LET’S FOCUS PEOPLE; LET’S FOCUS!
I Corinthians 11:17-34
S: Communion
C: Remembering Jesus
Th: Live the Difference
Pr: WE ARE ABOUT JESUS.
?: How? How do we do that?
KW: Investigation
TS: We will find in our study of I Corinthians 11:17-34 four investigations we need to make so that we are about Jesus.
The _____ investigation is…
I. LOOK AROUND (17-22)
II. LOOK BACK (23-25)
III. LOOK FORWARD (26)
IV. LOOK IN (27-34)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
· We are to be aware of the condition of the body of Christ.
· We are to remember what Jesus has done on our behalf.
· We are to be ready for the return of Jesus.
· We are to be right with God.
Version: ESV
RMBC 01 August 04 AM
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever noticed how important tradition is to us?
There are many traditions that we grow to depend on to help us keep our focus.
For example…
ILL Notebook: Communion (The Church of the Holy Radiator)
There was a small-town Episcopal church in upstate New York that had rector for over thirty-five years. He was loved by the church and the community, but the time came for him to retire.
This was the first church for his young replacement, and the new rector had a great desire to do well.
He had been at the church several weeks when he began to perceive that the people were upset with him. He was troubled with this. Eventually, he called one of the lay leaders of the church and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but I have a feeling that there is something wrong.”
The man said, “Well, Father, that’s true. I hate to say it, but it’s the way you do the Communion service.”
“The way I do the Communion service? What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s not so much what you do as what you leave out.”
“I don’t think I leave out anything from the Communion service.”
“Oh yes, you do. Just before our previous rector administered the chalice and wine to the people, he’d always go over and touch the radiator. And then, he would serve the people.”
The young rector closed up the conversation and quickly called his predecessor. He said to him, “I haven’t been here a month, and I’m in trouble.”
“In trouble? Why?”
“Well, it’s something to do with touching the radiator. Could that be possible? Did you do that?”
“Oh yes, I did. Always before I administered the chalice to the people, I touched the radiator to discharge the static electricity so I wouldn’t shock them.”
For over thirty-five years, the untutored people of his congregation thought that the touching of the radiator was part of the holy tradition. The church has since been renamed, “The Church of the Holy Radiator.”
TRANSITION:
This year, it has been our challenge to “live the difference” the Holy Spirit makes in us, particularly in the way we live our lives.
And as we come to study today…
1. We are to live the difference when it comes to worship.
We noted last week that we have begun a section of I Corinthians that concentrates on the subject of worship.
Chapters 11 through 14 deal with various aspects of the Corinthians worship.
Now, last week, we studied the role of women in worship in the context of the cultural phenomena of that day of wearing head coverings.
This wasn’t the easiest subject in the world to cover, and some even accused me of living dangerously.
But the truth is that we can’t stick our head in the sand when it comes to the difficult subjects.
We are to engage these subjects and bring further understanding of God’s mind and how they apply to our practice.
But in the midst of this, let’s not lose track of the context.
It is worship.
And worship is worth doing.
Treasuring the true beauty and worth of God is an activity that should not drain us.
Let that be especially true of us today.
Today our subject revolves around the Lord’s Table.
It is an ordinance of the church that we do because the Lord Jesus told us to do it.
We are instructed to do it so that we will remember whom we are about.
And in case it is not clear to you, let me say it with clarity…
2. WE ARE ABOUT JESUS.
In the practice of the early church, this was not something they forgot.
Whenever they gathered together, they would remember Jesus around the Lord’s Table.
Whether the setting was formal or informal…
Whether the gathering was large or small…
Whether they met in a hall or a home…
They would remember Jesus.
They kept their focus on Jesus.
Well, now it is almost 2000 years later since Jesus left this earth, and the task remains the same for us.
We are to remember Jesus.
So, how do we do that?
Well…
3. We will find in our study of I Corinthians 11:17-34 four investigations we need to make so that we are about Jesus.
I want to remind you that the Corinthians are not a positive role model in how to remember Jesus.
They possessed deep-seated problems of division, selfishness and insincerity.
And since the time of communion is meant to be a time of unity, self-sacrifice and genuineness, there was a real dissonance that was taking place in Corinth.
As the apostle Paul puts it, their meetings were not for the better, but for the worse.
So this brings us to…
OUR STUDY:
I. The first investigation is LOOK AROUND (17-22).
(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.
Though Paul does not make this point until the following passage in chapter 12, it is so appropriate to note at this juncture.
That is…
1. We are the body of Christ.
From the very beginning of the church, it was customary for believers to eat together.
In fact, what developed was a beautiful weekly tradition called the love feast, or agape meal.
Members would bring their resources together, combine them together for a common meal.
It was a delightful picture of oneness.
It was a blessing to enjoy and experience.
What climaxed the meal was the natural expression of the Lord’s Supper.
In the midst of this oneness, they would remember Jesus.
But in Corinth, there was a problem…
Have you ever been to a gathering where there are kids and pizza?
And the kids are especially hungry?
You don’t even get to put down the pizza and the kids are grabbing it.
Have you ever had that experience?
Well, something like that was happening in Corinth as well.
Remember that we noted before that this particular church was full of division.
These separate groups came from their theological cliques and/or personality cults.
They also existed in the social realm as well, for there was division between the rich and the poor; between the free and the slave.
So what we find happening is that the wealthy were coming first for this agape feast, and they were eating their own food rather than waiting for the poor to come and share in the experience.
So what happened is that those who were poor had nothing or very little to eat.
Paul sees nothing good in this.
For this was just a terrible act of spiritual hypocrisy.
They were not acting like the body of Christ.
Their celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus was a mockery.
They were not eating the Lord’s supper; they were eating their own.
You see, we are to follow the commands of Jesus, including the one that says…
2. We are to love one another.
When we fail to love one another, we hurt the cause of Christ.
So Paul has no room in his thinking for they way they are treating one another.
They needed to look around…
If we truly care about Christ, then we will be sensitive to the needs of the body of Christ.
You see, we are not to take what is a worthy practice and make it a worthless one.
We are not to participate in anything that makes a mockery and disgrace of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
If we bring a divisive spirit…
If we come in selfishness and insincerity…
…we diminish the meaning of the table.
If we allow any kind of prejudice in our thinking or practice…
…we undermine the integrity of the meal.
You may find this amazing, but in the church there are no big people or little people.
There are no little shots or big shots; just people that should be shot (so to speak), but that find the grace of God brings them together.
II. The second investigation is LOOK BACK (23-25).
(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."
When Jesus instituted the ordinance of the Lord’s Table, He gave us two compelling visual aids.
Unleavened bread represented His body.
Wine (fruit of the vine) represented His blood.
What these visual aids call us to do is stop.
We are to stop, be silent and take the time to think.
We are to look back and remember.
1. We are to remember where our life comes from.
We have received new life.
We have gained a new heart.
All because Jesus took the place we deserved at the cross.
He is our life.
The fact that we use bread without yeast is very significant.
It is the same type of bread that the Hebrew people used as they made their way out of Egypt.
It was at the exodus that God saved His people.
Not only that the bread is a picture of that which is undefiled.
Jesus went to the cross undefiled, without sin, and in so doing gives us the resources to live undefiled lives.
Because Jesus was pure and holy, we too are to live lives characterized by purity and holiness, demonstrating a behavior that is authentic.
So we eat together a common bread, giving us a common identity.
We feed on Jesus, just like one that devours a good book, because we cannot have too much of Jesus.
He brings us together into a common life, so that we share a common spiritual identity.
We are placed into one body, His body, so that we are part of one another.
Along with that…
2. We are to remember that our sin has been paid for.
Because we were a slave to sin and we had no choice who we served, we are to celebrate.
We have been bought back.
We have been set free.
Without Jesus at the cross, we would still be in the bondage of death, sleep walking through life.
We are to never forget that there are irreconcilable differences between God and us.
On the one hand is God’s absolute holiness, sinless perfection and righteousness.
On the other is our own ugly, horrible sinfulness.
And God understands how destructive our sin is, even if we don’t.
So, drastic ills called for drastic remedies.
Our time at the table is a time to remember this.
We are to look back and remember the tremendous cost.
The cross was brutal.
And a holy rage was set against our sin.
We must never, never forget.
III. The third investigation is LOOK FORWARD (26).
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1. We are to proclaim the good news.
There is a reason why we come to the Lord’s Table every month.
It is because it is a priority!
We are to keep looking forward, calling on each other to remember that we have been so blessed.
But not only that…
It is a proclamation.
There is good news to be told.
ILL Notebook: Communion (refreshment)
A father sat in the morning worship service of the local church with his wife and three-year-old son. His wife took communion as it was passed down the pew while her husband, who was not a Christian, let the elements pass without partaking.
As the trays were passed to the end of the pew, the three-year-old yelled out at the top of his voice, "My dad didn’t get any of the refreshments!"
Do you know what happened? The very next Sunday the father made a personal commitment to the Lord and was baptized, bearing out the statement in Isaiah 11:6, "...a little child shall lead them."
Source: Adapted from Lanis E. Kineman
in "Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul"
by Craig Watters
Communion is a testimony of what Christ has done for us, isn’t it?
A holy and precious testimony that speaks loudly of what His broken body and shed blood actually mean to us as believers.
Paul says they proclaim His death, and our salvation, until He comes.
You see, there is even further good news…
2. The time of completion is on the way.
A time is coming when we will understand His Presence in a different way.
When the Lord returns, the focus will be on Him alone.
We will no longer linger at the event of the cross.
Instead, we will rejoice in being His and being with Him forever.
We have so much to look forward to…
IV. The fourth investigation is LOOK IN (27-34).
(27) Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning 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.
We are not to miss this…
1. There are consequences when we do it wrong.
The Corinthians were ruining the meal.
They were doing it wrong.
So Paul warns them.
They need to examine themselves.
They needed to put themselves on trial.
They needed to take the time and do an intense searching of the heart.
You see, we are not to trifle with God.
To get us back on track, God is willing to use the physical discipline if necessary.
And as difficult as it might be, it is a good thing.
For God disciplines those He loves, to protect them from further damaging themselves or others, even to the point of death.
So the time at the Lord’s Table is a wonderful opportunity for us.
It is a good time to take stock of where we are in our relationship with the Lord.
It is a good time to confess our sin.
It is a good time to repent.
It is a good time to find forgiveness.
Remember that this passage is addressed to the Christian.
This is not warning the unbeliever about taking communion.
This is a warning to the believer.
It is a warning about our relationship with each other, and thus our relationship with the Lord.
This being so…
2. We are to exercise patience.
We are to exercise patience with each other.
When we come to church, there is no reason to be in a hurry.
We are to use the time here wisely.
APPLICATION:
1. Let’s not dishonor Jesus.
Let’s remember that we are about Jesus.
So let’s make sure that all we do, today and every day, honors His name.
So, as we come to the table today…
2. Let’s remember Jesus.
Let’s really remember!
Let’s focus people; let’s focus.
Let’s really remember and do this right.
And when we leave…
3. Let’s be an example of Jesus.
Because our focus has been so genuine, let’s be a people that truly reflect Christ this week, every moment, in every way.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Look around…we are the body of Christ, and how we treat one another is to demonstrate this; so let’s truly one another.
Look back…because as the body of Christ, we are to be about Jesus; He is our head who loves and directs His people.
Look forward…because as the body of Christ, we have good news to tell; there is an eternity of joy waiting for those who will receive Him.
Look in…because as the body of Christ, we are to be holy as He is holy; so let’s not trifle with our sin, because Jesus didn’t; He went to the cross because of it.
Now to him who is able to establish you by the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
RESOURCES:
Blomberg, Craig, The NIV Application Commentary
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Doug Goins
Pass the Chicken Before You Eat the Bread, Ken Trivett
The Lord’s Supper as Worship, John Piper
Before You Eat, Dan Erickson
What Should I Be Doing During the Lord’s Supper? A. Todd Coget
Worthy to Take, Richard White
