“The Communion
Service—An Easter Celebration!”
1
Corinthians 11:17-34
Introduction
“He Is Risen!” He is
Risen, Indeed!” So goes the traditional greeting on Easter! Easter represents
the most important holiday on the Christian calendar—more important than
Christmas. If Christmas had not come the world would not have had a Savior. But
he did come to take away the sins of the world by dying on the cross in our
place. But if the dead Savior had not risen, writes the Apostle Paul in 1
Corinthians 15:14 and 17, our faith is an empty shell and we are still in our
sins, forever lost. Thank God for Easter!
Today we celebrate
the Eucharist or Holy Communion. And although we do not often think of it as an
Easter event, when we leave this morning my prayer is that we will never again
take communion without connecting it to the resurrected Jesus Christ. Here is the
theme of the sermon: The communion service is an ongoing, living celebration
of and with the resurrected Jesus Christ. Today we will reflect on the
broader Context of this passage, carefully examine the Contents
of the verses 23-26, and conclude the message by partaking of the Communion
elements. But first, let us bow in prayer.
I. The Context (1 Corinthians 11:17-22, 27-34)
In the context, 1
Corinthians 11:17-22, Paul rebukes the Christians in Corinth. Verse 17 begins
with these ominous words, “in the following instructions I
do not commend you,” and at the end of the section in verse 22 he writes,
“Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.” What was occurring in the church
that brought about Paul’s displeasure?
When the church
gathered together to eat “The Lord’s Supper,” a phrase equivalent to our
“Communion Service,” Paul took note of its divisiveness. “Therefore when you
meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one
takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk” (verses
20-21). The play on words, “the Lord’s Supper,” and “his own supper”
demonstrates that the church had allowed such abuse to turn the Lord’s Supper
into an unholy mockery! Paul’s conclusion in verse 22 borders on sarcasm,
“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? Shall
I praise you? In this I will not praise you.” The Lord’s Supper is serious business
and, turning our attention to verses 27-34, Communion must never be taken
lightly!
Verse 27—Communion
must be observed with genuine respect for Jesus Christ, “Whoever, therefore,
eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” Verse 28—Communion must be
done after individual self-examination, “Let a person examine himself, then,
and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” Verses 28, 30—Communion done in
an unworthy manner invites judgment from the head of the “table,” the Lord
Jesus Christ, “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats
and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Holy
Communion is serious business! Let us examine the contents of verses 24-26.
II. The Contents (1 Corinthians
11:23-26)
I suspect that some
of you are sitting there wondering how the title of this message, “The
Communion Service—An Easter Celebration!” makes sense. Not only does it make
sense, it is sensational!
We all agree that
the Communion Service memorializes a past event, the death of Jesus Christ on
Good Friday. We also agree that the Communion Service looks forward to
the coming again of Jesus Christ, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death until he comes” (verse 26). What we often overlook,
however, is that sandwiched between these two events, the death of Jesus and
his future second coming, is the celebration of and with the resurrected Jesus
Christ at the Communion table (verses 23-26). I repeat the theme: The
communion service is an ongoing, living celebration of and with the resurrected
Jesus Christ.
I know that this may sound strange if
not shocking to you. But notice these five particulars. First, Paul began the Communion
passage in verse 23 with these words, “For I received from
the Lord what I also delivered to you.” He could not and did not receive
the Lord’s message before his conversion, and after his conversion he could
only have received it from the risen Lord. Second, the message
Paul received from the risen Lord referred back in time to the Upper
Room with Jesus and the twelve disciples, “the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying,” ‘This cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (verses
24-25). Third, the command to observe Communion, “Do this,” was transferred
into the present by Jesus. He inaugurated Communion as a present reenactment of
the past event in the Upper Room. Fourth, Jesus is present at
every Communion service. The twice-repeated command, “Do this in remembrance of
me,” obscures this crucial element. This traditional translation commands the
celebrants to only look back in time and recall what happened to Jesus in his
passion. But this is not how Jesus told it to Paul or how Paul wrote it down for
the Corinthians. The text reads literally, “Do this as my memorial.”
Allow me a little latitude in explaining the difference between “in remembrance
of me” and “as my memorial.” The pronoun “me” in the phrase “in remembrance of
me” is objective. If we were to transpose the noun “remembrance” into a verb,
as some translations do, “me” would be the direct object, “remember me.” In the
literal terminology, “as my memorial,” the “my” is an adjective modifying the noun
“remembrance.” If we transpose the noun into a verb, “my” would be the subject,
“I remember.” And the “I” is Jesus who is present at every Communion
service. In support of this dramatic concept, let us briefly consider a “memorial.”
A memorial causes people to remember someone or something. Without people either
thinking about or viewing the memorial, the memorial by itself means nothing.
For the celebrants at the Lord’s Supper, the “memorial” evokes memories of
Jesus and his passion and death. But what memories does the Communion as Jesus’
“memorial” bring to him who is also present at the Communion? If he were not
present, why would he say that this is “my memorial”? What is he
remembering? The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “[Jesus] who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Verse 12:2),
and this same Jesus presides over our Communion reenactment of the Lord’s
Supper. He remembers the slaps, the whippings, the thorny crown, the nails in
hands and feet—but at the Communion celebration, he feels joy as he looks out
over the congregation. It was worth it all. We are worth it all!
The fourth
particular point was lengthy and crucial, but there is yet a fifth
particular in the passage. The bread and the cup of which we are about to
partake are symbols of Jesus’ passion and death and also of the New Covenant
(verse 25). This Covenant includes the
forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. At Communion Jesus offers
both to us. His arms are outstretched. He lovingly appeals for our acceptance
of these blessings.
III. The Communion Service
It is time to reenact the Lord’s Supper. The communion
service is an ongoing, living celebration of and with the resurrected Jesus
Christ. Jesus
is in our midst. He invites us to his
Supper. But before we partake of the elements let us respond to Jesus’
outstretched arms and His offers of forgiveness and eternal life. We are all
sinners in need of forgiveness. We just need to ask Him for it in silent
prayer, and he lovingly grants it! Also, if we look back in our minds eye to
the Upper Room with Jesus and the twelve disciples, one disciple was there who
partook of the elements but who did not really believe in Jesus. His name was
Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. But Jesus offered him the promise of forgiveness
and eternal life as well. He does so today. If you are here today but have
never personally accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf, he stands here with
outstretched arms and pleading eyes for you to accept his free offer of
forgiveness and eternal life. In the quiet of your own mind and heart, talk to
him, acknowledge your need for forgiveness, believe in his sacrifice, and
receive him and his gifts today. Let us all spend a quiet moment in prayer communing
with the Christ of Easter, and then partake of the Communion elements.
