Thanks, man. Appreciate you bringing that word
to us from Vernon Brewer and from the Nandis.
Will you pray with me? Father, let the words
of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable in your sight as we share in your
word together. Amen. Do you ever wonder why things
are the way they are? Why we do the things we
do? I'm not talking about things of cosmic significance
necessarily, but little things. For instance,
why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?
I wonder about that. Why do noses run but feet
smell? Why isn't the word phonetic spelled the
way it sounds? As long as we're on the subject.
Chris Thompson, why isn't there a synonym for
thesaurus? Why can you buy cigarettes in gas
stations when smoking in gas stations is illegal?
Why do you need a driver's license to buy alcohol
when you can't drink and drive? Maybe you don't
wonder about those things. I don't know Have
you ever wondered why things are the way they
are in the church Why we do things the way we
do in churches I have I grew up in the United
Methodist Church in South Carolina and at the
front of the church there, right in front of
the pulpit, we had an altar, a small altar, with
two candles on either side of it. And it was
very nice, very pleasant effect. And one day
I asked the senior pastor, I said, Pastor, why
is it that we have the two candles at the front
of the altar, at the front of the church there?
And he said, well, the candle on the right symbolizes
Christ, who is the light of the world. And I
said, oh, OK, so maybe the candle on the left?
symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit, right?
And he said, well, no. I said, well, maybe the
candle on the left symbolizes the glory of God
the Father, right? And he said, well, no. I said,
well, if the candle on the right symbolizes Christ,
then what's the candle on the left for? And he
said, it's for balance, so that the altar looks
nice. And I said, oh. OK, I didn't know. But
I wondered, do you ever wonder why we do things
The way we do here at Grace Church? Well, that's
been an education for me, let me tell you. You
can tell I still haven't got it quite right.
One of the things I've gotten to do here in the
last year that I've been here is give announcements
on Sunday mornings from time to time, and I enjoy
that and that's fun. One morning before I was
getting ready to do my first set of announcements,
I watched Galen call the week before, and you
know what he does. He sits down here when he's
in town and he... It's time for the announcements.
He gets up and he walks to the center here and
he gives the announcements, maybe offers up a
prayer, and then he sits back down and we have
the offering or whatever part of the service
is up next. And so my first Sunday giving announcements,
first hour, I got up and I stood right here and
I gave the announcements and the welcome and
prayed for the offering. And in between services,
Rick Thoman came up to me and said, hey, Dave,
just a suggestion. You might want to get up here
on the stage on the platform when you give the
announcements because the people in the back
can't see you. And I said, well, wait a minute.
I was watching last week, and Galen Call got
up and stood right here, and he gave the announcements
when it was time for the announcements. And Rick
said, well, yes, Dave, but Galen Call is six
foot three, and you're about five eight. Get
up on the stage so the people in the back can
see you. So I've been up here ever since. Why
do we do the things we do the way we do them
in the church, in Grace Church, Roseville? Do
you ever wonder? Does it make sense to you? Is
our worship service logical? Let me ask you about
one particular element that we do about 12 times
a year, and that is the Lord's Supper. Why do
we celebrate the Lord's Supper, and why do we
do it the way we do it? Why is it important?
If it's so important, shouldn't we do it every
week? If it's not really that important, should
we do it every month? I know if you've grown
up in the church like I have, you've been celebrating
the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, probably ever
since you can remember. But if a non -Christian
were to come visit with you this morning and
were to ask you, why is the Lord's Supper, what
is that? Why is that significant? Why is the
Lord's Supper important to the life of your church?
What would you tell that person? If you're a
good Roman Catholic, you know why the Lord's
Supper is significant. It's because the elements
that you partake literally become the body and
blood of Christ. And by partaking of that, it's
a means of God's grace working out your justification.
At least some Roman Catholics in circles believe
that. But we're not Roman Catholics. We're non
-denominational in the Baptistic tradition. So
why is the Lord's Supper significant for us?
And more pointedly, is the Lord's Supper significant
to you? Is it important in your life, in the
life of your church? Apparently not in all churches.
The church that I grew up in would celebrate
the Lord's Supper probably six times a year,
about twice a quarter. Morning after morning,
when we'd be doing this, I would see as a young
boy, we'd come in, we'd have the altar set up
in front, and I'd see couples come in the back
of the church. They'd come in and they'd see
the altar at the front of the church. They kind
of give each other these knowing glances like,
are you thinking what I'm thinking? And then
sure enough, they'd turn around and they'd walk
back out and go to an early lunch rather than
stay for the service where we celebrated the
Lord's Supper. And that made an impression on
me. And I wondered, well, why do we do it if
people don't enjoy it? Why is it important? Well,
the Lord's Supper is the subject of our passage
this morning, as you may have guessed by now.
We're continuing in Paul's letter to the Corinthians,
and we're in the second half of 1 Corinthians
chapter 11, starting at verse 17 of chapter 11.
Could you turn there while I read? Paul writing
to the Corinthians, in the following directives,
I have no praise for you, for your readings 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 For I received from the Lord
what I also passed on to you the Lord Jesus on
the night He was betrayed took bread 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? 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. For whenever you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until
he comes. 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. A man ought to examine himself
before he eats of the bread and drinks of the
cup, for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing
the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgments
on himself. That is why many among you are weak
and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come
under judgment. When we were judged by the Lord,
we were being disciplined, so that we will not
be condemned with the world. So then, my brothers,
when you come together to eat, wait for each
other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at
home, so that when you meet together, it may
not result in judgment. And when I come, I'll
give further directions. The Lord's Supper, instituted
by Christ, a simple ritual designed to foster
Christian unity, probably been the subject of
more division in the Church than anything else
in history. Think about it. For just about as
many churches as there are, there are different
ways to observe the Lord's Supper. There are
different thoughts on the significance of the
Lord's Supper. Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians,
Baptists will all tell you different things regarding
the Lord's Supper's significance and beyond the
significance of it, how it ought to be observed.
Who should administer it? Who's eligible to partake
of it? Should you use one loaf or a bunch of
loaves of bread? Should you use one cup or a
bunch of little cups? If you want to get really
controversial, should you use real wine or is
grape juice okay? A lot of division, a lot of
strife in church history about the Lord's Supper.
And so I ask you the question again, is it worth
the trouble? Is it important enough that we be
divided about it? Is it important enough that
we really need to observe it? Well, Paul certainly
seemed to think so. And the reason he thinks
so is back in verses 23 through 26. It's simply
this. The reason we celebrate the Lord's Supper,
the reason the Lord's Supper is so important
to us as a church, is that it focuses us on Christ.
Read with me again in verse 23. Do this whenever
you drink it in remembrance of me. Whenever you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until He comes. Whenever we
celebrate the Lord's Supper together, as we did
a couple weeks ago and will again in a few weeks,
we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
The Lord's Supper focuses us on Christ. It symbolizes
His atoning work for us. on the cross in the
past. And it looks ahead to his promised return
in the future. The Lord's Supper focuses us on
Jesus Christ. You know, I had a professor at
Denver Seminary named Bruce Shelley and he pointed
out to me that it's amazing how many Christians
think of Christianity as a religious ethic. how
you ought to behave, or a system of doctrines,
or a high -powered emotional experience, or maybe
the sacred institution. But total Christianity,
in a word, is Christ. And if you or I tries to
reduce it or subconsciously reduces it to one
of these things I just mentioned, we're missing
the whole picture. Total Christianity is Christ.
He is our truth. He is our law. He is our oneness.
He is our life. The Lord's Supper serves to focus
us on Christ. And that is the crux of the matter.
Okay, so what were the Corinthians doing that
was so wrong? What were the Corinthians doing
that had Paul so upset? What's going on? What's
the problem? Well, the problem is back in verses
17 to 22. The following directives, Paul says,
I have no praise for you, for your meetings do
more harm than good. Your church meetings are
more a part of the problem than they are part
of the solution. 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's not the Lord's Supper
you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead
without waiting for anybody else. That phrase
goes ahead without waiting for anybody else literally
could be translated, each of you goes ahead with
his own supper. What Paul is saying is when you
get together, You're not celebrating the Lord's
Supper, you're celebrating your own Supper. And
Paul was incensed about this. One who 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. For us to understand what
the problem is exactly, we have to understand
the context of the early Church in Corinth. The
Lord's Supper in the early church was celebrated
as part of a full meal called a love feast. Only
the problem in Corinth is that this love feast
had not much love in it. You see, the meal would
be celebrated in the home of one of the members
of the church. They didn't have church buildings,
so probably a very wealthy patron of the church
would invite the church over to his house, his
home. open up his home to them. And in the middle
of the house was his dining room, his living
area. And what was going on here was that the
rich, the socially powerful, the popular were
getting to congregate in this living area, whereas
the poor, the less socially adept, of the church
were being forced into outer rooms or maybe outside
the house altogether into the courtyard. Maybe
because they had to bring their own food because
they didn't have money to bring to eat at the
church or there wasn't enough to feed them. Maybe
because they had to work late because they were
poor so they had to come later for the love feast.
Regardless of the reason, they were being marginalized.
They were being excluded. And Paul wasn't happy
about it. Paul says that these socioeconomic
differences, these popular people versus the
less popular people, the rich people versus the
poor people, have no place at the Lord's table.
He wasn't saying that it's bad for some people
in the church to earn more money than other people
in the church. He's just saying you have to leave
that outside. Because when you come to the Lord's
table, all must be equal and all must be allowed
to participate. You can't go ahead with your
own supper. You have to share together. Paul
was incensed because he knew that the Lord's
Supper, by focusing us on Christ, keeps the church
humble and keeps the church unified. The Lord's
Supper is crucial to the life of the Church,
because by focusing us on Christ, it keeps us
humble and it keeps us unified. And the Corinthian
Church was neither. Look at verse 27. The Lord's
Supper keeps us humble. Verse 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.
A man ought to examine himself before he eats
the bread and drinks of the cup, for anyone who
eats and drinks without recognizing the body
of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."
And then he says in verses 30 -31 that some of
you have gotten sick and died because you're
eating in an unworthy manner. God's discipline,
God's judgment. The Lord's Supper keeps us humble,
and the Lord's Supper keeps us unified. One of
my favorite war movies is the movie Glory. And
if you've seen the movie Glory, it's about a
northern regiment company of Negro soldiers during
the Civil War. And these Negro soldiers, some
of whom are freed slaves or citizens of the Union,
have been called in the service, they volunteered
to go fight the Confederate forces in the south.
And as you can imagine, they encountered a lot
of opposition and a lot of persecution. Not only
from the Confederates, the soldiers they were
fighting against, but also from within their
own ranks. In fact, at one point in the movie
Glory, the servicemen's paychecks come in. And
it's been decreed by the powers that be that
the black soldiers get less money than the white
soldiers and officers. For no other reason than
because they're black. And the black soldiers
get really incensed about this. And Denzel Washington's
character starts inciting revolt and anger among
the ranks. Saying we don't want this if we don't
get equal pay for equal fighting and equal work
We're not gonna take it tear it up tear it up
and he starts rallying his black brothers tear
him up tear up the paychecks don't take the money
and Then the Colonel who's in charge of this
company pulls out his pistol and fires into the
air And the crowd becomes silent and they look
at him to see what he's gonna do And he says
if you men will receive no pay, then none of
us will. And he takes his paycheck and he rips
it in half. A big cheer goes up from the company.
Similarly, the Lord's Supper, there's no room
for hierarchy. There's no room for social elite
and social outcast. The Lord's Supper keeps us
humble, keeps us unified. the ground at the foot
of the cross is level. And Paul talks about examining
yourself to see if you're worthy. He's not talking
about self -examination so much for past sins,
although repentance is always appropriate. Rather,
he's saying that Christians should present attitudes
toward fellow believers that are in keeping with
the Lord's table. He's not talking about things
you've done in the past. If you're repentant,
the Lord's table is always open to you, no matter
how far away you feel from God at the time, or
have felt from God at any time. But what Paul
wants you to check, wants me to check, wants
the church to be aware of, is what is our attitude
toward the other people that we're partaking
of the Lord's table with? And if it's not good,
we risk judgment. sickness or maybe even death.
So the Lord's Supper keeps us humble. It also
unites us. Back in the first part of the passage,
Paul was really upset about the divisions in
the church. He wanted them to be united around
the Lord's table. James Stobos said that in our
diversity, talking about the church, in our diversity,
we're nothing more than just another social organization.
But in our unity, based in love, we are the body
of Jesus Christ, literally the hope of all creation.
Eric Hoffer has observed an interesting principle
about human nature. It's easier to unite people
around hatred than it is love. It's easier to
unite people around hatred than love. Nazi Germany
is a good example. But we in the church need
to be careful that we don't follow a little bit
into that mentality. Anti -abortion efforts.
Anti -pornography drives. These are all good
things. Don't get me wrong. Good things. Worthy
efforts for the church to undertake. But the
foundation of the church cannot be an anti -something
crusade. Foundation of the church is the redemptive
work of Jesus Christ. The time Leonardo da Vinci,
the great artist, painted his masterpiece The
Last Supper, he had an enemy. Leonardo's enemy
was a fellow painter, a man that he had had a
bitter argument with and whom he despised. In
fact, he hated this man so much. that when he
painted the face of Judas Iscariot he put this
man's face on the painting and he took secret
perverse delight in knowing that for ages to
come the face of the man who betrayed Jesus would
be his personal enemy and that everybody who
knew him would recognize this man's face on the
painting of the Last Supper of Judas Iscariot.
And Leonardo was continuing to work on the Last
Supper and he'd paint one disciple after another.
And in the meantime, he would try to work on
the figure of Christ at the center of the painting.
But he made no progress. And he became frustrated
and confused as to why he couldn't paint Jesus.
After a while, It occurred to Leonardo what the
problem was. His hatred for this other painter
was preventing him from being able to paint the
face of Christ. It was only after he went to
this man and reconciled with him and painted
another face on Judas Iscariot that he was able
to paint the figure of Christ. the masterpiece
to endure. Is there division right now between
you and another believer in this church body?
I'm not talking about one of you as a Vikings
fan and one of you as a Packers fan. I mean some
kind of unreconciliation. Maybe someone you feel
has sinned against you. or someone that you've
sinned against, maybe without him or her even
knowing about it. If there is a rift between
you and a brother or sister in this body, I'm
going to ask you to do something a little gutsy.
Before we take the Lord's Supper in this church
again, it'll be in a few weeks. Before we observe
the Lord's Supper again, I want you to contact
that person and make an effort to reconcile with
him or her. Maybe it'll involve your having to
confess some sin. Maybe it will involve your
having to share some hurt feelings or maybe it's
just you need to clear the air with somebody
to make sure you're both okay. But if there is
division. I'm going to challenge you to make
an attempt, as far as it depends on you, to be
reconciled to that person. And if you don't do
it, don't take the elements of the Lord's Supper
next time we observe it. Because if you're unreconciled
and unrepentant about being unreconciled, you
risk partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy
manner. That's what Paul means. And given what
happened to some of these Corinthians who did
that, I don't want to do it. The Lord's Supper
is crucial to the life of the Church because
by focusing us on Christ, it keeps us humble
and it keeps us unified. When Charles V stepped
down as Holy Roman Emperor over 400 years ago,
He spent much of his time at his palace in Spain.
And Charles V had six clocks in his palace. And
try as he might, he could never get his six clocks
to chime all at the same moments, all in the
same hour. And he wrote in his memoirs, How is
it possible for six different clocks to chime
all at the same time? How is it even more impossible
for the six nations of the Holy Roman Empire
to live in harmony? It can't be done. It's impossible
even if they call themselves Christians. Well
today, you and I know that it is in fact possible
to have clocks in perfect harmony. when they're
powered by the same source and calibrated to
the same standard, Greenwich Mean Time. Likewise,
it's possible to have unity in the church, but
only when we're all calibrated to one standard,
and that is Christ. Verse 33, so then my brothers,
when you come together to eat, wait for each
other. In other words, be unified, be united.
Verse 34, if anyone is hungry he should eat at
home so that when you meet together it may not
result in judgment. Be humble, eat your nice
meal at home before you come. The Lord's Supper
is crucial to the life of this church because
by focusing us on Christ it keeps us humble and
unified and loving. community. Let's pray. Lord
Jesus, we thank you for the atoning sacrifice
that you've made for us on the cross. Lord, a
supreme example of the greatest love any of us
can comprehend. And Lord, we know it pains you
when there are divisions in the church universal
and in local churches, local church bodies. Lord,
we have much to celebrate as we look back to
your work on the cross and look ahead to your
second coming. Help us to continually focus on
you as we exist in a body and live together seeking
harmony. It's in your name that we pray these
things. Amen.