Being and Becoming Christian

Dad passed away two days before Christmas with a heart that was broken. I was standing at his bedside, looking over the shoulder of the technician as she performed an ultrasound of his heart. I’m not a doctor, but I knew in my own heart that his heart was no longer doing what it was supposed to do. I wanted to cry out but that would have scared dad. I simply watched as his heart, broken, pumping erratically, tried to keep up the work of supplying life to a dying body. When the heart doesn’t work, the rest of our body cannot function as it should.

Paul’s heart was broken, but not for physical reasons. He was appalled at God’s church in Corinth who were fighting with each other, brawling over petty things, criticizing each other, competing for attention and position. Then, to make matters worse, the church desecrated worship and the sanctity of the Lord’s Supper. “Let’s go over this again!”, Paul seems to shout in this next passage. Paul is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. What breaks the heart of God also breaks Paul’s heart because of his devotion to Him. It should be the same with us.

I Corinthians 11, The Message
23-26 Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:

This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.

27-28 Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.

29-32 If you give no thought (or worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you’re running the risk of serious consequences. That’s why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.

33-34 So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.

What do we learn?
–Come to the Lord’s Table with a pure heart that prays, “Lord, break my heart of those things that break yours.”
–Come to the Lord’s Table in Holy Awe.
–Come to the Lord’s Table in reverence, reliving what the Master did for each one of us. Remember, “This is My Body, This is My Blood.” Remember. Say it over and over in our minds as we eat the bread and drink the juice representing our Lord.
–Examine our hearts. Examine our own hearts.
–Lay all the world stuff down before coming to the Lord’s Table. All of it.

Dear Heavenly Father, It already breaks our hearts just to read this and know that your church today does a lot of unnecessary, unholy things that should not be a part of our worship, our work, our witness, or our hearts, minds and souls. Forgive us. Help us all to clean your house of prayer, making it more holy and fit for worship of You and You alone. We owe you our very lives.
In Jesus Name we humbly pray, Amen