The Lord’s Supper

Chair Bible p. 958

Congregational Prayer

180 Weekend: Students, leaders/hosts, servants. (other churches)

South Point Baptist: Pastor Mike Phillips—make disciples and reach their community.

intentional and sacrificial giving.

Intro

Coming to worship/Lord’s Supper in the Ancient Roman world:

A week based on a 10 day calendar

Jews and Christians kept a 7 day calendar as it related to worship.

Christians were committed to meeting each Sunday corresponding to the Lord’s resurrection

The wealthy were able to show up well before others had gotten off work

Latecomers(mostly the working class and poor) would arrive to find hardly any food and some who had become drunk.

Their Lord’s supper looked more like private dinners and feasts of the secular culture (Dever 130)

The arrangements, in brief, emphasized the divisions in the church at Corinth, not their fellowship. (Prior 187)

This texts confronts their wrong approach to the Lord’s supper and lays out a way forward.

Main Idea: The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness and sober recognition.

Once again calling them us to heed

The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness.

Instead of division.

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.

Divisions were a focus of the letter from the beginning.

1 Corinthians 1:10–13 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Human heart is prone toward division. In an age of selfishness, division runs rampant in the life of congregations because people want their way.

The divisions were making a mockery of their gatherings, particularly their gatherings to receive the Lord’s Supper- a time that is intended to clearly show the unity of the body of Christ.

Instead of being marked by the unifying event , they were turning it into the antithesis of what it is meant to be.

Illus: standing in the lobby speaking negatively about one another, even to one another then coming and receiving the Lord’s Supper. “not for the better but for the worse”

How do we get caught up in such behavior? selfishness The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness...

The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness...

Instead of selfishness.

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.

The gathering was supposed to be a love feast. The bread broken near the beginning, followed by a meal. The conclusion would have been the receiving of the cup.

Instead of waiting on one another, those who arrived first and had the greatest access to food went ahead and preceded with the meal. In the process they ate all the food and some even got drunk. In the end, some were left without anything to eat, particularly those who had nothing. The gathering had become one that looked like a pagan dinner instead of a celebration of the work of Christ.

It is not the Lord’s Supper they are eating since divisions, factions and selfishness reign during the Supper. It cannot be the Lord’s Supper, according to Paul, if evil runs rampant during the meal. (Schreiner 242)

It is not the Lord’s Supper they are eating since divisions, factions and selfishness reign during the Supper. It cannot be the Lord’s Supper, according to Paul, if evil runs rampant during the meal. (Schreiner 242)

Illus: the home owner and those who supplied the food may have said this is my food and my house. I will serve those I want to serve and start when I want start. If they miss out, that is thier fault.

Since all celebrations of the Lord’s Supper would have been in the larger homes of wealthy Christians, the point Paul establishes is that when the church “gathers together” the space is no longer someone’s home, it is a special space of worship. (Gardner 507)

need work

Trans...As a result, the Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness...

The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with humble awareness...

Humble awareness.

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.

Avoid turning the Lord’s Supper into a need for judgment.

Don’t use the gathering as a primary means for nourishment or as a simple social gathering.

Wait for one another.

The event itself should prompt humility as we remember the humility of Christ.

put others before yourself. the supper is not about me.

shared as the body of Christ. We do this together.

Transition: actual sharing of the Lord’s supper…How do we approach it with humble awareness?

formal v/s informal

formal— can lead to a missed focus as the means of distribution becomes the focus.

Informal—lose the meaning by being too laid back.

Shared—we are one body share the common memorial meal for his people to remember.

sober (do not mean sad, nor flippant,...serious, clear focus...with joy)

The Lord's Supper must be approached as one body with sober recognition.

Sober recognition of the redeeming work of Christ.

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,

The reference to the betrayal of the Lord (“on the night when he was betrayed”) reminds us that from its very institution the meal has always been in danger of being eaten by those who fail to live out its meaning. (Ciampa 549)

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.”

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.

Roman Catholic tradition has interpreted this passage in a literal fashion, arguing that the bread and wine actually change their physical substances to become the body and blood of Christ. Their view is called “transubstantiation.” The Lutheran tradition of “consubstantiation” contends that Christ’s body and blood are present in, with, and under the bread and wine, but that the substances of the bread and wine do not change.

BFM: The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Isaiah 53:6 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

We celebrate and remember that Christ, the sinless Savior, gave his life in our place. “This is my body, which is for you”

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

“...because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, “

He drank the cup of God’s wrath so that we might “drink” the cup of the New Covenant.

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.”

He drank the cup of God’s wrath so that we might “drink” the cup of the New Covenant.

“...the cup represents the new covenant which is inaugurated on the basis of Jesus’ blood. The reference to the new covenant evokes (Schreiner 245)

Jeremiah 31:33–34 ESV

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

“because of its status as a covenant meal, Paul emphasized that blessings and curses are attached to taking part in the meal.” (Gardner 508)

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

The Lord’s Supper communicates a story to the world, a story of sacrificial love in which Jesus gave up his life for the sake of others. This preaching, this proclamation, is to last until Jesus comes. (Schreiner 245) Proclaiming his death, his redeeming work until He comes…points to the fact He is alive and coming again.

It is also crucial for our understanding of the Lord’s Supper that the remembrance is not an act of remembering a long-lost friend, present only in the memories of the community. It is understood by all that the Lord who is being remembered and whose death is being proclaimed did not remain dead but is living and present with the community as they celebrate what he accomplished when he first came, not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (; ) and as they look forward to his return to consummate his redemptive work (cf. v. 26-- “until he comes”). (Ciampa 551)

Sober recognition of who we are in Christ.

The theme of remembrance suggests that those who participate in this meal are to do so in full recognition of its relationship to the redemption that was won for them only through Christ’s sacrifice, a redemption which has washed away those worldly distinctions and created a community of people who are all--rich and poor, slave and free--saved by grace and not by works or social standing. (Ciampa 553)

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

unworthy manner---immediate context is the manner that they were treating one another. “To eat and drink in an unworthy manner is to eat and drink in a way that demeans, humiliates, or disrespects other members of Christ’s community.” (Ciampa 554)

How can we receive the from the Lord’s table in a worthy manner having snubbed, gossiped, or turned away in bitterness and unforgiveness to another brother or sister today or of late?

How can we think of ourselves as better than others and receive from the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner?

How can we receive the Lord’s Supper without acknowledging our sinfulness and need for Christ?

How can a non-believer or a functional non-believer(no indication in your everyday life that you are a Christian)…how can you receive the Lord’s Supper?

2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

in examining yourself, not talking about a pious refusal…

(another context people waving it on for several rounds) in essence saying I am not good enough. No one in this room is good enough. Christ died for sinners. That is what we are acknowledging. We are also acknowledging the life changing power of the gospel.

Trans…the reason for examination is now explained...

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.

The focus of the Supper is Jesus and his righteousness for us, his having drunk the cup of the Father’s wrath for us. We are not the focus of the Supper. To fail to recognize this is not only sin, but it will also bring judgment. (Dever 136)

Warning…text does not say or imply that all sickness and death are the result of sin. However, it is a real and distinct possibility for those who flippantly and without humble thought partake of the Lord’s Supper.

The judgment is not final but remedial and disciplinary. Paul actually does not say that some have ‘died’ but some have fallen asleep. The verb ‘fall asleep’ is invariably used in the New Testament as a metaphor for death when speaking of the deaths of believers. There is no instance where it is used of unbelievers, and this suggests that Paul does not have final judgment in his sights here but a kind of disciplinary judgment. (Schreiner 248)

Hebrews 12:5–6 ESV

5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Every instance of receiving the Lord’s supper should be a sober recognition so that we avoid opening ourselves up to judgment.

How do I(we) know that I am approaching the Lord’s supper in the right manner?

Our focus is on the redeeming work of Christ

We recognize that we are the body of Christ. We are one in Him.

So What?

Am I (are we) approaching the Lord’s Supper as one body with humble awareness and sober recognition?

In a hyper-individualized society, the communion service has often lost the emphasis Paul gives it here of being a community event. (Gardner 518)

To see it rightly, we do not look to the chaos in Corinth but to the earnestness of the Upper room where Jesus gathered with his disciples...

Luke 22:14–20 ESV

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Distribution:

Stations. (move to a station near you and get both elements and return to your seat)

Plenty of time, we will not proceed until the song has completed or everyone has been served.

Hold the elements as we will receive the bread together and the cup separately and together.

Prayer

confession

thanks

joy

Congregational Prayer

180 Weekend: Students, leaders/hosts, servants. (other churches)

South Point Baptist: Pastor Mike Phillips

intentional and sacrificial giving.

Sending:

new neighbors

END