1 Corinthians 11:17-34

If you are looking in a pew Bible, page 958, 1 Corinthians 11, 17 to 34, Paul's teaching

on the Lord's Supper.

Let us read together.

But in the following instructions, I do not commend you, because when you come together,

it is not for the better, but for the worse.

For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions

among you.

And I believe it in part.

For there must be factions among you, in order that those who are genuine among you may be

recognized.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat.

For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.

One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

What?

Do you not have houses 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 commend you in this?

No, I will not.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when

He was betrayed, 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.

In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant

in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until

He comes.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will

be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned

along with the world.

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not

be for judgment.

About the other things, I will give directions when I come.

Well, this morning we're considering the Lord's Supper.

On the surface, it may seem like a fairly straightforward church topic, not quite as controversial as

last week's passage on head coverings, or the next three chapters on spiritual gifts, including

prophecy and speaking in tongues.

But at many points in church history, the Lord's Supper has been a matter of intense controversy.

Churches have debated and divided over such questions as these.

How often should we celebrate the Lord's Supper?

Daily?

Weekly?

Monthly?

Quarterly?

Once a year?

How should we understand the relationship between the bread and wine, or grape juice,

and the body and blood of Christ?

Do they actually become the body and blood of Christ?

Are they just symbolic reminders, or is it something in between?

Who should receive the Lord's Supper?

Another question.

Only the members of a particular church, all baptized believers, only those who've confessed

their sins.

What about believers who keep on sinning?

Some of you may know that Jonathan Edwards was thrown out of his church where he had been

the pastor because of a controversy over who should and who shouldn't receive communion.

Now, despite the many controversies surrounding the Lord's Supper in church history, it's

still one of the most distinctive and universal Christian practices, along with baptism.

Every Christian church, except for the Quakers and the Salvation Army, celebrates the Lord's

Supper in one form or other.

And if you think about it, it's sort of unusual.

If you're not a Christian, or if you weren't raised going to church, can you remember the

first time that you observed a communion service or encountered a group of Christians who are

eating bread and drinking wine or juice that represented for them the body and blood of Jesus,

who was crucified 2,000 years ago?

You might have…

I mean, maybe you thought, that seems really weird.

It's almost grotesque.

In the ancient Roman Empire, when Christianity was spreading and Christians were persecuted

and the church had to meet in secret, some people started spreading rumors completely with

no factual basis that Christians were cannibals, eating human flesh and drinking human blood.

The rumors were completely false, but you might understand how when Christians couldn't

publicly defend themselves, the rumors kept on spreading.

And yet, despite the rumors and the weirdness on the outside, and despite the controversies

on the inside, Christians have continued to gather and celebrate and even treasure and

eagerly anticipate the Lord's Supper, week by week, month by month, year by year.

So, this morning we want to look at the Lord's Supper.

What's it all about?

Why does it matter so much?

How can we approach it rightly?

This is the longest passage in the New Testament that gives teaching on this topic, and I want

to look at it under three headings.

First, the problem in Corinth, verse 17 to 22.

Second, the pattern from Christ, verse 23 to 26.

And third, practical applications.

Now, unlike my last sermon, the third point is not the shortest, and the first point is

not the longest.

Anyway, all right, going on.

First, we're just going to plow ahead.

The problem in Corinth, verse 17 to 22.

Now, in Paul's mind, this was a pretty serious problem that was going on.

If you look back at verse 2 of this chapter, Paul said,

I commend you or I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions

even as I delivered them to you.

Verse 17, he says, though, in the following instructions, I do not commend you.

Verse 22, shall I commend you in this?

No, I will not commend you.

Paul wasn't happy.

He said, when you get together, it's not for the better, it's for the worse.

So, what was going on?

Well, verse 18 says, when you come together, there were divisions.

Paul already expressed his dismay over divisions in the church.

Chapters 1 through 4, some divisions focus around specific leaders.

Here, the divisions seem to focus around class and social status.

We'll see that in a minute.

Now, verse 19 might seem a bit confusing.

What does Paul mean by that?

I think he means the divisions aren't good in themselves, but they're also part of God's

plan to show who truly belongs to him, who is genuine and who's not.

But verses 20 and 21 actually show us some of what was going on.

Paul says, when you come together, it's not the Lord's Supper that you eat.

Each one goes ahead with his own meal.

One goes hungry.

Another gets drunk.

Now, how does that make any sense?

What was going on?

Four things, context, that will help us understand.

First, the early church normally met in the homes of believers.

There were no dedicated church buildings for at least two or three hundred years.

And mostly in the houses of wealthier believers who had larger houses so they could accommodate

more people.

Second, when the early church gathered, they regularly shared meals together.

We see this in Acts, where it says the believers gathered to break bread together.

This was also typical of religious societies and social clubs in the ancient world.

You'd often gather in the evening at somebody's house, eat a meal, perhaps sing a hymn or share

a toast in honor of the God you are worshiping, perhaps listen to a speaker and engage in conversation

long into the night.

Early Christian church meetings weren't far from that.

But when Christians gathered together, they shared what we know as what we call the Lord's

Supper, eating bread and drinking from a cup, remembering Jesus' body and blood and His death

on the cross as part…but it was part of a larger fellowship meal.

So, that's part of what's going on here.

So, third factor, the dining room of a typical Roman house was too small to fit everyone.

Normally, they would have three couches on three walls.

It was called a triclinium, a room with three walls, and there would be about nine people

who could fit in there, maybe 15 or 20 in a big, big house could fit in the dining room.

Most people would be out in what they called the atrium or the courtyard.

That could fit maybe 30 to 50 people.

It was, you know, not as comfortable.

There weren't all these comfortable couches to recline on, but that's where most people

would be.

And now, here is the most important factor.

At a typical dinner party in the ancient world, the host would treat people differently

based on their social status and their relationship to the host.

So, typically, if you were a well-to-do host in Corinth, public official in town perhaps,

you might invite your other friends from City Hall who also happen to be Christians, and

you'd seat them in the dining room on the nice couches.

And the other people, the day laborers, the slaves, the freedmen, would stand outside in

the courtyard.

Maybe people who you didn't know so well think, well, okay, I don't know who they are.

It was sort of like most airplanes today.

There was first class where you get a full gourmet meal, a comfortable seat, and you're

weighted on hand and foot, and there's coach, where you're stuffed in there, and you get

peanuts or pretzels, and one cup of soda on the three-hour flight.

One Roman writer described a dinner party as follows.

The best dishes were set in front of the host and a select few, and cheap scraps of food

before the rest of the company.

He had even put the wine into tiny little flasks divided into three categories.

One lot was intended for himself and for us.

He was one of the privileged folks.

Another for his lesser friends, and the third for his and our freedmen, that is, former slaves.

And this was very common.

It was the expected pattern in that society.

As a host, you would treat people differently based on their relationship to you and their

status in society.

And when the Corinthian church gathered together, it seems a similar pattern prevailed.

Perhaps the privileged ones were invited into the dining room.

The poor Christians were kept outside in the courtyard.

Perhaps the privileged folks who had more flexible schedules arrived earlier, ate the best food

first, and by the time the poor people got off work at the end of the day, because they

had longer work hours, there was hardly any food left over for them.

And that would make sense of why Paul says in verse 21, each one goes ahead with his own

meal, and why he tells them in verse 33, wait for each other.

Although that verse could also mean simply share with one another.

Now, Paul was absolutely outraged.

As you can see in verse 22, do you despise the church of God and humiliate or dishonor those

who have nothing?

What shall I say to you?

So, this was the problem in the Corinthian church.

When they gathered to share meals and the Lord's Supper, the privileged Christians were

somehow dishonoring the poor Christians.

Now, before we go on to the second section, let me make two brief asides.

Number one, Paul assumes that the church is called to be distinct from the surrounding

world, the culture in which we live in.

The behavior that ticked Paul off was not unusual.

It was normal in broader Corinthian society.

But Paul's assumption is the church is called to live by a different standard.

It's countable to reflect the values of God's kingdom and not the values of this present age.

Second, notice that in this chapter, Paul speaks differently to issues of gender and class.

Now, our society tends to put gender, race, class, and sexuality as all in sort of one big category.

And some people think either you're a traditionalist and you want to affirm distinctions in all those

areas and you end up privileging some people over others, or you're progressive and open-minded

and you want to break down those categories.

But the Bible's view is far more nuanced.

In last week's passage, Paul reminded the Corinthians that their new freedom in Christ

shouldn't erase all gender distinctions.

God made us in His image as male and female.

No one is superior or inferior.

But we are distinct and different.

And that's part of God's good design.

It's a reflection of His glory.

It will last into eternity.

So, in the church, Paul says we should honor one another by celebrating both our gender distinctions

and our interdependence.

But Paul's attitude towards social class is very different.

And the Bible's attitude is also very different.

If you go back to Genesis 1 and 2, God made human beings in His image.

Male and female, God did not make human beings with the rich and the middle class and the poor.

It's just not in the creation narrative.

And in the Old Testament, there are not some laws that apply in a certain way to rich people

and other laws that, you know, if you…

In the Old Testament, if you commit the same crime, it doesn't matter what status you have,

you have the same punishment, which was not the case in any other ancient society outside of Israel.

If anything, what you see is that God has a particular concern for the poor and vulnerable

and protecting people who otherwise wouldn't be protected.

Now, obviously in this world, some people will have more money or more education or more social power than others.

That's simply a fact.

But what Paul is saying here, according to Paul and according to Jesus,

that's not part of your core identity.

And that should make no difference, absolutely no difference, in how you are treated in the church.

If you're a CEO of a company, if you're a graduate of Yale, if you're earning six figures,

you shouldn't be treated any differently than someone who has an eighth grade education

and works as a janitor or works in retail or who's disabled.

Jesus chose fishermen with no formal education to be His disciples, some of His disciples.

And Paul says, don't despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing in this world.

world.

Don't ignore them.

Don't marginalize them.

Don't push them to the side.

In chapter 1, Paul said, God chose people who are low and despised in this world,

even things that are not.

People who are nobodies in the eyes of the world to bring to nothing things that are

so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

Paul says, God intentionally chose all kinds of people,

including people who have nothing in this world to belong to Him and be eternally rich

and show the riches of His glory.

Paul says, how would you dishonor people whom God has chosen?

So that's the Corinthian problem.

Second, Paul shows us the pattern from Christ, verse 23 to 26.

Now, in order to address this Corinthian problem, Paul takes them all the way back to the pattern

of Christ, the words of Jesus Himself.

This is the longest recounting of any episode from the Gospels in all of Paul's epistles,

so it's pretty significant.

It indicates that, excuse me, Paul considered the Lord's Supper to be quite important.

It was one of the teachings or traditions that he had delivered to them when he taught them in person

and founded the church.

It was also a regular pattern when Christians gathered together,

recorded in three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Now, the main point Paul wants to drive home in this middle section is that when we celebrate the

Lord's Supper, we remember and proclaim Jesus' self-giving death on our behalf.

Verse 23, Paul says,

The Lord Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper on the night He was betrayed.

And that word betrayed can also be translated handed over.

It's actually the same word that's translated delivered earlier in that sentence.

Now, we know that Jesus was handed over or that He was betrayed by Judas,

who was present at the Last Supper, received the bread.

From Jesus' hand.

And then went out and handed Him over to His enemies.

But Paul also uses the same word in Romans chapter 8, verse 32.

Romans 8:32

He says,

God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up, handed Him over in love for us all.

And the same Greek word is used in the Greek version of Isaiah 53, where it says,

The Lord gave Him up for our sins.

So, you see, it's not just that Judas handed Jesus over, but it was also the plan of God the Father to give up His Son.

Not in betrayal, as Judas did.

Not in hatred and in darkness, but in love for us and in faithfulness to His plan.

But what Paul wants to point out is that Jesus wasn't just betrayed by Judas,

or He wasn't just the instrument of God the Father's will.

He willingly gave His own life.

Jesus freely gave His own life in love for us.

He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and freely gave it to His disciples.

Now, when Jesus did that, He was acting as the host of a Passover meal.

And that was what the host was expected to do at the beginning of the meal.

The host would take bread, unleavened bread, give thanks to God who had provided it,

break it, and give it to those who were present.

But then Jesus said,

This bread signifies my body, which I will offer willingly up to God in thanksgiving,

and give on your behalf when I die on the cross tomorrow.

You see, during Passover, they ate only unleavened bread.

It was called the bread of affliction, the bread of suffering,

because the people of Israel had left Egypt in haste.

In other words, their salvation had come only through suffering.

That's what they remembered by taking that bread.

And Jesus was saying,

Your salvation will come only through My suffering,

through My body, which is for you.

Offered in your place and on your behalf.

And in the same way,

Jesus took the cup after supper and freely gave it to His disciples,

saying,

This cup is the new covenant in My blood.

Again, at Passover, the Jewish people remembered,

not just how they had left Egypt,

but they remembered how God in His covenant faithfulness

had spared them from His judgment.

Each family was instructed to kill a lamb

and put some of the blood over the front door of their house.

And God had promised,

When I see the blood, I will pass over you,

and no plague shall befall you to destroy you.

And when Jesus gave that cup to His disciples,

He's saying,

It's My blood that will cover you.

It's My blood that will rescue you from the judgment of God.

It's My blood that I will shed that will bring you into the new covenant

that Jeremiah had promised.

One day, I will make a new covenant, the Lord says.

I will be your God, and you will be My people.

You will all know Me, from the least to the greatest,

for I will forgive your iniquity

and remember your sin no more.

And back in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians,

Paul wrote,

Christ, our Passover Lamb,

has been sacrificed.

Let us therefore celebrate the festival.

See, the Passover festival was an annual remembrance

of what God had done for Israel,

and Jesus said,

Just as the people have eaten the Passover

in remembrance of God saving them from slavery in Egypt,

eat this bread,

and drink this cup in remembrance of Me.

Now, when the Bible talks about remembering,

it doesn't just mean thinking in our minds

about something that happened in the past.

Remembering biblically means identifying

with what happened in the past.

It's saying, that's part of my story too.

I wouldn't be here today without it.

That's how the Israelites were supposed to treat the Passover.

Exodus 13, Moses says,

When you come into the promised land,

and everything's going great for you,

every year when you celebrate the Passover,

you shall tell your child,

It is because of what the Lord did for me

when I came out of Egypt.

Now, this is the people, generations later,

who are living in the promised land.

They didn't physically come out of Egypt.

Right?

Except, I guess, in the body of their ancestors.

You want to use that line of reasoning.

Right?

Which is an ancient form of thinking.

But the point is,

when we look back at what Christ did on the cross,

when we eat the bread and drink the cup,

in remembrance of Him,

we're saying,

He did it for me.

He saved me by what He did way back then.

And I wouldn't be here today without it.

And I can come to the table of the Lord

because He rescued me.

And I now belong to God's family

because of what He did on the cross.

But the Lord's Supper isn't just where we receive

assurance of Jesus' love for us individually.

It's also where we celebrate our unity with one another

in the body of Christ.

Back in chapter 10, Paul said,

because there's one bread,

we who are many are one body.

Because we all eat of the one bread.

We eat together from a common table

in honor of our common Lord,

who is both our host and our feast.

That's what the Lord's Supper is about.

Remembering and identifying with Jesus

self-giving love

and His sacrifice for us.

See, Paul wanted the Corinthians to see

that the way they were celebrating

their Lord's Supper

was far out of line

with the pattern that Christ had given.

Paul says,

if you're celebrating the Lord's Supper,

even if it's being held in your home,

you're not the host.

Jesus Christ is the host.

You are the servants in His household.

So you have no authority to decide

who gets first-class treatment

and who gets second-class treatment

and who gets ignored

based on who your little clique of friends is

and who you want to please

and who has power and wealth and status

in this world.

Jesus Christ doesn't consider

any of those things

when He looks at people

and welcomes them into His family.

He welcomes all

who come to Him

in repentance and faith.

He willingly gave His body and blood

on the cross completely

for all who had come to Him.

And He graciously invites them

to feast at His table

and Paul says,

that's how you should treat one another.

According to Christ,

remembering that He is the host,

that when we gather together as a church,

whether we're celebrating

the Lord's Supper

in the more formal way that we do it,

or whether we're having a meal together

down in the Fellowship Hall,

or whether we one day combine the two

like the Corinthians did,

who knows,

we can think about it.

Paul says,

treat one another

as Christ has treated you.

So that's the pattern from Christ.

How does that apply to us today?

This is our third and final section.

Verse 27 to 34.

Now, there are two paragraphs.

Verse 27 to 33.

27 to 32.

And 33 to 34.

They both begin with the same word.

Translated, therefore, in verse 27,

and so then in verse 33.

And within each of these paragraphs,

there's one central command.

Verse 28 and verse 33.

Examine yourselves

and wait for each other,

or share with each other.

So let's focus on these two commands

as we consider some practical implications

for our community.

So I'm going to shift a little bit

from focusing on ancient Corinth

to focusing on us as a church today.

So first, examine yourself, verse 28.

Now, that command is sandwiched between two warnings.

Verse 27 warns against eating and drinking

in an unworthy manner.

Verse 29 warns against eating and drinking

without discerning the body.

Now, in the context,

the meaning of Paul's warning was clear.

Some people were eating and drinking

in a manner unworthy of the Lord,

gorging themselves

while others in the body of Christ,

even those in their local church,

were going hungry.

They were eating and drinking

without discerning the body,

that is, without recognizing rightly

their brothers and sisters

in the body of Christ

and treating them as such.

Paul says,

examine yourselves.

And he warns

that the consequences of not doing so

are very serious.

Verse 27,

you will be guilty

concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

Verse 29,

you are eating and drinking judgment

on yourself.

Verse 30,

that is why many of you

are weak and ill

and some have died.

Yikes.

We need to figure out

what's going on here.

Now, verse 30,

let me try to explain this a little bit.

There are two errors

that we can fall into

regarding sickness and sin.

Okay?

Some people have said

that all sickness

is caused by some kind of sin

or lack of faith.

This teaching can be

particularly confusing

and devastating

to people who are sick

and don't get well.

It also doesn't make sense

of many Bible passages.

For example,

why would Paul tell Timothy,

stop drinking only water

and use a little wine

because of your stomach

and your frequent illnesses

if his illnesses

were due to sin

or a lack of faith?

Other people react

against this view

and say

there is no connection

between sickness

and sin

in the New Testament.

And I think most of us

at Trinity

would probably tend

to say something like this.

If you get sick,

right,

that's,

right,

we don't immediately

think of a connection

with sin.

But then we have trouble

with passages like this

because it's pretty clear

Paul discerned

whether it was

a prophetic insight

or whether he just knew

more information

than we do.

he discerned

a connection

between

the unhealthy divisions

in the Corinthian church

and the physical illnesses

and even premature death

that some of the believers

had experienced.

Now,

how do we understand this?

I think we need to understand it

in light of Hebrews 12.

Hebrews 12 says

God disciplines His children

for our good.

And sometimes

that discipline

takes the form

of painful correction.

Now,

we should not assume

the Bible does not teach

that every sickness

is caused by

some kind of sin

or lack of faith.

But,

I think physical sickness

should cause us

to examine ourselves.

Isn't it true

that sometimes

God uses sickness

to humble us

in our pride

or to make workaholics

like me

take a Sabbath rest?

or to call us

back to Himself

when we've become

distracted

by the riches

and worries

and cares

of this life?

Or to reconnect us

to the body of Christ

and let other people

help us

when we've isolated ourselves

and wouldn't want to ask

for help on our own?

Paul says

we should examine ourselves

and see that sometimes

that's what God

might be doing

but not

assume that that's

what's going on

all the time.

So,

Paul's warning is

examine yourselves

so that your community

won't be judged

by the Lord.

That means

sort of disciplined

by the Lord

but remember

when the Lord

judges us

in the way

the word is used here

He's disciplining us.

He's not condemning us.

He's not

ultimately destroying us

if we belong to Christ

but that's

but He's warning us

and correcting us

even through a painful process.

Paul says

if you would examine yourselves

you would avoid the pain.

You'd avoid some pain

if you would examine yourselves.

Now,

so that's sort of the warning.

Let's go back

to the command

examine yourself

and let me give

a few practical applications.

Two do's

and two don'ts.

First,

when we come to the Lord's table

do

examine

your relationship

with the Lord

and your relationship

with others

in the body of Christ.

Now,

if you're here

if you're not a Christian

if you don't identify

with Christ at all

then

please don't take

the bread and the cup

when they're passed around.

We're not trying

we're not meaning to

exclude you.

We're glad

that you've come

to join us.

It simply wouldn't

be authentic.

It simply wouldn't

be a right

it's an act

that has a spiritual meaning.

It means

I'm trusting in Christ

and I want to be loyal

to Him.

If you've been

but use the time

when we pass out

the bread

and pass out the cup

to consider

the message

of Christianity

to ask yourself

what's holding me back?

why don't I

identify with Christ?

What's hindering me

from doing that?

Take the time

for

to ask yourself

those questions.

But

maybe you have

previously identified

as a Christian

perhaps you grew up

in the church

but

you may

but you're living

in what the Bible

calls

unrepentant sin.

Now that means

there's some area

of your life

where you are refusing

to confess

your sin

and ask

for God's help

to move forward

in a godly way.

Or maybe

there's someone

in the body of Christ

with whom you have

an unresolved conflict

and you're refusing

to do your part

to seek

reconciliation.

Maybe you've hurt

someone in the past

and you know it

but you haven't

asked forgiveness.

Maybe you've been

wronged and hurt

and maybe you need

to either overlook

and forgive

or lovingly confront.

Paul says

examine yourselves.

If that's you

when you come

to the Lord's table

Jesus invites you

to come to Him

as you are

and open your hands

and receive from Him

the grace you need

to do

what He's calling you

to do.

But there is a warning.

If you have

every intention

of continuing

in unrepentant sin

and don't want

God's help

to turn away from it.

If you are

refusing to

deal with

a conflict

and you're

continuing

in strife

and discord

with your neighbors

Paul says

don't eat

the Lord's Supper.

That would be

hypocritical.

Paul says

examine yourselves.

Take a second look.

Take an honest look.

So we should

examine ourselves

as to our

relationship

with the Lord

and with others

in the body

of Christ.

But second

don't

fall into

morbid

and despairing

introspection.

Some of you

may be keenly aware

of your own sins

and failures

from the past.

Maybe you're

struggling with

sinful desires

and habits

in the present.

when you look

at verse 27

and verse 28

you might think

I should never

receive communion

because I will

never be worthy

and when I take

an honest look

and examine myself

I only see

how great

my sin is.

Well if that's you

listen to the words

of John Calvin.

He says

if you are serious

in your intention

to aspire to

the righteousness

of God

to seek

to live a holy life

and if humbled

by the knowledge

of your own

wretchedness

you fall back

upon the grace

of Christ

and rest upon it

be assured

that you are a guest

worthy of approaching

this table

for faith

even if imperfect

makes the unworthy

worthy.

Jesus said

anyone who comes

to me

I will never

drive away.

Come to me

all who are weary

and burdened

not just by our burdens

but also by our sins

come to him

he says

I'll give you rest

to come

take

and eat

receive his grace

ask him for the help

that you need.

You know

maybe you've fallen

into serious sin

maybe you've had

a terrible week

the solution

to that

is don't stay

in the dark

come into the light

confess your sin

to the Lord

repent

and receive

his promise

of forgiveness

find a mature

brother or sister

in the Lord

and confess your sin

to them

and ask them

to pray for you

so that you can be

healed and made whole

according to James 5 16

ask the mature

Christians

for accountability

and wisdom

and support

as you're seeking

to follow Christ

and fighting

against temptation

don't try to fight

the battle

alone

so first

do examine

ourselves

second

don't

fall into despair

third

do let the body

of Christ

play its proper

role

in the self-examination

process

now verse 28

Paul says

let a person

examine himself

he's talking about

an individual believer

here

but in other passages

such as

1 Corinthians 5

and 2 Corinthians 2

Paul teaches

that the church

as a whole

and its leaders

in particular

have a responsibility

to discern

as far as we can tell

who belongs

to Christ

and therefore

should take

the bread

and the cup

and who doesn't

and shouldn't

and the normal way

that the church

publicly proclaims

that you belong

to Jesus Christ

is by baptizing

them

that person

and receiving them

into what we call

church membership

so

if

for some reason

you normally

take communion

but you haven't

been baptized

in any way

shape or form

you should be baptized

because it doesn't

make sense

to take one

and not the other

now I know

baptism seems

a lot more

intimidating

than

just taking communion

when the trays

are passed around

you can take

the bread

and the cup

and nobody

will notice

but if you get

up here

and get all wet

in front of everybody

everybody's going

to see you

and some of you

are anxious

because you see

people who stand

up here

and give eloquent

testimonies

of the Lord's

work in their lives

that speech

is optional

let me make

that clear

what's essential

is to obey

the command

of Jesus

to be baptized

in the name

of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit

and when you're

standing up here

it's

you're

God's affirming

his promise

to you

in front of

everyone else

you don't have

to just sort of

hide in the

corner of the church

and always sit

behind a pillar

right

he welcomes you

as a child

whom he loves

he's cleansed you

from your sins

that's what baptism

proclaims

and represents

and celebrates

so baptism

is a wonderful

thing

don't miss out

if you haven't

been baptized

but you believe

in Christ

come and talk

to one of the elders

we'd love to help

you prepare

for baptism

if you're in the

youth group

talk to Pastor Nick

on the other end

if for some reason

you're a baptized believer

in Jesus Christ

but for some reason

you have stopped

taking communion

please come and talk

with one of the elders

again whatever the

reason is

we want to help

you work through

that and pursue

Christ in whatever

way you need to

so don't just

don't just work

through that alone

we want to help

you

so do examine

yourself

don't despair

do let the body

of Christ have

its proper role

fourth

don't miss

Paul's main

point

by fixating

on later church

controversies

over the Lord's

Supper

now two of the

main concerns

that have divided

churches over the

centuries are these

one how often

should we do it

and two

how do we understand

Christ's presence

in the elements

Paul here

and the New Testament

generally

does not seem

particularly concerned

to define a precise

answer to either

of those questions

as to the question

of frequency

there's simply

no explicit command

in the New Testament

Paul says

as often as you eat

this bread

and drink the cup

the principle

seems to be

regularly

some churches

do it weekly

some churches

do it monthly

should we celebrate

it more often

at Trinity

maybe

we are today

maybe we'll continue

doing it a little

more often

than once a month

we'll see

we certainly

won't do it less

if you're concerned

about that

I think if anything

our general tendency

is to undervalue

the Lord's Supper

rather than overvalue

it

there are problems

on both sides

but Paul is also

not particularly

concerned

to define

how Christ

is present

in the Lord's Supper

now if you want

an answer

here's a brief answer

is the bread

the physical body

of Jesus Christ

no

Jesus bodily

ascended into heaven

and he is seated

at the right hand

of God the Father

but is Jesus Christ

really present

when we eat the bread

and drink the cup

you bet he is

he promised to be

by his Holy Spirit's

power

and he's here

to nourish

and strengthen

and gladden

and unite our hearts

so that we can love him

and worship him

with joy

and live for him

with abandon

if you want a good

explanation

excuse me

if you want a good

explanation

of how it all works

read the chapter

in Calvin's

Institutes

Calvin's right

on almost everything

not quite

okay

but you don't have

to understand

exactly how

the Lord's Supper

works

it's like medicine

you don't have

to understand

all the chemical

mechanics

for the medicine

to make a difference

you do have

to take it

and follow

the doctor's orders

Jesus said

take the medicine

receive it

with repentance

and faith

and it'll help

you grow in love

but don't miss

Paul's main point

by focusing on

such controversies

Paul's main point

is a point

that has been

neglected

through much

of church history

Paul says

taking the Lord's

Supper together

should push us

should shape

our relationships

with each other

in the body

of Christ

in particular

it should push us

towards

embodying

the self-giving

generosity

that Jesus

has displayed

and given

to us

when we take

the bread

and take

the cup

we celebrate

Christ gave

himself for us

and we had

nothing

to commend

ourselves

to him

and Paul says

be careful

make sure

you honor

the people

who are your

brothers and

sisters in Christ

who have nothing

to commend

themselves to you

who have

little status

in the eyes

of this world

who aren't

your close friends

who you think

might be a little

weird

but they're

your brother

or sister

in Christ

honor

and welcome

them

because Christ

is the host

here

and we live

by his

rules

and the only

distinction

that is made

is based on

your relationship

to him

and Christ

says we're

one in the

body of Christ

John Christ

Christ

the fourth

century preacher

said this

he said

do you wish

to honor

the body

of Christ

he lived

in a society

where there

was sort

of a high

church view

of the Lord's

supper

he says

do you wish

to honor

the body

of Christ

don't

ignore him

when he

is cold

and naked

do not

pay him

homage

in the

church

building

only to

neglect

him

outside

he who

said

this is

my body

take and

eat

in remembrance

of me

is the

same one

who said

whatever

you did

to the

least

of my

brothers

and sisters

you did

also to

me

so honor

him

with this

honor

which he

himself

has ordained

spending

your wealth

on the

poor

honor

your

brothers

and sisters

let us

honor one

another

by sharing

with one

another

by being

generous

as Christ

has been

generous

to us

may the

Lord's

supper

shape

us

as we

reflect

on

Christ

generosity

to us

may it

reflect

may that

be the

outcome

for us

let me

close with

a challenge

from a

modern

commentator

on 1 Corinthians

Richard Hayes

he says

as long as

some

Christians

go hungry

the Lord's

supper

should call

us to

share

our bread

with those

in need

somehow

we have

made

the Lord's

supper

into a

tidy

right

disconnected

from real

eating

and drinking

consequently

it is

hard

for many

economically

comfortable

Christians

to envision

the connection

between the

Lord's table

and the

needs of

the poor

to discern

the body

means to

perceive

the connection

between

ourselves

and our

brothers and

sisters

in Christ

if we

discern

the body

rightly

we will

express

our

oneness

in Christ

by sharing

what God

has given

us

to eat

and drink

with joy

let us

pray

Lord we

thank you

that by your

grace you

welcome us

to come

to your

table

we pray

that we

would receive

the bread

and the cup

with joy

as we

proceed to

take it

now

in Christ's

name we

pray

amen

well now

since you've

heard about

the Lord's

supper

now we

get to

take it

and receive

it with

strength