Saturday, March 28, 2020

2020.03.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Corinthians 11:17–34

Questions from the Scripture text: Was the Corinthians’ coming together making it better or worse (1 Corinthians 11:17)? What was the first reason that coming together for church was actually hurting them instead of helping them (1 Corinthians 11:18)? What is one reason that God allows these divisions—these factions—in the church (1 Corinthians 11:19)? Whose Supper, then, were they not eating (1 Corinthians 11:20)? Because whose supper were each of them taking (1 Corinthians 11:21)? From whom did Paul receive these instructions about the Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23)? What did Jesus take on the night He was betrayed (verse 23)? When He gave thanks, what did He do with it (1 Corinthians 11:24)? What did He say? When did He take up the cup (1 Corinthians 11:25)? What did He say about it? What do eating the bread and drinking the cup proclaim (show forth) (1 Corinthians 11:26)? And for how long? If someone eats or drinks in the wrong way (“an unworthy manner”) of what are they guilty (1 Corinthians 11:27)? What is someone to do about the way he takes the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28)? What happens to us if we are wrong about that (1 Corinthians 11:29)? What was happening to them because they were taking it wrong (1 Corinthians 11:30-32)? What should we do at the Lord’s Supper, when we come together to eat (1 Corinthians 11:33)? If we are hungry for food, what are we to do (1 Corinthians 11:34)? 
In this passage, we learn about the Lord’s Supper—one of the great gifts that the Lord Jesus uses to bless us in worship. But, it was hurting the Corinthians instead of helping them. Why? Because everyone was seeking their own interests (1 Corinthians 11:21). It was a spill-over from the division in their church (1 Corinthians 11:18) that God was using to expose the hearts of some who were not even believers (1 Corinthians 11:19).

But even believers were getting caught up in this division and self-interest. 1 Corinthians 11:32 tells us that some who were being judged with death were those who would not be condemned with the world. That doesn’t surprise us. Believers are sinners. We nurse bitterness, color others ugly with our words.

But of course the Lord’s Supper must never be the place for this. Jesus was betrayed for His church. Jesus died for this church. And Jesus gives Himself to His church, at the Lord’s Supper in particular. When He is giving Himself to us, we must not come to the table for anything else. And when He is giving Himself to our brothers and sisters, we must not come to the table with hearts divided against them.

He gives us bread to eat. But He tells us that He is feeding us upon Himself. He gives us a cup to drink. But He tells us that this is a covenant pledge—an action of announcing and confirming His bond with us and our bond with Him.

So, if we are just trying to have a snack, or trying to display ourselves, or make ourselves feel a certain way… then we are ignoring Jesus. And if we aren’t recognizing that the ones taking the Supper with us were so precious to Him that He is doing the same for them, then we are ignoring Jesus.

And if we are ignoring Jesus at the Lord’s Supper, we are not just guilty of a procedural error, or momentary gluttony, or even failing to reconcile with a brother. If we are ignoring Jesus at the moment that He is giving Himself to us as fruit of His work on the cross, then we are sinning against the body and blood of Jesus.

This is the great self-examination as we come to the table. It’s not trying to figure out if we’re spiritual enough, or repentant enough, or believing enough. It’s a questioning of whether we are coming because we know ourselves to be sinners, and we know Christ to be our only hope. It’s a questioning of whether as we come, we will look to Christ by faith and rejoice that He gives Himself to our brothers and sisters, as well as to us.
Why do you take the Lord’s Supper? What are you looking for as you take? Are you also thinking about your brothers and sisters who are taking the supper? With whom do you need to reconcile, so that you can rejoice for them? 
Suggested songs: ARP191 “I Love the Lord” or TPH201 “’Twas on That Night When Doomed to Know”

No comments:

Post a Comment