Sacrifice and Unity in the Lord's Supper.
At the Table • Sermon • Submitted
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· 175 viewsTheme: Communion is a Reminder of Christ's Sacrifice and a call to Unity. Purpose: Let Christ and Communion Break Down disunity in the Church. Gospel: Christ died to bring all into his body. Mission: Serve one another no matter the divisions in our world.
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In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
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.
No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
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.”
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.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
So then, 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.
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
Introduction: The story of why the heidelbergh catachism was written - The fist fight over the Lord’s Supper - John Calvin - We are asking the wrong question, the real question is How is it that the likes of you and me are welcome at the table.
25-We live in a divided, me world.
25-We live in a divided, me world.
The Map of the Corinthian Church – Craig Blomberg
* An important Greek City in the Roman empire
* About 8,000 population with 20,000 in the rural areas around it.- Donald Engels
* Port City with an isthmus so a stopping place for sailers, in the past pirates, from all over the Roman world – Very diverse.
* There was the pagan religions very much in effect.
* Jewish Synagogue – Judaizers and Beleivers in Christ
* And a small Christian Church planted by Paul, but visited by Apollos, and Peter as well – Each gaining a following as the true gospel, true teaching.
* There were the rich patrons who provided land, jobs, money, and legal protection for the less well-off, while their clients were expected to reciprocate with various services, political support, and positive public relations
* One of few cities with a middle class albeit far poorer than what we call middle class
* And then of course there is the poor.
* This diversity also came to Christ and was gathered in the church.
Not much needs to be said here. - It is hard not to imagine a more divided world than then one we currently live in.
What seems to make it worse is - Cancel Culture
26-Communion is a Reminder of Christ’s Sacrifice.
26-Communion is a Reminder of Christ’s Sacrifice.
In this passage, Paul is confronting the Corinthian church over their partiality at the table (1 Corinthians 11:17–19). The meaning of why they were gathering had been lost (v. 20). What should be a time of generous fellowship and unity at the Eucharist had been corrupted by selfishness and societal hierarchies. It was common practice that partaking in communion happened after a meal, or love feast. “The Love Feast or Agape (meal) was a significant dimension of the fellowship and worship of the early church. As a concrete manifestation of obedience to the Lord's command to love one another, it served as a practical expression of the koinonia or communion that characterized the church’s life. While the only explicit New Testament reference to the agape meal is found (agapai in Greek) in Jude 1:12, allusions to the practice may be seen in other New Testament texts. … Paul's discussion of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) also suggests a combining of the ceremonial act with a common meal. Such a practice is also suggested in Acts 20:7-11. By the second century the word agapai had become a technical term for such a common meal which seems to have been separated from the ceremonial observance of the Lord's Supper sometime after the New Testament period (“Love Feast,” Holman Bible Dictionary, ed. Trent C. Butler [Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1991], https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hbd/l/love-feast.html). For the Corinthians, the love feast was no longer marked by love but selfishness. Some were overindulging, becoming drunk and eating all the food before the rest of the people arrived (v. 21). The Corinthians wanted to be certain everyone knew who was rich and who was poor (v. 22). The meal is meant to honor the Lord, not an excuse to overindulge or exclude others based on societal hierarchies (vv. 23–26).
Paul specifically in this passage points to the remembering of Christ’s sacrifice until he comes again.
27 - 1. G. The Broken bread and the juice remind us that Jesus was broken on the cross and his blood was shed to save us from our sins.
28 - Communion is a call to unity.
28 - Communion is a call to unity.
29 - Unity is not uniformity.
29 - Unity is not uniformity.
This is the same book that talks about different teachers, and different gifts. Each unique callings.
30 - Unity is based on the Gospel, not our preferences.
30 - Unity is based on the Gospel, not our preferences.
So in this sense, Unity does not mean anything goes.
31 - Places in the Heart
* In this clip you will see a church gathered of living people at the end of a story of many trials in a church.
* There is a couple in which the husband had an affair, and he and his wife struggle with their marriage going forward.
* There is a single mom, played by Sally Field who fought to keep her family and her land.
* This single mom lost her husband who was the sheriff by a young black kid who accidently shot him when he was playing with a gun.
* An angry vigilante mob who tracks down the young black kid and kills him.
* Another African American man who helped the single mom work the family farm, but was being harassed by the Ku Kux Klan
* A banker who was trying to make the single mom foreclose on the property.
- Unworthy in this passage notice is based on our living according to the reality of the Gospel - How we treat each other, but we could also an unworthy is to pretend we are not sinners who have received God’s grace. Other ways???? - Irreconciliation.
32 - Unity is achieved through sacrificial love.
32 - Unity is achieved through sacrificial love.
Verses 33-34 bring this chapter to a close by restating and summarizing Paul's solution to the Corinthians unholy activity during Communion. "Wait for" (vs. 33) might also be translated "welcome." Anyone's genuine hunger pangs can be satisfied privately (v. 34a), so that the main point of the public Christian meal is to share with one another rather than to satisfy one's own needs. This is the core of Paul's instructions; other matters can wait until he personally arrives in Corinth (v. 34b). - The NIV Application Commentary - Craig Blomberg
All professing believers who are unprepared to give generously of their wealth to help the poor in their midst, or who treat people of lower classes as second-class citizens, or who simply remain unreconciled with fellow celebrants, should refrain. - Craig S. Blomberg
33 - 2. E. Communion Unites us with the Church (the body of Christ). We are a part of one loaf, and one cup.
Conclusion:
Michael Green gives an excellent sixfold summary of the theology of the Lord's Supper that Paul stresses in verses 17-34: Look back (to Christ's death), look in (in self-examination), look up (fellowship with God), look around (fellowship with each other), look forward (to Christ's return), and look outward (to proclaim God's word to others. - Craig S. Blomberg
34 - So…Communion is a Memorial for what God has done through Jesus.
35 - So…in Communion we recognize that Jesus is Present with us.
36 - So…Communion points to our Future Hope of Jesus’ coming again, to right all wrongs, and to bring his everlasting Kingdom.
Reference the Reformed Confessions: The Reformed Confessions are statements of faith written to clarify the Gospel at times when the Church was in crisis. Heidelberg Catechism: Q&A 75-82 Belgic Confession: Articles 35 Belhar Confession: