OUR PROCLAMATION UNTIL HE COMES
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
In the past few months, as controversy
has continued to rage over the connection between belief and practice among
political candidates, a furor has arisen because certain bishops and priests in
the Roman Catholic church have stated that they will not allow those who
persistently defy the beliefs of the church to partake of communion. How long have we witnessed the decline of
the Lord’s Table as a serious place of sincere communion among those whose faith
and practice affirm oneness with Christ and unity with His people?
The serious
nature of partaking of the Lord’s Table not only is rooted in biblical
instruction for the church, but rests in the long history of the body of
Christ. For example, going back to 1549
in the Church of England, in the preparation for the Lord’s Supper offered in
the Book of Common Prayer, the
following instruction was given to the Curate and the church:
If any be an open and notorious evil liver, or have done any wrong
to his neighbours by word or deed, so that the Congregation be thereby
offended; the Curate, having knowledge thereof, shall call him and advise him,
that in any wise he presume not to come to the Lord’s Table, until he have
openly declared himself to have truly repented and amended his former naughty
life, that the Congregation may thereby be satisfied, which before were
offended; and that he have recompensed the parties, to whom he hath done wrong;
or at least declare himself to be in full purpose so to do, as soon as he
conveniently may.
The same order
shall the Curate use with those betwixt whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to
reign; not suffering them to be partakers of the Lord’s Table, until he know
them to be reconciled. And if one of the parties so at variance be content to
forgive from the bottom of his heart all that the other hath trespassed against
him, and to make amends for that he himself hath offended; and the other party
will not be persuaded to a godly unity, but remain still in his frowardness
[stubborn rebellion] and malice the Minister in that case ought to admit the
penitent person to the Holy Communion, and not him that is obstinate.
For the church
to maintain the integrity of its testimony and the unity of its fellowship, the
Lord’s Supper has to remain a central feature of our ministry of worship. Today we come again to express our gratitude
to Jesus Christ and for our brothers and sisters in Christ for the blessing and
joy of our life together, united around the table and proclaiming His death
until He comes again.
THESIS: The
integrity of our ministry and the unity of the body find satisfying expression
when we gather at the table of the Lord and give thanks for our life in Him.
--In his description of love a couple of chapters
later in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul ended that chapter by writing:
1 Corinthians 13:13
But now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of
these is love.
--As we gather at the Lord’s
table, the body of Christ is united in faith, hope and love.
I. UNITED IN OUR FAITH IN HIS SUBSTITUTIONARY
ATONEMENT
--Whenever we come to the table of the Lord, this
memorial proclaims in simple and profound ways that God has provided for our
forgiveness and a new life through Jesus Christ.
A. A SUFFICIENT SUBSTITUTE IN HIS HUMANITY
--The bread and the cup remind us that we have a Savior who
took our place, dying for us as the only acceptable sacrifice who could fully
represent God and man.
1. The Bread and His Body
--The substitute would not have been valid had Jesus not
become like us in our humanity and “become flesh and dwelt among us.”
1 Corinthians 11:24
…this is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
2. The Cup and His Blood
--Likewise, the cup speaks of the humanity of Christ whose
veins flowed with blood just like ours.
--Life is in the blood, the Scriptures tell us, so that when
His blood was shed for us, His life was given for us establishing a new
covenant of life.
1 Corinthians 11:25
…this cup is the new covenant in My blood…
B. A LIFE-GIVING LORD IN HIS DEITY
-- Had Jesus only represented humanity, our new life would
not have been possible since only God can give life.
--Having taken our place on the cross, He now demonstrates
His power over death and the grave by proving His divine power in the
resurrection.
--We enter into a new life because Jesus lives, and we live
through Him—a gift only God could give to us.
--So there is a blessed dignity and holy reverence
when we come to the table of the Lord since in the bread and the cup, we
proclaim the foundations of our faith
and confess our dependence upon His grace.
II. UNITED IN OUR HOPE OF HIS SECOND COMING
1 Corinthians 11:26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death until He comes.
--We decided when our church
began that we would come to the table at least once a month so that we would
have these regular reminders and consistent points of focus that direct our
hearts and minds to Jesus Christ.
--As we wait together for Christ to return, we are
united in anticipation and must never forget that He expects us to be ready
when He arrives.
--How embarrassing it would be were He to return only to
find us divided by our petty disagreements, separated by our stubborn
unforgiveness, isolated by our foolish self-interests!
When a military unit returns home from the war, how sad would it be for
family squabbles to keep some away from the reunion…to burden the heart of the
returning soldier to find his loved ones divided and fighting among themselves!
On that day, they should all find a
common interest in welcoming their loved one and putting aside all other issues
in order for their soldier to find them at peace waiting for His return—even
doing what He left them to do until He returns!
--So assurance of our
hope is secured in the knowledge and assurance that Christ is coming again.
III. UNITED IN OUR LOVE FOR HIS GLORIOUS NAME
--The table of the Lord gives us a place to
celebrate our unity in Him and to acknowledge here and demonstrate to the world
around us that we will not allow the name by which we are called to be in any
way dishonored by our conduct or by our character.
A. Concerned about How We Represent Him
--With our faith
established and our hope assured,
Christ invites us to join together with Him at the table to remember that He
alone is the Author and Finisher of our new life.
1. We represent Him as
individual members of the body of Christ.
--Every time any one of us sins, or acts in a manner which
dishonors or embarrasses the name of Christ, the entire church suffers a blow
to our character and a stain upon our reputation.
--Wherever you go and whatever you do, you represent Christ
whether you like it or not!
Pro athletes and musicians often try to downplay the
influence they have on young people by objecting to their responsibility as a
“role model.” No matter how much they
protest, they still have to deal with the fact that they are…and sometimes they
are very bad role models!
We cannot try to pretend that we are not responsible when we
behave in a manner unworthy of our name.
We individually represent Jesus…always!
2. We represent Him as a
collective whole as the body of Christ.
--Not only does our individual representation reflect either
positively or negatively on Christ, we bear some responsibility for the whole.
--I cannot plead no contest when the name of Christ is
damaged by the church of which I am a part because we each have individual and
collective responsibility for bearing each other’s burdens and holding each
other accountable to live godly lives in Jesus Christ.
--The table of the Lord serves as a regular check point for
us as a congregation to ask how we are doing in our representation of
Christ…individually and collectively.
--Before I dare approach the table, I must deal with my own
sin and confess them and be forgiven lest I eat and drink in an unworthy
manner.
--But I also should pray and ask the Lord to show me the
shortcomings of the body of Christ as a whole…how we have neglected many areas,
been guilty of indifference in many others, condoned what God condemns and
allowed His name to be divided because His people value their own opinions more
than His call for unity.
Eph. 4:1-3 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been
called, 2 with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
--Our collective testimony as we come to the table of the
Lord is one of unity, of peace, of worthiness—all for His sake so that before
we come and after we go, we have represented Him faithfully and with integrity
of heart.
B. CAREFUL ABOUT How We Approach Him
--Therefore, how we represent Him impacts how we approach
Him…either with shame or with joy…with clean hands and a pure heart or with
guilty hands and a defiled heart.
--Each day of our lives, how we approach the Lord matters
but as we come to the table of the Lord, there is a special accountability in
that what we do touches everyone else involved.
Paul speaks to one specific issue confronting the
church in Corinth. He noted that there
were divisions among the members (11:18), factions forming along party lines
(11:19), and callous treatment of the Lord’s Supper as nothing more than just a
meeting place to gratify personal desires (11:20-22).
He points out that anyone who shows
such disrespect for the Lord’s Supper by ignoring the sanctity and holiness of
the table and the necessity of purity in the hearts and lives and relationships
of those who gather there invites judgment upon himself for partaking in an
unworthy manner (11:27).
To highlight the seriousness of
this practice, Paul tells them that those who do this are “guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord” (11:27).
When anyone of us dares to show
disregard for the need for clean hands and pure hearts when the church comes to
the table of the Lord, we bring the testimony of the entire church down to the
level of the least worthy participant.
In Christ, we can all be made worthy…but we cannot do so if we refuse to
acknowledge our sin, confess it and allow Him to cleanse and forgive us.
Although we invite all who know Jesus
Christ to come join us at the Lord’s Supper table, we do so with a word of
caution and a word of exhortation: do
not come if you do not know Him as your Savior and do not come if you know of
sin in your life for which you have not repented. In the Book of Common Prayer again we are reminded to turn away
anyone “until he have openly declared himself to have
truly repented and amended his former naughty life.”
As for the rest,
we come rejoicing…aware of the grace of Christ which unites hearts that would
otherwise be divided a hundred different ways.
Praise the Lord for the power of His Spirit to generate the bond of
peace and to give a spirit of unity among His people.
We come to the
Lord’s table as a united people whose hearts beat as one for each other and for
Christ. We are united in
FAITH…HOPE…LOVE!
June 6, 2004
© David Horner 2004
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