What does "examine himself" mean in the context of I Corinthians 11?
Consider mindsets that weaken the unity Christ intends the Lord's Supper to strengthen. First, an unresolved conflict with another Christian. (I'll forgive if he apologizes.) That attitude betrays Paul's admonition in Ephesians 4:32. Second, an uncorrected mistaken perspective. (I may be a sinner, but at least I'm not like....) That betrays the Savior's warning not to exalt ourself by demeaning another Luke 18:9-14. Third, thinking our higher station in life entitles us to disassociate with those not as fortunate. (I need to stay in my own comfort group.) That violates Christ's teaching in Luke 7:36-50 and 16:19-31. These sins, and others, kept the Corinthians divided into social and economic groups. And that kept them from bridging the differences to prove Christ's greater unity of all believers in the Lord's Supper. We can harbor other distinctions that to this day isolates, not unites, brothers and sisters in Christ at communion time. We should always monitor ourself. Do we have in us what limits the Spirit's Presence? Do we lack something that, if having, would allow the Spirit to make us better servants? The difference between unworthy manner and examine self IS Large. Unworthy manner means we betray the very nature of Christ. Examine self means we discover habits and attitudes that fail the very teaching of Christ. However, we can more easily repent of the latter than change the former. On Easter Sunday, April 1865, a well-dressed black man went forward to the altar in the Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. There he knelt to receive the Eucharist. Everyone in the congregation sat stunned. The Pastor didn't move. Robert E. Lee rose from his pew, went forward and knelt beside the black man to receive the Eucharist. The military man united the Christians. The man of religion failed to unite the Christians. When the loaf and cup are passed to us Sunday, will we have in our minds and hearts what Robert E. Lee had in his, UNITING Christ's Body? Or what the Pastor harbored in his mind and heart, keeping the Body of Christ divided? Fini
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Remember the context in which early Christians observed the Supper to understand how they could easily abuse it. Instead of seeing it, as we do, a separate act in our common spiritual life, they held it at the END of a potluck-style Love Feast. In which over-indulgence in food and over-consumption in wine marred the observance.
We may feel over-eating shouldn't be that cause. But when it meant:
We surely understand that drinking to excess would:
Indeed, class-conscious members wanted daily-life distinctions preserved:
While the Lord's Supper demanded:
To worthily eat and drink the Lord's Table meant:
Point of fact, then. In the context of Corinthian behavior, unless we seek:
All words have meanings. In Sunday's message I took from a sack several objects and asked their identity. Tracy identified one in bubble wrap as a picture frame. Imagine Judy's surprise when the frame held her High School graduation picture. (We have lots of fun worshipping God at Cypress Court.)
The term "mad as a hatter" also has meaning. It refers to someone mentally ill. The saying came from the 19th century:
Boston Corbett, the man who shot John Wilkes Booth in the Virginia tobacco barn, worked as a hatter. Whatever his mental state at the time, he entered an insane asylum 22 years later. (I then showed three objects I related to the Lord's Supper: a Welsh Love Spoon, a loaf of Unleavened Bread from Judy's oven and a Chalice serving as a wine cup—purchased by Dawn at the Bates' Nut Farm.) Then...the message....I Corinthians 11 stressed far more spiritual truth about the Lord's Supper than a single message can relate. This sermon, and blog, try to explain only the meaning of "unworthy manner" and "examine himself." Fortunately, the context of 11:17-34 provides the answer to each. We don't need, therefore, to "make-up" explanations of each. Since the phrases originated in the abuse of the Lord's Supper in Corinth, and the meaning of each originates in Paul's instructions to the Christians, let's endeavor to determine their meaning. End Part I |
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