Discerning the Lord's Body [25mb]

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This is a message given at Wayside Community Church on 1/29/12 during the worship service which included the sacrament of commuion.

Written Excerpts:

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 “²⁷Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ”

Introduction:

Simply by reading the words of the Apostle Paul in these three verses, one can begin to sense the seriousness of participating in the communion elements. Based on my years of ministry I have concluded that there are many people who have misinterpreted this passage by either taking its meaning too lightly, or by applying the message more severely than the Apostle intended.

There may be more that can be said about this passage in a future sermon, but for today I simply want to briefly discuss the mistreatment of the Lord’s table that this passage refers to, then I want to draw a couple of conclusions for our benefit and understanding today.

I.    Mistreatment of the Lord’s Supper

In reading the comments of various scholars on this chapter it seems that the Apostle is clearly and strongly denouncing the practices that had been taking place in the Corinthian congregation. He explicitly condemns them for their actions and attitudes surrounding the observance of the Lord’s Supper.

A. Divisions or schisms

In v. 18, Paul is again bringing up the problem of divisions among the believers, which he had addressed earlier in the letter. These various groups or cliques were pitted against each other or at least in competition with each other (“our version of grace is better than yours”). This attitude had carried over into all aspects of church life and the resulting conflicts were not expressing the basic attitudes of Christ at all.

B. Heresies

(Beacon Comm) The word is derived from a term stressing the idea of choosing between alternative. In biblical and church language the word usually means wrong choice, and hence a false doctrine.

C. Common meal

Adam Clarke stresses that the Corinthians had included the Lord’s Supper into a common meal similar to the Jewish Passover meal. In the process of eating these feasts together, the attitudes of division / schism and other similar qualities had also infected their behavior at the meal. Therefore, some were “pigging out” while others were still hungry. Every person or every clique was looking out for “#1” while others, especially the poor, were going hungry.

These practices were completely distorting the whole message implied with the observance of Communion, which was to emphasize the unselfish love of our Lord who gave up himself in order to provide for our salvation.

II.    Conclusions to draw from this lesson

A. Eating and drinking unworthily

(Clarke) To put … these words [within] the context, let the reader observe, that to eat and drink the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper unworthily, is to eat and drink as the Corinthians did…. and did not, in the whole institution, discern the Lord’s body and blood as a sacrificial offering for sin: and besides, in their celebration of it they acted in a way utterly unbecoming the gravity of a sacred ordinance.

The KJV and its use of the word, “unworthily,” is sometimes understood by some people as referring to those who partake and are not “worthy” to do so. In this view, many have taken the position “I am not worthy of Christ’s sacrifice, so I won’t partake of the communion emblems.” The newer translations of the passage use the words, “unworthy manner,” which more clearly ties in with the context and the abuses or mistreatment of the Lord’s Supper that the Apostle had just been describing.

B. Eating and drinking “damnation” or judgment

This word is better understood to mean condemnation. It is not referring to eternal judgment that is often associated with the word damnation. Verse 32 confirms this point in stressing that God’s momentary condemnation or judgment is for the purpose of steering us away from the future or eternal judgment.

C. Self-examination is strongly recommended

Certainly the Apostle is doing his part in pointing out to them the errors of their ways and urging them to make the needed adjustments. However, he is emphasizing the importance of every person taking a hard look at their own attitudes and behaviors to see if they are properly and reverently observing the Lord’s Supper.

In other letters written by the Apostle Paul there are references to the appropriate use of mutual accountability and edification between Christians. We are urged to meekly seek to restore and correct those who have gone astray. Yet, it is much better if one that is starting to go astray to “examine himself” and discover the discrepancy between his behavior and the conduct approved in God’s Word.

D. The goal is to properly “discern” the Lord’s body

The word “discern” means to distinguish or to make a judgment. It apparently emphasizes the lack of spiritual judgment on the part of the Corinthians to place the proper value on the emblems as the symbol of Christ’s body. Certainly, to carry on at the Lord’s Table like the Corinthians were doing was to woefully fail in observing the proper reverence and sacredness attached to the emblems as symbols of Christ’s suffering and sacrifice.

Paul was urging them to distinguish properly between something that represents the body and suffering of our Lord and any other meal that was simply for physical nourishment. Apparently, satisfying physical hunger was not the main focus of this meal or ordinance. They were to eat at home in order that they might properly focus on the appropriate sobriety during the celebration of Communion.

So, even today, we must never come to the Communion service with anything less than reverence and respect for the true meaning behind the bread and the wine (or juice) that we share in observance of Jesus’ suffering and death.

These emblems we will receive today and in every observance of Communion truly represent the horrible suffering and sacrifice of our Lord. They represent the painful tearing of his flesh and shedding of his blood. They reflect the ebbing away of His life at the hands of those who sought to appease the hatred of His accusers.

Certainly we ought to carefully examine our own motives and our own attitudes to make sure that we have accurately judged the sacredness of what we are doing. We ought to reinforce that accurate assessment by living our lives in obedience to His Word and His will.