Let Us Break Bread Together; For Better for Worse

Introduction

§ Featuring expanded themes and characters introduced in writer-director-producer Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married?" movies, this adult-oriented sitcom focuses on three couples at various stages of their relationships.

§ It centers on successful beauty salon owner Angela and her longtime husband, Marcus, a former pro football player who produces and anchors a highly rated sports TV show.

§ His business partners are Richard and Joseph, but it's a tangled relationship in that Richard has dated -- and later marries, then divorces -- Keisha, Marcus' ex-girlfriend and the mother of his teenage daughter.

§ And if that isn't awkward enough, Joseph's sometime-girlfriend, Leslie, is Angela's best friend. It all adds up to a potent mix of business and pleasure... for better or worse.

§ It has been suggested that “for better or worse” is used for showing that you do not know whether an action, situation, or change will have good or bad results.

§ In the selected passage, Paul uses this terminology to depict and describe the public assembly of the Church of Corinth with emphasis on “The Lord’s Supper.”

§ In this passage Paul admonished the Corinthians about another part of worship: the Lord's Supper.

§ The Corinthians had turned this celebration inside out by using it as an opportunity to divide from and to abuse one another.

§ The celebration that was supposed to unify the church actually brought disunity. (Holman New Testament Commentary - Holman New Testament Commentary – I & II Corinthians.)

§ One theologian introduces and illustrates this passage with an experience he encountered entitled “Step to the Side”.

§ I want to tell you about two times I stood in line.

§ The first experience was in Poland during the last few years of communism.

§ There I stood with some friends in a long line that stretched around several city blocks.

§ It was a line for a precious commodity at that time— toilet paper.

§ I was amazed at the patience everyone seemed to have.

§ Having worked all day, they now stood in line for nearly the entire evening, waiting to get an item I took for granted.

§ Everyone was kind and gracious.

§ Young people held places in line for the old.

§ Men stood in the place of women.

§ It was a tremendous expression of solidarity among the people of that oppressed nation.

§ Another time, however, I had just the opposite experience.

§ I was in an airport in Asia, and had arrived three hours early because I was afraid I might miss my plane.

§ At that point I was third in line.

§ A long line slowly grew behind me, but I still felt safe because I was still number three.

§ But when the ticket agent walked up to the counter and I stood up from the floor, I suddenly realized I was fiftieth in line.

§ The people behind me had pushed past me.

§ Many people throughout the world live by the principle known as "step to the side" every day of their lives.

§ We compete in sports, business, and even in our home lives.

§ When we get the opportunity to be first, we rush for that position.

§ Paul faced a terrible situation in Corinth.

§ The Corinthian Christians were pushing their way to the table of the Lord's Supper.

§ Elbowing their way to the bread and wine, they said to others, "Step to the side.

§ You're in my way." (Holman New Testament Commentary - Holman New Testament Commentary – I & II Corinthians).

§ My brothers and sisters we live in a society where we gage life with mixed motives and methods.

§ We have selfish ambitions and we need to be reminded of why we do what we do.

§ The things that were designed to bless us have become a curse to us because we misuse and mismanage what God has given us.

§ We need we remember that when God is the giver, deliver, liberator it is all about Him and them.

§ In the beatitudes Jesus admonishes the disciples 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (ESV).

§ The life lesson for today is to never mismanage nor misuse the word or work of the Lord for your own greed or gain.

§ The Corinthians had so twisted the celebration of the Lord's Supper that it was hardly recognizable.

§ To correct this problem, Paul applied the three principles which he employed in each subject related to worship.

§ He appealed to: (1) the honor of God worship, (2) proper regard from one believer to another, and (3) the testimony of the church to outsiders.

§ Paul insisted that the Lord's Supper at Corinth no longer met these criteria.

Outline

I. The Preface for the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:17-19)

The preface to the subject of the Lord's Supper is a rebuke by Paul of the conduct of the Corinthians.

The rebuke helps us to know why the Corinthians were having trouble observing the Lord's Supper properly.

Disorder in the church is always going to result from disorder in our lives.

The rebuke is threefold.

§ Services. "I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse" (1 Corinthians 11:17).

§ The public assemblies, or as we would say the church services, of the Corinthians were conducted in such a bad way that instead of producing good they produced evil.

§ That is not an uncommon result of many worship services today.

§ Such services are so dishonoring to God that it would be better if the services had not been held.

§ Schisms. "When ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions [schisms] among you; and I partly believe it" (1 Corinthians 11:18).

§ Corinth was a divided church.

§ We learned this in the first chapter of this first epistle to the Corinthians.

§ First, the character of the schisms.

§ "The nature of these schisms is described in what follows [in the text]" (Hodge).

§ The people did not mix well but separated themselves by gifts, wealth, race, and feeling, but not doctrine.

§ So much trouble in church today is only over feelings or personalities, not over faith.

§ Second, the caution about the schisms. "I partly believe it."

§ Paul was reluctant to believe all the report he had heard.

§ Church people would be wise to follow Paul's example and be hesitant to believe the rumors and gossip and other like talk which they hear at church.

§ Sects. "There must be also heresies [sects] among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" (1 Corinthians 11:19).

§ The divisions in the church did serve a good purpose, namely, to manifest those which were good.

§ Evil in the church provides an opportunity for good people to display proper conduct and belief.

§ Trials often produce good for us—so it is in the church.

§ It takes trials to separate the men from the boys.

II. The Prohibiting of the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:20-22)

§ The first thing Paul says about the Lord's Supper is when not to take it. Three situations are advanced here which prohibit observing the Lord's Supper.

§ The place of the observance prohibited. "When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper" (1 Corinthians 11:20).

§ The place where the Corinthians were observing the Lord's Supper was not the place to be observing the Lord's Supper.

§ The place was the Agape feasts that the church was having.

§ To make a present day application, we would say that it is not proper to observe the Lord's Supper at a pot-luck meal or a picnic, etc.

§ The fact that the Lord's Supper was instituted at a meal caused some early churches to think they could have it at their often-irreverent love feasts.

§ The practice of the observance prohibited. "For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another drunken" (1 Corinthians 11:21).

§ The practices of the meals the church was having were so unchristian that to observe the Lord's Supper at those times was unthinkable.

§ First, the inequity at the meals. "One is hungry, and another drunken."

§ The rich brought great amounts of food while the poor had little.

§ Furthermore the rich did not seem prone to share.

§ This was one of the divisions in the church.

§ The rich were a clique while the poor were forced to be a clique rejected by the rich.

§ Second, the iniquity at the meals. "Another drunken."

§ What blasphemy to try to observe the Lord's Supper when some of the participants were intoxicated.

§ The purpose of the observance prohibited. "What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not?... I praise you not" (1 Corinthians 11:22).

§ The purpose of their Agape feasts was not piety but partying.

§ These meals in which the church got together were not of a purpose that encouraged piety—a necessity for the Lord's Supper because of its meaning.

III. The Practice of the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:23-26) In these four verses, Paul gives universal instructions for observing the Lord's Supper.

This text is frequently and fittingly read or quoted in many churches during the time of conducting the Lord's Supper.

The passage is basic and foundational.

§ The illumination about the practice. "I have received of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:23).

§ What Paul speaks about the Lord's Supper is a Divine revelation to him.

§ Thus what he says is authoritative and correct.

§ The initiating of the practice. "The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed" (1 Corinthians 11:23).

§ Jesus Christ initiated the Lord's Supper. It was not an invention of mankind.

§ First, the time of the initiating. "The same night in which he was betrayed."

§ Christ initiated the Lord's Supper during the Passover observance in the Upper Room.

§ It was the last night Christ would be alive before the crucifixion.

§ The first Lord's Supper was observed in the evening not after a Sunday morning service.

§ Second, the traitor in the initiating. "The same night in which he was betrayed."

§ In spite of the betrayal which was then in process, Christ still instituted the Lord's Supper.

§ Betrayal is always present in the Lord's work, but it must not cause us to cease doing the Lord's work.

§ The ingredients in the practice. "Took bread... took the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:23,25).

§ Two different ingredients comprise the Lord's Supper.

§ First, the bread. The bread was the unleavened bread from the Passover meal, but later the disciples used regular bread. The type of bread is not important. It is the symbolism and message that are important. Second, the cup. The cup was the wine which was part of the Passover meal.

§ The ideology in the practice. "This is my body, which is broken for you... This cup is the new testament in my blood" (1 Corinthians 11:24,25).

§ The bread and cup were symbols of the body and blood of Christ.

§ They were not samples of the body and blood of Christ.

§ The first Lord's Supper makes that clear.

§ Christ was there in bodily form but no one ate His body or drank His blood.

§ It was all symbolic.

§ First, the body. "Took bread... this is my body, which is broken for you" (1 Corinthians 11:23:24).

§ The bread symbolized the body of Christ which was crucified on the cross of Calvary.

§ The bread says that to serve God, your body must be involved.

§ None of this "I was present in the spirit" excuse. If the body is not present, you are not present.

§ Second, the blood. "This cup is the new testament in my blood" (1 Corinthians 11:25).

§ The cup of wine symbolized the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins which gave us the Gospel which is the "new testament."

§ The invocation in the practice. "When he had given thanks" (1 Corinthians 11:24).

§ The Lord's Supper involved gratitude.

§ Those who partake of the Lord's Supper should be in an attitude of thanksgiving for the Gospel.

§ The invitation in the practice. "Take, eat" (1 Corinthians 11:24).

§ All the disciples were invited to participate in the Lord's Supper.

§ This was a motley crew which in the next few hours would show much failure in following Christ.

§ Those who participate in the Lord's Supper do not have to be perfect.

§ The instruction about the practice. "This do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24).

§ Christ is the focus of the Lord's Supper.

§ Many seem to forget this and focus on themselves or some priest or some regulation.

§ The Lord's Supper is intended to help the observer focus his entire being on Christ.

§ The illustration from the practice. "Ye to show the Lord's death" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

§ When one takes the Lord's Supper, he is giving an illustration of Christ's death—body and blood.

§ It is the crucifixion that is illustrated in the ingredients of the Lord's Supper.

§ There is no salvation gained by observing the Lord's Supper.

§ The value is in what it manifests, what it shows. Calvary is vital to the Gospel.

§ We must keep it front and center in our worship.

§ The inspiration from the practice. "Till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

§ The Lord's Supper not only looks back to Calvary but it also looks forward to the second coming of Christ.

§ Thus its observance is intended to be a great inspiration.

IV. The Peril in the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:27-32) Few things in the Bible are so misinterpreted as this peril in partaking the Lord's Supper.

This confusion in the interpretation lies at the feet of the Roman Catholic Church which has so perverted everything about the Lord's Supper

§ The conduct for the peril. "Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily" (1 Corinthians 11:27).

§ The conduct which causes the peril is cited here.

§ First, the interpretation of the conduct. "Unworthily."

§ This does not speak of the worthiness of the individual but the nobleness of how one conducts and participates in the Lord's supper.

§ Participating "unworthily" is not to "eat and drink with a consciousness of unworthiness, for such a sense of ill-desert is one of the conditions of acceptable communion" (Hodge).

§ The word "unworthily" is an adverb amplifying conduct, not an adjective amplifying character.

§ If worthiness was a qualification for partaking of the Lord's Supper, no one would be able to partake of it.

§ Who is so arrogant as to think he is worthy?

§ Second, the irreverence in the conduct. "Guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).

§ This is another way of saying irreverence.

§ To be guilty of the body and blood of Christ is to dishonor and disrespect the body of Christ.

§ It is like showing disrespect for the United States in walking on the American flag.

§ The canceling of the peril. "Let a man examine himself" (1 Corinthians 11:28).

§ If people would carefully examine the manner in which they are participating in the Lord's Supper, they could avoid much peril.

§ The curse in the peril. "Eateth and drinketh damnation to himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29).

§ Partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner brings judgment.

§ The confusion in the peril. "Not discerning the Lord's body" (1 Corinthians 11:29).

§ The reason some could not discern whether they were taking the Lord's Supper or not was because some were "drunken" (1 Corinthians 11:21).

§ This is the abuse problem that Paul is citing.

§ The Corinthians were having the Lord's Supper at their Agape feasts and some got drunk at the feasts and could not discern the fact that they were participating in the Lord's Supper.

§ Such disgraceful conduct was condemned and brought judgment.

§ The character of the peril. "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30).

§ The judgment that came to those for their unholy manners at the communion table was to experience poor health and even death.

§ Gross irreverence is not tolerated by God.

§ The chastening in the peril. The judgment of sickness was a form of chastisement.

§ First, the prevention of the chastening. "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged" (1 Corinthians 11:31).

§ If the participants examined themselves so they would not be irreverent in partaking of the Lord's Supper, they could avoid chastisement.

§ Second, the purpose of the chastening. "We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32).

§ Paul gave a parenthetical reminder here about the purpose of chastisement

V. The Politeness for the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:33,34)

Paul closes this section on the Lord's Supper by giving some instructions about the politeness of the participants observing the Lord's Supper.

§ The patience in the politeness. "Tarry one for another" (1 Corinthians 11:33).

§ The believers in Corinth were a rude bunch.

§ They were divided into cliques and gave little courtesy for others, especially the poor.

§ But Paul admonishes them to be considerate of others and wait till all have gathered before they have the Lord's Supper.

§ How rude to rush into a sacred commemoration without waiting for others to come to the service.

§ The passion in the politeness. "If any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation" (1 Corinthians 11:34).

§ The Lord's Supper was not for the nourishment of the body but for the nourishment of the soul.

§ If you were hungry physically, do not come to the Lord's table endeavoring to satisfy your physical hunger.

§ at home first.

§ This text reaffirms that the problem that cursed in regards to the Lord's Supper was not the unworthiness of the participants' character but the unworthy manner in which people conducted and participated in the Lord's Supper.

Conclusion

§ My brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, this text reminds us that when you come together in Jesus name, let it be for the better.

§ The worse took place at the cross.

§ The better took place Calvary.

§ The hymnologist sung it this way:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suff’ring and shame; And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it someday for a crown.

Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, Has a wondrous attraction for me; For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see, For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true; Its shame and reproach gladly bear; Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away, Where His glory forever I’ll share.