April 13, 2017 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 “TURN TO JESUS THROUGH WORTHY RECEPTION”

MAUNDY THURSDAY

April 13, 2017

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-28

“TURN TO JESUS THROUGH WORTHY RECEPTION”

1 Corinthians 11:23-28  (NIV 1984)  “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. ²⁷Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”

          Guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. If those words didn’t catch your attention the first time I read them may they do so now. They are chilling. Can you imagine standing before the Creator and hearing Him pass the judgment, “I find you guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord, my  Son, Jesus.” Let’s put some context to that. Imagine you are the one whose son was sacrificed for all. How would you feel if someone mocked his sacrifice, took it lightly? Not too happy. Guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. May it never be!

          How does that happen? When someone participates in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy way. Please note it doesn’t say when someone who is unworthy participates. No one is worthy, no one deserves to be able to take the Lord’s Supper. It says when someone eats or drinks in an unworthy manner. As we observe the day when Jesus first gave this gift to the Church it’s a good time for us to review how to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner.

          Repent. Turn to Jesus. That’s been the theme of our special services for Lent this year and continues to be today. And that single word repent when understood correctly is all the guidance we need to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy way. And we need that guidance, just like the brothers and sisters in the Christian church at Corinth did. As we piece together clues in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we see a picture of a Christian congregation in conflict. And it showed in their celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Instead of a beautiful forgiveness meal of unity they had turned it into a celebration of self indulgence complete with drunkenness. It might be hard from the way we practice to think how they could be but it appears that before the Lord’s Supper the congregation had what some call an agape meal, a Christian love feast, like a church potluck only with plenty of wine available. And some drank too much before the Lord’s Supper. Some had terrible manners, cutting in line. Some saw it as a chance to eat for week. The rich members didn’t want to have to be near the poor members. Those who had liked Pastor Paul the best didn’t want to be with those who now liked Pastor Apollos better. Instead of focusing on forgiveness they focused their factions. Instead of turning to Jesus they turned on each other.

          So God stepped in though Paul.” For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. ²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Hey, Corinthians, this isn’t your supper to do with as you please. This is the Lord’s Supper to do with as He pleases. Celebrate the way He did. Be thankful. Use bread. Use the cup which has grape wine in it. Eat and drink. Understand that in a miracle this is Jesus’ body. This is Jesus’ blood. This is for forgiveness. Remember what He has done. Keep doing this as a proclamation of what Jesus did on the cross and that He will come again.

          Then it goes on. “Therefore.” Therefore—because this is so important, because this is the Lord’s Supper, not yours—”Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” Those who take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner sin not against bread and wine but against the very body and blood of Jesus. So how were the Corinthians to change? How can we make sure we receive in a manner worthy of the Lord’s Supper? Repent. Turn to Jesus. A man ought to examine himself. A simple question could do. “Am I repentant?”

          There is a whole lot of meaning in that one word. Some define it quickly as being sorry. Literally it means a complete change of mind or to think differently about sin. I think repentance is best seen with flesh on it. That’s what our lessons were today. They were examples of repentance in action. Let’s look at them again. The first lesson is a portion of the parable of the prodigal son, the lost son or the incredibly loving father, however you know it. Jesus showed us a man who thought it was fun to live a sinful life and waste his father’s possessions. But then he repented. He had a complete change of mind about what he was doing. He acknowledged it as sin. We need to as well. In every generation of believers there seem to be certain sins that are acceptable, you know, just kids being kids, sowing the wild oats. What is it among us? Being mean to other kids in school? Bad language? Looking at dirty pictures? Getting drunk or being sexually active before marriage? Disrespecting those we don’t like? Repent. Have a change of mind. Acknowledge your sin as sin and if you do not want to do that do not take the Lord’s Supper. You will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

          Our second lesson we heard about in our Lenten services. Peter. Peter who had just hours before been warned about denying Jesus. Peter boldly trusting his own power to resist over the power of Jesus’ words. Peter, having a complete change of mind about his sin. No brash boasting. He went out and wept bitterly. I can’t think of the last time that I wept bitterly when I realized I sinned. Maybe you can. But we all need to have a feeling of remorse over sin. Not pride. Not a belittling that it was no big deal, rather a change of mind. Savior, what have I done to you? I caused you to suffer. I am sorry. That’s repentance.

          Turn to Jesus. Sorrow without Jesus led Judas to hang himself. Our third lesson showed us a man who acknowledged his sin, who was remorseful about it and who turned to his Savior. The tax collector in Jesus’ parable in humility pleaded for mercy. That too is repentance. Jesus, you are my only chance, my only hope. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Father, for Jesus’ sake, forgive me. Jesus told us this man when home, justified, forgiven. That’s what the Lord’s Supper says too. You are forgiven!

          And forgiveness freely given changes our minds about sin. We don’t want them. We want to make them right. That’s what our last lesson showed us, a man who wanted to do things differently now that he had Jesus in his life. Zacchaeus, freely of his own accord, turned away from his sin and wanted it to show. What change of mind will you have toward sin? Hey, I’m going to be nice tomorrow at school. No more lying even if it means I get in trouble.

          That’s repentance. Acknowledging sin as sin, remorse over it, turning to Jesus for merciful forgiveness and that desire to turn away from sin. A man ought to examine himself. You and I need to examine ourselves. Am I repentant? And the answer to that question is so important because only the repentant receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner.

          The Bible doesn’t tell us how all the Corinthian church members responded to what Paul wrote to them. In his second letter though there is evidence that many listened. May there be evidence in our hearts and lives that we’ve listened too, so that every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we turn to Jesus through worthy reception. Amen.