Sermon: In Remembrance I Cor 11:17-36 November 3, 2002
I. Introduction
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 Grandmama 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, “Grandmama, 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 Grandmama to make sure since she learned it from her. Well, I called Grandmama 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!” (from Sermon Central)
1. We are such a sentimental people. We keep pictures, we buy souvenirs to commemorate events. We sit around and talk about old times and reminisce. We do things the same way we have always done things without ever asking why without stopping to consider what we are doing.
B. The danger of taking communion
1. It becomes a tradition that we are keeping and doing. It becomes that thing we do on the first Sunday of the month. For some it becomes the reason why they don’t come to church on the first Sunday of the month. “Oh, it’s the first Sunday, we will have communion. It makes the service so long. I don’t think I’ll go.” For others it is simply a snack.
C. Here
1. The apostle Paul began chapter 11 by praising the Corinthians for their observance of public worship because, in his words, they "held firmly to the traditions." There were good and praiseworthy elements about their worship. But when to their observance of the Lord’s Supper, he has no praise for them. On the contrary, he chastises them telling them they are in need of correction.
2. He begins by reminding them what he told them, what he commended them to do with the Lord’s Supper. He reminds them that it didn’t come from him but directly from the Lord. VERSE 23: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you….
(a) We observe the Lord’s Supper not because it’s a nice tradition but because it is commanded and given by our lord. We observe it out of obedience.
II. But what are we to do with this observance that God commanded.
A. We are to remember. “This is my body , which is for you, do this in remembrance of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.
1. We are to remember the body of Christ.
(a) The real body the physical personification of God. The gift and presence of God in human form. The baby in the manager, the man on the hillsides teaching and preaching God’s commandments. The man healing the sick, lame and dying. The man challenging the pharaisees and sadducess and the traditions of the church. The man living, breathing and walking amongst men, women and children demonstrating God’s love for all of humanity.
(b) But mostly we are his body that was given for you.
(i) Jesus was talking to his twelve disciples when he gave the Lord’s Supper. Yet I find it very interesting that he choose to use the words given for you instead of saying I give my body to you my disciples. His words were not limited to the twelve in that room. They were given for you and I as well. They are personal, intimate and yet inclusive. His body was given for you, and you and you and for each individual person in this word.
(ii) It was his body that was beaten, spit upon, humiliated, whipped and crucified. In the Lord’s Supper God is drawing us our gift of salvation given in the new covenant of Christ’s blood.
2. The new covenant that was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. . . [and] I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
(a) The new covenant through Christ blood that was given to you and I God’s pledge, his promise, his commitment to forgive and forget ALL of our sins. Thanks be to God. It is God’s grace manifested in the life of Christ and in the communion meal we celebrate.
(b) What a glorious and gracious, abundant gift and yet how easy it is to forget it when we are in the midst of our daily lives. Paul is challenging the Corinthians and you and I first and foremost when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper to remember and then
B. To proclaim VERSE 26
1. It isn’t enough to just remember but we must also proclaim that the Lord’s Supper, the shedding of Christ’s blood didn’t end that day. There were two sets of footprints at that tomb. One going in and one coming out. Death was been defeated. The victory was won. Our Lord Jesus Christ overcame death. He was resurrected and he is coming back soon.
2. The Lord’s Supper isn’t just a remembrance of what God has done for us but a proclamation of what he will do for us.
(a) He is coming back. The saints and present will unite together in heaven, in eternal life as seen in his second coming. And that day may be sooner than you and I think.
C. And so Paul warns us to Examine ourselves. VERSE 27-29
1. Whoever eats and drinks of the Lord’s Supper unworthily eats and drinks judgment on him or herself.
(a) Now that’s a little frightening. For I know I am never worthy. For friends, whenever I examine my heart I find some sin either something I have done, said or thought that I should not have, or something I have not done, said or thought that I should have done.
(b) Some preachers and scholars suggest that Paul here is calling us to confess our sins before we ever come to the table, thereby making ourselves clean and worthy to come into his presence. To be sure that before we come to the table that we to utter the words – “Lord forgive me for my sins of commission and omission.” For that the only way to cover all our bases, to be sure that we confess all of our sins. That by doing so, by confessing ALL of our sins we are made clean.
(c) Yes, I believe we need to confess our sins. But friends, I am painfully aware that that I do not fully understand God’s ways. I do not fully understand his commandments. Nor do I fully understand myself and the influences upon my life. I often find that I am blind to my own ways, that I do and say things and I am not even aware of. I try to do my best, I try to follow God’s way but to suggesting that only by examining myself and confessing of all my sins ALL of my sins do I become worthy of receiving communion to me negates the gift God’s grace.
(d) We are saved not by works but by Grace. And it is grace that makes me worthy ! Thanks be to God! I mean that desires Amen doesn’t it! I can’t makes myself worthy but God can and has!
2. Paul isn’t telling the Corinthians to examine the sin in their lives. He is much more specific than that. Look back at verse 27 – there’s that word again “Therefore.” He is referring us back up to what he has just said. Look back with me to verse 17.
(a) 11:17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. Throughout the book, Paul has been addressing problems in this church and now he turns his attention specifically to workings of the church. 11:18 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. He’s mentioned various divisions in the congregation a couple of times already in this letter. 11:19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. That is a God-inspired use of sarcasm on Paul’s part and then he makes a point. 11:20-22 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) Christian congregations in the 1st Century liked to eat together. That is one tradition we’ve kept up real well. Apparently they would gather regularly, maybe once a week, for what they called an Agape Feast, or a Love Feast. To close their meal together, they would share the bread and the wine, the elements of the Lord’s Supper. But, it was not working out in Corinth.
(c) Paul is reproaching them for they way they are acting in the church, for their selfishness, hateful and bitter attitudes amongst themselves., for the way they have splinter the body of Christ
(d) I am convinced that Paul is saying that those who take part in the Lord’s Supper after they have been grabbing everything they can at the mal, who mistreat others in the fellowship; whose lives are characterized by total selfishness and lack of concern for others, those folks are eating and drinking in a manner which is unworthy of the Lord.
(e) Paul is relating the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper with the relationship and fellowship of the body. Five times in this short section he uses the verb “come together.” He is admonishing the Corinthian church and you and I to understand that when we come to this table, we coming not just as individuals but as a body of believers, as the local church. That in this communion of the Lord’s Supper we are united together!
(f) That shouldn’t surprise us. Over and over again in the New Testament we hear the message of one in the spirit, one in the body. That we are united in fellowship with all believers But the question becomes…are we? Are we united in fellowship?
(g) I am not suggesting that we here at Whitesburg UMC have problems with hoarding food and getting drunk during our fellowships. There is always plenty of food when we get together. But I am suggesting that we should hear the words of Paul and examine ourselves to be sure we are united as a local church body, to understand that we are one in the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. That we should be more than concerned about one another. That we should go the distance for each other not just in words but in actions and deeds. I am saying that as we approach charge conference as we approach the altar this morning that we need to consider how we are united together, how we can come together better as a body of believers.
(h) I am not saying that we don’t care for one another. I am saying in the words of Paul that we need to examine our relationship with one another and continue to find ways to improve upon and increase the unity and fellowship in our church, in the universal church. I am saying as we approach the Lord’s table today that we should be thinking of each other.
(i) It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of this world. I cannot tell you how many times I have meant to call someone, how many times I meant to take food to someone, how many times I meant to visit some in need, how many times I meant to help, how many times I got caught up in my life and forgot about the oneness I have with this body, this church, with each of you.
(j) For me that isn’t just one more burden, one more thing I have to do. It is a comfort and joy to know I am united with you in Christ. It is a comfort to know I am not alone in this world. It is a joy to be with you not just on Sundays but whenever one or the other of us need love, support, encouragement. It is a joy to know that you and I in this table, in his supper we are one!
III. Closing
A. "Leslie Weatherhead tells of a little boy who was admitted to an orphanage after his parents were killed. One of the first items on the agenda was to find him a new set of clothes. He was given a new pair of pants, a new shirt, and a pair of shoes that shinned as he saw his face in its glow.
Lastly, he was offered a new hat. But he refused to take it. He hung on to his worse- for the-wear—hat. Finally the Sister was able to coax him into trying on the new cap. He tried it on, liked it, but then did something very funny. He reached inside his old cap and tore the lining out and placed it in his pocket.
Noticing the Sister had a puzzled look on her face, he said said, "The lining is a part of my mother’s dress; it’s all I’ve got left of her and somehow it seems to bring her back." (Contributed by: Tim Zingale.)
B. This communion, the Lord’s Supper is what we have been given to bring us back into fellowship with Christ. May we remember Him. may we proclaim his second coming. May we examine ourselves and may we unite together as one!
Amen and Amen!
