The Church’s Meal
Saints Sinners Soldiers
July 14, 2019
Rev. Gabe Sylvia
The sermon warns that selfishness, cliques, and contempt—illustrated by the Corinthians' abuse of the Lord's Supper—turn worship into judgment, and calls the church to reorient around the cross through reconciliation, Christ-centered and church-centered participation, and Spirit-led faithfulness.
Summary
Using everyday meal scenes and the massive communal meals at West Point as contrast, the preacher draws on 1 Corinthians 11 to expose how the Lord's Supper in Corinth had become a cliquish, self-centered event where the rich gorged while the poor went hungry, even resulting in drunkenness and contempt for the body of Christ. Paul warns that such attitudes make worship worthless and can bring judgment on those who partake unworthily. The remedy is a reorientation to the Church and the cross: receive Christ by faith, strive with the Spirit, pursue reconciliation with one another, and make worship both Christ-centered and church-centered. The sermon closes in prayer and summons the congregation to repent of divisions, love the cross, and sing together in unity.
Key Points
- Anecdote: family/mealtime dynamics and large communal meals illustrate how eating together can be either personal or communal.
- Context: 1 Corinthians 11 addresses abuses of the Lord's Supper when the church gathered.
- Problem: The Corinthian meal was cliquish—rich members gorged, poorer members went hungry, and some became drunk.
- Core sin: Contempt and radical individualism in worship; treating the Supper as a private affair rather than a corporate act.
- Consequence: Unworthy partaking is described as being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord and brings judgment.
- Central call: Reorient worship around the cross and the Church, not self-interest.
- Remedy: Receive Christ by faith, live in the Spirit, pursue ongoing reconciliation with others before worship.
- Practical exhortation: Make worship Christ-centered and church-centered; hate divisions, pray for changed hearts, and join together in song.
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