Communion with God and One Another (1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Rev. David Huffman, October 6, 2024Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
In the early church, the Lord's Supper was observed as part of a larger meal; it was known as the agape (love) feast. It was also part of the larger culture and was held in larger homes. However, the Corinthians were gathering according to socioeconomic class. This was wrong, because the church marked a whole new order, and there were to be no divisions among the members. In Christ, we are all one people of God. Christ broke down all dividing walls. In Corinth, the divisions were not for their betterment, rather for the worse. Divisions are a poor testimony for the gospel. The Lord's Supper is a visual representation of reconciliation with Christ and with the Body of Christ, the church. The Corinthian church perverted the Lord's Supper, because the wealthy were discriminating. They had lost the true meaning of the Supper, which had been well established by this time in the church. The wealthy indulged themselves, and there was nothing left for the poorer members. The Supper should display our unity for mutual upbuilding. Their practices also humiliated the poorer members and robbed them of their dignity.
Paul, the apostle, warned the rich not to be selective in fellowship.
The Lord's Supper is connected with the Passover meal. The broken bread visualizes Christ's body; in taking the bread, they pointed to their becoming one with Him. As with the Passover, they were to remember Christ's redemptive acts, what He did for them. The cup visualizes the new covenant in His blood, which is supremely effectual compared with the blood of bulls and goats, marking the redemption of the body of Christ. Jesus made a covenantal sacrifice. He satisfies the wrath of God. Jesus came not to exalt Himself, rather to serve and give His life as a ransom. The Lord's Supper visualizes the church proclaiming the Lord's death til He comes again; we present the gospel visually. We are to prepare to partake of it, but not to be afraid. We shouild not be overly introspective. The Supper unites, pointing to a restored relationship between God and His people. It should humble us befor a loving and just God. We must place other's interests before our own. We should share together, waiting for each other, remembering that whatever our status, we are needy.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « No Place for Pride | None | The Confession of a Patriarch » |
1 Corinthians 11:17–34 (Listen)
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 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, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 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.
23 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, 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 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 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. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
(ESV)
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (Listen)
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(ESV)