The Power of the Lord's Supper

I was recently blown away by the Apostle Paul's instructions regarding the Lord's Supper in 1 Cor 11. Paul told the Corinthian Church that it wasn't really the Lord's Supper that they celebrated when they gathered together to eat.

When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Should I praise you for this? Certainly not! (1 cor 11:20-22)

In fact, there were some significant problems that arose when this gathering occurred. This remembrance instructed by Jesus should have served to unite Christians in reverent thanksgiving for God's gift of His son. Instead, these folks seemed to focus on their own flesh, consuming wine and bread without consideration of each other. This is in direct opposition of the hearts of the apostle Paul, who on multiple occasions exhorted Christians to act in unity. For example, he wrote to the church of Phillipi, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but out of humility consider others better than yourselves" (Phil 2:3). Of course, this vision of Christian unity came from Jesus Christ, who prayed that his future followers would "be brought to complete unity" to let the world know that he was sent by the Father (John 17:23). Instead, these distortions of the Lord's Supper did more harm than good, creating division in the church of Corinth (1 cor 11:17-18).

That part isn't terribly shocking. Unity in the Church is, was, and will be important to Jesus' heart. The part that surprised me followed shortly afterward when Paul wrote...

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body and the blood of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.

Whoh! Paul said that abuse of the Lord's Supper resulted in sickness and death among the Corinthian church. There is something very powerful about this rememberance of Jesus Christ's body and blood. I'm not talking about trans-substantiation here - whether or not the bread wine actually become flesh and blood. What I am saying is that there is something very powerful about the Lord's Supper. Beyond the symbolism of the elements, there is something spiritual and something physical about the act. It actually carries weight, and it actually affects you!