Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

read passage every week, today preach on it as well

why is this part of the corporate worship series?

One, it is part of 1 Cor 11 which is clearly about church order during worship

Second, from history of church worship, the centrality of the Lord’s Supper to the Sunday gathering

even our own experience, as kids imitating remembrance

it is a memorable symbol of church worship, intentionally as per the Lord’s command and church practice as laid out here in Paul’s epistle

but the key to why it is part of worship is also here in 1 Cor 11:27

unworthy - often used to think of our status exclusively

but worthiness language in the Bible is in reference to God and to our approach to him

“Is He Worthy”

So the unworthiness language here is tied to worshipping in a wrong manner, not about your unworthiness (which is a given).

We are made worthy to come into the presence of God by the work of Jesus Christ but having come into his presence, how we worship is a matter of our concern

and the Lord’s Supper is a matter of serious concern because there is judgement associated with it as we read in v29 onwards

so we want to take what God’s Word says seriously, remove our biases and preconceptions accumulated over years of familiarity and really focus on what exactly is being communicated here with regards to partaking of the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner

and what i want to do today is point out some observations from the text that are key for us to understand the importance and the proper way to partake of the Lord’s Supper

Observation 1: The Epistles guide church practice

You will notice that the weekly reading we do for the communion is not taken from the gospels but from the epistles

This is not because the gospels dont have the content.

What we call the words of institution are also found in gospels like Matthew and Luke

But the Gospels’ primary function is to provide us the narrative of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, the teachings and the implications they have on us as followers of Jesus, ethically, morally and spiritually

The Apostles wrote the epistles (including the letters to the churches) to further elaborate on Christian doctrine which they wrote inspired by the Holy Spirit and to tell Christians

how to live post-resurrection of Jesus Christ, in a world without his physical presence as a new covenant community (the local church),

how to grow in maturity and sanctification, and how to live as his visible representatives in this world and anticipating his return

And the church epistles guide church practice because that is the purpose with which they were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

So there is no divide between the gospels and the Epistles when it comes to whether these are Jesus’ words

There are no red letters in the NT; this is all the word of God

We shouldn’t join with secular culture in dividing Paul from Jesus

‘prayer’ example, Pharisees

But as mature Christians who can divide the word properly, we should understand the function of the gospels vs the epistles and understand why it is important for the church epistles to guide church practice

Observation 2: The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of the gathered local church

Tied into the fact that this is in a church epistle is the idea that this is a church ordinance

It is a commandment of the Lord given to the gathered local church to obey and observe

As we said, it is part of 1 Cor 11 which is in the context of worship in the gathered church on Sundays

And then, we get further clarity in 1 Cor 11:17-18

When you come together as a church

Everything following is in the context of the gathered local church on Sundays

That is, these instructions apply to a specific place and time in the life of the Christian

Not anywhere, and not anytime but one place and one time

It is intended to be taken weekly and on Sundays when you come to the meeting of the local assembly you are a part of

implications: the Biblical pattern is to do it weekly, not daily, not monthly, not biweekly

the Biblical pattern is to do it within the church gathering, not anywhere else.

Not the building but the group; it should be recognizable as the local church

Observation 3: The Lord’s Supper is a symbol with real meaning

The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of the new covenant

Every covenant has a symbol

Noah - rainbow

Abraham - the animals in gen 15

Mosaic - ten commandments

The symbol of the new covenant is the Lord’s Supper

Just because it is a symbol does not mean it has no value.

Symbols were treated seriously in the OT

A symbol is not a sacrament (in the traditional understanding of the term)

A sacrament conveys spiritual benefits of its own.

The Catholics look at the Lords Supper as a sacrament that by itself conveys blessings, regardless of the intent or disposition of the partaker

thats why only priests are authorised to serve the sacraments and the great care given to the emblems

But we call this a symbol because it has no efficacy on its own (it is just bread and wine, it remains bread and wine)

But its value is in what it represents in the context of the circumstance (where/when) and who takes it

Only baptised believers can take the Lords Supper but the Lords Supper does not make you a believer

The Lord’s Supper is taken in the context of the local church but just because you have communion doesnt make you the church

So its a symbol but in the NT, symbols are not mere pictures of reality but they are taken to be ideal representations of reality, to the extent that the symbol can be talked about interchangeably with what it represents

Here the water of baptism does not turn into the dirt of the grave but it truly represents the believers identification with Christ

If the symbol represents the reality truly, then it is also possible to misrepresent or treat wrongly the reality of salvation and the new covenant, by misrepresenting or mistreating the symbols of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (as we see in the warning of judgement in 1 Cor 11)

In verses 23-26, we see what all is contained within the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper

The breaking of the bread symbolizes the breaking of the Lord’s body, which is his death to pay the penalty for our sins

The sharing of the cup represents his blood poured out, which both represents the violence of his death and the efficacy of his death to pay for our sins and cleanse us of our sins (by the shedding of his innocent blood as a substitute for us)

We also see that it is a remembrance, an act of memorial for that which has already happened

Here, we see that the act is also an act of proclamation of Jesus’ saving death for us to those watching, and this act will continue until he comes again for his beloved

Note that remembrance involves the mental and intellectual capacity to remember and accept the reality of Jesus’ death on one’s behalf

Betrayed - this is an interesting way for Paul to phrase it.

By evoking betrayal, he is highlighting the culpability/accountability of those close to Jesus in his death (rather than the Jewish leaders or the Romans)

It is supposed to stand in for those of us ‘on the inside’, we are to identify with the ones who betrayed the Lord to his death but by his grace, he has forgiven us and paid the price for our sins

The early Christians thus constantly reminded themselves that even though Jesus was crucified by the Empire, he was nonetheless handed over to the Romans by one of their own—a poignant reminder indeed at the table where the Lord’s people experienced anew forgiveness and life.

Observation 4: Wrongly engaging in the Lord’s Supper has real and serious consequences

As we said previously, the real meaning of the Lord’s Supper and its identification with the death of Christ means that not partaking of it appropriately can and will have serious consequences

The call to examine oneself is to prevent partaking of the Supper in an unworthy manner 1 Cor 11:28

The repercussions of not doing so is something we do not take seriously but this is God’s Word, and it is true and we should take what it says is serious seriously

The judgement is serious, it is discipline that can lead to physical ailments and even death.

If we do not examine ourselves truly, the Lord will examine us and a negative evaluation will lead to judgement

Why is this matter so serious?

Because partaking of the Supper unworthily is to deny the importance, sanctity and consequence of the death of Jesus Christ.

it is saying that I do not think his death is important or worth treating with respect and seriousness

And how does that happen in the life of someone in the church?

Coming back to 1 Cor 11:29

Here, discerning the body has two meanings

To not discern the body that was broken i.e partaking of the new covenant symbol while not adhering to the sanctity of the covenant by being in unrepentant sin.

That violates the sanctity of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins and our commitment to him as our Lord and our responsibility to live transformed lives

But more relevant here, the body is the body of Christ i.e the local church, to not discern the body is to partake of the Supper without recognizing that its context is within the church and it also symbolizes the unity of the church

so anyone who partakes while undermining the unity of the church, by sinning against a fellow brother or sister, or harboring ill will against them, is not discerning the body

and that was the context in Corinth

the ‘love feast’ was the norm; a common meal that included the Lord’s Supper

Rich folk had lavish meals every evening

But the poorer folk (slaves etc.) who were now members of the local church often came in later and had very little to eat

So by the time the Lord’s Supper came about, the rich had their fill while the poor were still starving

this was both degradation of the poorer brothers and sisters as well as undermining the overall sanctity of the Supper

this church was not united, and its remembrance was offensive to the New Covenant, which purchased a people for God, rich and poor included, by the blood of Christ

The rich did not treat the Supper seriously because they failed to understand the New Covenant and the meaning of the death of Christ

and in their actions at the Supper, they showed that they were guilty of the body and blood of Christ and therefore, they were judged by God

So the examination is intended for us to reveal if we harbor such ill-will against the community or any unrepentant sin, to make it right and then come to the Table

Not coming to the table is not an option.