Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34What comes to mind when you think of communion? Do you have images of watered-down grape juice and stale crackers, or do you have images of Jesus' last supper with His disciples, right before He was arrested and crucified?
My father is a pastor, so I always grew up in church listening to his sermons. When I look back at all of the Sundays in which I took communion as a little girl, the main thing that I recall is the reverence, fear, and confession that accompanied them. When my dad served communion, he always stressed that this was not something to be taken lightly. He would refer to this passage in 1 Corinthians to warn us that taking communion when one is not right before God could lead in death. Yep, you read it correctly...he continually reminded us that if we didn't take communion with a pure heart, we could be in danger of a fatal judgment. Since I'd always grown up with this mentality, I remember how shocked I was when I visited other churches in college and saw how casually communion seemed to be treated! Most pastors don't refer to this warning passage on communion found in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, because it sounds pretty morbid. Let's dig into it deeper and see if my father's severe warnings were actually justified or not!
In this passage, Paul starts out with a stern rebuke to the Corinthian church. The Christians in Corinth would typically join together for a feast before taking communion. The problem with this was that there were factions developing among the church, and the more wealthy church members were hogging all of the food before the poor could get any of it! There also seemed to be some drunkenness going on. Paul comes down hard on the Corinthians for this, and he reminds them what the purpose of the Lord's Supper was originally supposed to be.
At Jesus' last supper with His followers, Jesus broke bread and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor 11:24). Then He took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor 11:25). So we see that the bread and the wine were symbolic of Jesus' body being broken and blood being shed. Since this was always symbolic, I do not believe in the Catholic view of transubstantiation, which states that the bread and wine literally transform into the flesh and blood of Christ (a belief that led many of the early opposers to Christianity to call them cannibals!). At the last supper, Jesus didn't literally cut off a piece of His flesh or drain His own blood, so there's no reason at all to think there is something literal about this...it is purely symbolic. This represents the new covenant, which came about after Jesus' death on the cross and enabled all people to be saved by believing in Him.
Paul goes on to voice another rebuke for the Corinthians concerning the manner they are taking the Lord's Supper. Apparently, some of them were taking communion in "an unworthy manner" (1 Cor 11:27). This meant that they were taking communion while they still had unconfessed sin in their lives. Because of this, they received judgment from God. Verse 30 says that this was the reason many of them were sick, weak, and even dead. I know this seems overly harsh, but it does show us how serious God took the practice of the Lord's Supper. It is also an obvious reason that nonbelievers should never take communion. Because they haven't confessed faith in Christ and accepted His forgiveness through the cross, they still stand condemned before Him.
How do we avoid guilt and judgment when we take communion? Verse 28 tells us that we need to examine ourselves first. This means that during that period of silence when the elements are being past, we need to close our eyes and ask God to examine our hearts for any sin in our lives. As David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." Once you've thought about those sins, confess them to God. Also, spend some time remembering the cross and thanking God for sending His son to die for our sins. Communion is supposed to be a time in which we remember and reflect upon that time.
Does this make you see communion any differently? Before you say that my dad was overly harsh or morbid, you have to admit that his teaching is straight from this passage! The next time you take communion, think about this passage and the real purpose of the Lord's Supper. This should not become a meaningless ritual or mindless routine in our churches, but it should be a holy and reverent time in which we confess our own sinfulness and thank God for His incredible sacrifice.
