1 Corinthians 11, quick walk, two big sections.
First section, verses 1 to 16.
Second section, verses 17 to 34.
And I wasn't even going to bother with the first section
until we had our community group the other night.
Thank you.
That's my sign of authority.
I forgot to have it on when I started this message.
I want you to know that it's okay for me to be out the front.
I'm operating under Steve's authority and the Archbishop's licence
or something like that.
We read the passage in our community group the other night.
We had a great discussion and towards the end,
somebody tentatively but also boldly said,
when you hear this read, it's really hard
for the hairs on the back of your neck not to stand on their end.
And they were reflecting, I think some of the words used were
that when we come to a passage like this,
it sounds old-fashioned, it sounds fuddy-duddy,
it sounds out of touch.
And in some ways, and even in worse ways,
for women, sounds like a considerable put-down.
And we could go off and have a...
You could talk heaps about all that
without even looking at the passage.
We've already found our positions,
we know where we stand,
and we're ready to interact with one another in our groups, aren't we?
And we haven't even read the Bible any further.
But what if he's dealing...
I think he's dealing with problems in both places,
but what we see in the first half,
he says, verse 2,
I praise you for remembering me in everything
and for holding to the teachings
just as I pass them on to you.
He's been involved in tradition,
the transmission of something which wasn't his,
it was given to him,
and he's tried to faithfully pass it on to them.
And however they've handled it,
he's saying, I really want to praise you for this.
So the first half of chapter 11 is reasonably positive,
and the second part is incredibly negative.
Verse 17,
In the following directives,
I have no praise for you,
for your meetings do more harm than good.
So if we look at the first half,
we're seeing they're praiseful,
and we move into the second half,
which we'll do in a minute,
I have no praise for you.
He's hot with anger
for the way that the Christians in Corinth
are behaving with regard to particular issues.
So come back to women.
We're not going to cover everything.
We got a reaction in our community group the other night
that sort of said,
this just seems so out of touch.
And yet what if,
what if we looked around our group
and we said, all of us have daughters.
What would it take for our daughter
to present shamefully out there in the community?
If we were at a community gathering the football
down in Westfield,
if they took their tops off and walked around,
would that be perceived as a shameful thing?
And most of us would say,
yeah, the whole of society would see that as shameful.
And we added to it and said,
yeah, well, even if they dressed really skimpily.
And then we started to talk about,
well, what about out the front of church?
And we've got a woman speaking to us
and her skirt's up, you know,
halfway up her thighs
and her cleavage is well down the middle
and the guys are paying a tremendous amount of attention
to everything that she's saying.
There's something culturally inappropriate
that gets in the way of the message.
And I think there are some dynamics at play here
that bear on that.
And I'm saying it now
because this is going to feed perhaps
into some of the things
that Sam might want to talk about tomorrow afternoon.
What I want you to see in terms of the text,
verse 4,
every man who prays or prophesies
with his head covered dishonours his head.
So there's a presumption there
that a man amongst in the church of God
may be praying and prophesying,
which is the forth telling of the word of God,
bringing the word of God to bear.
And he will present in a particular way
and possibly reflects the Old Testament glory
where Moses didn't have his head covered
in the presence of God.
But it may be wider than that
in terms of Corinthian culture.
And then verse 5, look really carefully.
Every woman who prays or prophesies
with her head uncovered dishonours her head.
Now what have they both got in common?
In both contexts,
a man or a woman
is praying
or is prophesying
in public.
They're doing the same thing
but they're presenting differently
in the cultural context.
And what if,
and I think I've read this
but I won't go to the cross on it
because I might get contradicted,
but what if in Corinth
to be a woman
out the front of the congregation
with your head shaven
said something about
your social standing,
maybe even your connection
with prostitution
or it said something
about you as a woman
in that setting,
might that not get in the way
of the prayer being prayed
or the word of God
being brought to bear
in terms of prophecy?
Now I don't think
I want to go
a lot further
than that.
There's obviously
bucket loads
that could be said
and here's your opportunity
to write your own questions
down right now
on your sheet
and they can be brought
back to panel
tomorrow afternoon.
That's the way we can deal
with some of this stuff
in this context.
It's fantastic.
But coming to the second half,
verse 17,
in the following directives
I have no praise for you.
Your meetings do more harm
than good.
So there's a big point
that he's working
from round about
verse 17 to verse 22.
He said,
you come together
in verse 20,
when you come together
it's not the Lord's supper
you eat.
For as you eat
each of you
goes ahead
without waiting
for anyone else.
Would you mind
paying attention to me?
Like I can see
everybody's eyes
gone over there
but I'd really like
your eyes back here,
okay?
And in verse 21
he literally says,
you're not eating
the Lord's supper,
you're eating to self.
You're doing
your own stuff.
And we know
from what Steve's
spoken about
in the last talk
that he's been
talking to us
about being a body
and so when we talk
about body
in Christian life
we're talking about
the corporate life
of the people of God.
We are a body.
We're a body
gathered today
and boy
it's an exciting body
to see gathered today
and to be gathered
in this way
and that people
have given time
this morning
to worship in this way.
Just awesome.
But he's saying
to the Corinthians
there's something
about this gathering
that's going on
with you
which is just out of
what are you guys doing?
We're just having
lunch.
We're having lunch.
I did say bring lunch
and I said
there's some really nice wine
on the table
there's some fantastic chocolates
and there's more stuff coming.
Well it's going to be great
to be able to share that
in a minute
and
This is ours.
Ours.
Well I don't care about
the leaf and the carrot
you can have that.
It's no ordinary salad.
So what else is in the box?
The very best chicken.
Okay.
It's distracting
isn't it?
What was the word?
He says
verse 22
or verse 21
for as
as you eat
each of you
goes ahead
without
waiting for anyone else
and
one remains hungry
and 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
and what shall I say
to you?
Certainly I shall not
shall I praise you
for this?
Certainly not.
And then he goes
into those words
that we know
really well
from the communion service
he goes to a different body
he moves from the body
of Christ
in terms of his people
to the body
of Christ himself
and he says
for I received
from the Lord
what I also passed
on to you
the Lord Jesus
on the night
he was betrayed
took bread
Passover meal
remembrance
to the time in Egypt
the deliverance
from the great salvation
event of the Old Testament
and he took bread
and when he had given
thanks he broke it
and said
this is my body
which is for you
do this in remembrance
of me
and in the same way
after supper
he took the cup
saying this cup
is the new covenant
in my blood
do this whenever you
drink it in remembrance
of me
for whenever you eat
this bread
and drink this cup
you proclaim the Lord's
death until he comes
so he's directing
the attention
of the body
of Christ
to the body
of Christ
and he's doing
what has happened
right throughout
our message series
in Corinthians
he is
taking us back
to the way
of the cross
and he is reminding
the people of God
that we are
who we are
through the sacrificial
self-serving
act of our saviour
God the Lord Jesus
Christ who has
made us one
with him
so this is not
about which
tradition do we
go with
and have all
the church
arguments of
history that we
could conduct
or the method
or whether we
got an individual
cup or a wafer
or a piece of
bread
that's a load
of nonsense
it's a sideshow
but what is
the centre of
this show is
that there's a
body of believers
in Corinth
who are humiliating
one another
by the way
that they interact
with each other
they're calling
it the Lord's
supper
and they have
gone so far
away from the
truth that it
is an offensive
thing that they
do in the light
of what God
has done for
them
and so you
come into the
last part of
the passage
where there's a
warning there
it says whoever
eats the bread
or drinks the
cup of the
Lord in
unworthy
manner
we're not
talking about
little cups
of grape juice
and wafers
we're talking
about the
behaviour of
the body
of Christ
so whoever
behaves as
we gather
in this
corporate meal
so whoever
eats the
bread or
drinks the
cup of
the Lord
in unworthy
manner will
be guilty
of sinning
against the
body and
blood of
the Lord
and a
man ought
to examine
himself
he ought
to examine
himself
so should
the woman
before he
eats of
the bread
and chokes
on the
cup
or drinks
from the
cup
because
anybody
who
eats
and
drinks
without
recognising
the
body
of
the
Lord
eats
and
drinks
judgment
on
himself
and that
is why
many among
you are
weak and
sick and
a number
of you
fallen asleep
but there's
been a
breakdown
in corporate
body
life amongst
these people
and it's
expressed
very
practically
in the
way they're
conducting
themselves
when they
come
together
in this
meal which
they call
worship
and God's
judgment has
been upon
them but
he's encouraging
them to come
under God's
discipline rather
than on his
judgment and
so respond to
his words so
respond now as
sons and
daughters of
God and
repent
go back to
your seats
anyway
you did a
great job
can we give
them a hand
so is this
for our
community
group now
or
love
doesn't
work does
it
but then
so it's
very practical
in the end
verse 33
my brothers
when you
come together
to eat
wait for
each other
it's almost
a courtesy
isn't it
it's as
simple as
a courtesy
and it's
the other
person
centered
love
I'm not
just going
to fill
my guts
while you
all stay
hungry
and there's
probably
something
even bigger
going on
which is
it's almost
a display
of wealth
I've got
my sandwich
for today
but these
guys have
got
luxury
and so I
display my
wealth
and as I
display my
wealth
and who I
am in terms
of the people
of God
as we meet
in this
place
I exalt
myself
and by
implication
I humiliate
other people
around me
and God
calls us
to a different
standard of
behaviour
in the light
of the cross
and the way
of the cross
and what the
Lord Jesus
has done
for us
so if you're
really hungry
when you're
coming for
lunch
well he's
telling you
to go and
have a bit
of Maccas
before you
turn up
so you
don't have
to pig
out and
take yourself
ahead of
everyone else
he doesn't
say if you're
hungry
if anyone's
hungry
you've got
to give
him more
it says
if you're
coming to
this meal
gathered as
the people
of God
satisfy your
hunger out
there and
then come
and eat
in moderation
with everybody
else
be sensitive
to the
brothers and
sisters that
you have
in Christ
so that it
will not
result in
judgement
and when
I come
I'll give
further
direction
so complete
sense of
1 Corinthians
11
absolutely
not
but there's
a few
things going
on there
which are
good for
us to
heed
what
is
what
is
coming
soon
to