Key Verse:
"Therefore, 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 our
Lord."
1 Corinthians 11:27
Many people
mistakenly think that the books of the Bible are arranged in the Bible in the order in which they
were written. This is not true, especially in the New Testament. In fact, many
of the epistles, especially of Paul's, were written even before the Gospel of
Mark, which is believed to be the first attempt to relay an historic account of
our Lord's life on this earth.
Paul wrote many of
his letters to the churches that were spreading throughout the known world,
especially in Asia Minor. He was concerned that baby Christians receive good
instruction concerning what to believe and how to live if they were to be
Christ's representatives on this earth, to a Pagan world.
This account of
Paul's, of the event that we are sharing in the gospels, is believed to be the
first on record. It was probably written within twenty years of the actual
event. What is sad about this account, however, is that we learn that, even in
the early church, the problems of discrimination and who is the greatest, were
still prevalent, even though Jesus tried to put an end to this type of
thinking, as we discussed yesterday, from the beginning.
The early church
would often participate in a meal similar to the Seder, which in the church,
was often called an Agape (pronounced Ah-gah-pay) Feast. People often brought
their own food to share, or not share as in the case of the Corinthians, around
the elements that we think of today as communion.
Paul had to address
the issue of some getting drunk on the wine.
That was not supposed to happen at the meal. Food hoarding was a problem.
Some left hungry while others were gluttons. In this passage, Paul was trying
to teach again what our Lord had been trying to teach His disciples.
This is a meal of
fellowship. We are sharing together the meal that our Lord Himself called His
body and His blood. There is no place here for grumbling or disputes, for in
the act of sharing this meal, we are becoming one in Him.
"Everyone ought
to examine him or herself before eating of the bread and drinking from the cup.
Anyone who eats or drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and
drinks judgment on him or herself." (1 Cor. 11:28-29) It is a serious
matter to claim to be a Christian, to partake in His meal, to call Him Lord,
and to gorge oneself without regard for a hungry brother or sister, or to hold
a grudge against another. Better to abstain than partake unworthily.
Suppose I was angry or upset with my brother or sister in the Lord and it happened to be on Communion Sunday. I could go through the motions and no one would know, but I would know and the Lord certainly would. I know of a dear friend who abstained from Communion for two months, with agonizing prayer and
soul searching. He finally came to the place, with the Lord's help, where he could stand up and apologize for his attitude toward the people because he realized that, in his own way, he was no better by holding a grudge against them, than they were for offending him. This did not cause them to change their behavior. If they were
taking communion unworthily, that was between them and our Lord. But my friend saw that he was charged
with the duty of examining himself before our Lord. That was his responsibility.
Probably, communion
is taken unworthily in many churches, by many people today. If that is the
case, those who take unworthily are guilty of the same pettiness displayed by
the disciples at the Seder and the same sinful behavior of the Corinthians that
Paul addressed later. You are charged with the responsibility of not tainting
communion with your unworthiness.
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