Reverence at the Table

1 Corinthians 11:17-32

Immanuel – 9/27/26

          Imagine a scenario with me. Imagine yourself in next week’s service, with a Fellowship meal to follow. In this scenario, we have decided to celebrate Communion during the Fellowship Meal rather than in the service. So it’s next Sunday, and as the service is concluding the smell the food begins working its way into the sanctuary. By the time you hear the benediction, your stomach is already growling. After some brief conversation you make your way downstairs…but something is terribly wrong.

          The tables are not lined up with crockpots and dishes like normal. Instead, certain families have brought enormous amounts of food, but they have no intention of sharing. They eat while huddled up with their friends. Others have arrived with nothing, and they sit there hungry, watching everyone else enjoy their food. Meanwhile, people are hitting the boxed wine so hard that they are getting drunk. By the volume of it, some already are!

          Then, in the middle of all this, an elder stands up, “Alright everyone, quiet down!” Then he holds up some break and breaks it, “This is my body, which is given for you.”

Can you imagine how insulting this scene would be to Christ? The sacred meal Jesus graciously gave to his church, twisted into a ceremony of offense and irreverence.  

          That’s effectively what was happening in Corinth.

          Over the last three weeks we’ve seen the Lord’s Supper is the gospel in bread and wine, that in it we commune with Jesus and we commune with one another, and that God delights in feeding his people.

          A little bread, a little cup, it doesn’t look like much. But what happens when God’s people approach the Lord’s Supper with irreverence, and regard the elements as cheap? What happens when the communion of this Table becomes an occasion to sin against Christ and his church?

That’s where we’re going today. That’s what Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 11. And his argument is not to stay away from the Lord’s Supper until we’ve gotten all cleaned up and made ourselves worthy. He calls us to examine ourselves – and so eat.

          Main Point 

          Today I want us to see three things: we must revere Christ’s church, revere Christ’s Supper, and revere Christ’s discipline.

          Read vs 17

          Revere Christ’s Church

Paul says when they came to the Table, it was not for the better, but for the worse.

Read vs 18-22

Corinth was a prosperous Roman city, but there was an enormous disparity between rich and poor. In Roman culture, meals often reinforced these social distinctions. The wealthy and important received the finest food and places of honor, while those of lower status received less. And the Corinthians were bringing these divisions into the church.

But here’s the thing: the church is not Rome! There is no rich or poor, slave or free, all have become one in Christ. One family. Yet the Corinthians were bringing their cultural divisions into the church, and behaving not like citizens of the kingdom of heaven, but as citizens of an idolatrous empire.

          Remember 1 Corinthians 10:17 from two weeks ago:

          Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.                                                                  

          We who are many are one. As one body we eat the one bread given by our one King.

          But look at the Corinthians church! The very meal meant to express their unity had become an occasion for division. They were eating the bread of Communion while refusing to commune with one another. They were irreverent towards Christ because they were irreverent towards his church.

          Brothers and sisters, at Immanuel we’re not getting drunk at the Lord’s Table or refusing to share our meals. So we don’t have the same problems as existed in Corinth. Or do we?

          Can you come to the Lord’s Table while harboring bitterness towards the brother sitting across the room? Can you partake of the bread while deliberately excluding and avoiding people here? Can you in one moment drink of the cup and in the next moment indulge in gossip? How can we celebrate our communion with Christ while being careless with our communion with one another?

          Around this room are Christ’s people. He purchased them with his own blood – the same great price paid for every believer here. They belong to him, and because they belong to him, they belong to you.

          Now, I know not every relationship in this room is heavenly – between friends, between spouses, between child and parent. Christian, we can have unresolved disagreements, we can have complicated relationships, and not be disqualified to partake. It’s impossible to have every relational conflict completely resolved before coming to the Table.

But here is what must not occur: we cannot come to the Table while defiantly refusing to repent, to forgive, to reconcile, to love. That is irreverence towards the church of God – an evil which has no place at the Lord’s Table.

          We are called to revere Christ’s church. Examine yourself, how do you regard the people Christ has redeemed – especially those in the church you find difficult? Where you have sinned against one another, repent. Where reconciliation is needed, pursue it. As far as it depends upon you, seek peace. Don’t use another person’s unwillingness to reconcile as an excuse for refusing to love them.

Examine yourself – and so eat.

          Revere Christ’s Supper

          Look at how Paul responds to the Corinthians’ irreverence. He takes them right back to the night Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper.

Read vs 23-26

          The Lord's Supper does not belong to you. You cannot treat the meal, the other guests, or the host however you want. This Supper is hosted by the Living Christ, and he determines its purpose and practice.

In this meal, Jesus gives his church a visible, tangible proclamation of the gospel. He gave his body and shed his blood to establish a new covenant. Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he returns!

What a contradiction, then, that the Corinthians would use this meal to satisfy their selfish desires while humiliating people for whom Christ died! Jesus gave himself freely for others, but the Corinthians were taking for themselves. This wasn’t the Lord’s Supper; this was a supper of self.

Revere Christ’s Supper! Remember what Jesus has given you and accomplished for you. As he has given himself for you, so he calls you to love one another.

          Now, having reminded them of what the Lord’s Supper is, Paul confronts the manner in which they are receiving it. The Lord’s Supper had become a means of feeding their selfishness, an occasion for division and drunkenness and humiliation.

          Read vs 27-29

          The Apostle never calls Christians to make themselves worthy of the Lord’s Table. You can’t make yourself worthy! Rather, he calls Christians to participate in a manner worthy of the Supper’s meaning. There is a vast difference between being an unworthy sinner who comes to Christ in faith, and participating in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner.

          See the phrase without discerning the body in verse 29? What does Paul mean?

Certainly, we must recognize the significance of Christ’s body given for us. This is no ordinary meal. Jesus purchased us with his own blood, and we must not treat his sacrifice as something cheap.

Remember the context. The Corinthians were also failing to recognize the church as the body of Christ. They were humiliating their brothers and sisters, feeding their divisions, refusing to love one another. Their treatment of Christ’s people contradicted everything the Supper proclaimed. We cannot honor the body of Christ given for us while treating with contempt the body of Christ gathered around us.

As we see in verse 28, examine yourself – and so eat. Let me establish two kinds of self-examination – one that is healthy and one that is not.

First, unhealthy, legalistic self-examination. Legalism is all about following the rules to earn God’s favor. “Well, I missed my devotional time on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday I was rude to the store clerk. I drank too much, got too angry, looked at things I shouldn’t have. I am so rotten.”

And if we fail our own inner test, our legalistic self-examination, we perform a kind of self-excommunication because we feel disqualified to partake in the Lord’s Supper.

But this is a turning of the table. When Jesus first brought you to his Table, he didn’t give you a seat because of what you have done. You were unworthy, and still Christ died for you, brought you into his family, and seated you at his Table!

This is a means of grace for the weak and unworthy, not for the strong and superior! Just as you did not earn your salvation, you do not earn a place that Christ’s Table. It is by grace and for grace that you have been given a place here.       

          Remember from last week: from Garden to Glory, God delights in feeding his people. Jesus has given his church this meal precisely because we are in desperate need of his grace! It is nourishment for sinners who need Jesus every week. The last thing that this table is, is a reward for good behavior.

And legalism is so sick that it begins to turn the examination toward the person sitting next to you, tallying up all the ways they are unworthy. Paul calls you to examine yourself, not to appoint yourself as judge over those Christ has invited. How much more does the believer who is stumbling and struggling need the grace of Christ? How grace abound at his Table!

          So, what does healthy, biblical self-examination look like?

          Biblical self-examination is to recognize your unworthiness, and then ask yourself, “Am I receiving the Lord’s Supper in faith and repentance? Am I discerning what this meal is? Am I treating Christ’s body, and Christ’s people, with reverence?

          And wherever sin is discovered, our response must not be stay away from Jesus until you’re all better. The response of faith is to repent and come to Christ. He is gentle and lowly, ready to give you rest and feed your soul. Come to him!

Remember Paul’s words, Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Self-examination is preparation for participation, not ordinarily a process for determining whether to self-excommunicate. Examine yourself – and so eat.

          Ordinarily, the Lord’s Supper is for believers who profess faith in Jesus Christ and are not under church discipline. Because one of the things church disciple means is to be barred from Communion – hopefully temporarily.

          But, if you are clinging defiantly to sin, refusing to repent, do not presume upon Christ’s grace. Do not treat his grace as something cheap.

          Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?       -Romans 2:4

          To come to the Lord’s Table while defiantly refusing to repent is to treat Christ’s grace with contempt. Biblical self-examination should result in reverence at the Table.

          In many churches, reverence during the Lord’s Supper is understood primarily as solemnity. And certainly, there is a proper solemnity in remembering the death of our Savior.

But reverence is more than solemnity. It is recognizing whose Table this is, what Christ has done to welcome you, and what he gives you with this meal. It is rejoicing that Christ has purchased a seat for you – sinner though you are – and recognizing that the people seated with you are your brothers and sisters, coheirs of glory. There is joy and celebration at the table!

Come in faith. Come in repentance. Come hungry for Christ. Where you discover sin, do not run from Jesus. Run to him! And rejoice!

Examine yourself – and so eat.

          Revere Christ’s Discipline

          But Paul is not finished. His warning becomes even more alarming. For if we fail to revere Christ and his church at the Lord’s Table, we invite judgment upon ourselves.

          Read vs 30-32

          The Corinthians were approaching the Lord’s Supper with such irreverence that God was judging them. Many had become weak and ill, some even died.

That is arresting! They had so dishonored the Lord that he brought judgment upon them. And remember, they dishonored the Lord by dishonoring one another. The Lord takes his Supper seriously! And he takes seriously how his people treat one another!

          Right here we need to be careful. Paul is explaining what is happening in this particular congregation. We cannot assume that whenever a Christian gets sick or dies, it is because God is punishing them.

          But neither should we diminish Paul’s warning: The Lord was disciplining the Corinthians for their irreverence.

          Look again at verse 31: If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. This is exactly why Paul has been calling us to examine ourselves! You do not need to wait for the Lord’s judgment before you take your sin seriously!

          Examine your heart. Is there bitterness that needs to be confessed? Do you have pride that must be humbled? What selfishness must you repent of? Is there a brother or sister to pursue reconciliation with?

          How merciful of Jesus to call us to examine ourselves! He graciously calls us to recognize our sin and repent rather than festering in obstinance until discipline is necessary. Examine yourself – and so eat.

          Even here, see how the Lord’s judgment was one of discipline, not condemnation. Verse 32 says, But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. Jesus disciplines his own, he does not condemn them!

          Jesus Christ took our condemnation to the cross and he was condemned. He drank the cup of God’s wrath so we would not have to. And when he died, our condemnation died with him.

          There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

                                                                             -Romans 8:1

          And yet, our heavenly Father loves us far too much to let us languish in our sins. 

          For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

                                                                             -Hebrews 12:6

          A son who is never disciplined is not loved, he is neglected. The discipline we receive from our Father in Heaven brims with his love, even when it is painful. He is correcting us, sanctifying us, and preserving us for the glory he has prepared for us.

          Even the severe judgment in Corinth was loving discipline, God preserving his people from the condemnation coming upon the world.

Then, after confronting their irreverence, warning them of judgment, and calling for self-examination, Paul brings the Corinthians back to the problem that started it all.

          Look at verse 33: When you come together to eat, wait for one another. Remember how this passage began? The Corinthians were eating and drinking while their brothers and sisters went hungry. They were humiliating the very people Christ had purchased with his blood. Paul’s solution is wonderfully simple: Wait for one another, eat together as the body of Christ.

What a gift Jesus has given us in the Lord’s Supper. Let’s not regard it as cheap or partake with contempt.

Revere Christ’s church. These are people Jesus died for. Love one another and pursue peace.

Revere Christ’s Supper. This is no ordinary meal. Here the Lord gives his people a visible proclamation of the gospel and nourishes our faith as we feed upon Christ.

Revere Christ’s discipline. Do not treat your sin lightly. Your heavenly Father loves you, and he intends to bring you safely into his kingdom. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Examine yourself – and so eat.