I read this week about physicist Louis Slotin who while working in his final weeks of the Manhattan project was exposed to radiation and died. He was an expert in bomb assembly. At around 3:00 pm in the afternoon Slotin was giving a demonstration of the “critical assembly” to Alvin Graves, a scientist who was about to replace Slotin.
The critical assembly was like an experimental nuclear bomb and was used to test the safety and reactivity of the plutonium core.
Slotin asked the other scientists in the room if he could give Graves a demonstration.
They responded sure, but “be careful” Their warning was just sarcastic because Slotin had used the machine many many times. No one was concerned.
I’m no nuclear scientist, and so I can’t explain what happened but something went wrong. Apparently this expert caused the plutonium to go “prompt critical”
One scientist said, I saw a “blue flash.. And felt a heat wave simultaneously.”
It seems that a screwdriver had slipped and caused the plutonium to go critical.
Slotin died nine days later from organ failure. There is debate about whether Slotin was careless or whether his death was just a result of working with a deadly substance. Reality is probably a combination of both.
Slotin died for mishandling this radioactive instrument that he had handled many times.
This little cracker and this juice does not have power in it like plutonium.
But the power it represents is the power to raise the dead to life and the power to build a church which can never be destroyed.
The love this cup and bread represents is a steadfast love which will endure forever.
This cup and bread represents the body and blood of Jesus and to mishandle it is a grave sin so we must take care to handle it correctly.
Main Idea: Mishandling the Lord’s Supper is a serious offense and we must take care to observe it correctly.
Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
Paul reminds them of previous instructions that he has given for the supper. We will read that passage later but for now I want to focus on the mishandling of the supper and the consequences it brings.
Skip to Verse 27
27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.
Mishandling the Lord’s Supper is a serious offense. We must take care to observe it correctly.
Corinth is a church that Paul started and he spent about 18 months with the church
While Paul seems to be addressing different unrelated issues there is a unifying theme throughout the book 1 Corinthians. “The problems Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians reflect the infiltration of Corinthian social values into the church. ”
The church looks and acts more like the surrounding culture than a place that reflects the selfless love of Jesus.
The Corinthians valued esteem, wealth, power, lofty spiritual experiences, powerful speeches. If there were TED talks in those days, they would have been hosted in Corinth.
This church met in homes of wealthy people who had been trained by the culture to show off their wealth rather than be a blessing to others.
In their weekly gatherings, the custom of the church was to have a large meal and in the context of that meal to partake of the Lord’s supper.
What was happening was the wealthy were showing up and they would go into the dinning room of the home and the poor members of the church would come late and be stuck out in the atrium.
By the time the working class arrived, the food was gone and some of the people were drunk.
Paul says – I have nothing good to say about you. In fact some of you are sick and dying because you are mishandling the supper.
Paul says, you are despising the church of God? Do you humiliate his people?
Is Paul being harsh? Paul is being kind by correcting the people.
Is God being harsh? No God is showing his mercy.
There is a progression to the discipline in v27-32.
Examine Yourself
Correct Yourself
God will correct you (God’s mercy)
You get sick (God’s mercy)
You stay sick (God’s mercy)
You ignore God…. eventually he ends his discipline and takes you home. (God’s mercy)
Every sickness and death does not have a spiritual cause, but sickness can have a spiritual cause.
What we see about God is that he is devoted to the unity and purity of his church.
The severe punishment is necessary because the church has a deep, deep problem.
Mishandling of the supper was caused by a heart problem.
Corinthian church you are doing the supper wrong because you love the wrong things.
Love Self – I’m gonna eat my own supper
Love Pleasure – Let’s get drunk
Love Esteem – Wealthy in here, the poor out there.
Love Acceptance by Wider Culture
Lost the heart of the meal because they were being led by the values of the culture.
What is Paul’s solution? New program. New idea. New teaching New technology
Paul reminds them of his previous instructions received from Jesus on the night he is betrayed
V23 – I received from the Lord what I passed on to you.
Eventually the church did away with the large meal because it made it hard to focus on the specific teachings of the Lord’s Supper.
You can imagine it would be easy to be thinking about what you were going to have for dessert and forget the purpose of the gathering.
We have come to remember the body and blood of Jesus and to say thank you to him, stop thinking about pumpkin pie and focus on Jesus.
Easier said than done … right.
Solution… Let’s stop having big meals. You can do that on your own time or at a separate time – let’s focus on what actually makes us a family – Jesus and his sacrifice.
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.
The Corinthians mishandled the supper because they were led by the values of the culture.
As I think about our church, we are NOT in danger of mishandling the Lord’s supper.
But we should ask…
Are there values in the wider culture that could lead us to lose sight of what brings us together?
Passion – emphasis on how I feel rather than what is true
Individualism – Meology – life is about me and for me and my wants and needs are supreme
Hero Worship – my favorite blogger, my favorite podcaster, artist
Entitlement – I deserve special treatment
I don’t see those things in our church but we must guard against the values of culture shaping the values of our church.
One of the ways we guard against being shaped by culture is to faithfully remember Jesus and his sacrifice by observing the Lord’s Supper.
Let me read our statement on the supper and then we will move to self-examination.
River’s Statement.
We believe that the Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers, following solemn self-examination, eat bread and drink from the cup to commemorate together the saving sacrifice of Christ and their communion with him and one another. Though the ordinances are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
How Often? There is no specific direction given in scripture. We know it is an ongoing observance.
Frequency – Often enough to prevent long gaps between times of reflection on the truths it signifies, but not so frequently as to make it seem trivial or commonplace.
For Whom?
Only for Believers walking in obedience to Jesus under the care of the church.
Only for Believers – Have you trusted Jesus?
If Jesus is your Lord you are welcome to take the Lord’s Supper today.
Walking in Obedience – Are you seeking to follow Jesus?
In a minute we will have a time of self-examination. The focus here is on direction not perfect. You will sin. I do sin. Are we committed to turning from sin and back to Jesus?
Are you devoted to the kind of life that is mess up – fess up – move on
Under the Care of the Church – Are connected to a church?
The Lord’s Supper belongs to the church. If you are not connected to a church, you should question whether you are recognizing the body of Jesus.
There are more than two people present at the Lord’s table. It is not just you and Jesus. It is Jesus and his church.
Can we only take the Lord’s Supper at church?
The bible does forbid taking the supper elsewhere, but what is clear is that the Lord’s Supper was given to the local church for ongoing remembrance.
How?
Seen Reality (Physical Stuff)
We use little pieces of bread and small amounts of juice. The symbols are important because of who and what they represent so we don’t want to be flippant with our choice of symbols.
Sometimes we pass
Sometimes you come forward
Sometimes we have used the one loaf and you tear off a piece.
Jesus used unleavened bread and wine. I bought these little cups from Concordia Church supplies, but if I went to Jerusalem and brought bread and wine from a market there it would not make the elements more special.
The elements are special because they remind us of Jesus. A focus on novelty or authenticity could cause us to miss the reality of remembering Jesus.
Unseen Reality (Our Hearts)
We take the Lord’s Supper with a posture of gratitude.
The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed…. Gave thanks…
Jesus has given his life to purchase for you what you could never afford.
True gratitude requires three things
Acknowledgement of the Giver
Acknowledgement of the Gift
Acknowledgement of the Benefit from the gift.
So we say, thank you Jesus for giving your life, because you died, I have eternal life; a home with you forever, a new spiritual family, hope for today, the presence of the Holy Spirit, illumination from the Word, healing from sin, peace, joy, purpose, a mission…
The list of benefits goes on and on – when we come to take the Lord’s Supper we realize that we always have a reason to be grateful.
In hardship Jesus gave thanks. We must give thanks or we will take these gifts for granted.
I’ve probably told this story before but when my dad was sick with cancer, he prayed each morning “Thank you God for this good day.”
After he had a stroke part of his therapy was to play catch with a 8” ball.
I’m standing 8’ from him throwing this ball and he would get so frustrated when he dropped it.
Here is the man that taught me to throw and catch a baseball and he can’t do what most five year olds can do. It was hard.
Still he prayed “Thank you God for this good day.”
What was good about that day when my dad couldn’t catch a ball is still good on this day.
There is a God who loves us and gave himself up for us.
One day we will be with him forever
Meanwhile life is hard, we get sick, we lose loved ones, but we do not walk this life alone.
What does gratitude do to us?
Makes us Content – Gratitude turns what I have into enough.
Improves our health
Paul Mills who studies heart health had patients journal about things they were grateful for on a regular basis. The practice of gratitude helped to lower stress and improve heart health.
Gratitude it seems is literally good for your heart.
We take the Lord’s Supper after personal self-examination.
27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.
Examination vs. Punishment. Christ has taken your punishment.
In a minute when I give you time for personal examination this is NOT be still, be quiet, think long and hard about your sin until you feel really really sad and then you know you are ready to take communion.
NOT Examine like a test to pass
But it is Examine as in to prove the pure of a metal. None of us are completely pure but are we willing and ready to stay in the fire to continue to be refined.
At a moment in time I said to Tiffany “I do” Saying “I do” means I am not “done” until I’m dead.
I must keep saying I do by continually asking, Tiffany how do I love you today? Have I done anything today to damage our relationship? How can I make it right? How do I keep from damaging our relationship?
I am safe in my relationship with Tiffany. I am secure, but in examining myself and our relationship I’m seeking to enjoy our relationship more and more.
Individual Responsibility – Let a person examine himself
You are responsible for your examination.
I am responsible for my personal examination.
I said earlier that “we” as a church should be encouraged because we are not like Corinthians church. We will only continue doing well if “I” and “you” individually take up the responsibility for self-examination.
What do I look at when examining myself? What is most important to God?
Relationships
Matthew 22 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… Love your neighbor as yourself.
Am I loving God and am I loving others as I know I should?
The heart of the examination is that I will ask the Lord to help me see if I have sinned against him or someone else and I am committed to the best of my ability to making it right.
If handling the supper correctly is important to God, I must believe that he will help me examine myself. If he reveals something, I will confess it to him and go to the person I need to go to.
The command for examination is an ongoing active command. It is a command to live the examined life.
One of our heart attitudes is to gain and maintain clear relationship
Matt 5:24 – If you go to the altar to offer your gift and there find your brother has something against you first go and offer your gift at the altar and then be reconciled to your brother.
Questions for self-examination.
Do you love Jesus?
– Do you talk about him and to him?
– Do you say thank you to him?
– Are you obeying him?
Do you love your brother and sister in the local church?
– Have you sinned against someone in word or deed?
– Are you committed to continually making things right?
– Are you holding onto an offense that someone has committed?