Sermon Tone Analysis

An Unworthy Observance

1 Corinthians 11:17‑22

 

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.

In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.

No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.

When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else.

One remains hungry, another gets drunk.

Don’t you have homes 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 praise you for this?  Certainly not!

 

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magine that Paul were to join us in our Communion observance today.

Imagine that he sat among us, observing our worship—the manner in which we shared in the ordinance and the attitudes we displayed as we confessed our unity in Christ.

What do you suppose he would say concerning our observance as a church?

What do you imagine he would say concerning our individual observances?

You do realise that whether we are commended or condemned as a congregation is dependent upon the sum of the units constituting the Body.

Our practise, and the subsequent manner in which a given practise is viewed by God, is but a composite of the individual attitudes of the whole of our people.

How would the apostle view our observance?

The apostle did write of a Communion meal which made a lasting impression.

Though he had shared in the observance of that continuing ordinance among numerous saints, and though he was instrumental in instituting that same ordinance in a large number of congregations, it is safe to say that the observance of the Corinthian church made a lasting impression on the apostle.

However, the impression was not positive; it elicited a stern rebuke from the Apostle's pen.

/In the following directives I have no praise for you, *for your meetings do more harm than good*…  What shall I say to you?  Shall I praise you?  *Certainly not*/ [*1 Corinthians 11:17, 22*].

Those scathing queries form the apostolic probe of Corinthian observance of the Lord's Supper.

God permitted this rebuke to stand, thus providing a means for instruction to the saints throughout the whole of this dispensation and until our Lord returns.

What elicited such apostolic choler?

What stirred him so deeply that he would risk losing affection from the very people he had led to faith and established in the Faith of the Lord Jesus?

Unworthy Actions — Having raised the question, the apostle does not hesitate to detail the charges he must press against the Corinthians.

In the first place [*verse** 18a*] … and then he delineates several practises unworthy of God's holy people and unworthy of being found in this holy observance of commemoration.

Let's go back in our minds, reviewing what this ordinance is all about so that we may discern what is unworthy in the practise of the Corinthians.

First, this is *Communion*.

When the saints of God gather to observe this ordinance they make a declaration of fellowship both with Christ and with one another.

By the very definition of the word and by the meaning of the rite an unbeliever cannot be in *communion* with Christ.

Unbelievers have no fellowship with God.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin [*1 John 1:5‑7*].

If I am not in fellowship with God it must follow that I cannot be in fellowship with God's people.

There is no fellowship between the living and the dead and there is no fellowship between light and darkness [cf.

*2 Corinthians 6:14*].

The sad truth is that unbelievers cannot declare *Communion* either with Christ or with His Church.

What is even more terrifying is that unbelievers open themselves to God's judgement should they persist in foisting themselves upon the observance.

It seems vital that I pause of this point to say that this does not need to be a situation which keeps you from the meal, for when you have come to Christ in faith you are born into the Family of God.

The Meal is an excellent time for you to openly declare your faith in Christ and to unite with the Body of Christ.

Even as I speak should you have come to believe in Christ the Lord as a congregation we would welcome you to stand and declare your faith and seek to join with us in worship and in service.

Again, the meal is called *The Lord's Supper*.

*He* is the focus of our observance, for we are looking back recalling the sacrifice He made because of our sin.

We see the bread broken for us and we remember that His body was broken for us.

We see the wine in the cup and we remember that His blood was shed for us.

We are actively calling to mind His sacrifice, confessing that it was for love that He gave Himself in our place.

Again, outsiders cannot make such a statement.

What is more poignant still is that they are helpless to focus on Christ as Redeemer, for looking back they see the same event and it judges them.

Whereas the cross of Christ frees us when we believe, until we have believed that that same cross condemns us.

We see the cross and we are reminded that it condemns us as sinners and thus we are under the judgement of God [see *John 3:16‑21, 36*].

We call the meal *Eucharist*, or *Thanksgiving*.

When we participate in the meal it should be with gratitude to God for His grace and for His goodness toward us.

Indeed, we are grateful for salvation from the merciless rule of self and we recognise that we may now live as free people.

We are grateful for deliverance from the penalty of sin and thus we lift our hearts to God in praise.

But Christ has promised that He shall return and that we shall reign with Him.

Therefore, the child of God looks forward to His return with anticipation and with joy.

As believers lift the cup and share in the broken bread they proclaim the Lord's death *until* He comes [*1 Corinthians 11:26*].

How sweet is the anticipation of the child of God at the thought of Christ's return.

That hope purifies the believer, encourages him in the time of distress and enables him to continue in the race which is set before him.

That same event for the unbeliever—if the he thinks about it at all—is a source of terror, for when Christ returns He shall judge all who do not believe.

Perhaps you recall Jesus’ words on this subject.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned [*John 5:24‑29*].

To any who share this service today and have yet to submit to Christ as Lord, I invite you now to believe this Good News that Jesus Christ died because of your sin and has raised that you may be declared free of all guilt and condemnation.

Thus, for you all that remains undone is that you believe this Good News and embrace Him as Master of life.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved [*Romans 10:9,10*].

Throughout this congregation are Christians who are even now praying that you will believe and be born into the Family of God.

I must return to the text, however.

I summarise for you the thought that the meal is to be a confession of Communion as believers confess their fellowship with Christ and with one another.

This is to be a meal in which we focus on the Risen Christ as we commemorate His love and His sacrifice.

We confess that we deserved to be judged but that He has taken our place.

This is to be a meal of Thanksgiving in which we express our joy and our anticipation at His promised return.

Should we violate the purpose of any of these aspects of the observance, we are approaching the table in a manner unworthy of our Lord—we are dishonouring Him and disgracing the Name by which we are have been called.

One other piece of information is vital if we will understand the apostle's motivation for rebuking these saints who were dishonouring the Lord they professed to love.

Two ancient traditions are in view, each carried out to this day among the churches of our Lord.

The ajgavph [*Jude 12*], or *love feast*, was like our *potluck supper*.

Each person brought something to share.

The *Communion* [koinwniva] was the observance of the continuing ordinance as we have already discussed.

The term which Paul uses in *1 Corinthians 11:20* [dei`pnon] appears to refer to putting together both the ajgavph and *the Eucharist* at one time.

This spiritual family reunion was designed to be a time of open expression of love.

The Corinthians numbered among their membership some who approached the Lord's Table in a manner which could never be construed as Communion—there was no fellowship.

The dei`pnon was, for them, an opportunity to see and to be seen.

As a result there was overt *ranking of saints*.

Underscore this thought in your minds: *one cannot esteem one saint above another and be in fellowship either with them or with God*.

Imagine, one member was flattered shamelessly while another was ignored … and this at the table of the Lord!

That is a practise unworthy of the Lord's Table.

Paul further noted that there was within the membership a tendency to *exalt self* … to *esteem number one*.

There was an appalling absence of humility and an exaggerated sense of self‑importance.

The willingness to serve others was increasingly rare among these saints.

Again, you may take it as a given: *ranking the saints of God encourages over evaluation of one’s own importance*.

Puffed up with pride I will find myself pressed to elevate myself in my own thinking.

As an aside, but nonetheless vital for the people of the Living God to acknowledge, the current trend to self‑abasement among many of the saints is nothing but an ill‑disguised self‑exaltation.

They imagine themselves to be so important that they attempt to coerce attention toward themselves through speaking down about themselves.