On Communion (1 Cor. 11) | The Sandhurst Podcast

All right.

Welcome to the Sandhurst Beyond Sunday podcast.

We want to equip saints to think biblically about God, life, and culture so that our faith goes beyond Sunday.

That's what it is.

And uh today's today's a good day.

Yeah.

And uh there's probably good uh a few reasons why today's a good day.

But one is um Adam, Adam, you have a knack for finding the food.

Bro.

And so uh Adam, well, I guess I'll back up a little bit.

Uh I do this thing with students all the time where I take full court shots, but before I take the shot, I make some sort of deal.

Like if I make this, then you have to buy me, you know, a Chick-fil-A sandwich.

Or if I make this, then you know, something.

I usually miss, unfortunately.

But this particular time recently, I said, hey, if I make this, then I'll buy everyone steaks.

Then what do you know?

Swish.

Full course.

It's like, oh man, dang it.

Yep.

But actually, not too bad because uh, you know, I got to eat a steak too.

So anyway, we cooked some steaks today with some of the students and we're eating.

And what do you know?

Who walks in the room just out of nowhere?

Yes.

The one, the only Adam Richards.

Led by the spirit.

Yes.

I mean I was off uh site this morning kind of hammering down on some some fall things kicking off.

And so I come in at lunchtime, and um I'm it's like kind of quiet.

So did the did the smell bring you in?

So actually not.

Uh I ducked in there.

That was just the spirit.

I wonder if I was just like, where is everybody?

Did I miss it?

Or was it like uh, you know, what's in the fridge in the in the uh because I I I had this idea that like this rumor that left over from Missions Boot Camp there was food in some of the one of the fridges.

Bro, there is food everywhere here right now.

And yeah, I'm not complaining.

So uh I walked in and you are you are right.

There was this pile of steak, there was mac and cheese.

Maybe we can show a picture of it.

Can we show a picture of it on the show?

Mac and cheese, there was uh corn and two chocolate cream pies.

Two.

Yeah.

There are only six of us.

Yeah, so we had to work pretty hard for that.

Yeah, loved it.

All right, so yep.

Good day.

Good day.

All right.

Well, we're in 1 Corinthians, we've been in 1 Corinthians, and uh we're we're coming actually to the end.

I think if if everything stays according to the schedule, then we will be done with 1 Corinthians on September 20th.

All right.

Which is honestly kind of sad for me because I I love this book.

Yep.

Um, but we are in chapter 11 now, and it has everything to do with communion and the way they're taking communion.

So we'll read the text in a second, but really I had two goals in this service on Sunday in terms of teaching.

Uh I wanted to be able to look at this text in a way that would help us come to church differently, and to look at the text in a way that would help us take communion differently.

That we would come to church ready to love, which is not usually like what's on our radar when we're coming to church.

We're usually thinking like, okay, what am I gonna wear?

Um what are we usually actually I want to pause?

What are we usually thinking when we're coming to church?

Okay, who who have uh who have I not answered their text this week that I might run into?

Uh who, you know, who whose kid has something with my kid because they're gonna be there and we've been missing each other.

I want to grab them while we're there.

You know, there's some, you know, typically there's like, oh, everybody's gonna be together.

Let me grab X, Y, and Z because we have this thing going on, and you know, we'll we kind of I'll see them and I can talk to them.

So I often oftentimes I have like some kind of errands on my mind.

Yeah, errands, kind of social interactions, or maybe, maybe even a little bit of social stress, yeah, uh can be on our minds.

Um, you know, just the the kind of frazzledness that comes with getting a family ready to go in the morning, um, that can be on our minds.

Whatever the case, what's not usually on our minds on our way to church is hey, how can I love the people in my church today?

Yeah.

Coming ready for that is not usually what's on our mind.

And what I hoped would happen in 1 Corinthians 11 and looking at this text, that we would come to church ready and eager to love.

Okay, that was part one.

Part two was that we would take communion ready to look.

Okay, ready to look.

To to not just kind of participate in the ritual with a sign of with kind of a a mindless routine, but we would look, look back at Jesus' death, look forward to his return, and look in for self-examination that I would be able to take communion in an in a worthy way.

So that was um, that was what I hoped would happen as we went through it.

I wanted to kind of lay that groundwork first before we read it.

Let me jump in here too, because uh, you know, we Protestants, we are very um uh generous of you know with communion, and we want to encourage people to commune with Christ and we focus on the grace and forgiveness we have in Christ, and so we open the table.

It's the Lord's table, it's not our table, and we let folks in their own conscience decide when they are ready to take communion.

But it's not always been this way.

And even in the Protestant Reformation, um, in fact, one of our members uh uh sent me some pictures of some tokens that she saw on a recent trip to Edinburgh, that um communion was offered.

Um, this isn't this isn't Catholic and Orthodox, this is Protestant Reformation Christianity.

Uh it was offered twice a year, and in order to take it, you had to interview with the priest and show evidence of grace in your life that you are growing as a Christian and that God's grace is evident in you, more fruitful now than it was six months ago.

And for that, they would give you a token and you would bring that token to church on Sunday, and you could use that to take communion.

So it was it was very high bar.

And so, whatever you think of that, um, you know, it's important for us now to think, what do we think about communion?

How do we interact?

Because regardless of that system and tradition, the point taken is that it's a serious matter to have fellowship with the living Christ and to say that I'm doing this in remembrance of him.

Yes, could not agree more.

If if uh reading 1 Corinthians 11 and what we saw on Sunday didn't uh raise in some way raised the bar of um the significance of communion, um the significance of communion in the eyes of God and and therefore the significance of communion and the way we remember Jesus.

Uh if if the bar wasn't raised there, then um then dang, I really missed it because I mean he couldn't be more clear.

Some of you are sick and dying because of the way you're taking communion.

Like this is not just kind of like a a frivolous thing in the mind of God, in the heart of God.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Um, but I do uh a little bit later, I do want to talk a little bit more about the historical view, just the different views on communion, on the Eucharist.

Yep.

Uh, and what are the different views and where do we land and why do we land there?

And so we'll we'll get there later.

Sure.

All right.

Let's uh or a Bible church, so let's read the Bible.

Yep.

Um sometimes Christians, we can be really good about talking about the Bible without actually going back to what it says.

And so we don't want to do that in our conversations, and so we don't want to do that on the podcast.

Okay.

Uh so verse 23 of chapter 11 is what it says, for I received from the Lord that which I oh, nope, need to back up.

Verse 17.

But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

Okay, that's painful words right there.

Yes.

Here's why.

For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you, and in part I believe it, for there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

Therefore, when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's supper.

For in your eating each one takes his own supper first.

One is hungry, and another is drunk.

What?

Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink?

Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you?

Shall I praise you?

And this I will not praise you.

Okay, let's let's pause there and uh let's just recap the historical background.

What's going on here?

What's he saying?

What's the problem?

Uh Adam, will you give us kind of your your your version of the historical background?

What's going on?

Yeah, so you know, when they would get together for communion in liter in the first century, like literally the decades after Jesus' resurrection, they got together not just for a wafer and a little cup, you know, like like we take now, just a little a symbolic sort of small version of it.

They would this love feast, they would get together for a full meal.

And, you know, hospitality and meals has historically all through the Old Testament, Bible, ancient world, I mean it was common.

The idea that you would seal a deal with uh with a meal, it was eating a meal together was essentially saying, This is my signature, this is my handshake, this is my promise, this is my pledge to love you, to support you, to follow through on this.

So they'd have a love feast, and then when they would come, the rich people would have like all the food and all the wine, and the poor people who were uh were working too late or were arriving without food, you know, the the rich people were just hanging out among themselves, with themselves, and being their little clique.

Yep.

And put and so they would just get all fat and happy and and drunk, and the other people, the the poor people came, they were they were just out, they were out of it.

And so they it was it was this kind of this class separation within the worship service and communion, which was designed to provide you know show the unity of the body of Christ, was doing the opposite.

And Paul's I I love his response to that in one word.

What?

Yeah, what and so I tried to put into various sort of versions what is the issue here?

And you know, there there's a bunch of different ways you could say it, but it it really resonated with me to say, okay, this is such a problem.

Or what's the problem?

The problem is that as they are remembering the love of God, they're failing to show the love of God.

And that kind of hypocrisy is something that God detests.

Uh he detests it in 1 Corinthians in the church in Corinth, he detested it in in the book of Amos throughout.

Um, he goes, Man, these these rituals which are got God ordained um are hated by God when the the God that we were remembering doesn't get um the language of Amos 5 doesn't ever flow through us.

And I think what was especially repugnant to God about this is that God had given them this tradition by which to demonstrate his sacrificial love for us.

And as we participate in this tradition, we were remembering his awesome sacrifice for us, and that we were now committing to walk in his way, to sacrifice for each other in the same way, to, to, to, for he who would come after me.

Let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

So we were remembering Christ, but also ourselves as the body of Christ, that we also will follow in his steps and we will uh die to live.

And it it and and so this symbol had a reality behind it that was very powerful.

And what they had done is they'd kind of flipped it.

So they had they had ignored the reality and made the symbol everything, and then just used it to their own, you know, to their own benefit, their own for their own selfishness.

So rather than selfless love, it's showing up, you know, a selfish uh approach, and it just you know completely destroyed the heart behind it.

Yeah, that's that's really well said.

I'm not sure that I can sometimes helps me to re-articulate what you just said, but the it's not just God's love.

There really is like it's this sacrificial love, which which all real love is gonna involve sacrifice, but these symbols, if anything represents sacrifice, it's his body broken, it's his love poured out, and it's this sacrifice that they're remembering in the context of just utter selfishness.

Me, me, me, me, me, me.

That's right.

My food, my drink, my friends.

And um, and I think if there's anything that, you know, when we were talking about what's on our minds when we come to church, probably it's something related to the me factor.

Right.

The me, me, me, me, me.

That's just the that's that's our default mode as humans.

It started in the garden with Adam and Eve.

Never mind you, God, I'm gonna do what I want for me.

And it continues to this day.

I mean, and it's just our Achilles heel, and it won't go away until glory.

But if he gave us these traditions not only to honor him, but to remind, not to only for us to remind us of him, but to remind us of him.

Like, hey, get our attention again and remember it's not about you.

Yeah, and so the there's a love problem in the church, and I love that throughout the book of 1 Corinthians, he gives very practical solutions to very real problems.

And the practical solutions come alongside some gospel solutions, which are really equally practical in terms of their helpfulness.

Um, and he does both here.

He gives the gospel solution and he gives the practical solution.

The practical solution to their love problem is it well, let's just read it verse uh verse 33.

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

Yeah.

It's like, all right, we got a love problem happening.

Like people are showing up early and then just getting full and drunk before as part of this church service.

And um here's what we need to do.

Wait.

Yeah.

And one word, this love problem has a solution.

Yeah, wait.

You know, we have a tradition in our family, probably a lot of families do, um, where no one, you know, whenever the food is served, no one eats until the host is seated, right?

This is kind of a, I mean, this is a common etiquette.

And so in our family, until Heather is seated, you know, and everyone is seated, no one should start.

And um, it has taken us a long time to get there.

We're pretty much there.

Um, but but we just wait to honor the person who has invited you, hosted you, served you.

I mean, imagine, you know, if you're just digging in while they're still over there serving, uh, that's that's not and so Paul is almost in the same way, I think, is saying, look, uh wait on the least of these.

Because God gave himself for all, so let us then honor all.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so this is where I think hopefully the podcast here will help our faith go beyond Sunday.

Okay.

Because we're getting into some practical solutions to some real problems.

Uh they had a one-word solution, wait.

And what I uh wanted to help us do on Sunday was to just be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's one word nudge for what love would look like in our church gatherings.

Um for for them, their one word nudge, or not just a nudge, this was like command, wait.

But what's the what's your one-word nudge that the Holy Spirit would put on you towards love?

And so um I I found that question actually to be harder for me than I thought it was going to be.

And as I've talked to people since Sunday, um, I found that what was hard for me was actually was also hard for other people.

So I wanted to um I want to talk about maybe if you had a one-word nudge, see if if you'd share yours.

I want to share mine and share some other ones that I heard.

And here's the goal that that what we're talking about right now would help our church live out their faith beyond Sunday.

Yeah.

Um, and so really, if if you're listening, I'm really glad that you are, and I hope that uh that you'll be listening in the Holy Spirit for man, what's your one-word nudge towards a love in our church services?

So uh start with you.

What uh do you have a nudge and what was that kind of yeah?

And before I jump into it, I do want to clarify.

So while we're talking about a problem at in the church services, we're also talking about beyond the service, right?

Beyond Sunday.

And, you know, if if I could think of, you know, what was their problem in the church services was uh um you know sort of drunkenness and gluttony uh to the uh and and and and and and pride, you know, uh pushing out the the lowers.

Um but underneath all that obviously is pride and and selfishness.

And and that was obviously it wasn't um not just a Sunday service issue, that would have been uh an all all-time issue.

For me, I think when the when the selfishness kicks in and uh when I when I struggle at church, for example, it's not with you know drunkenness and gluttony, uh, it's with busyness and distraction.

And so the one word that came to me was to see, to see people.

So, you know, when you are meeting with a friend and there's one thing different about them, let's say they got a tattoo, right?

Or maybe um a nose piercing or something that's different about them or a haircut.

And um, you know, it's always sweet or nice to recognize, hey, you're still all the same person, but you got this one thing that's different.

And I and I think what what I'm gonna try to do is when the body of Christ comes together, to part of remembering Christ is remembering his body and think, okay, this this person uh is back from a vacation or on the uh far side of a procedure or uh in in a conflict with a child or something's happening and try to not just be busy about my own stuff, but see, see them and say, Hey, how are you doing?

How welcome back, or how is this going, or you know, just to greet them and to see people, uh uh to see the body of Christ and to celebrate being together, not just as it impacts me, but as as we to to celebrate being a body, being a family.

All right, I like that.

And so if if there was somebody listening right now who's like, Man, I I think I kind of uh resonate with that to see.

Um you gave some examples, but um if you were gonna give some like practical tips for okay, here's how you can see.

Uh here's what you could actually have on your mind that would help you see when you come to the church so that you can show show the love of God as we remember the love of God.

What what are some things?

I mean, you mentioned some, but anything else comes to your mind for helping people see people?

Yeah, I think uh just being aware of their lives.

Yeah, and you can't know all 500 people, right?

Or whatever.

And and but for the people that you do know, bear it to mind.

And you know, it's like um, you know, when when uh when you see um a police officer in your rearview mirror, very rarely do you think, oh, I'm really glad that there's police on our streets, and I hope they get whoever's doing something wrong.

You know, or you know, you're getting from I hope they follow me into the drive-thru so I can pay for their meal.

Or, you know, typically you're not thinking about them or about the society, you're thinking about yourself, like I hope they don't catch me, whatever.

And I think I'm just trying to flip that, right?

And so that I can, when I come to church, I'm not thinking about how everything impacts me.

What are they gonna think about me?

What are they gonna think about my kid?

What are they gonna think about my post?

What are they gonna think about my my my hair, whatever?

But uh hope I could be thinking about others, right?

And how how God and how their lives are going on.

So if you happen to be socially connected online to others and you saw something about their life, to mention it, to ask about it.

Um, or if they, if someone asks you to pray, do your very best to A, pray, and B, the next week say, hey, we prayed about X, how did that go?

It's a follow-up, right?

To see people uh means to what I'm I I guess to understand what's happening in their lives, what matters to them, and to to recognize that they're not just there as a body or as a a person, they're there as that person, and they have certain things going on in their lives and to to engage that uh insofar as you can.

Now, granted, it's it's a group gathering.

This is not the time to go like go deep, you know, a deep dive on some issue, but to just see them and to recognize what's going on in their lives.

Hey, I I know you took your kid to school last week and that's your last kid and you're an empty nester, man.

I hope you're doing okay.

You need to leave Voreos or how how how can I help, you know?

And and just just to be aware of people.

All right, yeah.

So if I was gonna kind of maybe put some labels on things that you said, you're looking as you see people, you're looking to notice changes.

Yeah.

Um, you know, in their appearance or haircut, you know, those sorts of things.

Um you talked about um following up things that you know were happening in their life.

Uh I also I know that you have been I think this is true, uh sitting in different spots of the sanctuary.

Is that true?

Yes.

And uh does that have anything to do with seeing, or is that like a totally different thing?

Um it's kind of different, but um I do uh they're related in the sense that uh Well let me just start with why why do you do that?

Yeah.

So I I we like to This crazy thing in the church where somebody sits in different spots.

I know.

What is this?

Yeah, we like to take people's seats, you know.

Yeah, take pleasure catching people in there, whatever.

But um no, I I think I enjoy uh getting just a different perspective and and and uh and experiencing God and the people of God in different places in the auditorium really does change the experience.

Uh and and and then and and yes, probably the the the for me that's the selfish reason is I like to experience God and the people of God in different from different vantage points, but also I like to just remember who's here and I will just see different people because generally speaking, people sit in the same place.

So you can kind of visit around and See who's here by doing that.

And that actually might be a great example of a possible one-word nudge.

And that would be move.

Yes.

It might be that the people that you are sitting by are the same people you've been sitting by.

And there is just kind of a a familiarity that is so familiar that there's um maybe maybe like a a complacency in terms of uh love and worship that can happen in the service.

So maybe a one-word nudge would be move.

Different section, different people um to be able to worship with.

Yeah.

Maybe that's a one-word response.

But yours, yours was specifically C.

Um mine was not all that um different.

And my word was chill.

Chill.

I feel like I'm so high strung on Sundays.

Um have you seen The Odyssey?

Yeah.

Okay.

Did you like it?

It was okay.

Okay.

It sounds like I liked it better more than you did.

Okay, well, you know.

I read the book.

Uh it it ruined it for me.

You know when he plucks that bowstring?

Yeah.

I did like that part.

I did like that part.

Game on.

That is me on a Sunday morning.

If I was a string and you plucked me, I would sound like bum.

Like I'm and because I can't find my Bible.

I left half my notes, you know.

What yeah.

And uh and I think it affects at least two things.

It affects uh my ability to see people and actually love people.

I mean I got time to listen when I can't find my Bible, right?

You know, uh overstating a little bit, uh, but so I can't actually I don't have the space in my like emotions to be able to see people, engage with people when my mind is so preoccupied by other things.

And so there's some practical things that I actually have done better with in terms of like it sounds so silly, but it is what it is in terms of not losing my Bible.

Yeah.

Uh I have done better with that actually recently.

But um to really before the Lord say, Lord, I want to I want to be able to chill, relax.

If I if I could give just a quick shout out to Hal, uh, you know, one of our elders, when he was up on stage and we were talking with Eric and just kind of affirming some things, just being up there beside Hal and just kind of sensing the man was just relaxed.

Yeah.

He's just talking to his people.

Yeah.

And there was something about that that I found uh, I think, in a holy way, enviable, maybe admirable to be like, I want I want to be able to just chill and enjoy the worship gathering with the people.

And so Lord help me.

I forget which uh modern theologian it is, so if somebody can write in and and and and remind me, um I think I heard it on John Mark Comer's podcast, but it wasn't him.

Anyway, talking about Christians being a non-anxious presence and how how that's such a ministry in our anxious world.

That's so good.

I am not that.

Yeah, but but the reason is that why it's so noticeable when it happens, like with Hal in that moment, it's just so supernatural.

There's a zillion reasons to be afraid, anxious, worried, upset, you know, Martha, Martha, right?

You know, and and and and yet um God isn't.

He's fine, he's calm, he's at peace.

And for Christians to be a non-anxious presence wherever we are in any given situation is a real witness, I think, to the uh immensity of God.

So yeah, my one-word nudge, chill.

Like it.

Uh maybe it's it feels a little bit more spiritual to say a non-anxious presence.

I like chill.

But uh chill was my version.

Maybe I need I just needed one word.

Yeah.

Um here's another one that I heard uh after church on the Sunday.

Was really grateful.

Somebody uh just came up.

I forget, maybe maybe I asked her, she just told me, I can't remember.

Uh but her word was hug.

Hug.

That's that's simple, but um man, a hug hugs communicate affection and care.

Um and and in fact, I could make I didn't even think about this until just now.

Uh there are a couple different people who've expressed that the reason that they stayed at Sandhurst was because of hugs that they got on their first visit.

Wow, that's amazing.

Yeah.

Love it.

Yeah, I could give names.

I mean, that doesn't surprise me at all.

It's a it's a human it's a basic human need, and it's an absolutely appropriate way to you know demonstrate genuine um, you know, Christian affection, care for people.

And you know, the word hug is not in the scriptures, but embrace is same thing.

Kiss is great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

And uh man, the Russians were great at the double holy kiss among men, and you kind of had to figure out how to dodge that.

But um uh it it it is exactly.

I mean, the the embracing and kissing is very much a social expectation was in the ancient world, and in some ways it's too bad we've gotten away from it, but it it it is absolutely meaningful.

Yeah, for sure.

Uh let me give some other words because again, the goal here, the goal of the whole podcast is as we're trying to think biblically about God, life, and culture, we're trying to help our faith go beyond Sunday.

So we really want to lean into this uh simple but important application that hopefully the Holy Spirit will nudge our hearts towards.

Um You said see, I said chill.

This person said hugs.

Um here's another one.

Stay.

It could be that the Holy Spirit would say, not just to say, hey man, you are uh you're really concerned about beating the lunch rush after church.

But maybe stay a little bit and meet and mingle.

Maybe so that might be a word.

Um along along the the stay lines, um what came into my mind when you said that was linger.

Linger.

Just kind of linger.

You know, how many, how many times in, you know, in the aftermath of an event have we just kind of just soaked it up, right?

Or or had a conversation, or you know, you think of the uh you know, the championship game and they all charge the the court, you know, and and and they don't want to leave.

They want to linger and just celebrate, right?

And just be together.

And so I just I love the idea of lingering after the event just to be together.

Yep.

Um another word, and this might be more than just a Holy Spirit nudge.

This the these might be um word of God demands, not just Holy Spirit nudges.

Um serve.

Serve.

Uh if if if our if we're listening to the podcast right now and not serving, then that that should change.

Uh so serve might be a word.

Um give.

Like I'm talking financially, yeah.

Give.

I mean, we talked about it in 1 Corinthians 9, and uh looking back, I've I feel like actually I I missed an opportunity to help our church see, man, this is a that giving is a way that we show love.

And it's not just a um it's not just a religious or Christian thing.

Yeah.

Well it's very cr it's not just a Christian thing, but it's very Christian in terms of it being an expression of um like a family ownership that reflects the early church in terms of it being like costly worship that reflects the worth of Jesus.

Yes.

And and an act of obedience.

And so um this is this is a way to show love.

Yeah, and uh, you know, you brought up the Odyssey.

One of the uh core principles of that Homer was writing about was Xenia, right?

Or or or hospitality to the stranger.

And if you remember that in one moment, you know, he says, Are you a god?

Are you a god?

Because um it was actually in the ancient world, they were extremely vigilant to show hospitality to strangers in case the gods had come to test their generosity and they um and they didn't catch the moment.

And so uh if for them it was a matter of basically pay to play, like fear, if if I I need to give or I'm gonna get zapped.

It's kind of this old Zeus and Boltz kind of a thing.

So it's so giving is uh a worldwide religious phenomenon.

But like you said, what is specifically Christian is not giving to get, giving to avoid punishment, giving to your patron saint or your patron God, so he'll bless your crops, giving uh, you know, to your actual patrons, so he'll invite you to the party.

You know, it's just giving to give to all, to any, and in fact, especially to those who cannot give in return, uh, to give to the least of these, because that's what God did for us.

And so that uh kind of giving, uh generous, uh regular, sacrificial, no strings attached because as an overflow to anyone and everyone, that is Christian.

And that that is a beautiful, beautiful witness to the to the the truth and the power of the Christian message.

That that's it.

Um so one word nudge maybe give.

Um I don't have a one-word nudge here, but I think it would serve the church really well if if being on our phones were just not part of our worship service.

I don't think that that serves our church or the glory of God or engagement in worship in any way.

And uh I think that would be a great one-word nudge.

Um I don't know what the one-word nudge would be.

Yeah, yeah.

And for all the people out there who are like, oh, but I read my Bible on my phone, that's fine.

Um, you know, do that at like on your break at work, you know.

When you don't in in church, you have access to a Bible.

And unfortunately, the downsides of all of the notifications and all of the texts and all of the this and all of that, I just feel like you're just asking for it.

You know.

So sure, you know, just sit down with the text and let God speak to you.

And if you have no other means, yeah, pull out your phone and read the Bible.

Yep, yeah, for sure.

Uh so we're not I just want to be really clear in what we are saying and what we're not saying.

We're not trying to say that all of these are um God-given commands.

Now some of them are, yeah.

And we tried to specify when those are.

But I do I want to press into it because it we just, you know, I talked about uh the human capacity to continue doing things even though we hate it.

Uh there's also a great human capacity, especially with podcasts right now, to intake so much and then to apply so little.

Yeah and uh and I just don't want this issue to be one of those things.

So we I I really hope that as we're listening that we will be able to hear from the Lord just a one-word nudge that would actually lead our church to being uh more of a love culture.

And uh and kind of piggybacking on that, um, you know, a few weeks ago we were saying, hey, you know, the the text is about meat sacrificed to idols, but a little one layer deeper it's about conscience, and then one layer deeper it's about loving your neighbor, you know, and uh and even deeper about the glory of Christ.

And so like here it's like, okay, we're talking about, you know, uh being uh you know, drunkenness and gluttony in the service.

We're talking about waiting, right?

Yeah, and then layer deeper is.

It's really a layer deeper, we're talking about you know, loving our neighbor, we're about is it so uh am I being selfish and dis or destroying the sacrifice that Christ did?

And then, you know, loving, um loving my neighbor, and then uh obviously loving and honoring God, right?

So getting down to it.

And so I think for as we think of, you know, going back to the to the one word, what we're saying is when you get down to the to the layers uh for us, how can we love and honor God, love our neighbor, and do that in our services and then beyond our services?

And one, you know, his one strategy that Paul gives us that you kind of pulled out of the text was to notice Paul's one-word, you know, answer to this particular problem, and then say, is there a word that the Holy Spirit's bringing to us to answer the problem of missing the mark in a situation that God has given us?

And uh all of us, I think, have a way.

We've missed that mark if you go down enough layers and then come back up.

Okay, uh, I realize I can do better if I challenge myself not to wait, but to see.

And that is uh, I think a beautiful and and and pertinent way to apply this text um in 2026.

Absolutely.

All right, so the love problem needed a practical solution, and that practical solution was wait.

Uh, but love problems always need to go deeper than that.

They always need to go deeper than that.

And uh Paul is, I mean, the scripture is going to take any love problem, or really any problem in general, and go deeper to the heart, and he's going to um answer a love problem with a gospel solution, and that's what he goes into in verses 23 to 32.

I'm gonna read these verses and then I want to talk a little bit about communion.

What are some different views on it?

Um, just so we can be a little bit aware and um and then want to hear from you a little bit, Adam, in terms of uh new covenant.

What are some passages or thoughts that have uh helped your understanding of the new covenant?

Because if you're gonna open up commentary, you're gonna read a lot about new covenant stuff that, at least for me, it just kind of makes my brain go, like, oh, what?

Sometimes the Bible's a lot more clear to me than the commentators.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

But just I would love to get some of your thoughts on that.

Okay, so let me let me just read the verses.

Here we go.

Uh verse 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus, okay, pause.

We're he's we got a love problem, he's causing us causing us to look back up to Jesus.

That the Lord Jesus, in the night which in he in which 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 he took the cup also 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 this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, that's looking back, until he comes.

That's looking forward.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

Yeah, so we're not we're not passing out like, you know, little tokens to be able to um take communion, but there ought to be a heavy um reverence, maybe that's a good word for it, a heavy reverence in terms of taking communion to not take it in an unworthy manner.

So how do I take it in a worthy manner?

He answers that question in verse 28, but a man must examine himself, and in so doing, he is to eat the eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

See, he I I appreciate that his answer, he's not going, man, if you feel like you're there's when you examine yourself and you see a problem, his answer is not, well, then don't take communion.

The answer is not to disengage from it, the answer is to address it with a gospel gaze back at Jesus' death forward to his return.

So um when you when you look in, don't don't just decide, well, I'm not gonna take it.

Take it to the Lord and then take communion.

Okay, anyway, verse 29, for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

For this reason, many among you are weak and sick, a number of you asleep.

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

But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, and this is what discipline is always for, so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

All right, so um the love problem needs a gospel solution.

He turns our eyes to Jesus, looking back, looking forward, looking in.

Um so all this communion stuff is going back to what we call the Last Supper.

So, Adam, would will you just kind of set this scene for us of the Last Supper when Jesus is is having this meal with his disciples?

Um, kind of paint the picture for us of what that was like that that we are remembering in communion.

So um back in uh you know Exodus, literally when Moses led the people, they exited out of Egypt.

Uh, God said this to them, uh the Lord speaking to Moses in Exodus chapter six, um, he says in verses six and seven, therefore say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

I will free you from being slaves, I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and I will take you as my own people.

So these four kind of movements in these two verses began over time to shape the Passover ceremony.

So when Israel came out of Egypt, they had the Passover lamb, they all sacrificed, they painted the doorframes, and the angel of death passed over their houses, and they lived while the firstborn of the Egyptians died.

Now you think, what is this bloodthirsty God?

No, uh God was just judging their false gods, and namely Pharaoh, whose firstborn son died.

Um, and uh that's one way they've actually identified the Pharaoh of the Egyptians, uh, who which Pharaoh had a secondborn son rule, but that's a different question.

Um so he passed over them and he gave them four promises here.

He says in verse Exodus 6, 6, and 7, I will bring you out, I will free you, I'll redeem you, and I'll take you as my own people.

And what they did was they would break bread in the Passover ceremony as a part of the matzah bread.

But wine came into it later.

They would have four cups of wine to symbolize these four statements that, you know, I'll take you out, I will free you, I'll redeem you, and I'll claim you as my own.

These four statements.

All right.

Well, let me let me pause you because um you're talking about you're about to talk about the cup.

Yep.

Uh let's talk about the bread real quick.

Yep.

Uh the bread was unleavened because they needed to eat it in haste.

We know that the the leaven in the Bible is is symbolic for sin.

And so they take this bread, this unleavened bread, that when you look at matzo bread, this unleavened bread, you also notice that the way it cooks, it is pierced and striped as well.

Um that's just it's just the texture that it has.

So you uh this this Passover Seder, this meal is celebrated with wine, which you're about to talk about, but also this unleavened, pierced, striped bread.

That's right.

Okay.

Now keep going with the with the wine.

Yeah.

And um uh and so so they they do the they they partake of the bread.

And interestingly, they have three slices of bread, by the way, and they they take one and they break it and they go hide it, and then they find it later in the meal.

And then so they're like, why do we have this?

Yeah, the the the the motz attached, three and one, three three three sections, one they take out the middle one and break it.

Yeah.

Just wondering.

Hmm.

Dang.

And Jews do this at the Passover Seder every year.

Yeah, and to this day.

To this day.

Yeah.

Um and so then so they have these four cups of wine representing these four promises of God.

And the third cup is taken right after the meal.

And in in several of the counts of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples, it says, after the meal, he took the cup and he gave thanks and he gave it to them, saying, This is my body.

Interestingly, that's the third promise where it says, God says, I will redeem you.

That's the third cup, the cup of redemption.

And he also says at that moment, um, I will not drink of it again until I drink of it anew with you in the kingdom of God, which would have been very confusing to the disciples because the fourth cup is there.

And they're like, Well, we're gonna drink this fourth cup in just a minute.

And but they didn't.

Um what was the fourth cup?

The fourth cup is I will take you as my own.

Okay, that's what it's called.

So the third cup, the cup of redemption.

And and this is what we this is the cup that he's sharing in the Lord's Supper.

The Lord's Supper pass it around, third cup.

Yep, that's that's the cup he says, This is my blood of the new covenant.

That's the the cup of redemption, is that cup.

And uh, and uh, I don't know what they call that cup, if it's resolution or relationship or whatever, but take you as my own is the promise, that that fourth statement.

Okay.

And and then he they they literally they he gives her this cup, they pray a prayer, they they they read a hymn, they say they sing a hymn, which is this, you know, the Psalms uh 115 to 118, and then they go out to the Mount of Olives to pray.

And you know, we we know the story from there.

And so they break off the meal before the fourth cup.

And, you know, what's what's amazing is you know, this fourth cup is the cup of I'll take you as my own.

And Jesus says, I will, I will drink that again with you in the kingdom of God.

And you think, you know, so he is waiting, you know, at the feast of the banquet, the lamb, and and then later in Revelation, it's even discussed that that the wedding celebration of the lamb awaits his bride to come, you know, to glory and to be with him.

Yeah, and that gives so much so I wanted to kind of set the scene for communion.

So the next time we take it, we can kind of think back on the original one, and that kind of creates, I think just hearing you talk about it, creates this anticipation that is it's it's easier for me when taking communion to look back, not as easy for me to look forward, but when you have that sort of backdrop of this fourth cup still waiting to be partaken of, uh, then that does create the anticipation for the glory that is to come, this wedding celebration of the Lamb.

Amen to that.

Looking forward to it.

Um so that's that that's the original sort of Last Supper.

That is what uh the that is when Jesus broke the bread, gave Up.

And so this is a uh a source of contention, debate in the Christian world um between uh Roman Catholics and Protestants, and then between Protestants and Protestants.

Uh what are what are some of the views that um that are out there, kind of the predominant views in terms of what is the Lord's Supper and uh and then why does what why do those distinctions matter?

So it's interesting that you know there's three main views of what what what he meant by this is my body, you know.

Um the one is the memorial view.

It's just a symbol.

That's it.

On the other extreme, you have transubstantiation, which means when the priest prays over it, it literally turns into the body and blood of Christ.

Now, it doesn't like all of a sudden the wine doesn't become blood in the cup, you know, and this turn into flesh.

What they mean is spiritually it is transformed.

Okay.

And so you're consuming spiritually the body and blood of Christ.

In the middle, there's this consubstantiation view or the real presence.

So memorial transformation or transubstantiation and then presence view or con that that the presence of Christ is there with his people, you know, to put it sort of sort of the uh there's a the the presence of Christ is present in the communion in a way that's kind of beyond the normal omnipresence of God.

Yeah, they would say in, above, and under it.

Yeah, and you know, then you have the other guys like Zwingli over here who was pure memorial, and they're like, that's rubbish, you know, and and then um because because I mean in their defense, people are dying.

So how can you just die from a memorial?

So, you know, uh, and then the whole transubstantiation thing really came in later.

It it was kind of in some ways reverse-engineered.

I don't want to denigrate people, but it it was uh it kind of fits into a greater framework of theology that has to do with um uh salvation being a process that extends even after death, you know, and is is is is a is a much longer time frame, even through purgatory and on into heaven.

Okay.

So are in any of those that we just reject and any of those that we are kind of more flexible with?

Yeah.

So transubstantiation, clearly we reject that, which is primarily the Catholic view.

There that leaves the Orthodox and Protestants.

The Orthodox Um would probably land mostly on the middle view, the real presence, but they they don't state it.

They actually, and this is pretty typical of the Orthodox.

There, they stick, they say it's a mystery, which I'm not I don't hate that view.

Um, I remember one uh church uh I uh uh attended over in Europe said, Whatever Jesus meant when he said, This is my body, that's what we mean.

So and so I kind of appreciate that mystery mystery view.

Uh Protestants tend to be either memorial or real presence or some kind of you know, some somewhere in the on that spectrum.

Yep.

And that's pretty flexible because those are, you know, those are both defensible biblically, and and I think it fits in the greater framework of of the scriptures way we understand it.

Yeah, and I did a fair amount of reading about this because uh I think at the end of the day, for me, I was like, I don't see how that changes much of anything at all.

Right.

Like I I understand that if you really do believe that it has become spiritually the body and blood of Jesus, then you're going to dispose of it a certain way.

You're gonna treat the actual elements with with a with a certain level of um say respect or um reverence.

Yeah.

But still, I just I feel like if all you have is 1 Corinthians 11, you already have enough reason to approach communion with with heavy reverence and um and to not take it lightly.

So I just don't get why it's such a like to some people it's a huge deal.

Yeah, and I really I I agree with you, Will.

I I think you know, you can kind of go over the line here with the the transubstantiation stuff, and I do think that has some pitfalls to it.

But just about shy of that, anywhere on that spectrum, I think the only danger, honestly, is the far memorial to just kind of you know dismiss it.

Yeah, but that's not but I don't think I think we can we can take communion.

Well, maybe I'm saying the same thing here, but whatever your view that there is not a view that you just described that in and of itself is um cheap.

We can just take it in a way that trivializes it.

Correct.

And that's that's the problem.

Not so much the view, that's correct, but how how we take it.

That's right.

And that is so 1 Corinthians 11 and imagine if the all the energy we put into arguing the views, we just put into r revering the the the body and blood of Christ.

And just quit the intramural battles and just said, we're gonna come humbly, sacrificially, generously, and and repentantly, and observe this moment of worship and remembrance, not only for of what Christ did, but how we will follow in his steps.

Uh if we would just turn all that energy away from heat and into light, it would be so great.

Yeah.

And we can.

Yeah, we should.

And we will by God's grace.

Seriously, we will.

Um okay, so in terms of taking it in a worthy manner, as he says, a man must examine himself.

I want to connect two things here.

Um, I want to connect what Jesus says, this is the new covenant in my blood.

I want to connect the reality of the new covenant with the the reality that many of us feel when we're taking communion, and that is that I'm just so I'm I'm unworthy.

Like if I am gonna take this seriously, it feels like there's only one option, and that is to observe, not partake.

Right.

It feels it feels like, man, if I'm if I'm really gonna examine myself and really kind of walk through my day and see all the ways that I fell short, then um then I am I have no hope.

Like I can't take it in a worthy way.

That my only recourse is let it pass.

Yeah, and I and I want to speak to that.

Please, that is what I want to do.

Because I've I've been there myself.

Me too.

I'm just like so weighed down, there's I'm like, there's no way I can take communion.

But here's why that's misguided.

It is a version of false humility that elevates our sin and minimizes the grace of God.

What we are saying is God's grace is just not big enough.

And I think in that most moments, getting that far into grieving over my sin is healthy and good.

But if it stops me from receiving God's grace, it is not.

And that's the moment where I need to keep going.

And unless I have some huge thing against my brother that I need to walk away and go fix before I take communion, which that's a, I think, an exception.

Right.

Uh, if it's just me and my heart and God, it's great to examine yourself and go all the way to the bottom of the hole and just find, Lord, this is this is a lot of yuck.

And then say, but God, but God, but you died, but you rose, but you are forgiving, but you have received me.

And this symbol is a living symbol of our unity because you died to literally give me your life.

And so help me to keep going and receive your grace in this moment.

When when you feel that, uh one, you're not alone.

I felt it, you felt it.

Uh don't stop.

That is a false humility.

Now, I want to press into that just a little bit, uh, because maybe you'd say, no, it's actually not a false humility.

What is um Yeah, it's not false humility.

What's what's going on in me is I am tired of feeling like I am trivializing God's grace by continuing to just say, oh God, I'm sorry.

Oh God, I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry again, sorry again, sorry again.

And and I'm just the reason I'm not partaking is because I am tired of making a mockery of his grace.

Um what would you say to that person?

And that's a good question.

Um, we're commanded, Jesus says when they the disciples come to Jesus and they ask him, How often should I forgive my brothers?

Up to seven times?

Because that was to them like a lot.

And Jesus says, not seven times, seventy times seven, and not four hundred and ninety.

He meant infinite.

Right.

Uh, and it blew them away.

And I think what I would say to that person is doing our sin over and over doesn't make it any less, but nor does it use up any of God's ocean of forgiveness.

It is unnoticeable the difference in the forgiveness pool he has.

If we lived, if we were a thousand times worse and we lived a thousand times over, he would not love us any less or have any less forgiveness available to us on every single day of every uh of every moment of every day.

Yeah.

Yeah, there there is no way to cheapen God's grace, no greater way to cheapen God's grace than to reject it.

Because now you've commodified it.

Yes.

I've taken too much, so I'm I'm gonna let I'm gonna make I'm gonna keep I'm gonna make you keep some on your side of the table because I don't want to use it all up.

But now you've all of a sudden made the infinite and glorious God one of us.

Right.

And and this is why, man, I would just if if you ever feel that way, I feel you, but well, exactly what you said, don't stop there.

You do not um make much of God's grace by rejecting it.

Nobody ever does.

It's not a commodity that's at that's limited in its supply.

Um and so yeah, the God's grace trains us to say no to unrighteousness, and so we keep going back to um to the gospel.

And and you know, in those moments, God has given you a great gift to actually live by faith.

Yeah.

Because we, you know, we live by like transaction.

I give, you give, tit for tat, owe me a uh owe me a favor, owe you a favor, you know.

And so we think, man, I've pulled too many favors from God.

You know, I can't keep going.

That's what it means to live by faith.

God, I believe your ocean of grace is so true, is so real, that you are still going to fulfill your promise to forgive if I confess.

And I just think that is what it means.

Literally, God has given us the gift to keep walking and living by faith.

Yep.

And that's why I think the uh the new covenant is so important that you know, on Sunday I tried to make a bunch of distinctions.

Here's here's one distinction between old covenant and new covenant that can really serve us in these moments.

Old covenant was continual.

New covenant once for all.

Okay, old covenant, continual sacrifices and offerings for forgiveness.

I think I like the word repetitive better.

Okay.

Repeats.

Okay, yeah, repetitive.

Yeah.

That's a better word.

It's repetitive.

It's do it again, now do it again, now do it again.

Every morning, every night, every week, every month, every year.

New covenant, once and for all, which means that uh your sins, my sins, past, present, and future have already been dealt with.

And there's two things that I've heard Matt Chandler say that have that have really ministered to me in these times is that God does not regret saving you.

God already knows every screw up that I'm gonna make.

He already knows everything, and he does not regret saving me.

He already knows.

Okay.

And the second thing that he said that is really ministered to me is that God does not love some future version of you.

He loves me the way I am now.

That's right.

Now, does he want to see me grow and be conformed to the image of his son?

Yes.

Uh, but that's not gonna happen when I reject his grace.

It's only gonna happen when I, by faith, like you said, turn back to Jesus, to what he has done once and for all, and am humbled by it, and then by faith walk in love and obedience because of it.

Yeah.

I think uh on on my heart for us in this podcast, super, super practical um and and maybe a greater focus than usual.

What is the point of this podcast?

We're trying to help us think biblically about God, life, and culture, help us think biblically about love in the gathering, about communion, but so that our faith would go beyond Sunday.

And so uh that's really on my heart.

So, church, if you're um listening, I hope that uh this will go beyond Sunday, beyond the podcast.

Um, a one-word nudge would translate into uh one word action.

And uh that as we take communion, man, that it would be truly celebratory.

Um heavy in terms of heavy and reverent also, but man, that the new covenant blessings would be something that we really get to um bask in and um and really celebrate together.

Amen to that.

Love it.

All right.

Um that's it for us.

We got first Corinthians 12 next week.

I'm excited.

We got uh spiritual gifts, and uh we're about to get into some more hotly debated things a couple weeks.

We got tongues, man, prophecy, yeah, all the things.

Super excited.

Um, let's finish in prayer and uh want to pray for our ones because that's that's what we do daily prayer for our ones.

Um, Father, I'm grateful for uh your word, grateful for the Holy Spirit who we can trust to teach and to convict and to guide and to guide and to testify of Jesus.

And Lord, we need that.

Um we need all of what I just said and what your holy what what your word says your Holy Spirit does.

And so, Holy Spirit, would you nudge us in the direction of love um for the building of the body for the common good, for the strengthening of faith in our church?

Would you nudge us in those directions?

May we be um sensitive to your spirit and I pray that the church at Sandhurst, that the love culture that we've talked about, that we would excel still more in that.

Um pray that Adam would by faith be able to see, that I would by faith be able to chill, that we would be a church who serves and gives and um and hugs and all the other things that lingers.

And uh we want to be a new covenant church.

We want to be a church that as we're looking at the new commandment to love one another as you have loved us, that that would be founded on and springing up out of the new covenant blessings that we have in you.

That we don't just have regular offerings that we make to cover our sin, but we have a sacrifice that's been made once and for all through Jesus.

We love you.

Um we want to pray for our ones, Father.

Um right now they are dead in sin, strangers to the covenants of promise, and we're asking that you would open the eyes of their heart to see the new covenant blessings.

Um understand that uh they cannot believe what they have not heard and they can't hear without somebody to tell them.

So here we are, Father.

Send us in weakness and fear and much trembling, that uh anyone's faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

And uh we don't ask these things on uh on the basis of our merit, but on the basis of your compassion.

So, Lord, we ask us, we ask you to use us in your name of pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

We done.

Let us go.