PRAY: Almighty and eternal God, draw my heart to you, guide my mind, fill my imagination, and direct my will, so that I may be completely yours, utterly dedicated to you. Use me, I pray, as you choose, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people, through Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. Amen.
READ: 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
MEDITATE:
The Lord’s Supper, designed precisely to foster Christian unity, not only divided the Corinthians but has divided believers ever since. One of the ironies of the modern ecumenical movement is that many denominations or branches of the church have been willing to abandon fundamental doctrines of the faith (the deity of Christ, belief in the biblical miracles, the trustworthiness of Scripture, the nature of sexuality, and so on) and thereby achieve a measure of “unity” around liberal theological perspectives, while raising loud argument and division over issues that stem from purely human traditions. Certain aspects of our eucharistic practice, as beloved as they are, can be some of those issues. At the same time, we often overlook or ignore eucharistic issues that are clearly set forth in this passage of First Corinthians. The World Council of Churches has offered this helpful statement (Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, pp.10–17):
The Eucharist celebration demands reconciliation and sharing among all those regarded as brothers and sisters in the one family of God and is a constant challenge in the search for appropriate relationships in social, economic, and political life. All kinds of injustice, racism, separation, and lack of freedom are radically challenged when we share the body and blood of Christ . . . As participants in the Eucharist, therefore, we prove inconsistent if we are not actively participating in this ongoing restoration of the world’s situation and the human condition . . . and above all, the obstinacy of unjustifiable divisions
within the body of Christ.
Questions and Application:
- What does this passage say?
- What does this passage mean?
- Reflect on things that need to be examined in your own life.
PRAY: O God, whose blessed son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: open the eyes of my faith, that I may behold him, in all his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.