Communion Message
(Christianity in isolation)
January 2-3, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me. In the same manner also He took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He come. Therefore 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

All of us are aware that Paul gave these words of admonition to a church who had misused the communion service. In the early moments of the history of the church there were two suppers that were conducted each week. They usually only had the opportunity to be together once, and so they had a general meal which was looked forward to by everyone who came because the church was filled with a lot of servants and slaves and this was one meal to which they looked forward to. It was the best meal of the week. And then, of course, after that meal was concluded, the concluding acts of worship were in taking the communion service. But Paul had to instruct the Corinthian Christians that they were so misunderstanding as to their responsibility to one another as the body of Christ, and their sociological structures were such that the wealthy took their meal over to one side of the building and they neglected the poor. Paul said shame on you. That should never be done. You don't fellowship within the body of Christ by being selfish and neglecting your responsibility to others. Over the years we have pondered the various phrases of this admonition, but I've always found very fascinating to me, this term found in verse 29, For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself. And here's the phrase, not discerning the Lord's body. What did Paul really mean by that? Many theologians conclude that what Paul is referencing here is to the communion itself. A disrespect for the sacred table. But it's interesting when you go back and study Paul's writing, each time that he wanted to refer to the communion table he did so by addressing it as the bread and the cup. He does this four different times. Now was he talking about something different? Was there another application to this term, the Lord's body that Paul had in mind? Well, when you go back just one chapter in verse 16 of 1 Corinthians 10, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. And so Paul has reference here symbolizing that single loaf of bread as the church, the body of Christ. He also picks up this same phrase when he gets in chapter 12. He says, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. It's obvious that Paul is now talking about the church, the body of Christ. So when we go back to the instructions, he said, He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not perceiving, not realizing, not accepting, not acknowledging his responsibility within the fellowship of the church. Now the object of judgment moves from the table to our relationship one with another in the body of Christ. And that is exactly what he's talked about to those Corinthian Christians. They had not treated each other as they should within the fellowship of the church. You know, throughout the scriptures the Bible tells us to love one another, to care for one another, to pray for one another, to strengthen one another, to encourage and exhort one another. Thus, when by His grace we are brought into this wonderful family, this fellowship, we come with a lot of obligation and a lot of responsibility one towards another. And that's what Paul had on his mind. And what he is saying is that Corinthian church had suffered because there was this disrespect, this lack of assuming responsibility and caring for my brother and my sister in Christ. They were living their Christianity in isolation unattached to the rest of the body of Christ. And ladies and gentlemen, I think that bespeaks what may be as characteristic of the church today. We live our Christianity in isolation. We come to a Sunday morning gathering and we share the hour and half together, but the rest of the week we spend it in our own journeys in life and our own pursuits. How frequently do we think of those within the body of Christ reaching out and caring, praying for someone, calling someone, seeing how we can find out where we might help somebody who is discouraged? That's why we're family. We need each other desperately. I need you and you need me. And Paul looks at the supper table as a time of bonding. It really is isn't it? When you sat down with your family on this holiday season, I sat down with mine and the hours that we ate, and talked, and laughed, and joked was a wonderful time of bonding. So precious. And during that time learning our family a little more of how we can be a better family. Paul said the church at Corinth was sick and it was weak because Christians were neglecting each other. They were not discerning, they were not recognizing, they were not accepting being part of the family. You know, I have a prayer, and my prayer is that in this year of 1999 that we will grow closer together. May there grow within each of us a love, a deeper love, and a concern one for another. That's when the church is strong. That's when it has meaning to being a part of the family. Reaching out and helping those who are just struggling in their journey. God help us to be a loving, caring, bonded family concerned deeply about each other. May it be that at the supper table week after week that sense of bonding and that sense of responsibility grow within us. That's my prayer.

Let's kneel together, shall we? Lord Jesus, it really is true. We live so much of our life dong that which pertains to us. Many times forsaking, neglecting, ignoring, choosing not to do that which is our responsibility within the body of Christ. And the hurting, and those who carry deep burdens, we let them go it alone. We don't want to be that kind of a family. I pray, Lord Jesus, that in this year You'll do something so wonderful and so marvelous that will draw us together in a way we never envisioned so that we really do act as a spiritual family in helping one another in the journey. These elements tell us that by Your grace You brought us into this family. In Your body You became our substitute. You took our sin and this cup tells that in the shedding of Your precious blood You cleansed us. For that we are very grateful, and may this suppertime, week after week, remind us that we are a part of a family. We are of one loaf. We are one and we cannot bear to live our Christian life in isolation from the family. Help us to be caring Christians. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. Thank you for our family here, Lord Jesus. Thank you for every one of them, and help us to grow closer together this year in You dear Jesus. And everybody said, amen.