Alba 8-31-2025
WHAT ARE YOU EATING?
I Corinthians 11:17-22
We are working through I Corinthians. The church in Corinth had a lot of problems. Thankfully, we don't have most of their problems, but it will be good for us to learn from them so that we don't repeat their troubles.
Curry Pikkhaart, a minister in Michigan, told how in 1999 the church he was serving designated a particular Sunday morning service for celebrating the lives of their shut-ins. Every effort was made to get them to the church that day. They highly encouraged family members to make arrangements, but had volunteers step up where that didn’t work. After the service the minister received a note from one family member that said:
“Grandma (actually her mother-in-law) thought it was to be some kind of coffee and cookies get together for the shut-ins and their families, thus she told us it was very important for us to be there by 9:00 a.m.” (The preacher said in reality it was recognition that would be during worship which didn't start till 9:30 but the lady didn't know that). Her note continued, “Quite frankly, I was not overly enthused to have to arrive in Grand Rapids Saturday night in order to have coffee and cookies with the shut-ins at 9:00 a.m. Sunday. It’s a two hour drive from our home…Little did we know what a blessing God had in store for us!
She said, “As it turned out, we were invited to God’s table at 9:30. We sat in the back row and took the chairs apart so that I sat on one side of Grandma’s wheelchair and my husband, Bob, her son, sat on her left…Through the years Grandma has irritated and offended me in many ways. She was probably unaware of it; it’s just the way she is. I would mentally forgive and forgive and forgive, then the next bark would come….more recently I just gave up and decided that since she doesn’t value me, I just wouldn’t particularly appreciate her. (However, I did …continue to treat her well.) Communion was served from the right…and passed to me. Grandma is unable to feed herself – so guess who was in line to feed her the body of our Lord? Now how can you do that with ill feelings in our heart? It was truly a blessing….It was a poignant moment…Our thanks to (the church) and praise and thanks to God who knew ahead of time what he had in store for us.”
For her, communion with her mother-in-law broke down some bad feelings she had. But her story raises the question, what is our attitude when taking communion? Are there ill feelings and problems that we haven't dealt with? When we take communion we need to be guided by scripture. There are biblical examples that show both good and bad ways to partake. I Corinthians 11:17-22 gives an example of the wrong way and wrong attitudes to partake in communion. Now, I realize that you may have expected a sermon from the first part of this chapter. I plan to come back to that in further sermons.
But the reason I will use this portion of the text is because yes, it deals communion but it also deal with church dinners as well. And today we will have our usual Fifth Sunday Fellowship Dinner. In the first part of this chapter, the apostle Paul praises the church in Corinth, but in these verses it is a different story.
In verses 17-20 he writes this: “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” They were not doing it in the way that they should. So what are you eating?
It is not the Lord's Supper if you are not eating in unity
The Table of the Lord is a place of connection for those who walk in loneliness. It is a place of understanding for those who feel overwhelmed by the world. And it is an arena where authentic hope can be found. The Table of the Lord means that we are not alone, not here, not anywhere; we are in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. (Pause)
That is the way it is supposed to be. That is the way it should be. But apparently that was not the way it was in Corinth. Paul says, “I hate to believe it, but apparently it’s true! You come together as a group, but you’re really fractured. You have differences that you won’t reconcile. This group is opposed to that group. You act like Congress. You smile for the group picture, but after the photo shoot, you take up sides, defending your turf. It’s us vs them!”
But the goal that Jesus has for His church is that we be one people, who passionately love Him and unceasingly love each other. Division works against this. God hates division because it separates what He has joined together, thus making the church ineffective—so much so that the apostle says it has corrupted their worship gatherings. So verse 20 says, “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” They thought it was, but it was not. It was supposed to be a time to share in Communion, but not in the way they were doing it.
So Paul in verse 22 asks, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?” And again in verse 34 he says, “If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment.” This has led some church groups to believe this is a condemnation of church dinners, and that a church should not have them. That has become another divisive issue. Several years ago I was looking up information about this idea on the internet. I kept an article that gives good insight to this question. I don't remember the source of the information, but it was labeled “Question #69, Is It Wrong to Eat in the Church Building?”
The writer gave the following answer: “No, which are the first two letters of 'nonsense.' I don’t intend to be disrespectful, but such a position is silly. There was no such thing as a “church building” in the days of the New Testament. True, this does not mean that there are no principles that might apply. Taking that into consideration, I am aware of no New Testament principles that would forbid eating in the church building. To the extent that early Christians met in homes, it is a valid assumption that those homes had kitchens in them. The only record we have of a meal by the assembled church is in First Corinthians 11, where the church in Corinth was apparently engaging in the 'agape' or 'love feast.' Paul did not condemn the practice – he condemned the manner in which it was being observed – selfishly and without consideration for brethren who had nothing to eat. Many who believe that it is sin to eat in the church house drink in the church house (water fountains). Babies are fed in the building. Those who will not eat in the building make arrangements to rid themselves of what they have eaten or drunk (restrooms). Some even use the building for a “bedroom” (sleeping through worship). The building is not sacred. Some congregations that could not afford a building met in rented halls from which the beer cans had to be swept to clean up before worship. We will do better to be more concerned about the nature of our worship in the building. Some may say that you cannot worship in a place where you have meals together. The early Christians did. Some may say it is alright if you have 'dinner on the ground,' outside the building. Upon what scripture do they rely to establish that, while the building is sacred, the ground upon which it sits is not? That said, for those who believe that it is wrong, to them it is sin. It is not the case that our belief can make a right thing wrong in itself, or a wrong thing right. It is to say that it is wrong to violate our conscience.”
I believe he makes some good points. We need to be careful not to come up with ideas that cause division. Divisions hurt the Lord and His church. Divisions are only manifestations of a deeper problem. The real problem is when we show lack love for Christ and each other. Verse 19 says, “For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” In other words, in times of division, you can really see who has God’s approval. Christian maturity is found in those who honor Christ, and work to edify the whole body of Christ; not those who splinter and fragment the church.
The next thing we see is that divisive attitudes in Corinth led to an uneven distribution of food for those in attendance. Verses 20-23 say this: “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.” Pretty strong words, but words they needed to hear, because...
It is not the Lord's Supper if you are not sharing
In biblical times, when they had the Lord’s Supper, they would also have a larger meal attached to it. It was sort of a covered dish dinner—people brought food from home. So a church dinner is biblical. The wealthier members brought lots of good food and wine with them. But the poorer members usually had nothing, or very little to bring.
There was no sharing, so the wealthy members dined sumptuously, while poorer members did without. Paul was scandalized by this behavior. Some were treating the Lord’s Supper as if it were as common as the last run at the Golden Corral just before closing time. By the end of their “worship service” there were drunk, gluttonous church members staggering around. It sounds like the whole thing was more like a Thursday night frat boy party than a worship service. Basically, what Paul was saying in verses 22 and 34 was, “If that is the way you are going to act, stay home!”
You’ve heard about the fellow whose prayer was very clear, but also very wrong – the fellow who prayed, “God bless me, my wife, my son John, and his wife; us four, and no more!”
Not only does such behavior contradict the gospel, but it also undermines the witness we have as Christians. In our fellowship meals here in Alba, like the one we are going to have after this service, there is plenty of sharing going on. So we don't have that problem here. I am thankful for all the good food that has been prepared for the meal. Sometimes, too thankful!
But we need to consider what in these verses do apply to us.
For example, as we come together to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross, and as we partake of the bread and the cup, we should consider what our attitude is about the people around us. This is a shared meal.
When Jesus instituted communion as a way to remember Him, He shared the bread and cup with all of those who were there. That included Judas, who would betray Him, leading to great agony on the cross. It included Peter, who would deny Him three times just a few hours later. Yet Jesus showed love to all who were there.
But lets turn this around. Have you ever felt mistreated by others? Or have you ever had a disagreement that led to bad feelings with fellow Christians? What kind of attitude do you bring when you come to the Lord's table? Some years ago there was a letter to The Lookout, which used to be a weekly magazine shared in Christian Churches, that said: “Our church is split right down the middle on an issue involving financial disagreements and hurt feelings. Yet last Sunday we all shared communion in the same room, with the 2 factions seated on either side of the middle aisle. You could feel the tension.”
II Corinthians 5:18 tells us that God, “has given us the ministry of reconciliation”. That message applies to Christians as well as the unsaved. In Christ, God has forgiven us. If nothing else, our time around the communion table should remind us of that.
And our Lord Jesus is very clear about how we should deal with hurt feelings and disagreements. The prayer He taught us to pray included these words, “Forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.” Or as some have it, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
The Lord’s Supper reminds us that there is forgiveness. That it was when we were still sinners Christ died for us on that cross for our forgiveness. It is neither wise nor helpful to let divisiveness, pride, hurt or angry feelings sit beside us when we take communion. Because, it says in verse 30 that some in Corinth were sick and weak and had died due to such attitudes when they came together to remember what Jesus had done for them.
So when we come together, whether it is around the Communion table or even at a Fellowship Dinner table, we need to remember what and why and with whom we are eating. And we need to remember the wonderful love of Jesus that makes it possible for us to be together. And to focus on His love, and allow that love to flow though us so that the world may know Him.
CLOSE:
A lady named Melissa Pratt offered this story. She said: We went to Kroger as a family tonight. When we got to the juice aisle, our six-year-old, Joshua said, “Mom, can we get some grape juice?” I was surprised as I have never purchased grape juice for the kids to drink, only apple and orange. I said, “Josh, do you even like grape juice?” He replied, “Yeah, it tastes like community.” We nearly lost it laughing in the grocery because we knew he meant, “It tastes like communion.” After a moment’s thought, I realized Josh’s association of grape juice with communion was accurate. It is all about community. Thanks be to God!
Isn't it wonderful that God wants to include us in His family.
