recalls God’s deliverance of His people from bondage. (Ex. 12:14)
4. In the same way, the Lord’s Supper is to be an occasion for the people of God to remember God’s action of deliverance through Jesus’ death.
E. Paul then calls them to “discern the body” and not take the supper in an unworthy manner.
1. As we take the supper we ought to think of the literal body and blood of Jesus that was given on our behalf.
2. Certainly those who have not given their lives to Christ in baptism should not partake of the Supper.
3. Certainly it should be a time when we examine ourselves and our lives in light of God’s call.
4. All of these are true but are not the kind of things that Paul had in mind as he wrote to the Corinthians.
5. The unworthy manner that they were taking the Supper had nothing to do with personal sin, or an irreverence for the elements, and had everything to do with t heir mistreatment of fellow Christians.
6. For Paul, “discerning of the body,” means recognizing the community of believers for what it really is – the one body of Christ – without divisions and without social distinctions.
Conclusion:
A. What lessons from chapter 11 do we need to work to apply to our lives?
1. Let me offer a few.
B. First, we need to understand that there is no place in the church for unisex.
1. There is a difference between males and females – God the creator made it that way.
2. We are not the same, and we are not supposed to be the same.
3. Men are supposed to look like men and women like women.
4. God has also created us for different roles.
5. These God created distinctions between men and women should be honored in the church.
6. To blur these distinctions is to bring chaos and needless shame upon the church.
C. Second, at the same time, we need to understand the mutual interdependence of the sexes.
1. Both sexes are equally special and valuable in God’s sight.
2. Both sexes need each other. We complement each other.
3. Just because God has granted the leadership role to males in no way makes them better, nor gives them permission to dominate.
4. The greatest male leaders in the home and in the church are the greatest servants who put the needs of their followers ahead of their own – Jesus is our prime example.
D. Third, we learn that this passage rebukes the person who is contentious.
1. There must be order if the Christian community is going to function healthfully.
2. But that doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree on everything.
3. If your conviction on a particular matter is not your highest priority, then adapt to the will of the majority.
4. If your conviction on a matter is of the highest priority and does not agree with the majority, then you have to, after lovingly and graciously stating your case, peacefully remove yourself from that community.
5. If your conviction is strong enough, don’t compromise it but hold it in a way that doesn’t destroy the body.
E. Fourth, we learn the importance of the Lord’s Supper for our unity and focus.
1. Strangely, we are indebted to the Corinthians for messing up their celebration of the Supper.
2. If they had not messed things up, then Paul would not have had to correct them, and we wouldn’t have this marvelous insight into the Supper.
3. We must be sure that our observance of the supper expresses the church’s unity as God’s people.
4. All people must be treasured and treated equally as brothers and sisters.
5. Our focus must be on the memory of what Jesus has done for us and we must remember that He did it willingly – what a marvelous gift.
6. We must never forget our desperate need as sinners and Jesus’ graceful gift.
7. We are a people called to live in a way that responds appropriately to such divine generosity.
F. Finally, the Lord’s Supper also becomes an occasion for us to ponder God’s judgment.
1. Sinless perfection is not a prerequisite for eating the bread and drinking the cup, if so, then none of us could ever come to the table.
2. Nevertheless, we should never approach the Supper in a casual manner, rather we should soberly consider our life, Christ’s sacrifice and our treatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
3. God does take sin seriously and sometimes acts to discipline those who defy His will.
G. So as we bring this lesson to a close, let’s be asking God to help us understand and respect His order of things.
1. And let’s be asking God to help us love and appreciate Christ and the people who make up the body of Christ.
Resources:
The (Im)Perfect Church (Studies in 1 Corinthians), Rubel Shelly, 21st Century Christian, 1983.
First Corinthians (Interpretation – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching), Richard Hays, John Knox Press, 1997.
1 Corinthians (The NIV Application Commentary), Craig L. Blomberg, Zondervan, 1994.
1 Corinthians (Bible Study Guide), Charles R. Swindoll, Insight For Living, 1977.
“Hair & Hats – The Church and Social Customs,” Sermon by John A. Huffman, Jr., March 26, 2006.
“Have You Been To a Real Family Reunion Lately?” Sermon by John A Huffman, Jr., June 25, 2006.
