I Corinthians 11:17-32
Textual Introduction: I
saw a new book the other day called The
Upside Down Church. It might seem as
if we are having an upside down church service but we want you to help focus
your gratitude as we approach Thanksgiving.[1]
Our goal fits my text. Paul
uses some strong language in this text.
That language reflects his response to the behavior of some of the
Corinthians during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Their behavior proved that the Corinthians
had forgotten the very meaning of the Supper.
Paul wanted them to remember.
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Think about a meal you remember.
Maybe you remember it because of the circumstances. Maybe it was your first meal at home after
being away on a battlefield. Maybe it
was your first meal in a foreign country.
At the mission program last Wednesday we talked about China. I recalled a meal where I ate what I remember
as the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten.
It was at the lawn bowling club in Tumut, New South Wales, Australia.
Some memories of meals aren’t so great. I regularly drive past a restaurant where the
one and only time I ate there I became deathly sick. I wavered between fearing I would die and
fearing I wouldn’t.
The Lord’s Supper isn’t a meal designed to be remembered. After all, bread and wine aren’t particularly
memorable. It is a meal designed to
inspire memories. And those memories
should inspire our thanksgiving.
Millions of Christians around the world refer to the Lord’s Supper
or Communion as the “Eucharist.” The
term is from a Greek word that means “to give thanks.”
On the night before his crucifixion Jesus asked his followers to
“remember” him. To help them remember he
established a memorial, not of marble or granite, but a simple meal, the sharing
of bread and wine.
In this situation, he said, “Remember me.” The idea is that they were to remember him
and to remember what he was about to accomplish. Just as the old Passover meal was a reminder
of what happened in the Exodus--that wondrous event in which God set the Jewish
people free from slavery in Egypt--this new ceremony would remind God’s new
people of what Jesus accomplished. And
what he accomplished could not have been accomplished had he not been who he
was.
This is why Paul stresses the importance of a proper, reverent
attitude toward this celebration.
Otherwise a person might be guilty of “… trifling with the death of
Christ.” You see, in religion after religion,
men had died for God, but now God was dying for men.
This meal take’s its significance from the identity of the one who
initiated it. With that in mind, we can
better understand what Jesus was asking us to remember. And, why as we remember we should be inspired
to give thanks.
Jesus was saying, “As you
remember, give thanks for I have given you a new freedom.”
Some fifteen hundred years before Jesus initiated what we call the
Lord’s Supper, his people—the Jewish people—were slaves in Egypt. They were abused and misused; at times their
very existence seemed threatened. Then,
in a serious of miraculous acts God set them free. God’s final act of liberation was known as
the Exodus. For centuries Jews have
remembered the Exodus in the Passover.
Good Jews, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover. It’s important to keep that in mind when we
realize that Jesus deliberately chose to associate the new rite he was
initiating with the Passover meal. Just
as the Passover meal recalled God’s liberating the Jewish people from slavery,
so does the Lord’s Supper remind us of Jesus’ liberating activity.
As he initiated this rite, Jesus was about to win new freedom for
all of us. Through him we have freedom
from sin’s power, freedom from the fear of death, freedom from whatever keeps
us from being all God wants us to be.
It’s crucial to remember that Jesus was able to give this new
freedom because he had given himself.
Each year at the Passover season the Jews offered the sacrifice of a
lamb to deal with their sins. The writer
of Hebrews tells us that this sacrifice was ultimately ineffective to
permanently deal with the problem of sin.
Then he reminds us that Jesus did provide the “better” sacrifice, one
which did fully and completely deal with our sins.
Jesus apparently did not refer to himself as a Passover lamb, but
the language he uses suggests that his death would be on behalf of others. That much is clear when he said of the bread,
“This is my body which is broken for you.”
Back in 1836, the Texans at San Jacinto cried, “Remember the
Alamo” to remind themselves of those who had died so they might be politically
free. Paul might have urged the
Christians to cry, “Remember the Cross!” so they could be reminded of One who
died so they could be spiritually free.
As we participate in this meal, we ought to remember his sacrifice
and give thanks for our new freedom.
Jesus was saying, “As you
remember, give thanks for I have given you a new relationship with God.”
William Barclay’s translation captures an important element in
what Jesus has to say, “In the same way,
after the meal, he took the cup and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant and
it cost my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, so that you will
remember me.’“
Barclay explains that the preposition usually translated as “in”
can, when translating Aramaic—the language Jesus was speaking—mean at the cost
or price of. He goes on to say:
Now a covenant is a relationship
entered into between two people. There was an old covenant between God and man
and that old relationship was based on law. In it God chose and approached the
people of Israel and became in a special sense their God; but there was a
condition, that, if this relationship was going to last, they must keep his
law. (Compare Exo.24:1-8). With Jesus a new relationship is opened to man,
dependent not on law but on love, dependent not on man's ability to keep the
law--for no man can do that--but on the free grace of God's love offered to
men.
Under the old covenant a man could do nothing
other than fear God for he was ever in default since he could never perfectly
keep the law; under the new covenant he comes to God as a child to a father.
However you look at things, it cost the life of Jesus to make this new
relationship possible.
This Lord’s Supper reminds us that God cared enough to become
involved in the lives of his creatures.
He is not remote, far-off, or unapproachable.
As we celebrate this Lord’s Supper we ought to remember why we
have a new relationship with God and be thankful.
Jesus was saying, “As you remember, give thanks for I have brought you into a new
family.”
Passover in the Jewish community is a great time for the
family. Parents and children play games
and sing songs, helping them remember God’s action on their behalf.
The Lord’s Supper is a time for the family to celebrate as well. This is because Jesus’ actions not only made
it possible for us to have a new relationship with God, it made possible for us
to have a new relationship with each other.
Thanksgiving is a time for families. Family members will travel thousands of miles
to spend a few days together, reminisce, and eat mom’s turkey—whether mom
roasted it herself or bought it at the supermarket.
We have a kinship with
other believers wherever they may be around the world.
This is another reason why Paul was so incensed at the behavior of
the Corinthians. The Corinthian church
was filled with cliques and factions.
Each thought it was better, more spiritual than the other. Wealthier members flaunted their wealth
before their poorer brothers and sisters at what were supposed to be meals
celebrating the love they were to have for one another. No wonder Paul warned them of dire
consequences if they continued down that path.
Instead, he invited them—and us—to be thankful for the community
we have found in Jesus Christ.
--In Christ we have an opportunity to leave the world of
loneliness and isolation to join a community which embraces us with warmth and
care.
--In Christ we have brothers and sisters to help us bear the
burdens life puts on us.
--In Christ we have been welcomed into a family which seeks to
affirm and encourage us, a family which may be unlike any other family we’ve
ever known.
--In Christ we have been welcomed into family which, at its
healthiest, has members who can’t be identified by color of skin, hair, or
eyes, aren’t linked by social or economic status, don’t share common language
or cultural heritage. Instead, the
members of this family are identified by such traits as love, joy, peace—traits
which make them resemble Jesus Christ.
As we remember that Jesus has called us into such a wonderful
family, we should be thankful.
Jesus was saying, “As you
remember, give thanks for I have given you a new future.”
Luke reports that on the night Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper
he said,
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles
were sitting at the table. 15 He said to them, “I wanted very
much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer. 16 I
will not eat another Passover meal until it is given its true meaning in the
kingdom of God.”[2]
Jesus was looking ahead to the great Messianic banquet that would celebrate
the coming of the Kingdom in its fullness.
Paul
probably had this in mind when he told the Corinthians that “Every time
you eat this bread and drink this cup you are telling others about the Lord’s
death until he comes.”[3] Paul knew the Christians at Corinth shared
the common hope of Christ’s return. That
view of the future has been embraced in every major creed and by every
generation of Christians.
But I want
to focus on two implications of Paul’s comment.
First, the
Lord’s Supper is part of the ongoing task of the church proclaiming the death
of Christ and its significance. The cross
is ever at the center of the church’s proclamation. It tells
of God’s commitment to humanity. It
explains how God dealt with the problem of sin, the problem we could never deal
with on our own. The resurrection
confirms the promise of salvation to those who trust Christ.
That Paul
might encourage the church to tell the story of Christ’s death isn’t surprising. After all, earlier he told the Corinthians, “I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything
except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.”[4] It’s the next implication that gets our
attention.
Paul
suggests the time will come when the church would no longer celebrate this
rite, the Lord’s Supper. Why not?
Let me offer
an analogy. On our refrigerator at home
we have several pictures of our grandson Kieran; we have pictures on our
i-Phones, too. (We’ve made you look at
some of those.) Anyway, those pictures
remind us of Kieran.
Now, very
soon we’re going to go to Austin to see David, Kelly, and Kieran, of course. Now, while were down there with Kieran we’ll
be playing with him, taking him to toy stores, eating with him, and just
enjoying getting to know him. But suppose
we spent our time in Austin using those pictures to remind us of Kieran. That would be silly if the boy was right there
in front of us.
The Lord’s
Supper is a reminder of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. But the time is coming when we won’t need a
reminder for we will be in his presence.
Conclusion
Occasionally, we see
visitors from Quebec driving in the area.
You’ll notice the words Je me souviens.
The idea is that the French Canadians remember who they are, that they
have a French rather than a British heritage.
The motto is on the official seal of Quebec,
The Lord’s Supper invites each of us to say “I remember.”
--I remember I once was lost but now I am found.
--I remember I am debtor to all those who sacrificed to bring the
Gospel to my people—whether I am of German, Italian, Indian, English, Irish, African,
Scandinavian, Filipino, or some other heritage.
--I remember I have brothers and sisters of every economic,
political, and cultural background.
--I remember I have an obligation to my brothers and sisters in
Christ yet to be born, an obligation to help the church remain faithful to its
Lord though the form of their church may differ from than that of my church.
--I remember I have the privilege of inviting my relatives, my
neighbors, my coworkers to this Lord’s Table for there is room for all who will
trust Christ.
--And as I remember all these things, I remember I should thank
God for my place at this table.
[1] This morning’s church service began with the
sermon and concluded with congregational singing, a reversal of our usual
pattern.
[3] The Everyday Bible: New Century Version.
2005 (1 Co 11:25–26). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
