pastor’s blog
Communion & Examination
It was really nice to be back with you last Sunday after a week away. I enjoyed teaching Matthew 26 and looking together at Jesus’ last meal with His disciples. It is such an amazing passage, contrasting the darkness of human betrayal with the light of Christ’s love. It was a great opportunity to revisit the Gospel again of how Jesus secured our forgiveness by offering Himself—giving His very body and blood.
When we paused to observe communion together after the message, I shared—in keeping with its theme—that God’s intention for communion is not, in my view, that we take inventory and freshly unearth every sin we’ve ever committed, nor even the ones we’ve committed since last time. That was my practice in the past when I thought it possible to accurately tabulate my sins, and when I presupposed that my recognition of them somehow contributed to the absolution of them. Now realizing that my sins are incalculable, and often completely undetected, I am convinced that my only hope is that He knows them and has provided full pardon for them on the cross.
Therefore, I encouraged you to join me in partaking of the bread and cup freely, rejoicing in the astonishing gift of Christ for us. In my estimation, that is the appropriate tone for communion. It is a grateful celebration of an indescribable gift. It is open to anybody and everybody who has heard the Gospel preached and who desires to partake, in order to signify their faith in Christ—including children.
After the service, a friend asked a great question: What about 1 Corinthians 11 and the call to “examine ourselves” lest we partake in an “unworthy” manner?
Since it is such an important question, and possibly one you may have as well, I spent some time studying 1 Corinthians 11 and wanted to explain what I believe to be the point of that passage.
If this question has challenged you too, please take a minute to carefully read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, and then consider the following comments, which will hopefully shed some light on the topic, as well as give food for future conversations.
The Problem
Sadly, there were divisions and factions in the Corinthian church (11:17-19), and this severely perverted their observance of the Lord’s Supper. In fact, it was so bad, Paul says in verse 20, “When you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” In other words, “You may think it’s the Lord’s Supper, and you may even call it the Lord’s Supper, but it isn’t, because what you’re doing doesn’t reflect what Jesus did.”
Here’s what seems to have been happening: Some early comers were taking excessive amounts of bread and wine for themselves, and depriving those who came along later. While one was getting drunk off of excess, another was going without (v. 21). In effect, some were barring others from the blessing of communion, robbing them of bread and wine and of the gift of remembering Christ’s body and blood.
It was deeply troubling to Paul. You can feel his frustration in verse 22: “What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you?” He is rebuking the selfish ones, saying essentially, “If you’re that hungry, eat at at your own house. Can’t you see how self-centered you’re being, literally gorging yourself while others are going without?”
This was the problem occurring in Corinth. In fact, as Paul closes his discussion of this topic in verse 33, he urges them to “wait for one another,” i.e. to give others a chance before barging ahead, and even to “eat at home” if they are too hungry to yield to others.
In the surrounding context, Paul has over and over made a point of the oneness of the body of Christ, which God has established (1 Cor 10; 1 Cor 12). Sadly, their selfish actions during the Lord’s Supper amounted to an extreme, experiential undermining of this union. They were once again guilty of creating divisions in the body as if some were more worthy of partaking than others. That was the problem, and it resulted in an unworthy observance of communion.
Communion was instituted by Jesus for His people to collectively and equally enjoy, to remember together His body and blood, given for forgiveness of sins, and to proclaim His death till He returns (vv. 23-26). That truth seemed completely lost on the Corinthians.
Blinders to the Gospel, selfish disregard for others, and divisiveness were the root causes of what was going wrong in Corinth. This was precisely what made their way of partaking “unworthy” (v. 27). So, to be very clear, despite the way this passage is often interpreted, it was not that the Corinthians failed to take mental inventory of all their sins; it was not that they failed to say sorry to God for every single, solitary sin, or that they weren’t sincere enough when they said sorry. It was that they were utterly disregarding the selfless sacrifice of Christ for them and their collective union with Him. They showed up to a meal intended to be centered on Christ’s provision and love and turned it into a selfish occasion to glut themselves and ostracize others.
They were a living contradiction to what Christ’s Last Supper represented. They could not have been esteeming His sacrifice, while exploiting and excluding others at the same time. They just don’t go together. So, Paul writes to call them back to Gospel clarity regarding what Christ has done for them, both individually and collectively.
The Examination
What about when Paul says we must “examine” ourselves and “judge” ourselves lest we are judged by God (vv. 27-32). Is he suggesting that we’d better take inventory of our sins or we are in grave danger—danger that could possibly even invite God’s condemnation?
No. Contextually, the call to examine one’s self is to consider how one is valuing Christ’s sacrifice and the union of the body of Christ. It has to do with “[judging] the body rightly” (v. 29), that is, assessing and esteeming the body of Christ, or the church fellowship, rightly. The context indicates this to be the sense in which Paul uses the term “body” here (cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17 and 12:12). He is speaking of believers collectively in Christ.
Are we truly valuing what Christ has done for us according to its actual worth? Are we seeing things the way God sees them, according to the truth? That is the question. If so, we would be seeing the Gospel of what has been done for us the way God sees it, and seeing others the way God sees them, i.e. as those who are forgiven by Him and united with us in Him.
I believe Paul is saying, “If you don’t see things clearly, and judge things clearly, God will.” He is attentive to His family. He is committed to His children. He will discipline us. He will do it in His way and His time, even to the point of ordaining trials and tribulations in our lives, both physical and spiritual.
To what end? Ultimate judgment? No, Paul makes it unmistakably clear that this is not the point. Verse 32 says God disciplines us precisely “so that we will not be condemned along with the world.” In fact, in the next verse Paul goes on to call them—even the most guilty among them—“brethren”(v. 33).
So, this is not a threat of jeopardizing salvation or anything of the sort. It is about God’s commitment to override our ignorance and selfishness and to teach us of His love in relationships with others. It is the discipline of a loving Father, reserved for all those who are truly His (cf. Heb 12).
Some Implications for SLCC
We are not the Corinthian church. We probably don’t practice communion the exact same way they did. It is not a part of our potluck, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t have any tiny plastic cups or wafers purchased at Fred Meyer : ). To my knowledge, no one at SLCC is being deprived of communion—thankfully.
While some of the dynamics are different, however, there are nonetheless some timeless take-aways to consider in our body:
First of all, communion, every time we observe it, is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the greatness of what Jesus did for us, giving His body and blood in death for us. When we take in the bread and the cup, we physically depict what is true of us spiritually: By faith we have accepted the fact that Jesus’ death has given us life.
Additionally, communion is an opportunity for us to think about our union in Christ and the absence of any class distinctions. There are no first or second class citizens in His body. We are all equally forgiven, loved, and welcomed to His table.
May God continue opening our eyes to the greatness of what’s been done for us–for all of us.