Friday 27/01/2023
1 Corinthians 11 v 17-34
This passage is one of the few times in the Bible where God’s people meeting together was actually doing more harm than good. It looks as if what was happening was that some better off, wealthier Christians were gathering early and taking their fill of the bread and wine and they were also filling themselves up with the meal after the service while the poorer Christians went hungry. Paul chastises them by saying that they are misusing Communion and he reminds them of what the Communion service should be in words of such beauty and simplicity that we still use them in our services today.
Like the food sacrificed to idols issue that we discussed last week it seems incredible to us that such an issue should arise, after all how could anyone possibly over indulge in the bread and wine that we use in our churches? However we need to honestly ask ourselves if there are any other ways in which our churches promote division and disunity due to our behaviour and ways of doing things. Are we really united and equal under God in all that we do or are some of us more equal than others?
That might be a good and challenging discussion point in some future PCC!
Revd Robert Legge
