Meeting well
George Sneddon
September 15, 2023
Add to Favourites
Listen to this daily worship
1 Corinthians 11: 17-26 (NRSVA)
17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19 Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. 20 When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
If you are going to come together to celebrate the love of Christ in his death and resurrection, then come together well. Paul’s words in this passage have sat with me my whole ministry, ‘your meetings do more harm than good.’
It is one of those Pauline ‘sit up and take note’ statements. What are we really doing in our Communion service? Have we remembered truly? Have we committed to the significance of what we partake in? Or, have we allowed the Lord’s Supper to be something we do every so often where we set out the finest silver goblets and places, dress up in our finest clothing, and co-ordinate with surgical precision who’s distributing what, all the while weaving wonderfully crafted words around it all?
Here's a chance to stop. Ministers, elders, congregations. What are you doing in your meetings?
PRAYER:
Lord of the Supper
We greatly desire to
have a meal that is good
for all of us.
We greatly desire a meal
where all are welcome
where all are known.
Teach us Lord, your ways
Give us your wisdom.
Help us, where we can,
to always come together well.
Amen
Login to comment.