What Are You Eating?

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!”