Week 5 – Wednesday 6 April

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves.”

Reading

1 Corinthians 11.23-34

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper

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, 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.’ 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.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Partaking of the Supper Unworthily

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink[b] without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

Reflection

Paul has sharp words for the Corinthian church. Holy Communion cannot be celebrated without self-awareness of the state of the body of Christ, the church. Communion is not simply about a vertical relationship with God, but about how that relationship is worked out in practice: do the relationships between members of the church actually reflect the radical care and equality that we proclaim through our symbolic actions?

Discerning the body cannot simply be about a local gathering of the like-minded. Who is missing from the Christians who do assemble, left out, unseen or unwanted? Are some Christians separating themselves from another church down the road? Paul’s words prompt penetrating and uncomfortable questions about the choices we make, and how we relate to Christians and churches beyond our doors, in a vastly unequal world, and about our responsibility towards them, and theirs towards us.

Prayer

All-seeing God, teach us to see the Body as you see the Body: never to ignore, dismiss or exclude any of your people but accept that we hold bread and wine in common with all your children. Amen.

Today’s family challenge

Look for anyone who feels ‘left out’ at school or at home

The Gospels show us Jesus helping and befriending people who others ignored or kept at a distance – and encouraging his followers to do the same.