Slices
Prepare
Good Friday was over a month ago. Ponder its message again today.
Bible passage
Correcting an abuse of the Lord’s Supper
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 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. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 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. 22 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!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night 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, 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.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 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. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 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.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 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 instructions.
Explore
In a large house in Corinth, church members bring food for a meal before the Lord’s Supper; but it gets out of hand. Some church members eat their nice food unaware of the needs of others, some drink too much, some are greedy leaving no food for those coming later, and some feel alone and second- class (vs 17–22). Although they are meeting for the Lord’s Supper, they have lost sight of ‘the body of Christ’ (v 29), caring little about the magnitude of what happened on the cross, nor about the preciousness of being Christ’s people together. It’s a disgrace.
The very words of Jesus, ‘This is my body … my blood’, transport us back to the original Lord’s Supper and the wonder of his sacrifice and victory (vs 23–25). Every time we take the bread and wine, we are preaching a little sermon to the world about the Lord (v 26), and giving a testimony that ‘I am his and he is mine’.*
Worshipping God together is wonderful and necessary. The New Testament is clear that congregational worship needs self-discipline and some light-touch regulation; self-indulgence needs to be checked and everyone needs to feel welcome. At the Lord’s table especially, we should accept one another. ‘You should all eat together,’ says Paul (v 33).
*AC Thistleton, 1 Corinthians Shorter Commentary, Eerdmans, 2006, p191
Respond
‘Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your heart by faith with thanksgiving.’**
**Book of Common Prayer, adapted
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 18,19; Proverbs 27,28
Pray for Scripture Union
Steve Vis, Director of Finance and Services, is preparing to take time for spiritual refreshment, reflection and seeking God’s priorities for our work as a movement, and for him personally for the year ahead. Pray that he may know God’s presence and guidance.
