August 18, 2007 1Corinthians 11:17-34
A few weeks ago, a young man from Alaska spoke to Bethesda about his work in Alaska as an outreach pastor. He mentioned that in the area where he was working, there were thousands of people, but no churches. His purpose in Alaska was to bring the gospel to this spiritually desolate area and start a church. As I thought about what he said, it made me consider how it would be if there were no churches in and around Eau Claire. The idea seems a little strange since we live in an area that has hundreds of churches. It is such a given, that it is hard to fathom what it would be like not to have the availability of a place to worship and grow in the Lord.
Then I began to think of how often we take the churches ( and thus God) we do have for granted. Summer comes and many no longer attend on a regular basis because there are other things happening (vacations, sporting events with kids, company, family reunions…the list can go on and on). I am not so worried about Bethesda, but I can attest to a church that I am well acquainted with that would nearly shut down in the summer. Many of the people in that church had summer places so they were not around on weekends. But for others, their practice was that they just did not attend church in the summer. Golf games at the country club became their place of worship. In fact, within the denomination, there were some churches on the eastern sea board that did shut their doors. Everyone was apparently summering in the Hamptons.
However, to actually not have churches available (please imagine this with me) might seem like an "oh well" to some people, as in "I don't need a building to worship in." And for others it might seem strange not to have a building to go to, a ritual to follow, the hymns to sing or even the place to fuss about like so many of us do. But all of this is taking the place, called "church," for granted completely and missing the point overwhelmingly. What a void it would actually be to not have any place to come together with our fellow believers and to worship our Lord. While we hear some who naïvely claim that they can worship best outdoors, in Gods creation, that is not what God has indicated works best for Him.
Beginning with the early temples, the chosen people hauled with them a tabernacle and later built temples, as a place to honor our Father in Heaven. The trinity has given us the insight into why a gathering of worshippers is so important in this world. Imagine, if you can, a world where everyone finds their own tree to worship under and thus their own faith. The 'new-age, secular-humanist culture' we live in, would find this refreshing. But faith, although individual, is also part of the body of Christ. You cannot have a body if you separate yourself from other believers. Without churches we would have a desert for all people, instead of the banquet table to come to, in order to be spiritually fed through our savior Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul is writing to the fledgling church about how they use the Lords supper. Paul reiterates the familiar words that adorn all communion services in all Christian churches, Protestant and Catholic. These beautiful words that Paul has left us remind us that this act of the Holy Eucharist had become something that was being misused, by the church at Corinth. Mistakenly, many had made it a social gathering and the believers had lost their way in the sanctity and holiness of the breaking of bread and drinking of wine that symbolizes our Lord's sacrifice for our souls and our lives. He chastises them for making something so precious so ordinary. He takes them back to self-examination as to why they are participating in the Lord's supper. This is the question he is asking of us as well. Is it a ritual? Is it just something to do? Or is it the precise instant when we connect with the moment 2000 years ago as Jesus lifted up that cup and named it the blood that would be shed for us?
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