1 Corinthians 11 Sermon | Proclamation, Remembrance, and Examination

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Yes, sir.

We that echoes in our hearts that you you said, you're the builder of the church, Jesus.

You uh this is your idea, and you've laid these cornerstones of the prophets of coming incarnation.

And we say, uh, build your church this morning.

You say, communion, the Lord's Supper, is one of the things you use to build it.

And and we say, I want to put this like the biggest photo in your house that this this moment where Jesus Christ is Lord, He's conquered sin and death, that this needs to be preempted.

This is how I build the church.

And so we receive that this morning in all that it means.

In Jesus' name, amen.

If you're a guest here, just relax.

You've seen the tables around here.

I'm gonna give a short um explanation from text, and I'll give us instructions of how what this is gonna be like.

The main thing you need to remember is your goal this morning is not to uh check a box of I've received the elements, taking communion.

Your goal this morning is really this same thing you're after every time we gather.

I want to be in the presence of God.

I want to enjoy him, and I want to be enjoyed by him.

And that's largely what we're gonna do this morning, just in a different format.

Let me read a text that we'll be uh focusing on here.

This is 1 Corinthians 11, 23 and following.

Paul writes, I received from the Lord what I delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you.

So do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way he also took the cup, and after supper, saying, This cup is a new covenant of 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 and 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 see that the bread, and so eat the bread and drink the cup.

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

That's why so many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

So three quick reminders from the text this morning.

It's proclamation, remembrance, and examinations.

A proclamation, where do we see this, verse 26?

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

So this morning, part of building a church, we we proclaim the Lord's death.

The part we're proclaiming every time we do this is uh I was so far from God, and I was by nature such a sinner that I needed someone, because it wasn't gonna happen on my own, to come and rescue me.

And that's someone, that someone had to be perfect.

And so Jesus willingly raised his hand, that's me.

And so he willingly died in your place.

What this does for us is it says, uh, one, I was so sinful and needy.

It also says, I'm so loved by God that this is what he did.

And so this removes two things from us.

This removes pride that says, I don't need anybody, and it removes self-pity that says, no one wants me.

Because in communion, we are reminded, we're celebrating that because Jesus died on our behalf, now I can enjoy being needing but needed by God, and I can enjoy being wanted by Him at the same time.

Remembrance, where do we see this?

Verse 24 and 25.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it, the bread, and said, This is my body which is for you.

So do this in remembrance of me.

Eight.

In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is a new covenant of my blood, so do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

What this is, is a physical living, it's like a photo, like a photograph.

And you look in a photo and you see who is present, and you remember what happened, and you and you actually kind of refill how you felt about that.

And that's what we're doing here.

We're remembering who Jesus is, we're remembering what he did, and remembering how we feel about that.

So who he is, he's his incarnation, his life, the miracles, his words, his death, his resurrection.

We're remembering all that he is, things like uh how patient he was and forgiving, and what a quick wit he was, and how merciful he is, and a sense of humor, and how much he enjoyed kids.

So, all of these things in the communion, what we're saying is I remember who Jesus is and what he did, and I feel humbled and I feel grateful that he I've been invited by him to know him this way.

The third thing in the text is examination.

Verse 27, 29.

Paul writes, Whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord.

So 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.

So we need to know what is this unworthy manner?

What is he talking about here?

I think we a phrase we would use is familiarity can breed contempt.

And so you should ask yourself have I gotten so used to the idea that Jesus died for me that I'm unmoved by it, I'm unimpressed by it, I'm I'm uninterested in it.

You should ask yourself.

We display this in two ways, if that's the case.

One is someone who uh they're living in willful, continual sin.

That's a way where someone's become unimpressed, unmoved by the sacrifice of Jesus.

And so the text says pretty clearly we're to examine ourselves and see, is this the case for me?

And the text says, if this is the case, uh you better to abstain until you've reach repentance versus consuming and and pretending and consuming judgment on yourself.

A second way we do this, where we get familiar and bring contempt, is is by being emotionally detached from communion.

We go through the emotions, but we're we're just detached from it.

And what that looks like and feels like is gosh, it's taking a long time.

Oh, my favorite table, I can't go over there.

Um, I'm bored.

I'd rather have a sermon.

That's where we become emotionally detached from what God says.

I'm building the church by reminding you of one of the biggest moments, not just in your life, but of all history.

The pinnacle of the story he's writing, of human history.

And so what we're asking is um God help me come to the table with a holy awe.

That's what he wants.

Come here with a holy awe.

That uh let us we we wanna uh abstain if that's not the case.

If you find we're we're actually gonna take a moment here.

Clyde's gonna play, and we're gonna give ourselves a moment, actually give the spirit a moment to examine us.

Show me my blind spots.

I don't want to do this, I don't want to play with you, I don't want to treat you with contempt.

And so show me have I been in willful sin?

Uh show me, am I detached from this?

And so we're gonna take a moment, follow what the text says, and examine yourself.

So pray with me and then continue praying as Clyde plays.

Holy Spirit, we we say, search me, oh God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my thoughts.

See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

We're really saying, expose our blind spot.

So things you see that we don't see, turn our eyes, turn our head to look upon them.

And we ask, Spirit, create in us a clean heart, a heart that's uh hopeful in you because it's clean towards you.

Stir in us a holy awe where we think about this picture the way you think about it.

So lead us now to examine ourselves.

That's our heart cry, Father, that what you do, who you are, and how you do it is it's well with us.

And you say, Well, it better be, because I'm God.

As we yes, you are.

We we depend on you and we enjoy doing that.

So this morning, Lord, we just ask we would continue to remember and experience uh what you say about us and how you feel about us, that you'd build your church as we look back and remember you're dying for us.

Amen.

Remain standing.

I'm gonna close us up here.

I'm gonna thank you for being here.

And um if you're new here, I guess, and you want to get connected, uh, we have a number you can text to.

I'm not sure it's gonna be up here or not.

If not, you can just you know find Travis.

He's around here, he's the guy to connect you to everything.

Also, this is a Sunday where you worship in here it is right here.

Text, welcome to this, the other.

If this is a Sunday you worship in biblical giving, then you know that the boxes at each X exit is where you take care of that.

And um lastly, I want to let you know that after the service, some of our pastors will be up front if you um want to talk or get prayed for, even though part of what I love about communion is everybody in the room has their opportunity to get prayed for.

How unusual is that on a Sunday morning?

So, lastly, keep standing.

We're gonna close as we do with a spoken blessing.

So put your hands out to receive something.

The blood of Jesus is valuable beyond measure.

And God was glad to spill it for you, to save you.

In fact, he enjoys you.

And the most natural response for you is to enjoy him back.

So depart now and go enjoy the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.