6.11.51 11.14.2021 Discerning the Body 1 Corinthians 11

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Entice: Together this morning we have come together in worship. One people. One Church. One body. In unity of purpose and doctrine we have lifted the name of Jesus and encouraged one another. Can you imagine, that for some, worship has become a bone of contention?

Engage: The Worship Wars began about the time I entered full-time ministry. Much of the argument has been about music. Style, volume, novelty, instrumentation.

Much of the musical argument is a culture-driven red herring. Arguing about worship at all indicates that we have not rightly regarded the body. I have mentioned throughout this series that Paul uses the term "body" in many ways in this Epistle. In today's text he juxtaposes three of those usages.

The broken body of Jesus.

(Christology).

The "body" represented in the bread

which we share every week.

("sacramental" theology, the ordinances of the Church).

The present body of Christ,

the Church

US

we who do that sharing and remembering. (True abiding nature of Christ's Spirit-filled people—who incarnate Him to the world).

Expand: Our time in 1 Corinthians is drawing to a close. I cannot address every issue. I have chosen to focus upon the key conflict, the one at the heart of the epistle which energized all the conflicts. Debates about resurrection and interpersonal conflict. Debates about spiritual gifts. Debates about authority. Debates pitting this person and his gifts against that one and hers are all the result of not rightly discerning the body: one body or another. Sometimes an individual is so focused on self they do not correctly discern any body…this is the tendency we need to correct and the proper place for that correction is

around the table.

Excite: None deserve the grace which bids us here. All are invited. In Christ we are cleansed and called. In Him we are a temple of the Holy Spirit set apart for worship as His BODY.

Explore:

When we rightly discern the broken body in the emblematic body, then the gathered body is strengthened.

Explain: Around the table we share the characteristics of our common life in Jesus…

In the body everyone Has…

1 Dignity

1 Corinthians 11:17–22 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. 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.

1.1 Divisions humiliate Jesus.

1.2 Divisions humiliate our brothers and sisters.

In the Body we have…

2 Clarity.

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.

2.1 Clarity of doctrine.

2.2 Clarity of purpose.

Remember

Proclaim.

In the body we have…

3 Unity.

1 Corinthians 11:27–32 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. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 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.

3.1 By Christ.

3.2 IN Christ.

Shut Down:

Like nearly everything in the 20th and 21st century we have found a way to transform this text about community into an exercise in individualism and narcissistic self-expression. I have done it in the past and am ashamed.

We teach people that the quiet before communion is just between you and God. A time of confession of sin and self-mortification. I am ashamed because this passage does not teach it nor does the gospel accounts of the Last Supper. The term communion mitigates against that interpretation.

Table time is us-time. Table time should be community focused, community driven, community building. Around the table we should be unified in Jesus for His purposes. Around the Table we should be crystal clear about what we believe and what we intend to do about it. Around the table rich, poor, starving, filled, famous, or forgotten--we all draw our dignity from our place in Jesus as His Body.

Till. He. Comes. Again.

That is God's word for us…November 14, 2021.