1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34—WORSHIP WITH REVERENCE
1 Corinthians – Part 19 — 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Stonebrook Sunday AM, 06/07/26, Brad Barrett
We like to celebrate big events, don’t we?
Weddings. We have 6 or so weddings at Stonebrook this summer. A glorious time.
Sports. Whichever team wins the NBA championship and the Stanley Cup, those cities
will have a parade with hundreds of thousands of people.
The God of heaven, our Creator and King, calls his people—those who have trusted in
the Person and Work of his Son, Jesus—he calls us to celebrate. Our passage this
morning is from 1 Corinthians 11. The passage is about remembering something
heavenly and glorious. It’s about remembering and celebrating and worshiping Jesus
Christ with both sobriety and joy.
This is a far, far better celebration than our favorite team winning a championship.
Because Jesus Christ has won us back from the dead.
But in our passage, we will read a very sad story. A very dark moment. In name only, the
church in Corinth was remembering Jesus, but it wasn’t really remembering him. It was
disgracing the Name of Jesus and humiliating and sinning against Jesus’s Body, the
people of God.
THE STERN REBUKE (VS. 17-22)
1 Corinthians 11 (CSB)
It seems a common practice of the early church was to gather for a meal and then have
communion or breaking of bread. This would be like what Jesus did with the disciples in
the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover with a meal. And perhaps the early churches
gathered in the larger homes of the wealthy for this meal.
So what may be happening here is that the rich and popular were gathering, eating, and
drinking heavily before others—the poor—had even arrived. So the wealthy were being
factious, proud, selfish, and drunken, and they were despising and bringing shame on
the poor.
This situation seems unimaginable to me. It would be better if they hadn’t even come!!
In vs. 20 they certainly are not eating the Lord’s Supper as Jesus commanded. Not only
is it NOT worship, it’s ANTI-worship.
In this so-called worship service, we see divisiveness, selfishness, drunkenness,
independence, and ignoring the poor and needy. The problem was not that they had
alcohol (which they did). It was excessiveness. Drunkenness. This sounds like Galatians
5, the deeds of the flesh in contrast with the fruit of the Spirit.
Then in vs. 22, Paul says, “I have nothing to commend you for.” Extreme irreverence
towards the Lord.
Though I cannot imagine attending a church service like that, I thought of multiple events
throughout biblical history when God’s people were irreverent before the Lord of hosts.
The first one that came to my mind was the golden calf incident while Moses was on the
mountain in the presence of God, receiving the Ten Commandments. A glorious and
holy moment. But...
Exodus 32:4,6 (CSB)
Aaron took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it
into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought
you up from the land of Egypt!”…Early the next morning they arose, offered
burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat
and drink, and got up to party.
While Moses is up on the mountain in this holy time, the people completely turn their
backs on the God who had recently rescued them from Egypt.
This is an unthinkable, shocking day. It’s comparable to what the Corinthians were
doing.
THE CLEAR PURPOSE (VS. 23-26)
Paul then continues with instruction of what they should have known and had in their
hearts: the very words of Jesus as to why they should be gathering and what they should
actually do.
Paul quotes the words of our Lord Jesus from the Gospel accounts. Almighty God the
Son, ready to die. Humbling himself lower than every person on the planet, all because
of his pure, holy obedience to his Father to receive the wrath that was stored up for His
sworn enemies, the vile sons of Adam in rebellion, generation after generation.
Jesus said, “This is my body, which is for you. For you, my enemies. For you who have
betrayed me and will deny me, you who lift no hand on my behalf to defend me or
support me. Do this…eat of this… to remember me. Never forget what I have done.
Never forget who I am.”
And likewise, “This cup is a brand new covenant, a covenant established by blood. My
blood. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus spoke these words on the night He was “betrayed.” The Lord Jesus, Son of God,
Son of Man, Creator, the glorious one, the Alpha and Omega, the Resurrection and the
Life, was betrayed and slaughtered by his own people and by the Gentiles. What a
horrifying yet holy moment.
I thought of 300-year old hymn, entitled, “Alas, and did my Savior bleed.” Author Isaac
Watts reflected upon that day when the Savior gave up all so that we could live. (The
word “Alas” means alarm, concern.). Watts wrote,
Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
It is this Savior the Corinthians should have been worshiping with holy reverence. Sober,
thoughtful, thankful, joy-filled worship. But instead they gave themselves to shameful,
disgraceful acts like Israel did with the Golden Calf.
THE SHARP WARNING (VS. 27-32)
So Paul now warns them.
Over the centuries there has been much debate about what Paul means in vs. 27, “Eating
and drinking in an unworthy manner.” I don’t find it that confusing. As always in the
Scriptures, the context of the passage tells us what an “unworthy manner” is. We simply
consider what the Corinthians were doing, supposedly in the name of Christ and of
Christian fellowship and worship. They were in theory proclaiming Jesus’s name as they
ate and drank, but they were instead disgracing his name.
They were selfish, divisive, factious, and drunk. And they were bringing shame upon
their poorer, hungry fellow Christians. Their so-called worship was more like a pagan
setting.
“Unworthy manner” is behaviors like this that are sins against the Lord whose body was
broken and blood was shed.
Then in vs. 29, there is a wordplay with the word, “BODY.” “For whoever eats and drinks
without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Paul speaks several
times about Christ’s “body and blood,” but here he says only, “body.” I believe with a
wordplay, he is connecting Christ’s physical body that was sacrificed to Christ’s Body as
in the people of God, the “Body of Christ.”
Because of their profane behavior of factions, divisiveness, and drunkenness, many in the
church are not recognizing BOTH Jesus’s sacrifice AND the people he died for.
Such irreverence has resulted in bringing judgment upon themselves.
We can admit that the bread they ate and the wine they drank were ordinary bread and
wine. There is nothing specifically unusual about the elements themselves, made from
grain and grapes.
But the bread and wine represent something indescribably holy. So the Corinthians were
in a sense trampling on the name of Jesus.
I think back to the Winter Olympics a few months ago. Whenever an athlete would win
the gold medal, he or she stood on the top podium while their country’s national anthem
was played and the flag was raised. They were to stand at attention, look at their flag,
and perhaps even sing. Occasionally over the decades, though, a rogue athlete would
not pay attention. He or she will be goofing around, chatting with someone, doing
something disrespectful while millions of people are watching. And when that happens,
the people from that nation are offended. Angry. Ashamed. And that athlete is in great
trouble.
Why? It’s just a song, right? We listen to music all the time. And the flag—it is just a
piece of nylon fabric, right? What’s the problem?
The problem is that the song and the flag represent something much bigger. They
represent the unity of a nation, its culture, its people.
If we take a national anthem and a flag that seriously, ought we not take the bread and
wine much, much more seriously? A million times more?
We must not miss the weightiness and glory of celebrating Jesus Christ and recognizing
his Body, his people.
The bread and wine represent the holy, glorious name of Jesus Christ, sent from heaven,
who was humiliated when he took on humanity, endured horrific suffering, and died
utterly forsaken by his Father—all for people like us, now his Body.
The Corinthians were grossly irreverent to Christ himself, AND to Christ’s people, his
Body. So the Lord was disciplining them sharply.
Vs. 30, many of the Christians there were getting sick, and some were even “falling
asleep,” meaning they were dying. Their souls passed into eternity while their bodies
were “sleeping” until the final resurrection. Their heavenly Father was bringing his firm
hand of discipline upon them. We see the gravity of their sin against Christ and his
people.
When we gather to worship and break bread, remembering the Lord Jesus for what he
has done for us, we should read this passage with sobriety.
Paul says in vs. 28, “Examine yourselves.”
The Corinthians were both careless and profane.
Careless in that they took no care about their fellow members of Christ’s Body, the
church. Factious. Divisive. Selfish.
Profane in that they were grossly irreverent towards Christ by their carelessness and
drunkenness.
On any day of the week, such behaviors are evil. But Paul seems to heighten the sin
because of the setting in a worship moment.
Paul is telling this church, “Examine yourselves from such carelessness and irreverence.”
So we should not come in an unworthy manner to remember Jesus and love his people.
Yet it is crucial to remember that we do not have to be worthy in order to partake, for
Christ died for sinners, not for the worthy. We simply must approach Christ’s throne of
grace and partake in a worthy, respectable manner towards Christ and towards one
another in the church.
As Christians reflect on Paul’s command to “examine ourselves”, there are potential
extremes we could go to that are not healthy.
1. We become overly fearful, overly evaluating every little thing we do.
We over-complicate things, fretting that we have done something wrong that is going to
get us in trouble with God. We can even become paralyzed with fear on a never-ending
quest for some deep, forgotten sin that we have surely committed, and now we’re going
to die.
Or we have some doubts that float through our minds, and so we become terrified that
we’re going to get in big trouble.
Paul is not wanting us to micro-analyze everything we do. Sober thinking is appropriate.
Fretting is not.
2. Another extreme would be to become too casual.
Perhaps flippant. We over-simplify.
To use the Olympics and national anthem and flag analogy, the Corinthians were burning
their nation’s flag and cursing their own people. That’s obviously disgraceful.
But perhaps more often for us, when we are here to worship, it’s more comparable to
being on the podium while the national anthem is playing, we’re simply not paying
attention. We have become too casual. We have forgotten the glory that is in this holy
moment of remembering. We come on Sundays too casually and forgetful. Sure, sing a
few songs, listen to a sermon, eat the bread and drink the cup. But it’s not a big deal.
Just an average day. But we have forgotten the price our God paid to redeem our souls.
To “examine ourselves” is serious yet joyful. Deep yet simple.
Lest we overcomplicate all this, I suggest we simply acknowledge Jesus before we come
here and say, “Lord Jesus, I want to worship you and acknowledge the glorious work you
have done for me. Is there anything in me that would dishonor you? Is there anything
harmful attitude like divisiveness towards a brother or sister here?”
I don’t see Paul’s words to “examine ourselves” as a threat. Rather, I see him earnestly
calling the Corinthians and us to normal Christian behavior when worshiping with Jesus’s
people, his Body, especially when they are partaking of the bread and cup in
remembrance of Him.
I offer to us a simple prayer of self-examination found in Psalm 139, a prayer by King
David of Israel.
He said,
Psalm 139:23–24 (CSB)
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.
Before we come every Sunday morning, and especially when we are going to break
bread, we can seek the Lord with a simple prayer like David’s.
Then if the Holy Spirit convicts us of something, we quickly admit that to the Lord, and
then we look heavenward to give thanks. We do this seriously and with earnestness, not
thoughtlessly.
Yet we are not going on some deep sea dive of introspection, endlessly searching the
depths for some sin that isn’t there. With a simple humility, we can rest, for the Holy
Spirit will be gentle and direct with us. Then we move on to worship with earnestness
and joy.
So instead of us striving to be worthy, we come to him who cleanses us, and we rejoice
that his broken body and his shed blood have made us acceptable and righteous before
him.
This is the gospel.
THE PLAIN INSTRUCTION (VS. 33-34)
Paul ends this matter with some simple and clear instruction. He urges them to simply
but earnestly “welcome one another.” The word actually means, “wait for one another.”
Some of the Corinthians were arriving early, eating all the food, and leaving the poor
hungry and humiliated when they arrived late.
So Paul says, “Wait for them.” This implies thinking about their needs. Stopping the
selfishness. Honor those who are poorer. Stop the factions. End the divisive attitudes.
APPLICATION
So what can we walk away with from this passage? I hope it’s obvious. We simply and
joyfully need to remember Jesus as we break bread according to his command.
We will partake in this simple yet holy act of remembrance this morning. To celebrate
Jesus together.
Let us do this with reverence and sobriety.
The Creator of heaven and earth came to this earth with extraordinary humility for only
one reason: to redeem souls from death.
So we want to honor and show dignity to Him and ALSO to his people, his Body. We
repent of any mistreatment of his people, whether it is egregious like the Corinthians
were doing, or something simpler.
And let us do this with joy and hope.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We should smile
heavenward as we eat and drink. The Lord has been very good to us.
The word of the Lord from Hebrews 4 can help us.
Hebrews 4:14–16 (CSB)
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
This morning, we recognize Jesus, our Lord and Great High Priest, the Son of God.
We hold fast—we CLING-- to our confession of faith. We don’t hold fast to our
performance or our worthiness, for we will fail ourselves. But we do cling to Jesus. He is
our assurance. We confess, not ourselves, but Him.
We can look to Jesus our High Priest because he sympathizes with our weaknesses.
He has walked on this earth like us, so he sympathizes with our frailties and our pain. He
gets us.
And he was tempted like us, yet he never sinned. He obeyed to the very end so that he
could be the spotless, holy Lamb of God.
The conclusion is a command: In light of all that, approach the throne of grace.
First, we note we approach a throne. The place where the King, our Ultimate Authority
sits. We acknowledge he rules over us. He is Lord, we are not. We get off OUR throne
and bow before HIS.
Second, we note we approach a throne of grace. Not a throne of condemnation. Nor of
shame. Nor of guilt.
The throne of Jesus is a throne of grace if we approach him.
If we reject this King of grace on his throne, we are left to ourselves and there is no hope.
So Hebrews 4 tells us it is safe to seek the King on his throne.
How do we approach? Is it in terror or shame? No. With boldness. Confidence.
Why? Because there we will find mercy. Compassion. Grace.
When should we approach this King on his throne of grace to find mercy and grace?
Whenever we are in need. Which is always. We need Jesus even when we don’t feel like
we need anything. The very breath from our lungs comes from him. And even more, the
new birth we need comes from him.
Again, we do not have to be worthy in order to partake, for Christ died for sinners, not
for the worthy. We simply must approach the throne of grace and partake in a worthy
manner towards one another in the church. We approach in a worthy manner—
respectful, humble, repentant, grateful.
CONCLUSION
Let me close with this final word.
When Israel created a golden calf, worshiped it as an idol, and partied, this was on the
heels of the astonishing miraculous deliverance from 400 years of slavery through the
parting of the Red Sea.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a similar but far more glorious deliverance.
It’s our Red Sea, but even better. So let us run far and fast away from Israel’s example
and the Corinthians’ example.
And instead we remember. We remember the glory and life revealed on the Cross for
us. The body broken and the blood shed to save our undeserving but greatly loved
souls.
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