Y HOLY COMMUNION?
1 Corinthians 11.17-34
The story is told of a little girl who was watching her mum prepare Sunday lunch. She noticed that her mum cut the each end of the ham before putting it in the roast tin. She asked ‘why?’ Her mum explained that she did that because it allowed all the juices to enter the ham and so flavour it and also because that was the way her mum had roasted her hams. So the little girl goes off and asks her grandmother why both ends of the ham were cut off before roasting. Sure enough she got the same answer but her grandmother added that she should ask her Nana because that is what she did. So the little girl phones her Nana and explained that both mum, and granny had said that they cut off both ends of the ham to allow the juices etc and that was the way she had taught them to roast a ham. Her Nana started to laugh and said – “I cut both ends off the ham because my roasting tin was too small.” You know there are times we do things for the wrong reasons because no one has ever stopped to ask ‘Why?’ There are also times when we continue to do things for a long period of time based on nothing more than ignorance. This morning we are going to stop and ask ‘Y Holy Communion?’
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11.17-34, page 1152 of the pew bible. As you turn that up let me set this passage in context for you. This is Paul’s first letter to the Christian church at Corinth which we read in Acts 18 that Paul had visited. Paul had heard that there were several problems in this church – moral problems, marriage problems, Christians taking one another to court, party politics, idolatry, problems in worship and the question of life after death. So Paul writes this long letter to the church and addresses each of these issues. The passage we are looking at this morning addresses the issue of the Lord’s Supper (or Holy Communion) within the church at Corinth. This is the earliest written account of the Lord’s Supper in the NT, even early than the accounts written in gospels.
There are basically four instructions given by Paul:
Look Back – verse 26
Look Forward – verse 26
Look Within – verse 29
Look Around – 1 Corinthians 10.17.
Look Back
Turn to verses 23-26. Paul begins by pointing out that he is not passing on to them something which he himself has made up but what he has received from the Lord. There is actually a word play in this verse. Paul literally says “I passed on to you…on the night that Christ was passed on to the authorities.” Paul wants to remind them of the significance of what he has passed on to them concerning the Lord’s Supper. He wants them to fully appreciate and understand the significance of the meal which they participate in. The death of Christ is central and dominates this whole passage and therefore must dominate and be central to the meal also. The actions of taking bread and taking wine, praying a blessing over them and passing them to those gathered around the meal table was something which happened in every Hebrew home and especially at Passover. Christ was giving this ‘traditional’ act new significance and meaning by stating that the bread was his body and the wine his blood. It is the ‘words of Christ’ which give the actions their significance. It is the identity of the One who spoke those words as he broke bread and poured wine that give this meal new meaning and purpose in the life of the believers. So let us look at what Paul says he received from Christ.
He first of all places it in a historical time frame. It was a certain man (Jesus) at a certain time (on the night he was betrayed) did certain things (took bread and wine). This was not something Paul had conjured up in his mind. He states quite clearly and unambiguously he had received the same from the Lord Jesus.
There is a fourfold action in the bread and the wine. Jesus takes, he gives thanks, he breaks/pours and then he gives it to his disciples. That fourfold action is remembered in our service of HC. We take bread, we give thanks, we break it and then we share it with one another. The same is true of the wine. We take it, pour it, we give thanks and we share it. But without the ‘words of Christ’ the bread and wine have no significance, no meaning and no purpose. Look at the significant words which Paul says Christ spoke concerning the bread and the wine. ‘This is my body…this is my blood…a new covenant.’
Bread – symbolises, represents the body of Christ broken for me and you.
Wine – symbolises, represents the blood of Christ shed on the cross for you and for me.
Note will you what Christ said after the bread and the wine – ‘this do in remembrance of me.’ This is a memorial meal, but is much more than a simple remembrance. The significance of ‘remembrance’ here is not that it is an re-enactment but that it is a recalling of the past in the present which has spiritual power in the present. Look at verse 26 – when we do this ‘we proclaim Christ’s death…’ We proclaim the death of Christ in the present – we do not re-enact it, nor recreate it, nor do we re-sacrifice Christ in the present. HC is not a sacrifice – His was the once for all, perfect, complete sacrifice at Calvary – never to be repeated – hence his last words on the cross ‘It is finished.’ But let us not either go to the extreme to deny the spiritual means of grace which HC is for us and to us. As we remember and proclaim the death of Christ in the symbols of bread and wine, by faith, they become for us the means of grace. If you listen carefully to the words I speak when I place bread in your hands at the communion rails – ‘and feed on him in your heart by faith.’ It is by faith that you lay hold of the grace which is effectual in the bread and wine. They remain bread and wine but by faith they become for those who believe the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Therefore what Christ did was to give new meaning and significance to the Passover meal – in which it was no longer a lamb but The Lamb of God who was slain and who was remembered as the means of deliverance from slavery, the slavery of sin and not just Egypt. So in HC we look back to the death of Christ on the cross where sin was atoned for and salvation wrought. Verse 25 tells us that this is a new covenant in the blood of Christ. The old covenant was sealed in the blood of a lamb. The new covenant is sealed in the blood of The Lamb of God. Therefore in HC we celebrate this new covenantal relationship that we have with God through Christ. At Passover a little child would ask ‘why is this night different from all other nights?’ Then his father would retell the story of the deliverance from Egypt. We should ask ‘Why is this bread and wine different from all other?’ and the answer would be in the retelling of the deliverance from the slavery of sin by the death of Christ on the cross at Calvary.
Look Forward
We not only look back in HC we also look forward. Look at the end of verse 26. ‘We proclaim his death until he comes again.’ HC proclaims Christ’s death until his return. By proclaiming his death we also look forward to his return. In looking forward to his return we proclaim that he is not dead but risen from the grave, death has been defeated and the grave conquered for all who believe and trust in him. In celebrating HC we reaffirm our belief in his resurrection and our hope in his return. We also affirm our belief that because he is risen from the dead we too will one day be raised from the dead. So in HC we not only look back to the cross we also look forward to his return.
Look Within
In verses 27-32 Paul puts forward a stern and severe warning to the believers at Corinth concerning how they should come to the Lord’s Supper. I know I sometimes joke about the Presbyterians but I actually believe they have an important lesson to teach us in that they have a service of preparation to receive HC. We become too familiar with HC because we celebrate it so often. I happen to believe we are biblically right to celebrate it often. But look closely at the words of Paul here. Paul wants the believers at Corinth to take a moment for self-examination. He wants them to examine their lives before God and before others in the fellowship before they participate in the Lord’s Supper. In verses 17-22 Paul condemns their behaviour at the Agape meal which preceded the Lord’s Supper at Corinth. Their agape meal was a means of division and not unity and so Paul corrects them for their sinful behaviour. Now in verses 27ff Paul warns them about ‘participating in an unworthy manner.’ What does he mean by that? Paul wants them to realise that they cannot come with irreverence to this meal. They cannot come with sinful ways in their lives and sinful behaviour to the meal which is a means of grace. In so doing they were in fact despising the grace of God. In verses 28-30 Paul exhorts them to ‘examine themselves.’ To examine their hearts for sinful attitudes towards God and others in the fellowship. To examine their outward conduct in light of the holiness required of a follower of Christ. He wants them as well to come with a true and proper understanding of the Lord’s Supper – to realise that it is a means of grace, of spiritual nourishment to them. The purpose of this self-examination (verses 31-32) is so that they would come to the table prepared in their heart to receive the grace of God. Paul wants them to remove all that is unworthy of the worship of God when they come to the Lords’ table. He demands of them the strictest self-examination. When Paul uses the words ‘guilty’ and ‘judgment’ in this passage it is in the forensic legal sense. He says that when you come in an unworthy manner to the Lord’s Supper you are essentially guilty of shedding the blood of Christ. That is, you are placing yourself in the company of those who crucified Christ and not in the company of those who enjoy the spiritual blessings of the cross of Christ. In verse 29 he states the danger – you fail to recognise the body of Christ. There is a twofold understanding here – you fail to recognise the body of believers – ie by their divisive actions, and you fail to recognise the risen Lord Jesus present in bread and wine. The only conclusion Paul can come to is that their sickness, and even death, is a result of God’s disciplining them for their attitude towards the Lord’s Supper. It is a stark warning is it not?
Conclusion
So what has this to teach us this morning about HC here at HTW?
HC is rooted in history – on the night he (Jesus) was betrayed he instituted this memorial meal.
It is about remembrance – recalling the cross in the present so that its power, its grace are effectual in the present for all who believe and trust in Christ.
It is about God’s gift of his Son to be the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Takes away your sin and my sin. By remembering his death he brings life, eternal life into the hearts and lives of sinful men and women. His life and teaching are remembered and applied to our lives. His resurrection is remembered and that brings hope into our hearts. His purpose in the world, salvation, is remembered and that is a means of evangelism and mission. His forgiveness is remembered and by grace through faith it is applied to our lives. His love for us is remembered and we offer thanksgiving to him for that.
A new covenant in his blood is celebrated. We have a new living relationship with God whereas before we were dead in our sins. HC proclaims this new relationship is through the body broken and the blood shed – not just of anyone but of the sinless Son of God who took on flesh and died on the cross for our redemption.
It is a proclamation of the incarnation, of the cross, of the resurrection, of the ascension and of the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is in fact the visible gospel. It is a sermon in and of itself. It is a word of evangelism and hope which enters through eyegate and through our ears. The actions, the bread and the wine find their significance in the Words of Christ. Their meaning, their significance cannot be separated from the Word of God.
There is a challenge to us all not to come in an unworthy manner to receive the body and blood of Christ. Let me say to you as gently, but as firmly, as I can this morning. If you are not a Christian this morning then HC is not for you. If you have not recognised the body of Christ broken for you and his blood shed for you – if you do not know that personal forgiveness of your sins then heed the warning of Paul here about receiving in an unworthy manner. Having said that let me say this to us all – it is not about our worthiness to receive God’s grace through bread and wine – none of us are worthy of God’s grace – it is about coming in an unworthy manner – with an irreverent attitude and with no faith to lay hold of the promise of grace through bread and wine. Also we come in an unworthy manner if we are not in fellowship with one another in this congregation. In a few moments we will share the sign of the peace with one another. You probably find it just another part of the service but the significance of that is that you and I are saying we are in fellowship with the other people in this congregation – we are in a right relationship with them as we are with God through Christ. If there are broken relationships within this fellowship this morning and you are the one not in fellowship then to come to the HC is a lie. By kneeling at these rails you proclaim your oneness with Christ and with your brothers and sisters in Christ in HTW.
Finally can I say this to us all – don’t stay away from receiving God’s grace this morning in HC because you feel unworthy – we all are unworthy that is exactly why we need his grace. By coming to receive the body and blood of Christ we admit our need of him in our lives. We confess before others and together that we are people in need of God’s grace and by faith we lay hold of that promised grace this morning and our souls are nourished.
Amen.
