#39.

The Lord's Supper Calls Us to Examine if We Are Sinning Against a

Brother or Sister in the Body
1 Corinthians 11:2022 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lords Supper,
21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is
drunk. 22 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.
So far in our self examination prior to the Lord's Supper, we have been encouraged to make sure
that we are believers, and then to make sure we are not giving our hearts knowingly and
willingly, without repentance, to another object or person than Jesus, before we approach the
Table.
Another aspect of our review, though, must be to make sure that we are not sinning against a
brother or sister in the body. That is what Paul is dealing with in the text above. The situation in
the church at Corinth had become so bad that Paul tells them that whatever their "celebration"
might have been, it certainly was not the Lord's Supper. There was complete absence of love
and of concern for the various members of the body. Some could not restrain themselves and ate
ahead of everyone else. Others were overlooked and received nothing to eat. Some over-indulged
in the wine to the point of becoming drunk. The picture conjures up more the image of a saloon
in the Wild West than a solemn remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ.
Particularly abhorrent in all of this, though, was the fact that the meal was supposed to be an
outward proclamation of the unity forged between believers in Christ by the shedding of His
blood (see Reason #14 in this series). The meal declares that here is one redeemed body, all
members of one another, all bound together, mutually dependent and relying above all on Christ.
No-one could have witnessed the behavior at Corinth and gained such an
understanding. Therefore, as we discover later in the passage, the Lord had disciplined some of
the members of the church with illness, and others He had put to death.
It follows that every offense must be forgiven, every sin must be covered by the love of Christ,
so that the celebration of the meal will accurately declare the unity of the body when we come to
the Table.
Jesus Himself taught something similar in the broader concept of our worship of God:
Matthew 5:2324 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the
altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
We should not presume that God will receive our worship at any time when we know there are
outstanding offenses between ourselves and our brothers and sisters. However, but the situation
is exacerbated when we take part in a meal that specifically proclaims our unity, but we are the
cause of making that proclamation a falsehood.

How wonderful it is that we have this opportunity before we come to the Table to humble
ourselves, search our hearts, confess our sins to one another and to be reconciled as the body of
Christ so that we are truly one in Him as we eat the meal that declares this to be true! We should
always be quick to seek forgiveness, and always ready to forgive as Christ has forgiven us - fully
and unconditionally.
If we haven't done so already, then, let's determine that an important part of our preparation for
the Supper from now on will be to make sure we are right with all our brothers and sisters who
will join us at the meal!
www.gcmodesto.org