Sermon – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – The Lord's Supper

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – The Lord's Supper

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Palm Sunday

April 1, 2012

Today is the last Sunday of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. It's Palm Sunday. This is the week each year when we look at the final days of Jesus' life. It all began with a triumphal entry into Jerusalem as palm branches lined the processional route. Later in the week Jesus will be arrested, tried and sentenced to death on a cross, a sentence that will be carried out by the Roman authorities. In between the triumphal entry and the crucifixion Jesus had one final meal with his disciples. At this meal he told them to break bread and share wine together in his memory. And he commanded them to love one another.  As we begin this most of holy of weeks, let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Several weeks ago we were talking about the divisions in the Corinthian church. The divisions were threatening to split the church apart. So Paul wrote a letter that will precede a visit and more letters to deal with these growing problems. One of the greatest problem concerned their practices during the Lord's Supper. So let's take a look at the religious practices of Christians in the first century.

It was the custom of the early church to meet in the early hours, on Sunday morning before work, to pray and share the stories of Jesus. Sunday was a work day until the 4^th century. Then, after work, they would again get together to give thanks to God, break bread and share wine as Jesus had commanded. In Corinth, we believe, that the first century Christians met in a house each Sunday morning and evening. This house was large enough for the entire church and therefore was large and probably owned by a wealthy individual. Large homes in that era would have an elaborately decorated dining room with a horseshoe shaped table. They would also have another large, less decorated, room called the atrium. We think that when the Corinthian church got together for dinner on Sunday evenings, the owner and his friends would use the dining room and share a feast while others in the church would be in the atrium eating the food that was left over from the dining room, or eating something they brought, or maybe eating nothing at all. Sometimes the people in the dining room would drink so much wine they would actually be drunk for the communion service. All of this created a class division in the Corinthian church. The rich had communion in a fancy room after eating a fabulous feast and getting drunk, while the poor had communion in the atrium. As you might imagine this created some bitterness and hard feelings in the church.

To deal with this problem the Apostle Paul quoted from the communion liturgy the Corinthian church used and talked about it. Here it is.

1 Corinthians 11:17 - 12:1 ¹⁷ In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. ²⁰ When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, ²¹ for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. ²² Don't you have homes 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 praise you for this? Certainly not! ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ 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." ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷ Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³² When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. ³³ So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

Paul cautioned them not to participate in the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. What could he possibly mean by “unworthy manner”? Since the church was having dinner in two rooms, one for the wealthy and one for the poor, Paul told them that if they were hungry to eat at home first before coming to church. And then when they arrive at church wait for everyone to arrive. We know from later writings in the New Testament that churches stopped the practice of have a Sunday evening meal. They continued to have fellowship dinners. These were called Agape, or Love dinners. The Lord's Supper continued each Sunday evening, but without a meal.

But Paul went beyond this in his instructions to the Corinthians. He told them that whenever they come to the Lord's Supper they must recognize the body of the Lord. This command of Paul's that we must recognize the body of Jesus in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper has caused much discussion in the church. Did he mean that the bread and wine physically become the body and blood of Jesus, as some have thought? Or did he mean that we are spiritually united with Christ through the bread and wine, as others have argued? Or did he mean that we recognize the body of the Lord by remembering his life and ministry as still others claim? It would take weeks for us to sort all this out.

I think, that to understand what Paul meant by recognizing the body of the Lord, we must first know what Paul meant when he used the phrase “body of Christ”. For Paul, the body of Christ is all of us. We, Christians who gather together in churches are the body of Christ. So to recognize the body of Christ during the Lord's Supper means that we recognize each other as part of the body. It is only us by being together in communion that we can perceive the body of Christ.

The problem in the Corinthian church was the the rich people were having communion in the dining room while others were out in the atrium. They couldn't see each other. So they couldn't recognize the body of Christ. Paul wanted them in the same room, rich and poor, so that both groups would be together and all would be able to recognize this as the body of Christ.

Whenever we celebrate the Lord's Supper here at Beaver Dam we always welcome around the table all who believe. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, young or old, wise or foolish. Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ is welcome. And as we gather around this table we recognize the body of Christ in the faces of our fellow worshipers.

Communion is a public event, never private. Even when we take communion to shut-ins I always go with an elder or deacon, representing the whole congregation, so that we can recognize the body of Christ as we eat the bread and drink the juice together.

It has concerned me that Christians here in Pocomoke rarely worship together. There are very few opportunities for all the churches in Pocomoke to come together around this table. The Pocomoke Ministerial Association has not been able to organize a Thanksgiving or Good Friday service this year. Thankfully we will have a Pocomoke Prayer Breakfast in May. But I think we need to do more, much more, to worship and break bread together. And I would like for us to think about ways that we could do things with other churches. We will be joining with the Methodists next Sunday for an Easter Sunrise Service. Maybe we could do something with a Black or Hispanic church in our community. The more we do with other churches, the more we will be able to recognize the body of Christ.

We also need to recognize the body of Christ in the global church. And that is why it is so important to participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing. Through this offering we can assist farmers throughout the world to grow sufficient food to feed hungry people. Through this offering we can help poor people in the United States make a new start. Through this offering we can come to the aid of people whose farms and homes have been destroyed in floods and droughts, hurricanes and tsunamis, earthquakes and twisters. We join with other Christians in the Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Presbyterian Self Development of People Program, and the Presbyterian Disaster Relief Program where we and others will recognize the body of Christ in each other.  So as we gather around the communion table today, look into each others eyes. There you will recognize the body of Christ.

Lord Jesus we have assembled as your body around this table. Bless us with your spiritual presence. Renew us in the bread and wine. And help us to recognize you as we come together in communion. Amen.