1 Corinthians 11:20–22 — Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s 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 5:23–24 — “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!
