MARCH 24th, 2024 PASTOR DON PIEPER
The Corinthian Complex 1 Corinthians 11:2,17-22; 23-34
“THE MEAL DEAL”
Chapter 11 – welcome to the Corinthian Family Meal – where no one is above elevating them-selves above another, where dysfunction is on display and selfishness and divisiveness are the name of the game. Paul must've been so proud! NOT!!
I like how it's worded in the Message translation: “Regarding this next issue. I'm not at all pleased. I get the picture that when you meet for meals, it brings out your worst side instead of your best..., competing with and criticizing each other. Un-be-lievable!” (1 Corinthians 11:17-18 MSG)
Meal time – it can bring out the best and the very worst in family dynamics. My mom had to set rules to how large a helping of the meat and potatoes you were allowed to take or the plate thereof would never make it around the table. I grew up in a family of seven – and it was no heaven/picnic!
Picture a huge family sitting around a table with all kinds of mayhem going on. On one end two siblings are having a tug of war with the french bread, on the other grandpa is drunkenly pouring a bottle of wine over the table, completely missing his glass, in between two siblings are having a sword fight with their table knives and facing them sits a little girl, telling her friend beside her, “Every family has one weird relative – if you don't know who it is, then it's probably you.” Or as the bird in the Lion King puts it: “There's one in every family – two in mine, actually.”
How about in one's church family? Apparently in Corinth there were far more than two! No doubt, being the come as you are community that we are, we have our fair share as well! So what do you make of what we read here in chapter eleven? As always, let's consider the context.
First thing you need to know is that back then, the body of Christ met in people's homes, for fellowship and worship, as there were no church buildings yet. As they did, they'd share a meal, culminating in celebrating the Lord's Supper together. That's what they did from the day the church was born, as Luke makes clear in his sequel's gospel, the Acts of the Apostles.
“Those who believed what Jesus said were baptized and 3000 were added to the church that day. And all the believers devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing their meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer.” (Acts 2:41-42; NLT)
So, Paul had seen to it, as he planted the church there in Corinth, that they carried on this tradition, now a couple of decades later. But somehow things had gone south since he left. So he writes in disbelief: “Some of you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves so that others are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can't believe you'd stoop to this, and I'm not going to stand by and say nothing.” (1 Corinthians 11:20-22; MSG)
It's like the cartoon featuring a father, son, daughter and dog sitting at an empty table..., with the exception of a large meal in front of the mom, who exclaims as they sit staring with wide eyes: “Oh, I'm sorry! I seem to have neglected to make dinner for anyone but myself! Ha, ha, ha!”
It's precisely what some in Corinth are doing when they show up for worship...!
But the issue in Corinth isn't one of revenge but of selfishness. So it is that Paul precedes to correct them, and in doing so, lays out some vital teaching about why we do this...!
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He begins with the most important. “Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Lord himself and passed them on to you, how he himself told us to do this...” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)
Paul re-affirms his apostolic authority by informing them that Jesus told him in person how and why they should do this, and that Paul, in turn, faithfully passed it on to them. If for no other reason, that is why we do this – in obedience to our master, which is what the word, 'Lord', means. We do it because he said to, not only to the twelve, but thru Paul to the churches he planted.
Because of this, we're to receive it humbly and honorably. We do so not in order to satisfy our physical hunger, but our spiritual hunger. We do this not because we deserve it, or are entitled to it, but because we so desperately need it. We need his body and his blood pulsing through our veins, if you will, His Spirit alive within us mindful that we're forgiven and thus delivered from sin's consequence, free from the fear of death and trying to win the world's approval to love and be loved like Jesus...!
So it is that Paul emphasizes that we receive it honorably in a worthy manner. “For whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup in an unworthy manner is guilty of sinning against Christ himself. (1 Corinthians 11:27; NIV)
Paul urges all who gather to worship and receive this means of grace, as Martin Luther called it, to “examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.” (1 Corinthians 11:28) That is, we should be in prayer as we anticipate partaking, asking God's help to treat others as he has treated us, with love and patience and generosity, asking his help to forgive as he's forgiven us.
Then comes a verse that's been misinterpreted and misapplied up to the present day: “For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.” (1 Corinthians 11:29)
It's been taught that Paul's reference about 'discerning' the body of Christ means that one must first understand the theological and personal implications of communion before receiving it. As a result early Communion instruction has been a required practice in the Catholic, and later Lutheran churches. As a result, children are not allowed to receive Communion until they've had such instruction.
But Paul isn't talking about intellectually discerning the body of Christ. He's not referring to the host, (the bread), but the people. The issue here is not proper understanding but of proper behavior, of seeking to celebrate our unity in Christ and with each other and not compromise it by our actions.
As he concludes: “So then, my brothers and sisters, (that is the Body of Christ meeting there in Corinth), when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.” (1 Corinthians 11:33)
After all, if Communion is only for those with the right theological understanding, that would mean that those with learning disabilities, mental illness or dementia would never be able to receive. That ancient practice of withholding Communion from children until they've had proper instruction also flies in the face of Jesus' response to his friends and followers who were also limiting kid's access to him, when he said: “'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' And he placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Matthew 19:14-15)
Paul, in passing on what was passed on to him, also emphasized why Jesus gave us this gift of grace in the first place. They're summoned up in what Luther called, 'the words of institution.'
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“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.'” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)
We need this because we are prone to spiritual amnesia. We so easily forget about God and how Jesus has made his presence known to us in the past. We're memory challenged. It's like the elderly couple, watching TV together. He asks, who’s that guy who used to be in that TV show I used to watch all the time?” George Burns? No. Rod Serling? No. Dick Van Dyke? No. Leonard Nimoy? No. Alan Alda? No! Michael Landon? NO! Bill Cosby? NO!! ...Wow, your memory isn't very good, is it?
Three profound and deeply personal things we need to remember. One, to remember what Jesus did and why he did it. We remember that this gift of grace was initiated on the night he was betrayed, the eve of his crucifixion, when he bled and died for every sinner for all time. He did this so that our misdeeds and selfish acts would not irreparably separate us from God the Father, but that as we claim Jesus as Lord and seek to live accordingly, he and he alone, by his blood, makes us right with God once again, and for all time, for all eternity, starting on this side of the grave and beyond!
This is so personal that Jesus included the words, which is for you! This is for you, no matter what your past, or your present, based not on anything you do other than trust in him for your salvation. As Luther wrote...: “Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say, forgiveness of sins!” (from Martin Luther's Small Catechism)
So it is that we gather on that night in which he was betrayed, what's called Maundy Thursday, this Thursday, to gather around the table, as one group, and pass on what was passed on to us, one person to the next, in an intimate, personal, yet communal remembrance of this holy meal deal...!
Second, we remember here that Jesus promised to come again. As Paul so beautifully put it: 'For whenever y'all eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes!'
(1 Corinthians 11:26)
Jesus promised it would be so. What's more Jesus promised that this spiritual communing with Him in the eating and drinking is a mere foretaste of the feast to come. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you in the Kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25)
So remember, that Communion is also a celebration of community..., and that as you eat and drink this holy meal, you're proclaiming your confidence that he's going to return to make things right and raise a toast to those who cling to him in a feast of grace and solidarity and unspeakable glory!
And third, here we remember Jesus' heart for us his people, that he has made possible our unity with him and with each other, regardless of race, upbringing, social status, gender, age and politics! He prayed for it and gave us this gift as a reminder of this his passion, that we're to embody as his body...!
As Jesus prayed: “I pray.... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you..., so that the world may believe that you have sent me and have loved me as I love them.” (John 17:21)
His words bring to mind the powerful closing scene from the academy award winning film, Places of the Heart. Sissy Spacek plays a woman whose farmer husband is accidently shot and killed by a young black boy in their southern town. Outraged, their neighbors, led by a member of their church, drag the boy through the streets from the back of a horse, killing him. She goes on to hire another young black man to help her cultivate her fields who is later mistreated himself.
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In the film's closing scene, the pastor preaches about God's love, and then the congregation celebrates Communion. The camera zooms in as her fieldhand passes her the cup and she drinks from it. She then passes it to her deceased husband who drinks and passes it on to poor black boy who'd shot him, who passes it on to the racist man who tied him to his horse. It's a powerful image of the power of this gift of grace, an opportunity to have a sample, a foretaste of the feast of love to come, and in so doing participate in the very glory of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again that we may as well!
As he prayed: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world!” (John 17:24)
As we eat and drink this holy meal deal, we do so humbly and honorably, as we remember what he did and why he did it. We remember his heart for us to be one in him and one with one another, and that 'whenever y'all eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes!' (1 Corinthians 11:26)
It's quite the Holy Meal Deal! Amen?