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.
The Bible says elsewhere, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24 NLT).” All our faults, failures and foibles went with Jesus to the cross—the selfishness of the glutton, the bitterness of the angry, the shame of the adulterer. He took it all, as if he’d lied or cheated or cursed his Maker. When we come around the Lord’s Table, we see in the bread and the wine, the body and blood of Jesus. A body that was pierced and blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. That’s what communion means. It paints a picture of what Jesus did to win your heart.
Furthermore, Paul also highlights the memorial aspect of communion.
• THE MEMORIAL OF COMMUNION
A man was working in his backyard one day, when his neighbor began talking to him over the fence. He said, "Yeah, my wife made me go to one of those seminars yesterday, you know, where they teach you techniques to improve your memory and such." His neighbor said, "Really. What was the name of the speaker?" The man answered, "Ah, ah, what's the name of that flower that smells so good and has thorns?" The neighbor said, "You mean a rose?" The older man replied, "Yeah, that's it." Then he called over his shoulder to his wife, "Rose, what was the name of that speaker we heard yesterday?"
People often have a hard time remembering things. The Lord knows how short our memories are, so he established communion as a constant reminder of what Jesus did for us. Twice in the passage we already read, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (vs. 24, 25). Paul then follows that up by adding, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT).
The Lord’s Supper is our Memorial Meal.
We humans make a habit of memorializing important people. Honest Abe sits on his stone throne; Washington mans a silent portal; Vietnam's heroes are etched in stone; John F. Kennedy's flame is eternal; Martian Luther King's birthday is a holiday; and Michael Jordan's jersey hangs in the United Center. Statues are raised to honor great men; calendars date the world's important events; scenes of outstanding battles are forever marked. Colleges and hospitals name buildings in honor of beneficiaries; streets are called after the famous who traveled them. Everybody who is anybody has a biography lining a library shelf.
Marble slowly crumbles, bronze defaces, dates drop from calendars, biographies go out-of-print; streets are renamed after new heroes. Men's monuments do not last, but God's memorial remains. It is two thousand years old now and will last until the Lord returns.
It is very heartwarming to read the words inscribed at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. They read: "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." In the same way, the Lord's Supper was begun as a constant memorial to enshrine the memory of Jesus in our hearts forever. The best part is you don't have to go on vacation to see the Lord’s memorial. It'll come by you in your pew every Sunday morning. In cities nation-wide and countries world-wide, the Lord's Supper will be kept today. No other monument exists in as many continents, countries, cities, and communities.
Of course, one of the most important parts of any memorial is observing it on a regular basis. It would not do much for our memories to celebrate the Lord's Supper haphazardly. I love that our church participates in the communion every Sunday. Some churches only share the Lord’s Supper once a month or once a quarter. I don’t criticize them for that; after all, the Bible doesn’t specifically say how often to do it. Jesus established the Lord’s Supper on a Thursday. In Acts 2, the Jerusalem church shared communion “every day… in each other’s homes” (Acts 2:46). And by Acts 20, Luke writes, “On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper” (Acts 20:7 NLT).
I think it’s important that we still gather on the first day of every week to celebrate communion. For me, something would be missing from our worship without it. After all, we don’t celebrate Christmas, Memorial Day or the Fourth of July once every two or three years, we celebrate them every year. Likewise I think it’s important to celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I don’t know about you, but my memory often fails me. I walk into a room and forget why I’m there. I certainly wouldn’t want to go more than a week without being reminded of Jesus’ death for me on the cross.
Finally, Paul addresses the real tragedy in Corinth, which is the manner in which they shared communion.
• THE MANNER OF COMMUNION
As we continue through this chapter, Paul makes some scathing comments: “So then, 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without honoring the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.” (1Corinthians 11:27-29 NIV).
Many tender-hearted Christians have worried about this passage. As the communion tray passes in front of them, they wonder, “Am I worthy enough for this? Am I a good enough Christian? I made lots of mistakes this week. I even yelled at the kids on the way to church.” If we think Paul is saying that a Christian must be worthy of the blood of Jesus before we can participate in communion, there wouldn’t be any point in passing those tray. None of us are worthy.
So what did Paul mean when he says not to eat or drink in an “unworthy manner”? First of all, he’s speaking to church members who were participating without thinking of its meaning. The Corinthians had forgotten what communion was really all about. But even more than that, they had turned a time of sharing into a time of selfishness.
Paul goes on to say, “When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!” (1 Corinthians 11:20-22 NLT).
When the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in the early church, it included a feast or fellowship meal—and rightfully so. When Jesus established the Lord’s Supper it was in the middle of the Passover Feast; a meal that consisted of unleavened bread, wine and rack of lamb. In fact, the elements of communion—bread and wine—were staples found on every table at every meal in Jesus’ day, which is why early Christians were able to share communion daily as they shared meals in each other’s homes.
But the Corinthians had turned the Lord's Table into a drunken, gluttonous buffet; each person thinking only of himself. The word communion literal means to share or have in common, but the Corinthians were doing just the opposite. They were hoarding. They were like Winnie the Pooh with a jar of honey. “This is my food, get your own,” they’d say. The wealthy and gluttonous ate and drank excessively, while the poor and the visitors went hungry.
It was this self-centeredness that made the Corinthians unworthy. Their gathering lacked sharing and caring. They failed to demonstrate the unity and love that should characterize the church. I really appreciate the way the Message translates the last few verses of this chapter:
So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast. (1 Corinthians 11:33-34 MSG).
That’s my prayer for our church. Whether there’s food or not, every time we meet together ought to be a love feast—a time of sharing and togetherness. All of us need a place to belong and that’s what we find at the Lord’s Table. It’s the longest table in the world and it’s never quite full. There’s always room for one more chair.
Conclusion:
Next Sunday, as we gather once again around the Lord’s Table, I want to encourage you to consider the meaning of communion (the blood and body of Jesus), the memorial of communion (enshrining the memory of Jesus in our hearts), and the manner of communion (a time of sharing and togetherness). And after that, we’ll explore yet another issue with which the Corinthians struggled, one that many of us continue to wrestle with today—love.
Invitation:
In the meantime, if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior yet, I want to invite you to do that. The Lord's Supper will never take on its full meaning for you, until you have put your faith in Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the cross. If I can help walk you through that experience, please come forward while we stand and sing.
