CHS Downtown sermon - 1 Corinthians 11 | Tim Henderson+

When he instituted this meal that we may have celebrated different times in more ceremonial ways, it was actually a meal—a real, genuine shared meal. And there's something sweet and something really beautiful that happens as we share a meal, as we break bread together, in particular a meal that commemorates Jesus' death and resurrection until he comes again.

Last week, we looked at Acts 2:42, which is kind of this guiding statement about what the church is supposed to be. And it says, the apostles devoted themselves to four things: the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayer. And then we're adding in music because we feel like they meant that. They just didn't write it down at that moment. But those five things—the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, the prayer, and singing as we gather together—those are gonna be the basic elements of our time each week.

If you go back and look at Acts 2:42, you can kind of get a sense of that. But tonight, what I want to do is look at what most people consider the most important passage in the New Testament on the Lord's Supper. Does anybody know what it is? What do we consider to be the key passage on communion? And I'll give you a hint: it's not in the Gospels. It's not the actual living out of it, although that's a good one. But there's the clearest teaching on this. Anybody know where it is? It is Corinthians. First Corinthians 11. Chapter 11. First Corinthians 11. So if you have a Bible or a phone, you want to scroll to First Corinthians 11—this is the text. This is where we come to our deepest understanding of it.

But I want to make a claim that we've done a poor job understanding it, that there's something really important in this chapter that is somehow very, very often overlooked. And we're gonna build our time around verse 29. We'll get context in a second. But go ahead and take a look at First Corinthians chapter 11 verse 29.

Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. — 1 Corinthians 11:29

Now, there's two basic interpretations of this passage: one that's Catholic and one that's Protestant.

The Catholic Interpretation

Catholics think that what this means is it's talking about a doctrine they call transubstantiation. And transubstantiation is what they believe—that there's a moment in the mass where the priest says something and the bread is literally, actually, genuinely transformed from bread into flesh. This thing that was built as carbohydrates turns into protein, and it becomes literally the body of Jesus. They would say that the accidents of it—the appearance of it—doesn't change, but the substance does.

That's the Catholic take on what verse 29 means. They would say, "Listen, if you eat and drink this meal without recognizing this is actually the body that has been transubstantiated, then you're eating and drinking judgment on yourself, and that's a bad idea. Don't do that." That's why Catholics are very particular not to serve communion to a Protestant audience.

The Protestant Interpretation

There's another interpretation though—that's the Protestant interpretation. They would say, "Well, no. Transubstantiation is not a thing. Jesus never meant to suggest that this is changing into his flesh. It's bread. It's always been bread. It will always be bread, but it's bread that represents something profoundly significant."

And when you come to this meal, as you understand what's going on in verse 29—if you don't understand that this represents him, that there's a solemnity to this, if you don't recognize that though it's not literally his body, it represents his body—then woah, bad news. You don't want to do that.

And Protestants will tend to say, "Like, when we come to this meal, there must be a deep awareness of the Lord himself, a deep solemnity that comes to this. And truthfully, if you're kind of not living right, then maybe let it go this week. Right? Don't come to this meal if you're in a place that you've just kind of been living your life in a frivolous way."

These are the two broad interpretations—one Catholic, one Protestant. And are you ready for this? They're both wrong. Neither one of those is what Paul meant when he said verse 29. And I've got like five minutes to persuade you that both of those understandings are actually flawed. But I think that I will succeed because, in fact, it's wrong.

In verse 29, when Paul uses the word body, he doesn't mean that this bread is Jesus, not literally and not symbolically. He doesn't mean either thing. Okay? In order to get this, we're gonna need to look at a bit of context. I want you to understand the problem that Paul was addressing, what motivated him to write this chapter of First Corinthians 11.

So go up a little bit earlier, and what you'll find is that the Corinthians were making a mockery of the Lord's Supper—this meal—because they were being selfish. This entire chapter is a rebuke on their selfish individualism that is antithetical to what Jesus meant to institute in this meal. They are choosing the good of themselves rather than the good of the other. They're all trying to get the biggest piece of the pie. And Paul's like, what are you doing? Stop it.

Go look at verse 17:

In the following directives, I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 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. — 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

And then if you scroll down to verse 33:

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. And if anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together, it may not result in judgment. — 1 Corinthians 11:33-34

The charges are clear: they're selfish. They're into this thing for themselves. This meal is absolutely supposed to have a vertical component. It's communion, it's intimacy, it's connection, relationship with the Lord. It's vertical. But it is also meant to be horizontal.

The verticality does remind us of our relationship with Jesus. He is the one whose body was broken. He is the one whose blood was poured out for us. He is the one who has accomplished our reconciliation. And we come to this meal mindful of him. But it also has a horizontal component. We are members of one another. We are meant to be connected. We're meant to be living lives of integration with one another.

And according to Paul, in this passage, if the way that you celebrate this table does not have a horizontal component, or if you're violating that, then it's not actually the Lord's Supper that you're eating. That's what he just said. It's not the Lord's Supper because you're not waiting for each other. He doesn't say it's not the Lord's Supper because you're not thinking about him. He says it's not the Lord's Supper because you're not thinking about each other. It's a significant rebuke. That's the context. That's the problem.

The Pattern of "Both"

But there's more to the argument. I want you to notice that every time Paul talks about these elements—this bread and the wine, the flesh and the blood—it's always going to be both. Every single time he talks about it, there's a balance. It's both elements every single time.

Go back to verse 23:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that 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." And then he says, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood,' and whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me." — 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

You hear both? There's the bread and there's the cup. There's the body, there's the blood.

Keep going. Verse 26:

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. — 1 Corinthians 11:26

Right? Both. Verse 27:

For whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. — 1 Corinthians 11:27

Both, both, both, both, both. Right? This is simple. It's elemental. I know, but I'm not done. Verse 28:

A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. — 1 Corinthians 11:28

Both, both, both. Okay? Now, verse 29. Watch what he does here:

For anyone who eats and drinks, without recognizing the body of the Lord, eats and drinks judgment on himself. — 1 Corinthians 11:29

You get both twice here in verse 29. But look at the something in the middle: "without recognizing the body of the Lord." Now, here's the question. This isn't doubled. He doesn't say "without recognizing the body and blood." He breaks the pattern. Why does he break the pattern there? He's not talking anymore about the bread. He's not talking about the body of Jesus in the sense that he's been talking about the body of Jesus.

And by the way, if you have a different translation, you might note this.

That phrase "of the Lord" doesn't actually exist in Greek. Paul didn't say that. He said, for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. The translators are trying to be helpful, and they lied to you. Okay? So that's what happened.

It says, anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. So, Josh, if he doesn't mean what he's been meaning, what does he mean? He's in the gathered community. That's what that means. If you eat and drink without recognizing the gathered community of believers, you, the people, then you eat and drink judgment on yourself. This is what the context of the chapter is all about. You guys are being selfish. You're failing to recognize the horizontal aspect of the gospel. Right here, this body is talking about that.

And if you don't believe me yet, I got two more quick observations. Go back to chapter 10. In 1 Corinthians 10:17, Paul makes this connection explicit, unambiguously.

Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one loaf. — 1 Corinthians 10:17

This meal is meant to be a shared meal with a vertical connection to the Lord and a horizontal connection to others. And then, a chapter later, if you have this in your brain, but you guys know what 1 Corinthians 12 is entirely about? What he says like a dozen times? It's about the body. Look at 12:12.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts. And though its parts are many, they form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all given the one spirit to drink. — 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

And right between these two chapters—chapter 10, where he's making it explicit, and chapter 12 where it's explicit—is this passage about how the community was being selfish and failing to recognize the needs of one another. And in that, he says, you guys, you're ruining the table because all you're doing is getting all that you can. Maybe they're seeing the vertical, maybe they're not, but they are absolutely not seeing this shared connection. And Paul says, therefore, it's not the Lord's table.

That is why we've ordered this as we have. The meal is vertical. And amen, there's a connection with Jesus who loves you and who gave himself for you. And we praise his name that he's invited us to this table where we are reminded that he died for us and that every good thing in our lives comes from him. But it has always been meant to be horizontal as well. And I suspect that we are less aware of this than we ought to be. And so, in order to make this plain in our gathered community, we're ordered around the table, and we structure our time here as we do.

How We'll Participate

That was quick. Here's what's about to happen now. I'm gonna go step behind this table, and when I do, I'm gonna walk through some language that might be familiar to you. Maybe it's gonna be new. This may not be a tradition that's familiar, and if so, that's no worries at all. We'd love you to hear it and gather and understand what we're doing.

But when I do, and I'm gonna break bread here, it's a precursor to a moment in just about three minutes where you are going to break bread at your tables. What I'd like to ask you to do is invite one person from your table to make their way over to the bar here, and there's a tray prepared for you with real bread and real wine. And that is for you to come and to take, to enjoy together face to face in a relationship, in a community.

And as you eat this meal, we'd love you guys to have a conversation around the table. We'd love you to connect, to talk, to ask questions, to push back. You'll find on your trays as they come to your table that there's a sheet of questions that kind of suggests where you might go. A couple other Bible passages you could look at. You're absolutely allowed to say, "I don't buy it. I think he's wrong." That's totally fine. But have a conversation, commune, and connect across the table.

Now, when you do that, a couple things to know. If this meal, this connection with Jesus is meaningful to you because you are in him, that his death, his resurrection, Jesus' return, is the thing that you've built your life around, then we invite you to partake of this. With our deep happiness, we want you to partake of this meal and to connect with him as well as each other.

If, however, you're not yet sure where you stand with him, or maybe you're pretty sure that you don't know, you're just checking this out, you're just seeing where things are, then we are so glad that you're here. And we have food for you. We have bread. It's not consecrated bread. And what we mean by that, that might sound super weird to you, and that's okay.

A lot of things sound hocus pocus weird to me. But what we mean by this is that for us, this meal is a meal that has a particular, peculiar significance. And we don't want you to partake of that in a way that disregards the recognition that it may be that you're not yet in his body. But his table is a generous table, and we are so glad that you're here.

So we have other things for you to enjoy. There's grape juice, there's water, there's bread, and there's oil at the tables where you guys can all dip. But we just want there to be a distinction that we recognize—it might not be yet that you rejoice in all these things about him. And that's great. We're glad you're here. We hope you come back again.

And we really sincerely look forward to the day that this table of Jesus' body and bread might become for you what it's already become for many of us—this most meaningful opportunity to be a partaker of the one who gave himself for us. Does that make sense?