1st Corinthians 11:17-34
As we continue through First Corinthians, I hope you are getting a full picture of the culture during that time; not only in society as a whole, but in the context of early church life as well. We find another unique ministry rhythm in our text this morning, and I thought it would be helpful to bring us all around the table of what was called the “Love Feast,” or in the original Greek the “Agape Feast.” We see evidence of this setting especially in the book of Jude. In his short letter, Jude is talking about false teachers inserting themselves into the fellowship of the believers. And in verse 12 of his letter he says that they are “hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves…” We see this alluded to in Acts 2 when the believers were gathering “day by day and breaking bread in their homes.” We see Paul make mention of it as well in our passage this morning.
But what was it? The simple answer is that it was a community meal shared by believers in the context of the local church. But, these feasts were not just a means to sharing a meal together. They had as the deeper purpose fellowship and remembering Jesus together through communion. Communion was a central part of these love feasts. And at these feasts, all were counted equal. Those who came from wealthier families would bring a large amount of food and drink and it would be shared with those who came from the lower socio-economic class. The goal became sharing so that everyone would feast together with no bias, no distinction, no one being left out.
The Corinthian church lost sight of the importance of these feasts, and so Paul takes the next section of his letter to challenge them on a few things.
Read 1st Corinthians 11:17-34
Big Idea: We must approach the Lord’s Supper with unity, reverence and self-examination.
1. The Problem: Division and Selfishness (18-22)
If you remember at the beginning of this chapter, Paul begins by commending this young church on their ability to listen to his instructions and follow the patterns of church life. But not with this issue. In fact, they have become so sideways that when they come together to share a meal, Paul says it’s actually doing more harm than good.
The first issue that he points out is division. This isn’t the division that he addressed earlier in this letter, factions that had broken out over who received their allegiances. No, this division was a split between socio-economic classes. The division that had happened was between the rich and the poor. And here’s the interesting thing. Paul doesn’t condone this behavior by any means, but he does say that he’s thankful for it because it has revealed those who really get what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In the dissension and turmoil a clear delineation has developed between those who act like Jesus, and those who don’t. And this is what high pressure situations do. Think back to chapter 3 when Paul said, “each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.” Now this is talking about judgment day, but the truth remains. When the heat is turned up, our true character is brought to the surface.
And here’s what Paul says has led to the division. (Re-read vs. 20-21)
It’s selfishness! You are not behaving like Jesus. It’s not the Lord’s Supper you are eating! The very thing that you come together to celebrate, the sacrificial love of Jesus, you trample on by disregarding the poorer among you. Essentially what was happening is that instead of sharing their food, the wealthy would bring their own food, eat if themselves, and not share with the poorer believers. This would have been humiliating, obviously would have left them hungry, and was the exact opposite of Christian unity that was to be modeled in those settings. Not only that, but the wealthy were getting drunk at the same time! Think about this, if the meal was shared, and post meal communion was taken to remember Jesus, that would mean that they would still be drunk while they were celebrating Jesus. What a travesty that was.
This is why Paul says in verse 22, it would be better if you just stayed home! What’s the point of coming together if there is no sense of togetherness. You can eat dinner and drink wine in your own home, why do it here if there is no intentionally behind your time together? Why even come together in the first place?
And then he asks these heart piercing questions: WHAT?! Do you despise the church of God? Do you want to humiliate those who have nothing? What do you expect me to say? Let’s remind ourselves of why you even gather in the first place.
2. Meaning of Communion (23-26)
On the night of His betrayal. Knowing what was about to happen in a few short hours, Jesus took the time to teach His disciples the meaning of what we call communion. The ordinance that was established in that upper room was made up of 2 elements, the bread and the wine. During this Passover celebration, why were they so significant?
Bread: In Israel’s past, bread was always significant. It’s what the Lord fed them with in the wilderness wanderings after Egypt. It had a very specific meaning in their religious celebrations and feasts. Jesus claims to be the Bread of Life, a source from which we will never grow hungry. As the Lord promised to sustain His people in the wilderness, so Jesus promises to sustain us in Him.
Wine: In Exodus 24, Moses took the blood of sacrifice and sprinkled it on the Israelites, confirming over them the covenant promise of the Lord. He was now their God and they His people, in covenant agreement. And we cannot miss the significance of the blood. From one pastor but more importantly from the words of Scripture itself, he says, “Jesus’s blood not only purifies the flesh but cleanses the conscience (Hebrews 9:14), not only covers sin for a time but forgives it forever (Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7). His blood “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24), for it pleads not for vengeance, but for mercy. With his blood, Jesus secured the eternal for his people: an “eternal redemption” yielding an “eternal inheritance” bound within an “eternal covenant” (Hebrews 9:12, 16; 13:20).”
It’s the body and blood of Jesus that we remember, that we commemorate. When we take these elements we are proclaiming our unwavering belief in the death of Jesus, and all that it accomplished for us. So, we better make sure that we are approaching the table with caution, in a manner worthy of the cross.
3. Proper Approach to Communion (27-32)
There is a lot in this section here. Let’s take it step by step:
A. Do not take in an unworthy manner (27)
This will be our main point of application, so we’ll save our modern context for the end. But the obvious application for the church in Corinth is that they were totally missing the purpose of communion. They were not worthy to proclaim the gospel because they didn’t know how to live it out. They were mistreating people, getting drunk off of the wine, gorging themselves, and then breaking the bread and drinking the cup that symbolized the sacrifice of Jesus! This is why the next part is so important.
B. Self-examination is a prerequisite (28-29)
Before coming to the table, we must look inward and do a deep dive into the content of our hearts. Now, we understand that no one is worthy of the cross, and it’s only because of Jesus that we stand forgiven and are counted righteous. There is nothing we can do apart from Christ to be counted worthy. But, there’s obviously something that can get in the way of us taking communion in a way that is counted worthy. Here’s the interesting thing about this. The word “unworthy” here in the original Greek is an adverb describing “the manner in which one takes communion.” And this could mean many different things.
Perhaps we approach the table in a ritualistic sort of way. We come to the table simply because it’s what we do, but we don’t really understand the gospel that lies at the heart of it. Maybe we make light of it, and don’t take it too seriously.. On a deeper level, maybe we come to the table with unconfessed sin in our lives. We come to the table to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus but are unwilling to repent of sin! Maybe we have an issue with a brother or sister in Christ. Maybe there is harbored bitterness, or anger, or resentment in our hearts. And we come to the table thankful for the forgiveness that we receive from Jesus but we are unwilling to forgive someone who wronged us!
John Macarthur says it well: “To trample our country’s flag is not to dishonor a piece of cloth but to dishonor the country it represents. To come unworthily to Communion does not simply dishonor the ceremony; it dishonors the One in whose honor it is celebrated.”
And here’s a difficult reality.
C. Taking communion in an unworthy manner can lead to sickness and even death (30-32)
Look again at what Paul says: This is why many of you are weak, or sick, or have even died. If we examined ourselves, and found nothing in the way of our taking communion, then we won’t be judged. But when we are found to be taking communion in an unworthy manner, we are risking judgment from the Lord, with the purpose of opening our eyes to our faults, thus saving us from eternal condemnation.
You think maybe coming to the table might be a bigger deal than we sometimes make it?
At the end of this chapter, Paul circles back to the Love Feast. So, when you come together, make sure you are living like Jesus. Love one another. Serve one another. Come together in love and humility, in sacrifice and unity. If you’re only coming to eat a meal, then do it at home. The purpose goes beyond food, so make sure you are getting it right.
Application
Big Idea: We must approach the Lord’s Supper with unity, reverence and self-examination.
For us this morning, the application is clear. When we come to the table to proclaim our belief in the death of Jesus, we need to make sure we are doing it in a manner worthy of the cross. What Paul says about self-examination is the key.
We need to be careful not to allow complacency or tradition become the motivation for why we partake. Sometimes it’s easy to do something just because, well that’s what we do. We’ve got to make sure that when we come together to proclaim the death of Jesus in our place, that we do it from a heart of humble gratitude. We do it from a place of understanding the gravity of our sin, and where that leaves us apart from Christ. We do it from our knees at the foot of the cross.
And this is where we also need to be careful to not allow unconfessed sins to fester. When we come to the table to proclaim our understanding of the gospel, but yet sit here with sin that we haven’t given over to the Lord, we come in an unworthy manner. This is why each week before communion we give ourselves space for prayer and confession. During those times, the goal is to come before the Lord and beg the Holy Spirit to reveal those areas of our lives that we might have missed, or that we might not be willing to let go of. We come begging Him to forgive us, and to remove those things out of our lives. We come with an attitude of repentance, admitting our constant need for a Savior.
And perhaps there is a broken relationship that you need to take care of. Maybe there’s anger, or bitterness, or resentment that has been marinating in your heart. This might mean that you get up from your seat and go to that person, asking for forgiveness. I mean what a beautiful picture of the gospel that would be!
And so we come together in unity, with a deep reverence towards the Lord, and we ensure that there is nothing that would get in the way of a worthy proclamation of Jesus as we take communion together.
