Gathered but not Together

Reader: Cheri Dahl

1 Corinthians 11:17–26 (ESV)

Introduction

Thank you Cheri for reading the Word for us this morning.

19 times. 19 times in the Gospel of Luke are specific meals or feasts mentioned. 13 of which are unique to his biography of Jesus. Clearly Dr. Luke liked to eat..or... maybe there was something more to these occasions than just filling a belly.

Maybe some of those times come to mind. Some of them are pretty easy.

Like the time when where Jesus fed the 5,000 with just 5 loaves and two fish. A huge crowd had followed Jesus out to a desolate place where he was teaching of the kingdom of God and healing the sick all day and it was getting late and the disciples came to him with a very pragmatic suggestion to call it a night so that the people can go find lodging and food and Jesus’ response was: “You give them something to eat.”

Remember this was long before the “Subway party platter” or Pizza delivery. What could Jesus mean and how could he expect them to do such a thing…and maybe even more so, why would he insist on such a thing?

I am not sure the text directly tells us, but what we do know is that after the crowd took their seats in groups of 50, Jesus prays over those few little items, he breaks them into pieces and they start handing them out. And the story ends with...

Luke 9:17 (ESV)

17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Not only did this meal eaten with Jesus satisfy them, there was abundantly more.

That one is pretty easy to remember, can you think of any other meal or feast stories that Like may have pointed to? Times when people ate with Jesus and received more than just full stomachs?

How about the time was when he called Matthew the tax collector to come follow him. Mathew is so excited to be following Jesus that decides to host a feast in Jesus’ honor and invites all his friends, and “shocker” his friends were mostly other tax collectors. Well that did not go over well with the Jewish leaders.

Luke 5:27–32 (ESV)

30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

What is Jesus talking about? Sick people getting well? Sinners called to repentance? What does that response have to do with grabbing a bite to eat at Matthews house? There must be more to dining in the presence of Jesus then just finding a place to quell some hunger pains.

Even the times when Jesus did eat at the home of the so called “right people” there were often issues. We never hear that the food was bad or that the service was slow - those are our modern day complaints - but the issues surrounded the fact that Jesus didn’t fit in with how these so called “right” people hosted a meal.

One time an “undesirable” woman, a “woman of the city” crashed in on one of these meals and kneeled before Jesus and affectionately washed his feet with her tears. When some of the dinner guests complained of her presence, Jesus commended her and condemned the host who didn’t welcome him with near that level of respect. (7:36-50)

Another time he was eating at a Pharisee’s home and the host was astonished that Jesus didn’t wash his hands before the meal in the same way as the Pharisees. Jesus used this dinner to condemn the traditions of the Pharisees that focused on being clean on the outside but left the person still dirty on the inside. (11:37-54)

This was the nature of the dinner or supper in Jesus’ day, especially when He was present. It wasn’t rushed through like fast food or minimized like an energy shake. It was intentional. It was significant. It was intimate and relational where people laughed, listened and learned from one another and from Jesus.

And there are many more examples that I could mention, but I will stop with one at the end of the book of Luke. At this point Jesus had already been crucified and risen again…but word was just beginning to spread and Jesus meets two guys who were leaving Jerusalem on their way to a town called Emmaus.

The text says that their eyes were kept from recognizing Him, even though they were discussing in detail the events that had just transpired concerning this “Jesus of Nazareth” as they called him. Then this “stranger” responds by teaching them everything that the Old Testament prophets had spoken about what the Messiah will go through and how this Jesus of Nazareth met those expectations.

When they finally get to their home they urged this “stranger” to stay with them the night as it was getting late. And the text says;

Luke 24:30–35 (ESV)

30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

That is how Luke says these men finally recognized Jesus. They felt something while He was teaching them and they were amazed when He vanished, but they knew him in the breaking of the bread.

Tension

And you might be wondering how this is relevant to our text for today, the text that Cheri read for us from 1 Corinthians. Well it is easy to forget that the Gospels were written after most all the Epistles in the New Testament. They come first in our Bibles because the stories that they tell were about events that happened first but they were written down much later..after the local Church was well established.

So Luke’s emphasis of the communal nature of the meal was intentionally directed at the local Church. He uses meals as a metaphor for the kind of community dynamics that should characterize the Christian Church, the Ekklessia, or the gathering of God’s people.

Because when the church gathers and shares life together, Jesus is present. (Mat 18:20, Rev 2:1) And there are few richer symbols of doing life together than sitting down to a shared meal.

So if you haven’t already, open your Bibles up to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, page 958 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and we will get after this together.

Truth

So the first thing that you may recognize in this broader description of how the early Church did the Lord’s supper, is that it sounds much different then what we do here at Friendship Church. And of course we are not alone in the way that we practice what we call Communion or the Lord’s Supper. Many if not most protestant Churches do some version of passing out little cups of juice and a cracker in their “Lord’s supper” and they have done this for hundreds of years. And while none of us would consider this a meal, the idea is to share together in an intentional and significant way the eating and drinking of something.

And you may have recognized some of the text that Cheri read for us because here at Friendship Church we read from this passage, 1 Corinthians 11, every time we partake in communion. But we start in verse 23 where the Apostle Paul gives the instructions that provide the solution to the problem. This morning, however, we are going to back up to the problem that caused Paul to lay out these instructions in the first place.

So our first theme for the week is that...

The Lord’s Supper promotes togetherness (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)

Paul had just finished commending the Corinthian Church on how they followed his instruction on one matter, and then he says:

1 Corinthians 11:17–19 (ESV)

17 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. 18 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, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

It appears that the gathering of the Church in Corinth had begun to cause more harm than good. Do you hear the irony of Paul’s statement in verse 18. That when you come together there are divisions among you. In other words, you guys come together so that you can be apart. How does that work?

But Paul sees how this can be, because those who come into the gathering to divide in groups are then proved to not be genuine followers of Christ in the first place. If you come into the gathering to be anything else but gathered together with the presence of Christ among your brothers and sisters in Christ then you are here for the wrong reasons and it is going to show.

Paul then goes on to explain the problem even further. He says

1 Corinthians 11:20–22 (ESV)

20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 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.

Because we practice the Lord’s Supper differently then they did back then, we have to do a little work to understand the principle that Paul is laying down or us here. Because the truth is, even if we did use actual wine, you would have to throw back the whole tray to get drunk and those little crackers are not going to do much to curb anyone’s hunger.

When the Corinthians gathered together it would be around a full meal. They would spend some time thanking God for the gift of Jesus and then they would sit down with their own family and eat whatever they brought. That is how “one goes hungry, another gets drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:21).

But understand this was not Paul complaining because some families forgot it was potluck and didn’t bring a dish to pass. This was about the flaunting of a financial disparity between supposed brothers and sisters in Christ. They are supposed to be gathering together as the family of God, but instead some families were there humiliating others by emphasizing the lavish way in which they were living.

In essence, Paul is telling them,

“listen...if you wanna to sit around and stuff your face with your own brand of food and wine then just stay home. Don’t come here and pretend you are gathering together with the Church family but in reality you are only here to show them how separate you are from all of them.”

When the Church, the gathering of God’s family comes to gether it is and should be people from all sorts of different backgrounds and life experiences. Because they are not gathering around any of those, they are gathered to remember the one thing that we all share in common. The most important thing about us. That no matter what other label we may wear...we were all sinners who deserved God’s wrath, but because of the gift of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood, we can all be forgiven. That is what the Church is to be gathered around. That is what is to be celebrated at the Lord’s Supper.

Elsewhere, Paul describe the needed togetherness of the Church like this:

Galatians 3:26–28 (ESV)

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This was not a denial of these differences in their world at large, certainly these distinctions were a real part of these Christians daily lives, but when we gather together as the Church, then those distinctions do not amount to the same things they do in our daily lives. They fade away in our greater purpose to glorify God together in unified devotion for all that He has done for us in Christ Jesus.

Which brings us to our second theme for the week.

The Lord’s Supper proclaims Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

This may seem like a no-brainer, but the Church in Corinth somehow missed it…and many Churches today are struggling with this as well. There is a danger in the western Church today that “togetherness” has somehow become end game instead of the means to the end. Where a Church becomes so focused on “togetherness”, that it diminishes or downplays the reason for the Church to gathering together.

The Lord’s supper promotes togetherness in that it Proclaims Christ. It isn’t just about getting people to feel a sense of togetherness - it is about gathering together in Jesus Christ.

And this is the part of the text that should ring familiar to you here at Friendship Church, but lets look at them together again in this context, remembering that this is a correction or a reversal of the wrong way in which the Church had been gathering. Paul says...

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)

23 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, 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 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Now we can read the details of this event in the Gospels, but remember this letter was written before all of them. So what we have here is the verbal tradition that was being passed on to all the Christian churches by the Apostles about the events of the night when Jesus was betrayed…but somehow the Church in Corinth had lost track of it - so Paul is bringing them back.

The night that Paul is talking about was when Jesus was leading his disciples in a traditional Passover meal right before his death...but he made some changes to the ceremony. In light of what was about to happen the him, he changed the focus of this meal that He was sharing with them from looking back to the covenant given where God saved his people from Egypt to looking forward to how God will save all His people from sin and death.

The bread they broke now signifies Jesus’ body, broken for them and the wine they drank would signify Jesus’ blood, spilled for them. Both of these actions were to be done “In remembrance of” what Jesus was about to do and to proclaim what Jesus will eventually one day do. First, we are remembering what Jesus purchased for us on the cross - but also we are proclaiming that death is not the final Word. What Jesus purchased for us in his death and resurection will be fully realized by us when He returns.

We eat and drink in remembrance of what Jesus has done, and in that remembrance we proclaim what Jesus will come back to do!

This is why Paul is so concerned about what he heard is happening here in Corinth. The Lord’s supper was supposed to be about celebrating together history’s greatest act of selflessness - in what Jesus has done for us - but some of them had turned it into a spectacle of selfishness. Paul knows that this is a dangerous game, so he guides the Church toward a reversal of their behavior.

He calls them to repent and turn back to a right perspective on the gathering. Otherwise…well... God loves them enough to discipline them.

This brings in our final theme for the week:

The Lord’s Supper requires self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:27-34)

Since the Lord’s Supper is about coming together with the gathering of God’s people and experiencing the presence of Christ together through the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives…this makes it a very weighty matter. Something Paul warns the Church to not take lightly. He says

1 Corinthians 11:27 (ESV)

27 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.

If Paul had stopped with verse 27 then we would all be in big trouble. Because we know that there is no way that we could make ourselves worthy of the sacrifice of Jesus, we may even feel frightened to ever take part in communion with the Church. But that would be a horrible mistake.

Paul is not trying to scare anyone away from participation in the body and blood - exactly the opposite. He wants us to have it as it was meant to be experienced - and not a corrupted version like the Church in Corinth was allowing. So Paul goes on to explain how we are to prepare ourselves rightly for this experience.

1 Corinthians 11:27–34 (ESV)

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

We examine ourselves by asking and answering many different kinds of questions:

Where am I at right now in my walk with Jesus? Is there any unrepentant sin that I need to confess? Remembering that Jesus was crucified for my sins, is there any way that I could live comfortably with them?

What am I focused on in this moment? What is my life aimed at? Am I really here to celebrate what Jesus has done for me or did I walk into this building with a different agenda? Am I acting in authentic faith or is this because someone else is watching? My spouse? My kids? Someone down the row from us? The pastor? Are there opinions more important than my being honest with God in this?

These are important questions, and Paul argues that God will do whatever it takes to keep us on the right track when it comes to this. He says:

29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

We could not, we dare not attempt to make ourselves worthy of the sacrifice - but our participation must be - as Jesus said - in remembrance of Him. We don’t rely on our worthiness, but we focus on the worthiness of the sacrifice of Jesus in our place. Otherwise God in his sovereignty and His love for His children will discipline us with what seems to be drastic measures to get us back on track again.

33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 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.

Gospel Application

There is a lot of different perspectives on what specifically happens in the spiritual realm during the “Lord’s Supper”, even as over the years the Christian Church has adopted many different ways to practice it. I have been challenged at different times by various pastors that I trust on whether or not the little cup and cracker does justice to the kind of meal that we see displayed here in 1 Corinthians 11. Especially since this is the only clear description of how they practiced the Lord’s Supper in all the Bible.

As I prepared for this message this past week many of those questions came back up and I have to say that they challenged me once again. The conclusion that I came to was that what we do in practice with the juice and crackers does fit within the boundaries that I see Scripture laying down for us on this ordinance, especially in how we are very intentional in pausing to prepare our hearts and to discern the body and blood of Jesus.

But I do wonder if there are not other aspects of our gathering together that this passage could also have bearing on. While things like our potlucks or our coffee and fellowship time each Sunday would certainly not be an adequate replacement for the way we practice the Lord’s supper, I do believe that there is a part of this teaching that can... and probably should reach into those experiences as well.

That any time we gather together as the family of God, there is no room for divisions on lesser allegiances. We should be careful how we are treating one another in our gatherings and what we are drawing our focus towards while we are here. Because when the church gathers and shares life together, Jesus is present. That in and of itself should cause us to pause and make sure that whatever we are doing when we are together will be honoring to Him.

Landing

And clearly Jesus loves to share together with his disciples in a meal. We do this in informal ways at our potlucks, formal ways during our Communion services and someday we WILL do this in a mind-blowing ways when Jesus returns and we all join together with Him in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

To that we say, Come Lord Jesus! Amen?