Undivided at the Table - 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Good morning, church family. Glad that you are here with us this morning. I'm excited to be able to share the word with you. If you don't know me, my name is Dalton Leslie. I am the director of outreach and discipleship here at Northland Church. I'm also the church planting, sorry, not church planting director, sorry, church planting resident, that's the word. fumbling over my words already. That's who I am. But very excited to be with you this morning. I'm already encouraged to take the Lord's supper with you guys. And one of my favorite parts about preaching is I get to sit right here in the front as I'm getting ready to sneak up here. But I get to hear you guys sing. And honestly, it's really encouraging. Some of you may be thinking, Dalton, you don't hear me seeing, like, if you heard me seeing, you would not be encouraged. But I'll encourage you this way, your voice is hidden in many voices. So I am very encouraged to hear singing on Sunday morning. I love singing my family. We sing all the time. Singing is a very big part of who we are. My wife is a worship pastor's daughter, so we do lots of singing. I didn't sing much as a kid, but now I sing all the time. My wife has to get onto me sometimes because I'm a little too loud, especially when the kids are napping. But I sing in the car, I sing in the house, we sing at our life group, we sing around the table, we sing during family worship. We sing all the time, and we just love it. We're encouraged by it. We sing with loud voices or different voices. We sing silly songs, we sing serious songs. And one of the things that my kids have really been liking are some of the songs that I would sing as a kid. One of the songs that we sang actually a lot this weekend was my father's house. Anybody know that song by audio adrenaline? Come and go with me to my father's house. Okay, that was good. That was good. We sang that song a lot. And my kids love that song. It's simple, and we do the motions. Yep. Kayla's doing the motions over here. Yeah, come and go with me to my father's house and it's a big, big house with lots and lots of room. It's like a motorcycle or something. I don't know why that room's room. I guess, room. But there's a big, big table with lots and lots of food. It is good. Today we're going to be talking about a table, and the Lord's table is the Lord's Supper. And historically, it's been called the table, and we're going to be seeing that the Corinthians have a problem, that as they're coming to the table, that they're having the wrong way of thinking about it. When you hear that song, it actually has pretty decent theology. The 1st verse, where the 1st words that you hear is, I don't know where you lay your head or where you call your home. I don't know where you eat your meals or where you talk on the phone, and then it goes down and says, I don't know if you've got a family, say a mom or dad. I don't know if you feel love at all. But I bet you wish you had. Come and go with me. The theology of the song is that there's people from all demographics, all backgrounds, all races, all backgrounds, coming together to a grand table, to eat a grand meal. They're inviting all to come to the house, to eat at the father's table. And today in 1st Corinthians, we're going to see that the Corinthians problem is that they've lost sight of that, that they think the table, that is, the table that's meant to be big, big is actually small and isolated. Um, that they're thinking more about themselves than they are of others. They're thinking the table is more empty than it is full. They're coming to the table, thinking of the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner, and Paul must correct them. So if you have a Bible, we're going to be in one Corinthians 11, starting in verse 17. First Corinthians 11, 17 and we're going to end in 34 today. First Corinthians 1117 says, but in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse, let's start in prayer. God, you are good and you are gracious to us. You've invited us to a table that we have no right to claim. You've invited us to come to your house and you've prepared a room for all of us who have claimed your name as salvation. Lord, we thank you for that. Lord, I thank you for your word that it never returns void and that you can use, even a donkey to speak your word, and Lord, I pray that you would take the scribbles on this page and make it glorifying to you. Jesus' name. Amen. He says, and given this instruction, I do not praise you. If you look earlier in chapter 11 and verse two, you're actually going to see that Paul starts his, um, that chapter with saying, actually, I praise you for you follow the traditions that I've given you very closely. And then immediately after sharing that verse, that praise. He immediately tells them why they aren't following them. Why they how they are not following the traditions that he's given them. Last week we talked about head coverings. This week, it's the Lord's supper. He said, so I cannot praise you in this tradition. I've given it to you and you followed some well, but you have not followed this one. Well. He says, in coming together. You are not coming together for the better, but for the worse. When Christians come together as a church is what Paul is talking about. When the Corinthians are coming together when they're gathering, they're not being bettered. They're not being encouraged, but they're coming and it's worse, that they're being discouraged, that they're being divided. When Christians gather, Christians should be built up. We should be built up when we come together. Hebrews 10, 24 and 25 says this, and let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works. Not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other. And all the more, as you see, the day approaching. The church comes together to push each other to Christ. We come together so that we can be better. I'm so encouraged to be a part of a church family that when we come together. I'm encouraged. I walk in the door and people know my name. I come in the door, and people know my family, and they've been praying for me, or they ask really great questions, timely questions. I'm really encouraged by my life group. It's a newer life group. And if you're not a part of one. Here's a plug. Find someone with this lanyard and they can get you hooked up, or just email me and I'll find you a life group for you. But life groups are meant to be the place where we practice coming together for the better. At Northon, we have a vision statement that's hanging over your heads. Maybe you've never noticed it. But we come, the Northland Church exists to have a transforming encounter with God, that you come in here, and that you can experience the word, you can experience the Lord, and that you'll be transformed, that you would have a growing relationship with Jesus, as you're working together in authentic community. And man, here at North, and we know that as we come together that we're coming together for the better. When you're a part of a life group that these things are practiced really well there, you can do some of that here on Sunday morning, but when you're in someone's home or you're in a classroom, you can really begin to practice coming together for better. I'm so encouraged that by the church, but I'm also encouraged by and embeddered by those in my life group. We pray for each other. I truly believe that we're coming together for the better. But when the Corinthian church comes together, they're not doing that. They're coming together for the worse. And Paul has heard about it, and he has to correct them. Look what he says in verse 18. He says, for in the 1st place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there's divisions that exist among you. And in part, I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore, when you meet together, it's not to eat the Lord's supper, for in eating, each one takes his own supper 1st and one is hungry, and the other is drunk. So how are they come in together for the worst? They're divided. And you're like, yeah, Dalton, we've been hearing that. They've been divided all throughout Corinthians. So why is Paul saying in the 1st place, I hear this, and in part, I believe it. Paul's being sarcastic. He's been correcting them time and time again. Guess what? You divided. Let's fix this. You're divided. Let's fix this. But here we're saying that they're not just divided theologically by those who follow Paul or those who follow Cephis or those who follow Apollos, but they're physically dividing themselves into 2 factions. 2 different groups. There's a physical separating of 2 different classes of people. He says, he's talking in sarcastic, he said, of course there has to be. You have these divisions because there are approved people, that must be evident. You don't want the approved people to be with the unapproved people. He's talking sarcastically. He's wanting to bring their ridiculous statements, their ridiculous practice, to light, to help them to see, what are you doing? Paul's alluding to more than a theological divide, but this physical divide, these 2 classes, the approved, and the unapproved. We talked about it multiple times, but there was this idea of patronage in this culture, that there were the upper class, the elites, that only saw the lower class as paid servants, or servants, that they were only meant to perform an act, to do a deed, and the elite, the higher class word, to benefit from that. So they were separated this. And the lower class Corinthians were being disrespected, disregarded. And so how were they doing this? They're having a divided table. They're having a divided church. We said, Russian just said this, but the Lord's supper, the table. It was traditionally and biblically a full meal, and hosted in a home. So actually, we get to practice this this year around Easter. We're going to be practicing a full meal in homes with our life groups and those kind of things. So that's going to be a very exciting thing that we'll be announcing soon. But to host this meal in the 1st century, they didn't have a building like this. They didn't have a building in the freedom to come to a giant room where they could fit everyone into the same spot. They met in homes. So in order to get the whole church together to have this united meal. They had to have a big house. And have a big house. You were one of the approved. You were one of the elite. You were one who had money and wealth and prominence. So you were in this big grand house. And in these big grand houses, they have this room called a triclinium, or however you want to pronounce that. I'm not Greek or Roman, but I'm going to call it triclinium. And it was this fancy dining hall. We have a picture of it. This is a triclinium. Look how fancy it is. There's dancing in beds. I guess eating in bed is fancy. So for all of us who put their kids to bed and take snacks upstairs to the bed, Like, we're fancy. Just joking. But they would dine around this. This was luxurious. This showed prominence that showed wealth. These Corinthians would host these parties for other wealthy and high class people and they would invite them over to show, look how rich I am. Look how wealthy I am. And then they would, in turn, be invited to other people's houses just to practice this over and over and over again, just continually showing how wealthy we are. So that when they came together as a church for the Lord's Supper, they would bring the wealthy, the approved into the triclinium. And this is where all the food was at, and that they would eat there. Now, the lower class were not allowed in this space, because this is not for them, this is for the upper class, this is for the elites, but they were in the lower class people, were in the atrium. We have a picture of it as well. So, still fancy. Absolutely not a dump, right? Still in a really nice house. But the triclinium was actually opened up into the atrium. So all of the approved, the approved people would go into the triclinium to eat. And right here, Paul says that they are eating their own supper first. They're not eating the Lord's Supper. They're eating all of the food. so that they become drunk, that they're eating all of it, that some are leaving hungry and not receiving any of it. So they're having this separation where the wealthy and the approved are eating all of the food in front of the others, and not allowing them to have any. Do we see the problem with that? When we come to the Lord's table? Everyone? We're all part of the one body. The culture of Corinthians, they would meet in these special rooms and they'd have their fill before the poor came. Let's read verse 20 again. Therefore, when you meet together, it's not to eat the Lord's supper, for when you're eating, each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunk. What? Paul is having the exact same response we should be having when we think about this. We just describe this. We should also be thinking, how did they get to this moment? How are they doing it? How are they doing this? He says, do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I will not praise you. These cultural elites that are eating in these special rooms early. They're having their field and to the point of drunkenness. And the poor people who are hungry who actually maybe need food are not eating any of it. They're not able to partake of it. They are shaming these people, this class. They're not eating the Lord's supper because that's not based in the gospel, but also they're eating their own meal. Imagine this. If you've been a part of our communion meals around Easter time. It's a great time. I've always really enjoyed it. We come in here, we have big long tables. And Kelly Maltbia and her crew, they prepare a good dinner, and then we eat around a table, and we talk with each other. We're practicing the Lord's Supper. But imagine if Kelly Malbia and her crew prepared that whole meal, and then the whole 200 of us that are coming in that shift or right at the door, and then she just shuts the door, locks it, and then you're just standing outside looking in, right? And then her and her crew eat the entire meal. And they come out. I won't say Kelly does this, but one of them comes out, gives a big burp. Hey the rest is yours. Go have the crumbs, right? That's what's happening. That is making that people on the outside recognize, I'm not important. Something else is happening there. There's a division here. I'm going to give up on this whole Christian thing. There's something that's not right here. He says there's a division. That's not the Lord's supper that they just had in this room. That was a party for certain people with the elements. That the people who are going into the triclinium because of their approval status. They're not taking the Lord's supper. They're eating their own meals. Paul is obviously upset, and he's asking questions like a parent does with a disobedient child. He's asking questions like, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind? Um, don't you know better than this? What do you want me to do? Tell you good job? I'm not gonna tell you a good job. That was not right. We've all, as parents had those moments with our kids, but Paul cannot praise them in this tradition. So now he's kind of laid it out, why he can't praise them, and now he's going to show them the instruction that he initially gave them. Verse 23 through 26. He says, For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, on the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus 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. In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, this is the cup. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance as me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Paul can't praise him in this tradition because they're not practicing it this way. They might be doing the right motions. They might be saying the right words, but they're not truly proclaiming Christ's actual death in this. Paul is reminding them who he is. He says, I received this as an apostle from Jesus himself, and I gave that to you for you to practice. He's saying, I didn't just give you some kind of fun party for you guys to go and enjoy yourself. I gave you a command from the Lord that you're meant to follow. Remember that, Corinthians. The pattern and purpose of the Lord's Prayer is not a tradition that Paul is simply made up, but he is saying that he's received it from the Lord Jesus himself and has given clear instructions for them to keep following. A couple key points from his description here of the table is that the table symbolizes, reminds us, and proclaims Christ's death for the atonement of sin. It symbolizes, reminds us and proclaims Christ's death for the atonement of sin. The Bible teaches us that all humans are sinners. That all humans in our sin have earned a righteous punishment of death. We have earned that and any sin that we have. We have a sin, nature, that there's nothing that we can do to earn salvation. There's nothing that we can do to be an approved person. But we need somebody who is approved to pay our penalties on our behalf. We can't stop sinning. We can't pay our fine without dying. We need someone else to pay our fine for us. We need someone else to die for us, or we are doomed to die. Uh, we are doomed to die in our sin. Jesus who died on the cross did exactly that. It's his death in your place. It's your, it's his death, his body being broken in your place. He died in our place. He paid our sin. He paid the fine for our sin, in our place. He took the punishment that we deserve for us. The table, the bread and the cup. They symbolize Jesus' body and blood. They symbolize it. The bread and cup are not literally Christ's blood. When he says, this is my body for you. He's not saying, eat my finger. He's not saying that. He's saying, this is my body symbolized. Remember what I accomplished on earth. This is what I did. Isaiah 53.5. Isaiah is looking forward to this sacrifice that will be eventually paid, but he says, but he was pierced because of our rebellion. He was crushed because of our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. When we take the bread, and we take the cup, we look at them, and we can see the sacrifice with our eyes. We look at the blood, and we look at the cup and we see his blood pouring out. We look at the bread and we see his body being crushed and beaten on our behalf. We know the story, but seeing it with our eyes, helps us to experience it in a new ways. We see how the elements that symbolize this equalizing sacrifice was for us and for all, and were all equal at the foot of the cross. The table also causes us to remember Jesus, his life, his death, and resurrection. We remember the grace that has been shown to us in his death, what he accomplished in his death, and what he's accomplished in his resurrection. We remember the grace and it brings us to our knees and worship. We should be remembering the new covenant in Jesus that it's not a covenant of works that you have to be good enough, that you have to have enough wealth, but that you, by grace, have been saved through faith. Look at Ephesians 2, 8 through 9. It says this, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This is not from yourself. It is God's gift, not from work, so that no one can boast. Corinthians. You are not more saved because you are approved in your wealth. Northland Church, you are not more saved because you are approved by your geographical location, or where you live, or where you hang around with. You are not approved by any of that. The only thing that we can be approved by is that death of Jesus. And Paul is saying, you need to remember that. We are idol making factories that will continually put ourselves on the throne of our heart, looking to worship ourselves, look to ourselves, try to earn our salvation. But when we come to the table and we remember what Christ has accomplished for us, we're cut at the knees. Remember that. We remember the cross bus for all who have faith in Jesus. The table proclaims his death until he returns. Jesus who died on a cross and was buried in a Roman tomb is not there today. He is alive, he is living, he's at the right hand of the Father, and we have a living hope because he is alive. 1st Peter one, 3 through 5 is an incredible verse. You should have it memorized or keep it in your heart or write on a book somewhere. I don't know Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because of his great mercy. He has given us new birth into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from the dead, and into an inheritance, that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. The table proclaims to each other the hope that we have in Christ. We come together and we share the stories of Christ's faithfulness in our life from this past week or month or year. And we come together and we're encouraged as we proclaim the hope that we have in Jesus. Maybe a little bit ago, we were sharing some stories and you're like, my week was not good. But when we take the Lord's supper, we realize that we're not looking to a dead guy to save, we're looking to a living man who's in heaven, a living God, who is in heaven, who is keeping our salvation with him in heaven forever, and it will never perish. It will never be defiled. It will never be fading. We proclaim this to each other. All in Christ are equal at the table and all await his final judgment or salvation or judgment. We must all give an account. Those in Christ proclaim his death because he gave us peace with God through his death. And we await our final salvation when he returns or we go to him. We do these things not to gain new information. We do this monthly. If this is your 1st time here, maybe this is new information to you. But if you've been coming here for years or months or decades, however long, we shared pretty much the same information every single time, right? It's not new information. But what we're doing is that we see the elements and we remember Jesus. We see him and we experience a sacrifice in a new way. We see the elements and we taste the sweetness and surety of his sacrifice for us. One writer, this week when I was looking at this, he shares this example of the Lord's Supper similar to the way that we show love to our kids. You can tell your kid every single day that you love them, and they can know that. But it's a completely different thing when you come home from a long day at work, you pick them up, you give them a big hug, you kiss them on the face, you spin them around, you throw them on the couch, right? That's how they know you love them. They're experiencing that love. They can feel that love, not just with words, but with actions. When we come to the table, we're experiencing God's love. We're experiencing Christ's sacrifice for us. The table invites us to experience the gospel as well as hear it. The table visualizes the most significant moment in history, and it builds up believers, and it proclaims the gospel to the unbelievers who are looking in at the worship that we have towards Christ. Paul has given this instruction at the table of the Lord's Supper is big, big, and it's wide, and the bread of his body never runs out, and the cup of sacrifice never runs dry, but the Corinthians have divided that table. They have lessened that sacrifice. They have forgotten what it looks like to truly follow the gospel. The reminder of the table has been lost on the Corinthians. They're not coming together for better. They're coming for worse. Verse 27. So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord. There's a switch in the use of body. Here, we were using body as a symbol for Christ's physical body, but now he's talking about this body as in the gathered body of believers, that the one who examines himself and comes to the table in an unworthy manner is guilty of sin against the body. Does that make sense that we are, we're coming in an unworthy manner to divide it into those who are greater in those who are less, and now we have sinned against the body. that we come together not for good, but we come together for the worst, that we know that we are united in Christ, and the leading, eating the Lord's supper with the bread, they are proclaiming that they are one. That's what the Lord's supper is doing. We are one in Christ. But they are, um, they are coming in an unworthy manner and they're being hypocritical in the way that they're taking it. We're one in Christ, but not those guys. So this unworthy manner has a couple different ways of interpreting it. There's a general sense that we can come to the table in an unworthy manner, and that just means hypocritically. Maybe you're coming to the table saying, hey, I'm united in Christ with all of these people, but I'm never going to forgive that person for what they did to me. I'm united with Christ with all these different people. But right after this, I'm going to go and gossip behind the backs of these people. I'm going to make sure that they don't feel invited to our life group. I'm going to make sure that I don't actually include them in what we're going to be doing. I'm united in Christ with these people, but not those guys. That's what the Corinthians are doing. This is the general sin. This is the image of a rebel enjoying the spoils of the king. But not actually being a part of his camp. The specifically, what Paul's specifically talking about here is that Corinthians are hoarding their own meals, and they're leaving none for the lower classes. They're claiming unity in the church and they're failing to practice it with those right next to them. They're seeing them as less than. They're making the lower classes feel less loved by Jesus or less important, less saved. This claims to be saved by grace, but they're boasted in their own works. They're boasting in their own status. They're following a false gospel. They're guilty of sin against the body and the blood of Jesus. They have judged the body of believers, wrong. They've said, these are the right ones. These are the wrong ones. They've judged it wrong. And now they have received a sentence, guilty. You will be guilty, you have a guilty sentence against the body of blood. The body and the blood of the Lord. This guilty judgment has penalties in the same way that we have. When we think about someone being guilty that they have penalties for breaking the law. Look in verse 28. Let a person examine himself. In this way, let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks, judgment. on himself. This is why many are sick and ill among you. and have fought, and many have fallen asleep. If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. Here he says that there are punishments, there are penalties that come with this guilty sentence. He says that some are becoming weak. Some are getting sick and some are falling asleep. That is a biblical, nice way of saying believers who are dying. Paul says that the guilty sentence that they have received because of their sin against the body is causing serious consequences. that we do not talk about here in the 21st century. Paul is not saying that every single death, every single sickness, every single weakness is a result of an individual sin. That's not what he's saying. But he is saying that some people in Corinth are receiving that penalty because of their sin. And he's not saying that it can't continue to happen today. What he's saying is that sin is serious. Unity is serious. Reconciliation should be followed and pursued. They must judge the body rightly, not the man's body, not the body of Christ, but judge the body of believers in Corinth. Recognize that we're all equal before the cross. The ones who examine themselves and are fined to be treating those less than, that they're separating some, that they're not, they're taking the table hypocritically, they have received a judgment, and they ought to be judging the body as one. So approaching the table in an unworthy manner is serious. The Corinthian elite, we're experiencing judgment because of their unfaithfulness. Judgment. And we see this idea that judgment is discipline, not condemnation. Judgment is discipline, not condemnation. Those words might sound scary, but we know that believers are disciplined, but the world is condemned, very different. Receiving discipline is a mercy. John 318, 2 verses after the most famous verse, probably that you guys would know. Um, forgot to love the world that it gave his only begotten son, right? But verse 18 says, anyone who believes in Jesus is not condemned. But anyone who does not believe in it. Wow, who does not believe in it is already condemned because he has not believed in the name of the one and only son of God. The world is condemned in their sin. But the ones who have received Christ as their savior are not condemned. And Paul is saying is that we are receiving, the Corinthians are receiving judgment so that they would not be condemned, but that they would be corrected, that they would live rightly. These believers are children of God receiving discipline so they won't be condemned like the rest of the world. We do this too as parents. We discipline our kids so that they would not be on the wrong path, right? We want to raise our kids in the ways of the Lord. We don't want them to be disobeying what the Bible says. We don't want them to be disobeying the Lord. We want to raise our kids in the love and instruction of the Lord and correct sinful behavior and thinking. We want to make straight paths for our kids. We want to help them think through things biblically. We don't want them just to have the right answer, but we want them to be thinking and worshiping and feeling the right way. It is not loving to not discipline our kids. It is not loving to let our kids make all of the choices. It is loving to know the truth and help our kids know that truth. Paul knows the truth of God's word. He has received it from the Lord Jesus himself, and he is helping them, recognize the judgment that they have received. The discipline that they have received is to make them more like Christ, to turn them away from sin and back to him. Discipline is a mercy, and we should be thankful whenever we are being corrected. I had an old coach. He used to say this. He said, if I'm yelling at you as a coach. That means you're doing okay. But I believe that you could be doing better. There's something that you're not doing right. The moment I've stopped talking to you, the moment that I've stopped yelling at you, that's the moment you should be worried. Now, that's a worldly coach who was not a believer. But the principle's still there, as we're receiving correction and discipline from the Lord, we should recognize that he's still calling us to be what he would have us to be. He's calling us into holiness. His co-one is into Christ-likeness. But the moment we've become so hardened to our sin. And the moment we've become so hardened to not feel guilty in our sin or to recognize the discipline that we've received, man, we should be concerned. The Lord does the same thing as we do. He knows what's best. He knows what we should be doing. He's guiding the Corinthians that way and he's guiding us that way as well. He disciplines to help us. Verses 33 and 34. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another or wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come. Notice the repeated phrase from verse 17, when you come together. He's kind of putting a bookend on what he's saying. When you come together in verse 17 was you're not coming together for the better, but you're coming together for the worse. Now here in verse 33, he says, come together for the better. And the way you do that is wait for each other. Wait for each other in the food. Wait for each other, and at the table, wait for each other, serve each other, walk humbly next to each other. Don't come together for the worse. Right now, they've been devouring their own meals and disregarding others. He says, think of others as more important than yourself. Come together with the equalizing cross and recognize that we're all on equal footing before Jesus. The focal point of Paul's instruction is for the body of believers not to think in themselves as divided by class, but united in Christ. And then he gets some final instruction. The one who wants to be filled should be should eat at home. Now, what he's saying is as you're coming to the Lord's table, you're not looking to fill yourself. You're not looking to get something for yourself. You're coming together to wait on each other. You're coming together to serve each other. That there's this meal is more than just a meal. This meal is a reminder of Christ sacrifice for us. This is worship. We're not coming in a selfish mindset but we're coming to worship and to serve. So how do we apply this? How do we apply this to our life? The 1st thing we see is that we should adopt the same attitude of Christ in all things. Philippians two, 3 through five, Paul says this to a different group, a different church, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. We should be thinking as others as more important than ourselves, adopting the same attitude as Christ. Now, in the very 1st giving of the Lord's Supper in Luke 22, Jesus has just demonstrated the Lord's Supper, almost verbatim for what Paul just said in 1st Corinthians 11. And immediately the disciples start having a conversation of thinking, who's better? Is it you, Peter? Is it me, John? Who's the greatest here? Jesus just shared, this is my body, this is my blood, and the disciples were like, who could win in a fight? Typical guy conversations, right? We have this, who could win in a fight? Who's greater? And then Jesus says this correction to them. Gentile kings lord their power over others. Don't be like them. He said, who's the greater one? The one who reclines to the table or the one who serves. And he essentially is saying, I am the greatest one, who should be the one reclining at the table, receiving all of the service, but I'm the one who just washed your feet. Imitate Christ. Adopt that attitude. The 2nd thing we see. We should take great care to protect our gospel witness. First Corinthians 1031. Paul says, in all things, we should do everything for the glory of God, all things are to be done and centralized around giving God the glory. How much of our lives are on that truth? How much of our lives are we trying to give to God and how much of our lives are we giving glory to ourselves? And how much are we even aware of it? How much are we looking to be obedient to the Lord and sharing the gospel with our coworkers, our neighbors, and our friends, that he would receive the glory, and that the table would be filled? And how much of our lives are we just wanting to have our own glory? Stash our own treasure, build our own kingdom. Are we coming together for the worse? Are we coming together for the better? And lastly, we should make unity a priority. In Matthew 523 through 24, Jesus has given the sermon on the Mount. And this verse sticks out. It says, so if you're offering your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there. That gift is very valuable. It's for their atonement of sins. But leave it there in front of the altar. 1st go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Reconciliation is so important that the sacrifice that is very important can wait. Who in this, who in your life, maybe is there someone that needed to be reconciled with? Is there forgiveness that needs to be extended? Is there a burden that needs to be bore of a friend or a family member? Who's hurting? Who needs help? How can we serve each other? Let's think of others as more important than ourselves. As a kid, I, and hearing the song, Father's House, I don't know if you're like me, but I was talking with my wife. As a kid, I'd sing that song and it's a big, big house, lots and lots of room, big, big table, lots and lots of food, big, big yard where we can play football, touchdown. Um, the table was was empty in my mind. I don't know if you thought about that song and what you were thinking when you were singing it, but the table was a closed room with tons of chairs and all the food that I like in the middle. And I'd go to the backyard and I was kicking field goals by myself. I don't know if you were the same. My wife said she had the exact same experience. But as I've grown up, I've recognized that the house isn't empty. Each room has been especially prepared by Jesus himself for his children. From all peoples and nations. The yard isn't empty. It's full of people from all over creation playing much more than American football. And the table isn't a long, empty, cold, dark table. It's much larger. It's in a huge dining room full of familial chatter and warm fellowship with Christ at the head. And he is at a table welcoming all people who accept the invitation to his feast. The table is big, big. How could how would God use Northland Church? How would he use you to labor to see his big, big table surrounded with your neighbors, family members, friends, and coworkers? Who can you invite to come to the father's house? Let's all go and invite people to come and go with us to the father's house. The table never runs out of food and never runs out of drink and will be feasting in his presence forever. Let's pray. God, you are good and you're kind to us. Thank you so much for allowing us to be in this place to worship you. Thank you for reminding us of your sacrifice for us. Lord, we are so undeserving. There's nothing that we can do. that would ever earn the sacrifice that you gave for us. There's no price that we can pay. Lord, but you invite us to come and to buy the food that you have that doesn't cost anything. To come and drink the living water that never runs dry. Lord, as we come together as a church, and months to come, and years to come, to surround the table, and to partake together, Lord, I pray that you would continually be reminding us of the sacrifice that you've given us. That you would constantly be pushing us as we encourage each other into faithfulness, and we proclaim your death until you come back. Lord, we thank you for holding our inheritance in your hands forever, where it will never run dry, or it will never be defiled. It will never be perishable. Lord, you are good, you are kind to us. But thank you. Jesus name. Amen.