You
squint your eyes in the sun, you line up your shot, you adjust for
wind, you wind up . . . and put the ball through the wind screen of
the car 3 meters behind you. That's what we call 'stumbling out of
the blocks'. But just because the ball leaves your hands, or just
because the runner gets a good start off the blocks, doesn't
necessarily mean they'll clear every hurdle, or that they won't
stumble just in front of the finish line. It means that you won't
even be able to get that far. Now, the Corinthian church was
stumbling out of the blocks, so Paul has to put in lay in front of
them the entire race, so to speak. So this sermon is about the
Lord's Supper.
But how
did the Corinthian church stumble out of the blocks? What had they
done? It was all about their practice of the Lord's Supper, and it
was harmful to them. The Maundy Thursday reading every year is
Paul's sharing of the solution to the problem, but the problem itself
is found in the surrounding verses: he moves from one problem in
their worship service behavior to this one: “But
in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you
come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18
For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear
that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19
for there must be factions among you in order that those who are
genuine among you may be recognized. 20
When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21
For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes
hungry, another gets drunk. 22
What! Do you not have houses 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 commend you in this? No, I will not.”
and “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. 28
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink
of the cup. 29
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and
drinks judgment on himself. 30
That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31
But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may
not be condemned along with the world. 33
So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one
another-- 34
if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home-- so that when you come
together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will
give directions when I come.” And that's the
context.
And the
context reveals two things: first, they had split themselves into
groups who were either at odds with each other or at the least looked
down on each other. That set the stage for a problem in the divine
service itself. And it went like this: the congregation gathered
before the start of the worship service for what we would call
“fellowship time”, but what they would call “a meal of love.”
And this isn't the Lord's Supper – that's in the divine service.
This is the shared love of the congregation expressing itself in
sitting down and eating together. But there was a problem, not
everybody in the congregation was exactly like everyone else. Some
of them had to work, and some of them didn't. So those who didn't
have to work would arrive at the place where the divine service would
take place, and the ones who had to work would arrive late. But the
ones who arrived early ate too much and drank too much, and the
latecomers who were less wealthy to begin with also received less
food (and since this was a meal of love: less love). So the problem
with the Lord's Supper started even before the divine service
started! The people were celebrating their own supper, as Paul says,
meaning that in their despising of their fellow congregation members,
they were despising the Lord's work. And you have to wonder, did it
get to the point that they had eaten all the bread and drank all the
wine so that there was nothing left over when the service started and
it came time to celebrate the Lord's Supper? Talk about stumbling off
the blocks. And the scary thing is you can just picture how easily
the problem came about.
The
problem came about as easily as our problems at our dinner tables
come about. First, you get in the habit of being so busy that you
can't actually sit around a table together. That's stumbling out of
the blocks, because just being at the table isn't the whole job
either, but it takes the listening and respect that comes from being
together at the table. But you cut all that out if you're not even
at table.
That's
how the selfishness of the Corinthian members who were at fault
prevented them from keeping the Lord's Supper the way it should have
been done from start to finish. They couldn't even get to the start:
and the start was having the bread and the wine (according to
Christ's institution) and having the people there united in their
confession of what they were receiving (and how could you have that
if they're not even united about being together at the dining table,
much less the Lord's table?)
This is
harmful to the Church of all times and places because it destroys the
gift of Communion by breaking 2nd and 5th
commandments. The 2nd commandment is broken also in terms
of teaching, and in that type of situation, the teaching is that the
Lord's Supper is nothing important, which is false teaching. And the
5th commandment is broken in terms of love, and it is
broken in these types of situations with individualism.
And
individualism has no place at the communion railing, because the
Lord's Supper is something that is received by individual mouths but
believed in common from a common altar and a common confession of
faith. The temptation is to say that since the Sacrament is received
by an individual mouth that it is only a private matter between that
person and God. And to say that is really being communal because
it's welcoming. But it's individualistic, because it doesn't go back
to the Lord's Word, just personal opinion.
But the
most important part is what we did hear in the Epistle reading:
Paul's solution is to present again to the congregation the Lord's
Words of Institution. Paul would have the Corinthians receive the
Lord's Supper according to our Lord's institution from beginning to
end, so he gives them the words again: “For
I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord
Jesus on the night when 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 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." 26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he comes.” He doesn't
just say “wait for everyone else. Stop eating and drinking
everything.” Well, he does, but only after he gives them the
Lord's own words. He's not interested in them just getting the first
part of the Supper right, but the whole part. He would have them
compare their behavior with the whole doctrine of the Lord's Supper
as he had delivered it to them. Because it was delivered to Paul
himself from the Lord through the apostles who were there on that
night when Jesus was betrayed. He refers them, not only here but all
throughout 1 Corinthians back to the doctrine they had received from
him, in all the challenges they had.
And
there's a reason for that: the Lord's Word, and the teaching of it,
is so good. He would remind them of the whole act of the Lord's
Supper because it is so good for them. It's so good to take the Lord
at his Word, much better than the other way (as Paul was showing
them). So they should have enough bread and wine around to have the
Sacrament, but they should also receive the Sacrament in agreement
with all of Christ's institution. That is to say that the bread and
wine is consecrated, that is set apart as holy. This happens when
the pastor says Christ's own words, and the people are to believe
that yes, this very bread, and this very wine is the body and blood
of Jesus. But it doesn't just stop there, as if you could just
parade around the consecrated elements and not eat and drink them.
That also isn't in agreement with Christ's instituion. These are to
be distributed by the pastor (and those assisting him). But it
doesn't just stop there, as if you could just pocket the elements and
take them home. They are received on the tongue and in the mouth,
eaten and drunk. And those who receive them do so in agreement with
what Christ says: 1)This is the true body and blood of Christ which I
receive, under the bread and wine, into my mouth 2) for the
forgiveness of my sins. Because 3) When Jesus says, “For you”,
here he truly means me. And when all of that, from start to finish
happens, the Lord's death is shown forth at the same time. We take
seriously doing this as Jesus said “in remembrance of me” when
we're doing the whole sacrament in agreement with his words. We take
seriously that he gave thanks when he instituted the meal, and so we
give thanks that we have received it.
Paul
didn't commend the Corinthians because they were destroying the gift
of the Lord's Supper. But that's not what Christ instituted this
Supper for. Far from destroying the gift, he would have them receive
the Supper by hungering for its benefits: forgiveness of sins, life,
and salvation.
And
lastly, there's a reason these words are best laid before the
congregation during Holy Week. The benefits of the Lord's Supper are
the benefits of the death of the one who instituted it in the first
place: Christ. The Lord's Supper is so wonderful because it delivers
the promises of the cross. It delivers forgiveness of sins, life,
and salvation. So Lutherans follow Paul and take any abuse of any
part of the Sacrament pretty seriously, because the Sacrament is the
visible Word, it is the Gospel applied to you according to Jesus'
words.
Christ's
death make the Words of Institution what they are. And here, just
one word is needed: διαθήκη
. This word can be translated either covenant or testament,
but Luther always preferred the translation “testament” because a
testament is a gift that requires a death for it to be distributed,
and Jesus instituted the Supper on the night when he was betrayed.
And wow,
if we can't even have a nice dinner at home, what hope is there for
the Lord's Supper? According to God's Word, there is hope. God
sanctifies his house and our homes by the Word of God and our prayer,
not through our selfishness, but despite it.
Conclusion:
When we see how easy it is to stumble out of the blocks, we
appreciate all the more that it is the Lord's Supper. That's what
Paul put before the Corinthians then, and puts before us now. This
wasn't news to them, but a reminder of what they had been taught, and
it isn't news to us, because there are many many opportunities to
receive again everything included when Christ says, “This do.”
Amen.
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