Paul and the other followers of Jesus traveled around the known world, establishing communities of believers who were to live out this new Kingdom reality believing that Jesus was the rightful King of all creation. They were to model their lives individually and as a community. They established a regular reminder for what is central to the Christian life. “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you…” is Paul’s way of reminding the church of who they are supposed to be.
When you read Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, you quickly see that there are divisions within the church. What is dividing them? Just about everything. Who taught them about Jesus. What food they believe you’re allowed to eat. When women speak in church, should they wear a head covering or not? Economics. Ethnicity. Social status. Etc. There’s something divisive for everyone in the church in Corinth.
You don’t have to spend too much time with people to realize that there are plenty of things to be divided on. Paul reminds the church that there is a meal that is a symbol and seal of their oneness: The Lord’s Supper. The struggle in Corinth is that even this meal has become divisive for the church. The gathering around the Table should be an occasion for us to be reminded of what unites us as one people. But in Corinth, this meal has become an occasion for some to shame others (11:21-22), causing them to eat and drink judgment against themselves (v29). Paul is very condemning of their abuse of the meal that should be the Lord’s Supper saying that, “when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse” (v17).
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two earliest practices put in place in the church for the Spiritual journey. Baptism is where we participate in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-14). Paul then mentions this baptism in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 and how the Israelites went through baptism but failed to be transformed by it. Paul uses this imagery to set up his reflections on the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the grace we receive when we join in the action of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection as our own. We are then called to live out that reality continually, being transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). The disciples of Jesus established communities where this transformation was continually cultivated and acted out by those who have died to themselves in order to live like Christ. They were given a meal to regularly remind them of this reality. They were given the Lord’s Supper.
What is it about the Lord’s Supper that should unify diverse people? This is the question I want to explore over the next few weeks. Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-24. This week we will focus on what it means to “do this in remembrance of me.” The meal is not intended to be a memory exercise for personal reflection. It is intended to be a place of examination and transformation to remind us that we are to live out the death, burial, and resurrection in our lives with one another. How do you view one another if you all receive the same grace that brings us to the table as equals? How does this change the way you see your status in the church? How does this change the way you see the status of others in the church? If we are all made equal through the same grace of Christ, how does our regular practice of gathering around the Lord’s Table transform us into a people who look different than the world?