Communion: Recognizing the Body of Christ 1 Corinthians 11:17-32

1. Communion: Recognizing the Body of Christ1 Corinthians 11:17-32 • What does this communion table represent? • The Christians in the church in Corinth were not participating in communion with the right attitude. • There were divisions in the church. • The communion table is about the unity we all share in the body of Christ.

2. Context: • 1 Corinthians 11:17 (NIV) - In the following directives I have no praise for you… • 1 Corinthians 11:18 (NIV) - I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you.” • Divisions between the rich members and the lower class working members. • The poorer believers were isolated and looked down on by the more well-to-do members • Created a rift that was dividing the church.

3. How God desires the church to act: • Acts 2:44–47 (NIV) 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

4. Acts 4:32–33 (NIV) 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. • The Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian church because when the people gathered together for communion it was supposed to be a celebration of the unity they shared together in Christ but instead it became a point of division.

5. 1. A Time of Reflection – we look back: • 1 Corinthians 11:23–25 (NIV) 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” • Communion is a time of remembrance.

6. Jesus wanted us to remember his death. • 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (NIV) - 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE… • …that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. • This “remembering” is not simply the recalling of historical facts. It is a participation in spiritual realities. At the Lord’s Table, we do not walk around a monument and admire it. We have fellowship with a living Saviour as our hearts reach out by faith. Warren Wiersbe

7. 2. A Time of Anticipation – we look forward • 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV) 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. • When we celebrate communion we also remember that Jesus rose again from the dead. • This gives us hope and assurance that death was conquered and that we also will be resurrected.

8. 3. A Time of Introspection – we look inside • 1 Corinthians 11:27–28 (NIV) 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. • Paul is NOT talking about “being worthy” enough to participate in communion • He warns not to take communion “in an unworthy manner”

9. Paul is talking about the attitude of our hearts when we come to the communion table. • Are we aware of sin that we need to confess? • If we try to justify our sin, we offend the body and blood of Jesus that he gave up to pay for those sins I am trying to justify. • Paul instructs us to examine ourselves.

10. 4. A Time of Unification – we look around • 1 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV) -For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. • Communion is a time when we look around not to judge others – but to appreciate others. • “recognizing the body of the Lord” • Paul is speaking about the church – the body of Christ. • Communion is a time when the body of Christ comes together to remember our Lord’s sacrifice and model what it means to be a part of that body.

11. 1 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) “…we, who are many, are one body…” • 1 Corinthians 12:22–27 (NIV) …those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. … But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

12. Participation in the Lord’s Table should demonstrate the unity of the church. • Wiersbe: “How can we remember the Lord’s death and not love one another?” • 1 John 4:20 (NIV) 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. • 1 John 4:11 (NIV) - Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

13. We should never take participation in the Lord’s table lightly. • Reflect on the Lord’s sacrifice • Anticipate with great hope the Lord’s return • Examine our own hearts; confess our sin to the Lord • Love and appreciate one another as fellow members of the body of Christ upholding the unity in Christ this table represents.