Worthy Worship
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Worthy worship …
I. Confronts Calamity in Communion
I. Confronts Calamity in Communion
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 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. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 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? In this I will not praise you.
The Purpose of Corporate Worship
Corporate worship is for the benefit of all who participate in it.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
The reason the Church (the Body of Christ) gathers together is because we have eternal hope rooted in the only One who is eternally faithful.
Ephesians 2:10 says that we (Christians) are Christ’s workmanship, created in Him for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
The author of Hebrews takes that truth and says:
What do we do? — We stimulate [to rouse to action] each other to love and good deeds because we belong to Christ.
How do we do that? — We gather together, as Christ’s Church, as the visible, tangible manifestation of His power at work in this world, so that we may encourage [inspire, support, build up] each other in our walk with Jesus Christ!
When do we do that? — All the more as we see the Day [the Day of the Lord] drawing near!”
Did you know that as the return of Jesus gets closer, and it does every day, the challenges of living for Christ increase exponentially?
The purpose of the worship is that we would remember what Jesus Christ has done for us, encourage each other to live our lives in accordance with that truth, and in doing so our lives become a living, visible witness of the power of Christ to take what was once dead and useless and make it alive and useful.
Detrimental Worship
Detriment — something that causes injury, loss, damage
If worship is ultimately for the glory of Jesus and the benefit of His Church, when does it become a detriment to His name and to His Church?
Worship becomes detrimental when it becomes self-centered, because worship is by it’s very nature a unifying event.
Unity in worship will exist when the focus is on Jesus Christ and others.
Unity in worship will cease to exist when the focus is on me.
The problem in Corinth was that worship (communion) had become self-serving.
Any time we make worship about me instead of Thee (Jesus Christ), we will always leave worse off than when we first came.
Calamity — terrible loss, lasting distress
A Message to the Church
Verse 18 clearly identifies the warning and encouragement in this passage are directed at Christians, not non-Christians.
The Natural Result
Disunity — factious behavior, discord, selfish motivations
Paul has already addressed the factious behavior of the Corinthian Christians regarding teachers (i.e., I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Peter, etc).
It is not that Paul doesn’t believe there is disunity in the church in Corinth — evidence has already been given that such divisions exist. However, this behavior is so antithetical to how Christian worship should look that Paul is having trouble wrapping his head around it.
Not only have past actions of the Corinthians solidified this fact, but factions are a reality in the church.
In verse 19, Paul is not condoning factions, but expressing that factions highlight the difference between the spiritually mature and immature believer.
In Matthew 10, Jesus explains that His death, resurrection, and the proclamation of that Gospel message will establish an eternal dividing line:
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
If Jesus will create eternal dividing lines within a family, how much more evident would those dividing lines be in the church?
Paul believes that his listeners are living in an age, the end times, when such divisions will arise for the purpose of discerning genuine believers in Christ.
Worthless Worship
The Christian community had an agape feast, an intentional meal set aside for what Paul refers to as “the Lord’s Supper.” Today we call it communion.
The Corinthians are gathering together for a supper, but it’s not the Lord’s Supper, it is their supper.
The Corinthian supper
Paul sees a distinction being set up in Corinth between “the haves” and “the have-nots” — between the wealthy and well-to-do, and the poor
Either the wealthy were arriving early and eating without others, or more likely, the meal was served based on prestige or social status.
The wealthiest members were seated in the dining room and received the best food and portions.
The poorer members were seated outside, receiving worse quality food and portions, and some received nothing at all.
This is why Paul says, “Don’t you have your own houses to serve yourself in?”
When you’re in your house, you can serve yourself
When you’re in God’s House, when you come together as God’s House, you come to serve Him and those around you.
Worthless worship is all about me.
Worthy worship is about Jesus Christ, and if it is about Jesus Christ, the ultimate Servant, it’s about giving not receiving. And when you intentionally come with a heart that is ready to give, you will always receive from Jesus exactly what you need.
Worthy worship …
II. Proclaims Christ’s Passion and Presence
II. Proclaims Christ’s Passion and Presence
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Received and Delivered
The Corinthians were engaging in worthless worship — a worship focused on all the wrong things.
Paul received a commission from Jesus to go and spread the Gospel
What is the Gospel
That humanity lives under the power of sin.
That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent into the world to free humanity from the power of sin.
That this freedom was accomplished by His life, death, burial, and resurrection — the ultimate sacrifice offered once for all.
That freedom in Christ is offered to anyone who will believe in Him as Savior and confess Him as Lord of their life.
That when we believe in Jesus Christ, when God looks at the cross He sees you and me, and when God looks at us He sees Jesus, not because of anything we have done, but because of everything He has done.
The Gospel is what Paul received and delivered from the Lord.
The Gospel is what Paul spent the rest of His life proclaiming after his conversion.
The Gospel is the reason Paul endured a life of suffering and persecution.
The Gospel is what empowers Paul to correct and encourage Christians in living for Jesus Christ.
One way that the fullness of the Gospel message is remembered is through communion.
When we take communion, we are representing and remembering two things:
1. The Passion of Christ
The Corinthians claimed to be observing the Lord’s supper, so Paul reminds them exactly what that entails:
Christ’s Passion — the suffering of Christ
Typically refers to the time of Christ’s greatest suffering, from the Garden of Gethsemane to Calvary.
I would argue it refers to the suffering Christ endured from the Last Supper to Calvary.
In verse 23, Paul says “in the night in which He was betrayed”
An appropriate reading would be “while He was being betrayed”
While Jesus was being betrayed (by Judas, by me, by you); While we were still sinners; While you and I were placing Him on the cross, Jesus willingly offered His body as a sacrifice — that’s our Jesus.
Jesus’ body was willingly broken for us, even though it is what you and I deserve.
While Jesus was being betrayed, by you and me, Jesus willingly offered His life as a sacrifice, and poured out His blood so that a new covenant could be established.
Communion is:
A time to intentionally remember Christ’s passion, His sacrifice.
More than that, communion is a time for us to remember why Christ’s suffering was necessary.
Communion is a time to remember it was, is, and will be my betrayal that placed Christ on that tree.
Communion is a time to remember that by Christ’s shed blood I am made free.
Communion is not:
Anything more than an intentional method of remembrance.
Meaning the mode of participating (i.e., a loaf of bread, a cracker, grape juice, wine, etc.) doesn’t matter!
The physical body and blood of Jesus.
2. The Presence of Christ
As often as we take communion:
Meaning there is no set standard for how frequently or infrequently we should take communion.
There are some churches and traditions who take it so frequently it becomes nothing more than a box to check.
There are other churches and traditions who neglect it so frequently that we become cavalier in our approach to sin and what our sin actually caused — the brutal death of our Savior.
Every time we take communion we are:
Proclaiming Jesus’ death
That Jesus’ life was offered as the ultimate sacrifice so that any and all who would come to Him for forgiveness could be washed, cleansed, and presented blameless before the Father.
Proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection, life, and eternal reign!
Notice that Paul expressly says, “until He comes.”
I have news for you on the authority of God’s Word: Jesus Christ died and when He died He said, “It is finished”, and then He rose from the dead, He reigns victoriously now, and one day soon He is coming back to judge the living and the dead.
Communion is not a funeral remembrance, it is a bold championing of the living King of kings and Lord of lords.
Worthless Worship
The Corinthians were giving worthless worship by selfishly forgetting the reason for their worship.
Worthless worship is selfishly championing anything other than the passion and presence of Jesus Christ.
Worthy worship is every day, in church or not, bearing witness to the suffering of Christ and the sure foundation of His past, present, and future presence with us.
Worthy worship …
III. Approaches the Altar with Authenticity
III. Approaches the Altar with Authenticity
27 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. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.
An Unworthy Manner
No one is worthy in themselves to take communion.
Your sin and my sin is the reason communion, this act of remembrance, is necessary.
Sometimes this verse gets used as a reason for why churches or traditions should “police” communion and make sure only Christians partake of it. Two things about this:
The symbolic act of communion, of eating the bread and drinking the juice, is only for Christians. It is meaningless to someone who has not entrusted their life to Jesus Christ.
And if a non-Christian chooses to take communion, they might fool everyone else, but they’re not fooling God.
Non-Christians are not who Paul is warning here.
How do you know?
Firstly, because when Paul began this section we see it is clearly addressed to the church, to believers. Secondly, because non-believers are already under judgment. In Ephesians 2, Paul writes this:
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Non-believers are already under the wrath of God, as each of us was too before we accepted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Non-Christians who choose to partake in a symbolic act are not heaping additional judgment on themselves — they already sit under eternal judgment.
Paul is addressing Christians who selfishly approach their worship because they have a cavalier view of their sin.
Examine Yourselves
This does not mean you need to rack your brain trying to remember every sin you committed since you last took communion.
This simply means a sincere acknowledgement that you are sinful.
While you’re examining yourself, take communion.
While you sincerely acknowledge that you are the reason Christ’s sacrifice was necessary.
While you sincerely acknowledge that you are the reason that we take communion.
While you sincerely acknowledge that Jesus paid the ultimate price by offering up His body.
While you sincerely acknowledge that Jesus established a new covenant by His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins.
While you sincerely acknowledge that Jesus lives and reigns victoriously now, and that one day He is returning, and that on that day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
While you are sincerely examining yourself in that way, take these elements are a remembrance of what Jesus did for you.
Authentic Approach
We approach the altar authentically.
We approach boldly because Jesus defeated the power of sin and death and the cross, and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
But boldness does not mean we are inauthentic.
How can we approach worship inauthentically?
By developing the mindset that somehow our sin is less serious than those around us.
By developing the mindset that our sin really isn’t that big of a deal.
The problem in Corinth was an inauthentic worship, and for this reason some Christians were weak, sick, and dying.
This does not mean if you are weak, sick, and dying that you ate and drank judgment on yourself. This is part of living in a fallen world.
However, sometimes God causes affliction, even to the point of taking a believer home prematurely, because they are failing to recognize the seriousness of Christ’s sacrifice.
In verse 31-32, Paul addresses that those who judge themselves “rightly” will not be judged.
In other words, there’s no judgment for those who recognize they are worthy of being judged, but by the grace of God He is faithful to forgive if we confess our sins.
Worthless Worship
Worthless worship is failing to recognize that you need the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus just as much as everyone else does.
Sometimes, even in church, we can put ourselves on a pedestal at the expense of others, especially other Christians.
We think that somehow we are deserving of Christ’s sacrifice.
In Matthew 25, Jesus says this:
32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Who are the “least of these”?
47 Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
The least of these are Christians.
Worthy worship is authentically approaching the altar:
That you recognize you’re a sinner.
That you recognize your sin put Jesus on that cross just as much as your neighbor’s did.
That you recognize Jesus died for you just as much as He died for them.
That you understand Jesus came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, that you are part of that “many”, and that because of what Jesus did for you, you are called to sacrificially serve those around you as well.
That you understand that bringing worthy worship is not because you are worthy, but because Jesus is worthy. And when that is central to your worship, your life, you will preference other Christians above yourself, and out of that will flow a more sincere and genuine love for those who do not know Jesus Christ.
