Doug Van Meter - 21 January 2024
Getting Real about the Meal (1 Corinthians 11:17–34)
The church at Corinth had ruined the rite of the Lord’s Supper and, in this passage, Paul provides the remedy. He tells them to sober up to the seriousness of the Supper and the consequences of not doing so. We will look at three important points that should help us get real about this meal. 1. Get Real about Worthship (v. 27) 2. Get Real about the Warning (vv. 28–32) 3. Get Real about Waiting (vv. 33–34)
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 11:27-34
From Series: "1 Corinthians Exposition"
An exposition of 1 Corinthians by Doug Van Meter.
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As we learned previously, the church at Corinth had ruined the rite of the Lord’s Supper (vv. 17–26) and, in this passage (vv. 27–34), Paul provides the remedy. He tells them to sober up to the seriousness of the Supper and warns of the consequences of not doing so. Their gathering was bringing out the worst in them (v. 17). It should be bringing out the best (v. 33). Getting real about the meal was key to this.
We will look at three important points that should help us to get real about this meal:
- Get Real about Worthship (v. 27)
- Get Real about the Warning (vv. 28–32)
- Get Real about Waiting (vv. 33–34)
When I speak about “getting real about the meal,” I mean that we need to appreciate that the Supper is serious. We need, therefore, to treat it with holy integrity.
I do not mean treating the sacrament with Catholic-like integrity. “In this particular passage it is clear that [Paul] is dealing with a matter of life and death and which needed to be dealt with immediately for the sake of the spiritual, social, and physical health of the congregation” (Ciampa and Rosner). The “matter of life and death” was that some in the church were “blatantly mistreating the poor among them…. The Lord’s Supper had become an occasion for selfish grasping instead of selfless giving” (Schreiner). They had ruined the Supper, observes Jackman, because of a failure to mutually value one another as members of the church of God.
Ciampa and Rosner helpfully summarise the point of this passage:
This is a purpose of the Lord’s Supper. It remedies irreverence, reorients our value system, and renews our covenantal assurance and hence our covenantal commitment.
God cares how we worship him. He therefore cares about our attitudes and our actions. We can sometimes fool others; we can never fool God for he looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:17; see Psalm 15). We therefore need to get reverently real about this meal.
Get Real about Worthship
First, we see the need to get real about worthship: “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” (v. 27).
The word worship comes from an Old English word—“worthship”—which means to give something worth. It is the state of being worthy. We worship the triune God of the Bible because he is the only one worthy of it (Exodus 20:1–3).
The Lord’s Supper points to our Lord, who is worthy of our complete submission and surrender. He is worthy of worship as the one who has inaugurated the new covenant by which we have been saved. For this reason, we who partake of the Lord’s Supper are to guard against doing so “in an unworthy manner” (vv. 27, 29).
You Have Worth
Two wonders here that I confess:
my worth and my unworthiness.
My value fixed, my ransom paid
at the cross.
As we contemplate the cross of Christ, we are reminded at the same time of our sinfulness and our salvation. Paul is saying that proper remembrance equips us to partake in a worthy manner. The context of this passage informs us that, in mistreating because devaluing fellow church members, the Corinthian believers had messed up the meal. In fact, their church “supper time” was precisely that: It was their supper, not the Lord’sSupper (v. 20). They were undervaluing the saints because they were under-appreciating the sacrifice of Christ. They were despising Christians because they were devaluing Christ. And this put them in harm’s way—in the way of God’s judgement. This is what Paul means by saying that they “will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”
Some interpret this as referring to the guilt of actually mistreating the physical body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that, with the priest’s “blessing,” the bread is transformed into Christ’s physical and the wine into Christ’s physical blood. This idea concludes that when someone approaches Communion (the Eucharist) in an unworthy manner, they are guilty of abusing the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is not what Paul teaches. When Jesus said, “This is my body” and “this is my blood,” he was using “my” metaphorically. That is, “This represents what I will do for you by sacrificing my body and blood.”
For people to argue that we must take the words literally—that Jesus was making an “equalising” statement—is as foolish as interpreting his words “I am the door” to mean that he is a piece of wood (John 10:9) or “I am the light of the world” to mean that he is an electric lamp (John 8:12). A more reasonable and sound interpretation is that to partake of the bread and cup in an unworthy manner is to be guilty of despising—of showing contempt for—the broken body and shed blood of the Saviour for sinners. In short, it is to deny the gospel. “That is, you place yourself, not in the company of those who are sharing in the benefits of the passion, but in the company of those who are responsible for his crucifixion” (Prior).
This is true but, again, the context points to a specific instance of despising of the gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ, what Paul calls “the body and blood of the Lord.” Namely, one is guilty of denying “the very purpose of [Jesus’] death … the formation of a new community of redeemed people whose life-style demonstrates the radical, transforming power of the cross.”
When we disregard, dismiss, are disinterested toward, or despise a fellow church member, we are guilty of partaking in an “in an unworthy manner.” We are all unworthy members. In fact, the sooner we realise this the better we will avoid partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. This is true not only when we gather for Communion, but across all our interactions with fellow church members. Our interactions are to be cruciform. Self-giving community with one another equips us to truly participate in Communion with Christ and with one another.
You Are Not Worthy
Unfortunately, religious tradition has often wrongly emphasised an “aggressive introspection” when it comes to the Lord’s Table, and sensitive souls have wrongly assumed they should not partake when, in fact, they should.
As we will see clearly, this passage does not require perfection for participation in the Supper. In a sense, this passage has little to do with whether or not you looked at porn during the week, or whether you lost your temper, or got drunk, or broke a promise, or stole something, or neglected to pray and read your Bible. Without making light of these wrongs, we need to understand that Paul is primarily concerned with belittling the work of Christ by belittling those who worship Christ with you.
No one is worthy of salvation; no one is worthy of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf. If you keep looking within you will find more and more to discourage you. You need to look without: at Jesus Christ and his worth and work, which, of course, was the very thing many in the church in Corinth were notdoing. Again, the issue is worthy manner, not worthy mankind.
A Sobering Matter
The word “guilty” needs to be considered. The idea is that of being liable for something. It speaks to failure to do something or being responsible for doing a wrong thing. It speaks of accountability, of being answerable.
Our world—particularly our postmodern world—does its best to avoid the idea of guilt. “False guilt” is about the closest we come to acknowledging its presence. But Paul sobers his readers with this dark word to drive home that, where there is guilt, there is accountability. We dare not be guilty of marginalising the worth and work of Jesus Christ in his sacrificial death for sinners. Yet be encouraged that, where there is guilt, there is also grace to overcome the grief.
In summary, we need to get real about the worth of Jesus Christ, and the worth of those for whom he gave his life, while honestly facing our own unworthiness. In other words, moved by the gospel, let us esteem others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3–8).
Get Real about the Warning
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
(1 Corinthians 11:28–32)
These are sobering words. Judgement is a dominant theme. The concept of judging and judgement is all over this passage, with Paul using various Greek terms (vv. 29, 31, 32). Whatever he is saying, he wants them to get serious—to “get real”—about what is at stake.
Paul warns the church of God’s “severe mercy” (Schreiner), of weakness (spiritual?), of sickness, and even of death for failure to heed the warnings associated with the Supper. He points to the severe mercy of God for the purpose of pointing to the remedy for what ails them. I suspect we need such reflection and the remedy as well.
Paul begins by exhorting, “Let a person examine himself.” As seen earlier, self-inspection is essential, but self-examination apart from a destructive navel gazing. The idea of self-inspection connotes passing a test (see v. 1). If a church member is committed to covenantal communion with Christ and with fellow church members, he or she should partake. This is the test. Pastor Stephen Um is right to say, “The only time Christians should refrain from the Table is when they find hardened apathy within themselves about their relationship with God and/or others.” In other words, if guilty, then remember, repent, and receive, and be restored.
Discernment
What does Paul mean by “for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body” (v. 29)? This is the rub, as they say. That is, this is the sin that is being judged by the Lord. This is where the guilt lies. There are two primary interpretations of these words, and I think a third is possible.
First, Paul may very well be saying that those who partake of the Lord’s Supper, but who give no thought to the work of Christ when they do so, are in danger of chastening. In this case, the word “body” refers to the person of Jesus Christ.
A second option is that Paul is referring to the body of Christ in terms of the local church: the persons of Christ. That is, those who mistreat Christians bring God’s chastening upon themselves by mistreating those who make up his body. If we partake of the Lord’s Supper “without reverence” (the meaning of “without discerning”) for the body of Christ, without proper appreciation of one another in the church, God will chasten us.
Third, Paul might be using the term in both senses. He may well be saying that you cannot disregard the person and work of Christ (his literal body) without also disregarding the body of Christ. Conversely, you cannot disregard the body of Christ (the local church) without at the same time being guilty of disregarding the person and work of Jesus Christ (his bodily death).
A clear example of this is when the Lord confronted Saul on the road to Damascus. You will recall the words of Jesus to him concerning his persecution of the church: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:5). The body of Christ received the blows of its enemy, but each was felt by Jesus Christ in his body, as it were. Jesus Christ is inseparable from his church, his people. He holds people, especially his people, accountable for how they treat his people.
If we are not shaped by the story of the gospel in our attitudes and actions towards one another in the church, we are in danger of discipline. The person and work of Jesus Christ informs our view of the persons and worth of his church.
It is interesting that the discipline meted out by God upon those who sinfully sup was bodily discipline. Note the words “weak and ill, and some have died” (v. 30). Bodily disregard resulted in bodily discipline.
Of course, we need to beware the erroneous teaching that sickness and death are necessarily the consequence of sin. Just because a Christian is sick, even deathly sick, is no necessary evidence of sin in his or her life. That is wrong and cruel teaching. Nevertheless, sometimes bodily affliction is God’s chastening means in the life of his children. We need to get real about this warning.
We should understand from the frequent reference to judgement that God can be dangerous. He is not to be trifled with. The Lord’s Supper is a place of both justification and judgement. That is, it is a place where Christians celebrate being justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But to disregard this grace of justification (and its horizontal and vertical implications) is to put us in danger of God’s judgement.
We need to be clear that the judgement addressed here seems to be primarily chastening discipline of God’s children rather than eternal condemnation of unbelievers. The word for “died” in v. 30 is better translation “fallen asleep.” This particular word is used 17 times in the New Testament. It sometimes refers to those who are literally sleeping but is also used of those who are metaphorically sleeping (those who have died). However, in such case (except perhaps 1 Corinthians 7:39), it is used with reference to Christians (e.g. 15:6, 18, 20, 51).
Paul at the least, assumes he is writing to Christians. He assumes a regenerate church membership. The ones partaking of the meal are assumed to be believers not unbelievers.
Further, the word “disciplined” (v. 32) refers to the discipline or instruction of a child. In this case, a child of God. Paul uses the phrase in Titus 2:12 with reference to the grace of God as a means of training his people. The term is used by the writer of Hebrews in speaking of God disciplining his children (12:6, 7, 10). It is also used by Jesus (relayed to the apostle John) in Revelation 3:19, where our Lord warns of impending discipline if the church in Laodicea does not repent.
Another evidence that Paul assumes that those ruining the Supper (by rejecting the saints) are genuine believers is his statement “so that we might not be condemned along with the world.” The reason for God’s chastening is because the guilty do not belong to the world and hence will not face the judgement of the world. In other words, the experience of chastening is both evidence of and a means of equipping saints forperseverance in the faith. Further, the plural personal pronoun “we” implies that Paul is united to these. And we are pretty sure Paul was a Christian!
We can therefore conclude that Paul is teaching that Christians who trifle with the story of the Supper (by dishonourable attitudes towards his work and the worth of those for whom he did his work) are in danger of God judging them guilty and disciplining them for it. We need to get real about this warning.
God disciplines his children. The church’s main concern is not to fence the table against unbelievers as much as it is to fence it against disobedient children of God. If you wrongly partake of the Table without consequence, it may be because you are not in the family of God. If so, seek God’s mercy in Christ!
In summary, Paul is exhorting his readers to evaluate how the gospel story is truly informing how they relate to their brothers and sisters who are also a part of this “story.” Is the gospel story practically informing how they live? Are you one kind of person at home, school, work, sports pitch, and another “at church”? Is the cross transforming their value system? Or are they following the world’s cues about class distinctions?
Members Only
At least two factors in this passage persuade me that only church members should partake of the Lord’s Supper.
First, discipline implies a family relationship. I don’t discipline your children and you did not discipline mine. The Lord disciplines his children because of unrepentant sin, and those in unrepentant sin are to be disciplined by the church (see James 5). The church can only discipline its members. This is why it is often said that the Lord’s Supper is the back door of the church whereas baptism is the front door. Where there is a refusal of accountability (we might say covenantal accountability), there should be no admission to the Supper. This is a loving approach. Refusal to be accountable is a subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) disregard of the church. It is tantamount to the same arrogant attitude of these Corinthian schismatics. If one refuses the saints, then don’t receive the Supper.
Second, and very closely connected to the first reason, to dismiss the value of being in covenant relationship with other Christians is a disregard (to various degrees) of the new covenant signified and sealed by the blood of Christ. The covenant was made with a people, not with an individual. Christians are in this covenant together. If we are truly in communion with Jesus Christ, we will be in community with others who share in this communion and hence share in Communion.
Church membership matters and we need to get real about this. This naturally leads to our final point.
Get Real about Waiting
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—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.
(1 Corinthians 11:33–34)
Remember that a major problem was selfish behaviour by some of the wealthier members of the church. Rather than showing hospitality by waiting for them to share in a potluck meal together, they self-indulgently went ahead without them. Rather than showing them respect, they impatiently humiliated them. This attitude and action ruined the Lord’s Supper that followed.
Imagine for a moment the following hypothetical scenario. It is Sunday evening. The prayer meeting starts in twenty minutes, followed by the Lord’s Supper. You climb into your car, ready to come to church with your wife—but she is running a little late. You patiently wait for a few minutes. When she still does not appear at the door, against your better judgement, you sound the hooter. There is still no response. Because you are so hungry to be with the saints, you decide to leave, knowing that she can drive the other car and meet you there. You don’t suggest this to her, of course; you simply peel out of the driveway. You arrive at church and take your seat. A few minutes later, your wife enters the door and icily sits next to you. The sermon that evening is about showing acceptance to one another. You listen, affirming with an audible amen. Your wife, meanwhile, stares at you in disbelief. Then it is time for Communion. With a serious looking-countenance, you partake of the elements. To quote Paul, “this is not the Lord’s Supper”—at least for you.
To remedy the situation and to restore the meaning of the Supper requires your repentance. It requires you to ask forgiveness for your disrespectful dismissal of your wife. It requires the fruit of repentance: a commitment to show your wife value by considering her; practically, by waiting for her. And so the next Lord’s Day, you will patiently wait in your car and arrive to the gathered church unified. In a sense, this is what Paul means when he writes, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (v. 33).
There is some debate over the word translated “wait.” It contains the idea of acceptance; that is, showing respect to someone. But certainly, if we respect others, we will be patient with them. Paul is saying that, if you want to experience what the Lord has for you when you gather as a body, if you want to experience the presence of the Lord, then consider one another. Esteem others better than yourself. Value each member, realising that, if one sheep is missing, the flock is not all it can be. Realise that the church is a family. This is why he tenderly addresses them as “my brothers.”
Paul is saying, “Be real about your togetherness. Be real about what it means to be a congregation of Christ. After all, since God accepts us in Christ, we should show acceptance of one another.” Practically, this would require that they not use the church gathering for meeting their own needs. Hence, if they think they will lose their patience waiting for everyone to arrive, they should guard against this by eating before they gather. This is very important counsel. Not so much concerning having a snack before gathering but rather the consideration of why they gather. This “goes to motive,” as the lawyers say.
Why do we gather as a church? For God and others or for ourselves? We need to face the fact, as evidenced in this epistle, that churches can become hives of self-centredness fuelled by the attitude of “What will I get from the gathering?” rather than “What can I give to those gathered?” Therefore, “fill up” before your show up! Come prepared to serve others (see Ephesians 5:18–21).
Paul concludes his instruction more hopefully than he began. Rather than gathering “for the worse,” he believes they will obey this word and gather for the “better” (v. 17). He knows the power of the gospel. There are yet some other minor matters to sort out (v. 34), but, for now, if they will worship as those with the mind of Christ—being others-minded—their gathering will be commendable because constructive.
Let us be sure that our corporate gatherings are informed by the story of the cross. We will then gather for the better and, when we partake of the Table, we will eat, indeed, the Lord’s Supper.
AMEN