Corinthians 11:17-34 The Celebration of Sacrifice

But last week we wrapped up a series on the book of Esther and it ended with a memorial celebration. The entire book was about a really dark time in the history of the Jews where they were set to be destroyed and God saved them.

God reached down into human history and worked through the circumstances to bring about their salvation. And we saw at the very end this feast that the Jews called Purim that was basically mandated throughout Jewish history that they were to celebrate.

Communion as the New-Covenant Memorial Celebration

And this morning we're going to carry that concept forward with a message on the primary memorial celebration that Jesus left for us to follow because he has provided salvation for us in a new covenant way.

So under the old covenant he was saving his people, he was saving the Jews, but now he has provided a way for us to be saved and we're going to be talking about the celebration that he instituted for us to celebrate.

And I think in reality when I mentioned communion I would dare say that if I were to just ask you to just raise your hand and shout out some thoughts about communion I think we'd have a diverse, a bunch of different things that would be said about communion because I think we can be confused about it.

It is something that is joyful but somber. It is serious but it's a celebration. It is about our unity with Christ but it is also about our unity with each other as we partake together. It's about looking inside of us, internal introspection, right?

Have you heard that about communion before that we ought to look inside and consider where we are at spiritually and what's been going on in our lives and in reality we ought to look inside and as we look inside how many of you have ever seen crud inside your own heart?

You see that and you realize why Christ had to die, why he went to the cross. And so there's this internal introspection, there's also a looking out and considering others in the body. It is remembering the death of Jesus and our sinfulness that caused him to go to the cross but equally it is a remembrance on the great love that he has for us and is shown towards us.

So do you see the multi, there's all different kinds of facets to this thing, right? Would you agree with that? All different kinds of aspects to this thing that we do every week. It's a mix of emotions and yet as we come to this text this morning I hope that we leave with a deeper clarity and understanding about the celebration that we do every week here at Recast Church.

We've been gathering together now for three years as a church and every week I think minus maybe one or two that we haven't taken communion together since we started. So I want you to open your Bibles please to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 17 through 24, the central text on communion in the New Testament.

That's page 821 in the Bible in the seat back in front of you so if you want to pull that out, that Bible in front of you, it's page 821, easy to turn there. If you don't own a Bible please take that one with you.

We want everybody to have a copy of God's Word. But follow along as I read 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 17 through the end of the chapter. So let's dive in. But in the following instructions, this is Paul the Apostle speaking to the church in Corinth, he says, but in the following instructions I do not commend you because when you come together it is not for better but for worse.

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. For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

When you come together it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry and another gets drunk. 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. 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 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. And 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. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

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. Let a person examine himself then and so eat the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves correctly truly we would not be judged.

For when we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then my brothers when you come together to eat wait for one another. If anyone is hungry let him eat at home so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.

And about the other things I will give directions when I come. Let's pray. Father we come to a text that I think many in this room have heard many times and yet it's been challenging to me this week to uh to open my eyes to see communion from a different perspective.

To see this memorial celebration that we do every week here at Recast in a new light and in a different light. And Father I pray that you would press on our hearts the awesome amazing glorious sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

That you would turn our hearts to the cross regularly and routinely and not just in communion but throughout the week Father that you would transform us and change us. And that as we have an opportunity now to sing songs before you Father that our hearts would be raised raised up.

That we would genuinely worship out of hearts that have been changed and transformed because the price has been paid for us. Our hearts now experience purpose and delight and joy and hope and love because of what you have done in our hearts.

Because you are transforming us. You are changing us. Not us trying to make ourselves look better for you but you turning us into what we ought to be from the inside out. I pray that you would be with us and allow our songs to be genuine worship before you.

I ask this in Jesus name amen. Well thanks a lot to the band for leading us this morning. I'm grateful for that. I also just wanted to just for some reason this morning I want to just thank Mike Rogers.

I don't know if you realize he comes early every day and every Sunday and makes the coffee and gets the donuts together. Him and Joe Clift and so just thanks to them for doing that and there are some more coffee and donuts available for you.

I know we just took a break but you can get up at any time during the message make yourself comfortable. Restrooms are back here. But as we dive into the text this morning obviously our song's focused on communion right.

I mean I love that last song. I mean it just really walks through a lot of what this text is. I mean it almost preaches a sermon in and of itself right. If you're really listening to the words and paying attention to them.

We're going to be looking at an epistle which is a big fancy theological you know seminary word for letter. Okay so why don't we just call it a letter and that would be better. But it's a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth.

He started this church so in a sense he's kind of like the church planner slash pastor. He was traveling through that area. Some believers came to faith in Jesus Christ. They started a church and then he moved on and he's right.

So when we see those letters in the New Testament we're actually looking at mostly Paul's interaction at least obviously Paul's letters. We're looking at his interaction with churches that he started.

He's moved on and so what ends up happening a lot of is that through the letters we find teaching from Paul based on what not to do. Now how many of you have experienced that level that kind of teaching?

Maybe you experienced that from your parents to some degree. Maybe there have been seasons in your life where primarily the lessons in your life have been things not to do. Raise your hand if you've been in those been in that place in life before.

It's kind of like and that's where we're at in the text is oftentimes we find out things by what others are doing wrong and hopefully we can tend to learn our lesson but more often than not we have to experience our own failures before we actually get it because if you're anything like me we can tend to be thick that way.

So it can be hard to learn from other people's lessons but as we come to the subject of communion we're going to see that Paul took some issues with the way that the church in Corinth was going about communion.

The way that they were partaking in the Lord's Supper. Now there's different terms for this. You've already heard a few of them. Communion, the Lord's Supper. How many of you are familiar with the term Eucharist?

Eucharist is a Greek word that means Thanksgiving but you can call it what you want but you need to also equally understand that by giving it different titles you actually tend to align yourselves more with different theologies.

So you can call it Eucharist if you want and that's fine but that tends to be the word that more Catholic and Lutheran churches would use and so if you use that word in certain settings they're going to think oh you must go to a Catholic church or you must go to a Lutheran church.

So we tend to call it communion here or the Lord's Supper. I use communion probably more often than not but Corinth was a church we're going to see. I think it's important we understand the setting to understand what Paul is saying about communion.

Corinth was a church full of divisions. There were wealthy hotshots in the church who thought that they were God's gift to the church and those in poverty were pushed to the side. Those who didn't have their so so what you're looking at in Corinth was a church of haves and have-nots and there were strict and strong lines drawn up but not just that but then there were some people who began to section off and say well I'm a follower of this elder well I'm a follower of this elder and they began to basically pick their favorites if you will.

Well I like this guy better when he preaches or I like this guy better when he preaches and they ended up kind of like forming like small groups around that and all they would want is to hear from that one individual and Paul earlier in the book actually said well you ought to really be of Christ not of these individuals not of these people but so all kinds of divisions were going on in that church at the time and Paul says outright in a strong tone look down at your bibles in verse 17 he says when they gather together this is strong think about this phrase when you gather together it is not for better it's for worse like like okay how many of you think like gathering together as a church ought to be a good thing.

Would you agree with that. And he's saying that's not a good thing Corinth when you guys get together this is a bad thing. Is that a pretty significant indictment that he's bringing down on them when you get together it's for worse.

You're making yourselves worse when you get together. Wow that is strong. And you see what we what we have is him hearing through the grapevine. He's removed by hundreds of miles from Corinth so he's getting word back and forth from travelers and different people who have been there and he's heard through the grapevine that even their gatherings are in division now how many of you know that you can go out from this place this week and go out and have divisions out there out in the community.

Right. And you could even go out from here and have divisions out in the community pertaining to people here in this church. Right. You could you could have all kinds of frustrations and problems. But we tend to at least unlike Corinth mask those when we come in.

Right. Oh that that's not good either. But but in Corinth they weren't even masking it. Are you getting what I'm saying. I mean they're coming together and there are divisions in their gathering like a little group sitting over here and a little group sitting over here and a little group back there.

And they're not mixing. They're not friendly towards one another. They're insulting towards one another. They're not sharing with one another. Are you getting what I'm saying. This is pretty dramatic.

This is pretty intense. What's going on in the text. In essence Paul says rumor has it. Corinth when you get together it's like a middle school cafeteria in there. Okay this is bad news. Okay. And you walk in with your tray and you're like I don't know who to sit with.

Oh if you were me I mean maybe maybe none of you maybe none of you were that way. But you know just don't let me drop the tray. Just don't let me drop the tray. Um okay sorry. Um those of you laughing would have been laughing at me then too.

Um there have only been a couple of times in my adult life that I've experienced that. And and god forbid I I pray and I I pray diligently that nobody experiences that here in our body. I mean we have that connection time that could feel awkward to some.

And it depends on if you're introvert and extrovert and you know we just spent what five to ten minutes kind of like with nothing to do. Go get some coffee go get some donuts. How many donuts can you get before you got to go back to your seat.

And it's like will anybody talk to me. I hope that that's not your experience. But I've had that. Have you any of you experienced that in your adult life where all of a sudden you kind of felt like you were in high school again or middle school or you know it's just like oh nobody will talk to me.

This is awkward. Um people aren't going to last a long time in a church where they feel that way. Are they. And let me just encourage you directly it was very early in the life cycle of recast church that I came to realize I cannot make this a friendly church.

Now to your credit when I talk with people who have visited here they say that this is a friendly church. And that's to your credit not to mine. I cannot make this a friendly church. Did you realize that.

I mean it was early on at recast history that I kind of went wait a minute I can't make this friendly. It's it's all about it's all about how we interact with others. Right. It's whether or not you're willing to lean over to the person next to you and say hi how's your week going.

And having that interaction is not I can't do it all right. And so I hope that that's the case. And in reality there is no room whatsoever in the church for cliques and divisions. There is no room for that we are to be one in spirit now you might have a follow-up question to that.

Well wait a minute am I allowed to have friends. Like right. I mean is that does that. I mean does that kind of come to bear on this like okay if you just have to be friendly to everybody. And you are certainly allowed to have friends people that you should be connecting with and having a deeper deeper accountability kind of relationship.

Like I mean you know there's some people that you're kind of like how's it going and you have like a surfacy level. And then there's some people you're like how's it going. And there's a different conversation that happens after that.

So you're you're completely I'd encourage those kinds of relationships. But here's the point you are not allowed to pick and choose in the church who you are friendly to. Do you hear the difference. Sure you're gonna have friends.

Okay. But you don't get the freedom to choose in the church who you will and will not be friendly to. Paul makes what I think is a sarcastic side note in verse 19. If you want to look at it it seems like it's out of place.

And then as I started to study it and kind of think about it I think I understand where he's coming from on it. He says well if you just read it for there must be factions among you in order that there that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

It almost kind of sounds like you're saying well well there should be factions. Like doesn't it kind of sound like that at first at first blush. Well sure there are. I think he's being somewhat sarcastic and it seems a little bit confusing.

But it also ultimately means of course there are factions among you. Because not all who are leading are genuine. Not all of those who are in the church there are actually false teachers in the church.

Not everybody is genuinely in love with Christ. Not everybody that's there. And he's like of course because how else are those who are genuine and true going to stand out unless there's different groups in the church.

So there's a little bit of a sarcasm that's involved in that. But now we come to the main point of the passage. He says that when the Corinthians come together for communion for the Lord's Supper he cannot even rightly call it the Lord's Supper.

He says you're doing something else. You Corinthians think you're taking the Lord's Supper but it is something else that is going on there. Maybe it'd be more accurate to call it your supper. It's not the Lord's.

It's more like your supper. That's going on because you all bring. And he goes on. He says you bring you all bring your bagged lunches from home. And some are starving and have nothing to eat and others are getting plastered because they've had too much to eat and drink.

You see in the early church they had a regular meal associated with this. And so part of it is understanding the structure of what's going on here right. Because it's kind of like what is this about meals and things like that they had an early meal that was associated with their gathering.

They'd usually probably go over a meal time and it was a long service even longer than ours. And people would bring their meals and they would eat and sometimes I think they would probably even eat during the discussion during the talk and different parts like that and they would be eating.

But the culmination of that meal was then for one of the elders to get up and to break bread to pass it around and then to take a cup of wine and to pass it around and they would have communion together.

Communion was the culmination of that meal that was going on in the early church. So does that make sense to you. Another thing that you need to understand is the structure of the actual physical location where churches met.

They met in homes. Now these homes were not just mansions and huge so they had limited space. And what was happening is that the wealthy were coming in at least what many scholars see in the the understanding of this this passage that the wealthy would come in and get the preeminent seats so there would be like a nice dining area where all of the wealthy would sit and have this immaculate feast.

And then everybody else was kind of left out in the courtyard and in different places of the house to kind of fend for themselves. And some didn't even have food to eat. They didn't even have anything to bring.

Some were eating bread and water and others are just dining on this awesome meal. So they had this regular meal. It was associated um i used to think that that was an idea that should almost be like required.

I remember going through a stage in my in my understanding of this text where it was like okay wait a minute if they had this meal associated with communion then shouldn't we as well have any of you been there or kind of thought that notion in your mind.

Like as you've read this before like why don't we do this. Um when we lived in england it was actually quite common in the small church that we attended there um an awesome on fire evangelical church in a little town called batley they met on soot hill.

And um soot hill was called soot hill because everything just was covered with soot. Okay industrial north of england. Um and uh when they would do communion we would have a potluck everybody would bring bring food.

And then at the end of that meal we would we would take communion. It was. It was a pretty cool thing. I remember thinking why why don't we do this. But after studying a little history on this and studying this passage i have grown in my conviction that it's not required of us.

It's not necessary that we take a meal. And and we're going to see that here in a minute it would be okay for us to do that from time to time. And i think it might be a good exercise for us. But it's not necessary.

You see verse 22 highlights that this meal was not a required part of the communion. Paul even says in verse 22. What do you not have houses to eat and drink in. Like wouldn't it be better for you rather than offending brothers and sisters in christ to just eat before you come.

Wouldn't that. Wouldn't that be better he says. So he's encouraging them eat at home if you if you cannot control yourself and actually share together. Paul puts some sarcasm in and ask them what shall i say to you.

You guys are offending each other and not sharing. Um shall i commend you for doing that. And i want to say to paul that's a clown question bro. I mean that is. The answer is obviously no. Absolutely not.

I mean it's like what i mean of course you shouldn't commend somebody for doing wrong. Right. You should commend people for doing good things. And now we come to possibly the most quoted text in all scripture.

Okay. Because almost every church reads this during every communion service. Right. Basically um verses 23 through 26. How many of you have heard that read before in a church around communion time. How many of you heard it multiple times.

How many of you almost had it memorized. Because it's been used so much for communion now i don't want to bash anybody on this but i just want to point out something that's kind of interesting. I think reading this part of the text during a communion service is bringing us to the place of remembering that jesus told us to remember something.

Okay did i lose any of you on that. It's it's like we are reading the part of g the part where jesus tells us to remember something. And if we leave it at that all we know is he's told us to remember something.

Okay are you getting what i'm saying here as we read through this and as we study it you're going to see what i mean. But the point of communion is remembering the cross. It's not remembering the institution of the lord's supper.

Are you getting what i'm saying on that. So often we read about him telling us to take the lord's supper and to remember something. And we read that and we don't get to the we don't get to the point we don't get down to the heart of it which is bringing the cross up in people's eyes is lifting the cross high and showing the immense and awesome sacrifice that he made for us.

But if we just leave it at that little gathering that we're going to talk about here where he's going to quote from luke if we just leave it at that that that little intimate gathering of the 12 and we don't get to what happened the next day at the cross.

We've missed something. Paul says that he received these instructions straight from jesus and had already given these instructions to the corinthians. And his instructions take the form of a story from the gospel of luke.

And he basically is going to quote that story and and walk us through it. And so he says on the night that jesus was betrayed he and his 12 followers took a passover meal. Now the passover meal is something that still happens in jewish tradition a very significant meal that celebrated the deliverance of the jews from the bondage and slavery that they were under in egypt.

Right. Ultimately celebrating a salvation of sorts. And remember if you were if i can take you back to that account ultimately in in your mind you remember that they had to eat fast because god was going to deliver them in one night.

And so they ate a lamb. And what did they do with the blood of that lamb. Does anybody remember they took the blood of that lamb and they put it over their doorposts. Right. Put it on the on the on the header and on the two sides of the doors and any house that had the blood of the lamb the passover lamb on its doorposts was passed over by the angel of death.

Therefore it was called passover right. So that's what that's all about. And all kinds of rich symbolism so that the jews in commemorating that passover that first passover in egypt every year around easter time they take a passover meal.

And it's high in symbolism all kinds of symbolisms that are involved in it. There's the lamb that is killed in the blood that is shed so all the symbolism. But jesus in the presence of his closest 12 followers gave the celebration a whole new twist.

And that's what paul's going to point out. His point is that there's something more that's going on here than just passover. So jesus took the bread at the heart of the passover meal again. Uh this is something that's amazing.

This tradition has not changed for centuries. And so when we see if you were to go into a jewish synagogue and talk with them about the way that passover is celebrated you see it reflected in this text like at the middle at the very heart at the center point of the meal the head of the household will stand or the most preeminent individual that is there will stand ask a blessing pick up a loaf of bread and break it and offer it to others that is part of the passover meal.

And we see jesus actually did that on the night he was betrayed he did. He was the most preeminent individual there he stood up he was in charge kind of master ceremonies if you will and actually did it.

And uh when i say a loaf of bread you need to understand it would have been unleavened very very important in the passover meal that there was no leaven involved a symbol of sin and all different kinds of things that were involved in the symbolism of that.

So it would have been like the matzah have any of you had matzah bread. Or it's basically a cracker like like what we have something without leaven in it. And um jesus took that bread he gave thanks and he broke it everything just like normal everything just like every jew was doing that night during the passover.

And then he did something radical and i'm sure somewhat confusing to his followers that were present with him he said this bread adding new symbolism to it. He said this bread is my body which is given for you do this when you eat this bread when you break bread together eat it in remembrance of me.

Jesus took what was the center of one of the most sacred jewish rituals and inserted himself right into the middle of it. That points to the fact that jesus thought he was a pretty big deal. There's no getting around it.

Jesus thought he was the center of the passover meal and you have to wrestle with that. You have to deal with someone who actually says you know all of this jewish history. It's about me. Either he was nuts or he's god in flesh it's it's it's fairly clear.

He said this is about me. And when you take it when you do it think of me wow does anybody i mean it gives me chills to think about how radical that that would have been to them sitting there those 12 followers would have been like whoa like blasphemy like lightning or something.

I mean are you saying what we think you're saying. Of course he was sitting there alive with them at the time that he's saying these things. And his statement that this was his body given for them i'm sure made little sense to them.

Your body your body is right there holding the bread. And it's kind of like i don't catch it not catching where you're at jesus. But i think they were kind of used to that by this point not always getting it any of you there yet not always getting it.

But i'm sure it made complete sense to them. A few days later after he had gone to the cross and he was raised again to new life three days later i'm sure it kind of connected with them. And they were kind of like oh oh we're getting it and then at the end of the passover meal.

So so there's all of these symbolisms. There's the bitter herbs there's all different kinds of spices and different things that they do during the ceremony and go check the door and see if elijah's there.

And some kind of funny strange things that have symbolism and i want to point out it's all towards christ. Christ is the lamb christ is the bread of life. Christ is the blood of the new covenant. All of those things do point to him and all that symbolism.

But at the very end they would then share a cup of wine together. All jews still do this at passover if they're following what they're supposed to be doing. And so he took the cup and suggested that the cup containing the wine was a new covenant pertaining to his blood a new covenant that his blood was about now if reinterpreting the bread was a big deal.

This talk of a new covenant in his blood was even more radical because the the phrase new covenant they understood covenant you see under the old covenant. Under the covenant that was in their mind it was all about the blood of animals.

Goats and rams and oxen sacrificed day in and day out. That's what their religion was. This sacrifice system to try to basically cover their sins in an attempt to do that. And jesus says no no no that's old covenant.

My blood is ushering in a new covenant. Do you understand how radical a statement that is. There is a new way to relate to the father. And it's me and it's my blood. That's intense. He's like turning everything in the world in the cosmos on his head.

He says i'm it i'm the way my blood my body is going to be broken for you. And this is the way the old covenant based on the blood of animals not sufficient. I am the way and as often as you drink this wine think of me.

Remember me. Pretty significant statements. Notice that their commands do it. And it's interesting because although it's a command we can add some things to it that aren't there says do it as often as you take it.

Well that leaves us some question marks. Doesn't it. He doesn't say how often. He doesn't say how to pass it out or whether to pass it out or have people stand and come forward which we don't do anymore because of just logistics.

He doesn't say whether you should all drink it at the same time or whether you should drink it on your own like we do here drink it when you get it. Um obviously in that first that first situation they had one cup so they drank it as they got it.

That's the way that they did it. But that that's not. He's not giving any instructions on that. He says drink wine and eat bread in remembrance of him. That's it. And then paul goes on to add meaning to this thing jesus has just instituted.

He says as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you are proclaiming the lord's death. There's a proclamation going on every service at recast. There is the text that we're looking at. There's a proclamation of the word which is what i'm doing right now.

But there is equally a proclamation every time we take communion together. I like to do communion every service at recast because it genuinely drives my thoughts my preparation my mind and the text. Whatever i'm preaching whether it's esther or jonah or joshua or it's in the new testament or it's going to be galatians coming up whatever it is it turns my mind as i'm preparing as i'm studying as i'm working it's constantly driving towards the cross.

My mind my mind is constantly working towards the cross because that is the focal point that is the purpose. And so we take communion here every week at recast with that intention of bringing things back to the point of proclamation of the cross of christ.

I'm convinced that the cross makes sense of everything we find in scripture and that every sermon should be brought back to that fundamental place where forgiveness and wholeness and completeness and the wrath of god is appeased.

Worthy Manner, Self-Examination, and Divine Discipline

Paul not only goes on in the text to indict the corinthians for the manner in which they have taken communion. He wants them to know that by taking it in a manner that is unworthy. In other words by taking it having just neglected others in the body.

I have to point this out it is an adverb and not an adjective. And some of you that just doesn't work for you know. Um but it is not. It is not saying that you need to make sure that you are worthy. You get it.

That is not what the text is saying that you ought to sit here and reflect on your worthiness to take communion. None of us none of us are worthy to take communion. None of us if it is about our worth our worthiness.

Have we done enough good for god. Have we been on his side enough. Have we crossed all of our t's and dotted our eyes. And boy if you sin this week you better not take communion. How many of you have ever felt that way before.

It is not about your worth. Your worth is in christ at the cross. If you have asked him to forgive you you have become been declared been made worthy. You're not worthy. You've been declared that does that make sense.

It is about in the text taking it in a manner and unworthily. Okay there's a difference. Are you getting what i'm saying. There is a manner of taking it a way of taking it that is not worthy now. Is that is that confusing.