Chris Jones

1 Corinthians 11, quick walk, two big sections.

First section, verses 1 to 16.

Second section, verses 17 to 34.

And I wasn't even going to bother with the first section

until we had our community group the other night.

Thank you.

That's my sign of authority.

I forgot to have it on when I started this message.

I want you to know that it's okay for me to be out the front.

I'm operating under Steve's authority and the Archbishop's licence

or something like that.

We read the passage in our community group the other night.

We had a great discussion and towards the end,

somebody tentatively but also boldly said,

when you hear this read, it's really hard

for the hairs on the back of your neck not to stand on their end.

And they were reflecting, I think some of the words used were

that when we come to a passage like this,

it sounds old-fashioned, it sounds fuddy-duddy,

it sounds out of touch.

And in some ways, and even in worse ways,

for women, sounds like a considerable put-down.

And we could go off and have a...

You could talk heaps about all that

without even looking at the passage.

We've already found our positions,

we know where we stand,

and we're ready to interact with one another in our groups, aren't we?

And we haven't even read the Bible any further.

But what if he's dealing...

I think he's dealing with problems in both places,

but what we see in the first half,

he says, verse 2,

I praise you for remembering me in everything

and for holding to the teachings

just as I pass them on to you.

He's been involved in tradition,

the transmission of something which wasn't his,

it was given to him,

and he's tried to faithfully pass it on to them.

And however they've handled it,

he's saying, I really want to praise you for this.

So the first half of chapter 11 is reasonably positive,

and the second part is incredibly negative.

Verse 17,

In the following directives,

I have no praise for you,

for your meetings do more harm than good.

So if we look at the first half,

we're seeing they're praiseful,

and we move into the second half,

which we'll do in a minute,

I have no praise for you.

He's hot with anger

for the way that the Christians in Corinth

are behaving with regard to particular issues.

So come back to women.

We're not going to cover everything.

We got a reaction in our community group the other night

that sort of said,

this just seems so out of touch.

And yet what if,

what if we looked around our group

and we said, all of us have daughters.

What would it take for our daughter

to present shamefully out there in the community?

If we were at a community gathering the football

down in Westfield,

if they took their tops off and walked around,

would that be perceived as a shameful thing?

And most of us would say,

yeah, the whole of society would see that as shameful.

And we added to it and said,

yeah, well, even if they dressed really skimpily.

And then we started to talk about,

well, what about out the front of church?

And we've got a woman speaking to us

and her skirt's up, you know,

halfway up her thighs

and her cleavage is well down the middle

and the guys are paying a tremendous amount of attention

to everything that she's saying.

There's something culturally inappropriate

that gets in the way of the message.

And I think there are some dynamics at play here

that bear on that.

And I'm saying it now

because this is going to feed perhaps

into some of the things

that Sam might want to talk about tomorrow afternoon.

What I want you to see in terms of the text,

verse 4,

every man who prays or prophesies

with his head covered dishonours his head.

So there's a presumption there

that a man amongst in the church of God

may be praying and prophesying,

which is the forth telling of the word of God,

bringing the word of God to bear.

And he will present in a particular way

and possibly reflects the Old Testament glory

where Moses didn't have his head covered

in the presence of God.

But it may be wider than that

in terms of Corinthian culture.

And then verse 5, look really carefully.

Every woman who prays or prophesies

with her head uncovered dishonours her head.

Now what have they both got in common?

In both contexts,

a man or a woman

is praying

or is prophesying

in public.

They're doing the same thing

but they're presenting differently

in the cultural context.

And what if,

and I think I've read this

but I won't go to the cross on it

because I might get contradicted,

but what if in Corinth

to be a woman

out the front of the congregation

with your head shaven

said something about

your social standing,

maybe even your connection

with prostitution

or it said something

about you as a woman

in that setting,

might that not get in the way

of the prayer being prayed

or the word of God

being brought to bear

in terms of prophecy?

Now I don't think

I want to go

a lot further

than that.

There's obviously

bucket loads

that could be said

and here's your opportunity

to write your own questions

down right now

on your sheet

and they can be brought

back to panel

tomorrow afternoon.

That's the way we can deal

with some of this stuff

in this context.

It's fantastic.

But coming to the second half,

verse 17,

in the following directives

I have no praise for you.

Your meetings do more harm

than good.

So there's a big point

that he's working

from round about

verse 17 to verse 22.

He said,

you come together

in verse 20,

when you come together

it's not the Lord's supper

you eat.

For as you eat

each of you

goes ahead

without waiting

for anyone else.

Would you mind

paying attention to me?

Like I can see

everybody's eyes

gone over there

but I'd really like

your eyes back here,

okay?

And in verse 21

he literally says,

you're not eating

the Lord's supper,

you're eating to self.

You're doing

your own stuff.

And we know

from what Steve's

spoken about

in the last talk

that he's been

talking to us

about being a body

and so when we talk

about body

in Christian life

we're talking about

the corporate life

of the people of God.

We are a body.

We're a body

gathered today

and boy

it's an exciting body

to see gathered today

and to be gathered

in this way

and that people

have given time

this morning

to worship in this way.

Just awesome.

But he's saying

to the Corinthians

there's something

about this gathering

that's going on

with you

which is just out of

what are you guys doing?

We're just having

lunch.

We're having lunch.

I did say bring lunch

and I said

there's some really nice wine

on the table

there's some fantastic chocolates

and there's more stuff coming.

Well it's going to be great

to be able to share that

in a minute

and

This is ours.

This is ours.

Ours.

Well I don't care about

the leaf and the carrot

you can have that.

It's no ordinary salad.

It's no ordinary salad.

So what else is in the box?

The very best chicken.

Okay.

It's distracting

isn't it?

What was the word?

He says

verse 22

or verse 21

for as

as you eat

each of you

goes ahead

without

waiting for anyone else

and

one remains hungry

and 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

and what shall I say

to you?

Certainly I shall not

shall I praise you

for this?

Certainly not.

And then he goes

into those words

that we know

really well

from the communion service

he goes to a different body

he moves from the body

of Christ

in terms of his people

to the body

of Christ himself

and he says

for I received

from the Lord

what I also passed

on to you

the Lord Jesus

on the night

he was betrayed

took bread

Passover meal

remembrance

to the time in Egypt

the deliverance

from the great salvation

event of the Old Testament

and he took bread

and when he had given

thanks he broke it

and said

this is my body

which is for you

do this in remembrance

of me

and in the same way

after supper

he took the cup

saying this cup

is the new covenant

in my blood

do this whenever you

drink it in remembrance

of me

for whenever you eat

this bread

and drink this cup

you proclaim the Lord's

death until he comes

so he's directing

the attention

of the body

of Christ

to the body

of Christ

and he's doing

what has happened

right throughout

our message series

in Corinthians

he is

taking us back

to the way

of the cross

and he is reminding

the people of God

that we are

who we are

through the sacrificial

self-serving

act of our saviour

God the Lord Jesus

Christ who has

made us one

with him

so this is not

about which

tradition do we

go with

and have all

the church

arguments of

history that we

could conduct

or the method

or whether we

got an individual

cup or a wafer

or a piece of

bread

that's a load

of nonsense

it's a sideshow

but what is

the centre of

this show is

that there's a

body of believers

in Corinth

who are humiliating

one another

by the way

that they interact

with each other

they're calling

it the Lord's

supper

and they have

gone so far

away from the

truth that it

is an offensive

thing that they

do in the light

of what God

has done for

them

and so you

come into the

last part of

the passage

where there's a

warning there

it says whoever

eats the bread

or drinks the

cup of the

Lord in

unworthy

manner

we're not

talking about

little cups

of grape juice

and wafers

we're talking

about the

behaviour of

the body

of Christ

so whoever

behaves as

we gather

in this

corporate meal

so whoever

eats the

bread or

drinks the

cup of

the Lord

in unworthy

manner will

be guilty

of sinning

against the

body and

blood of

the Lord

and a

man ought

to examine

himself

he ought

to examine

himself

so should

the woman

before he

eats of

the bread

and chokes

on the

cup

or drinks

from the

cup

because

anybody

who

eats

and

drinks

without

recognising

the

body

of

the

Lord

eats

and

drinks

judgment

on

himself

and that

is why

many among

you are

weak and

sick and

a number

of you

fallen asleep

but there's

been a

breakdown

in corporate

body

life amongst

these people

and it's

expressed

very

practically

in the

way they're

conducting

themselves

when they

come

together

in this

meal which

they call

worship

and God's

judgment has

been upon

them but

he's encouraging

them to come

under God's

discipline rather

than on his

judgment and

so respond to

his words so

respond now as

sons and

daughters of

God and

repent

go back to

your seats

anyway

you did a

great job

can we give

them a hand

so is this

for our

community

group now

or

love

doesn't

work does

it

but then

so it's

very practical

in the end

verse 33

my brothers

when you

come together

to eat

wait for

each other

it's almost

a courtesy

isn't it

it's as

simple as

a courtesy

and it's

the other

person

centered

love

I'm not

just going

to fill

my guts

while you

all stay

hungry

and there's

probably

something

even bigger

going on

which is

it's almost

a display

of wealth

I've got

my sandwich

for today

but these

guys have

got

luxury

and so I

display my

wealth

and as I

display my

wealth

and who I

am in terms

of the people

of God

as we meet

in this

place

I exalt

myself

and by

implication

I humiliate

other people

around me

and God

calls us

to a different

standard of

behaviour

in the light

of the cross

and the way

of the cross

and what the

Lord Jesus

has done

for us

so if you're

really hungry

when you're

coming for

lunch

well he's

telling you

to go and

have a bit

of Maccas

before you

turn up

so you

don't have

to pig

out and

take yourself

ahead of

everyone else

he doesn't

say if you're

hungry

if anyone's

hungry

you've got

to give

him more

it says

if you're

coming to

this meal

gathered as

the people

of God

satisfy your

hunger out

there and

then come

and eat

in moderation

with everybody

else

be sensitive

to the

brothers and

sisters that

you have

in Christ

so that it

will not

result in

judgement

and when

I come

I'll give

further

direction

so complete

sense of

1 Corinthians

11

absolutely

not

but there's

a few

things going

on there

which are

good for

us to

heed

what

is

what

is

coming

soon

to