Eating Together at the Lord’s Table
1 Cor. 11:17-34
11/6/05
Introduction: 1st Class!
1. Catering to the money.
If you fly first class regularly, then don’t take offense, but I don’t like you very much! Those of us who fly coach wait in agonizingly long lines, while you zip right to the front of the line. We watch you board the plane first and then to add insult to injury we are paraded right through your section while you are seated in big cushy seats with too much leg room. As we crowd into our tiny spot, we see the flight attendant bring you drinks right away. Then as we sit there starving with our bags of peanuts, you get to eat a full meal. Right after we have witnessed just enough of this to know our low place in life, the flight attendant pulls the curtain shut, leaving us to our coach service! When it comes to money, we are not all equal!
2. 1st class Christians.
We understand the system, because you get what you pay for. But imagine a church that operates like this. Those that give the biggest contributions have reserved seating. They are allowed to choose the songs and to take communion first. In fact, it is irrelevant if we run out of the emblems by the time it gets to poorer people. Every Sunday after church the wealthier are ushered into a separate room where they are served a full course meal with dessert. If there is any left over, the not so fortunate are permitted to come in and eat. Afterwards, they return to their cars, which are in reserved parking, of course. It may surprise you, but there was a church like this. The church in Corinth catered to the rich and neglected the poor. The L.S. became an opportunity to indulge and humiliate those that didn’t have much. It was a church that practice 1st class Christianity. They forgot that Christ created community to be realized in the L.S. Through Paul’s correction to them we can learn to restore what is most precious about the Lord’s Supper…community.
Trouble in the text: The Corinthians destroyed community through the Supper (read text).
1. The Lord’s Supper had become divisive in Corinth.
Paul begins by saying he has no praise for them in what is going to follow. He gives the ultimate condemnation to a worship service when he says "your meetings do more harm than good." Paul’s #1 problem is that they have become divided (same in chapter 1, but deals directly with the Supper here). Apparently, the differences in the way they treated each other was not only of a material matter, but spiritual (19). The L.S. should have brought them together, but instead it was tearing them apart. Paul says it ceased to be the L.S.
2. Background to division.
Since the early Christians met in homes (Gaius? Rom:16:23) they ate a common meal together. At some point, though, they especially shared the bread and cup of the L.S. In the Greco-Roman culture meals were occasions for distinguishing different levels in society. People were separated along the lines of rich/poor and free/slave. The best food, wine, company, etc. were reserved for the most affluent. For the rich it became an occasion for indulgence and drunkenness. The poor and slaves got neglect and leftovers. The Corinthian Christians had allowed this to shape their practice of the L.S. instead of the other way around.
3. The “communal” experience in Corinth.
Notice the problems in Corinth followed this same pattern. No one waits for the others to arrive before the meal. Even in our culture, we view that as rude and insulting. This leads to some going without, while someone else has indulged to the point of drunkenness. The rich arrive first and poor later, because they likely had to work to do until the evening hours. V. 22 is not a condemnation of a meal, but a condemnation of the practice of the meal. If you want to eat your fill and not wait on others, then do it at home! They are accused of hating the church and humiliating the “have-nots!” They have broken down community through their practice of communion.
Trouble in the Church: We destroy community through individualism.
1. Christ died to create community.
“His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility (Eph. 2:15, 16). The Corinthians destroyed the message of the gospel by their practice. It is easy for us to see that. We can easily say we would never behave in such a way. I’m not sure that it is true that we never behave that way, but in the context of the L.S, we do practice as equals before the table.
2. We deny community through individualism.
Besides the drunkenness, the reason why the Corinthians were reprimanded was because they broke down the community of Christ, which was purchased by his blood. The table is supposed to live out the altar not deny it. We, too, break down community in our observance of the L.S., not through discrimination, but through individualism. We have made communion as individualistic as possible, which is an oxymoron. We have made it so that everyone takes the emblem by themselves and then focuses only on their own thoughts. We have little or no awareness of those around us. We don’t even look at each other. It is a critical question to ask does our practice of communion deny, or at least fail to affirm that we are one body?
3. Paul’s directives speak to us as well.
We do much that is good in communion. We take it weekly. We focus on the cross, but our approach to centering our thoughts is misguided. We try real hard to focus on the cross and our sins. We try to conjure up feelings of guilt and if we are unsuccessful or we break concentration, we feel guilty for that. We don’t envision coming before a table where life and victory are celebrated with one another in the light of the risen Christ! We need to know that what Paul is saying speaks to us as well. Community is to be celebrated in communion. In that sense, we need to revision the L.S.
Illustration: Eating alone.
Do you like to eat along when you go out? Few of us do. I always feel very self-conscious if I am dining alone in a restaurant. Why would we view the L.S. any differently? We come to a table, sitting around with our Christian family. It is pretty rude not to acknowledge each other!
Grace in the Bible: Christ created a meal for continual experience of community.
1. Christ provided a remembrance for us.
This part of the L.S. we usually understand well. It is an opportunity to remember Christ, which is exactly what the Corinthians had forgotten. It was also during a meal that Christ gave these instructions. There was true table fellowship between him and his disciples. This is to be observed “until he comes.” It is an opportunity to continue that fellowship with Christ, but not him alone, but those that are at the table with us. The table reflects the values of the cross. It is his grace that allows us to come to it. The bread represents the body of Christ.
2. Christ provided covenant renewal in the Supper.
The Supper is a time to remember the covenant sealed by the blood of Christ. It is a time to renew our commitment to him and to one another. Paul shares these words not so people will simply focus on their own thoughts about Christ, but that the Corinthians would remember how they should treat each other. The eating of the emblems proclaims the death of Christ. How then can Christians treat each other as if the cross never happened? Why did Jesus give a meal instead of just meditation? Because of the fellowship it conveys with each other!
3. Clearing up some misunderstandings.
V. 27 has often been misapplied. What is the unworthy manner that Paul has been talking about? The failure to recognize community. He doesn’t mean have you been good enough to take communion this week. He doesn’t mean how hard can you concentrate and how solemn can you be. To be guilty of sinning against the blood and body of the Lord is to deny communal aspect of the L.S. All the rest that follows is in that context, including v. 29. We sometimes take this to mean that a non-Christian can drink judgment on themselves, but this is written to Christians, those that should know better. The body of the Lord isn’t just Jesus on the cross, but the church. I am not saying that it isn’t a time to center our thoughts, but to block out others in doing so is closer to taking the Supper in an unworthy manner than someone who just loses concentration.
Grace in the Church: Christ invites us to experience communion with him and one another.
1. We enjoy the same meal today.
The purposes of the Supper are the same today as then. We experience communion w/Christ and one another. We need to do a better job on the latter. But Christ wants to dine with us as we dine together and that is good news. It also points to an ultimate banquet at his table in heaven (until he comes).
2. The situation is difficult to address.
We come to a church building, not enjoy a meal around a table. We do live in a different culture and circumstances, so how do we become more communal? At the very least, we can increase our awareness of each other. We can look at the person next to us, maybe be sure we are not sitting by ourselves. We could speak a word of encouragement to one another. We could sing together. I used to not be a big fan, because singing together meant that I couldn’t concentrate as hard as I wanted to. But which one is more communal?
Illustration: Meaningful communion moments.
If you have never taken communion is a smaller group, I suggest you do so one day. I can remember special times gathered in a circle of Christians friends. We held hands. We sang. We prayed and we shared the bread and wine of the Lord. Last week, I was convicted to give Neil a pat on the back during communion. Week after week, he sits alone and I have never truly communed with him. He turned to me and shared a thought from the sermon that was appropriate and edifying. We even smiled at each other. Perhaps, for the first time since we had been attending, I had communion with Neil. That is what I am talking about. That is what proclaims the Lord’s death.
Invitation: Become apart of the community destined for eternity.
Communion activity
I do fear that in a few weeks, we will forget all this and just do communion as we always did. Again, my main goal is just to raise awareness that we are not eating alone! If you ever see two people conversing with each other during communion don’t assume they are irreverent. They may be simply communing! Today, we are going to do something different. I ask only that when you pass the tray that you say the words, “The body of our Lord, broken for you.” For the cup say, “The blood of our Lord poured out for you.” If you are sitting on the end of an aisle then say it to the server.
