Bible Materials

REVERENCE IN WORSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP

by   07/09/2018   1_Corinthians 11:2~34

Message


Thank God for helping us to study up to chapter 10. Thus far in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul has dealt with the problems of church division in chapters 1-4, and with moral and ethical issues in chapters 5-7. Then in chapters 8-10, he taught about the proper use of Christian freedom in relation to food sacrificed to idols. In chapter 10, Paul gave a strong warning not to follow the example of the Israelites in the desert who set their hearts on evil things and nearly most of whom perished in the desert. He urged them to flee from idolatry, which is rooted in self-worship and self-love, to love the Lord solely and do all including eating and drinking for the glory of God. Now chapters 11-14 address practical problems that occur when the church gathers together. The church is God’s dwelling place. Within the church, there must be spiritual order, based on God’s word of truth, and spiritual love, based on Jesus’ sacrifice. Today’s passage is about public worship and the Lord’s Supper. In this study, may we newly learn the right attitude in our worship and the meaning of communion. First, reverence and order in worship (2-16). Verse 2 says, “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.” This could be a brief encouragement for the Corinthians after a stern rebuke and painful correction in the previous passage. Paul encouraged them to continue to remember him and to hold to the teachings/traditions they had received from him. It is because Paul wanted them to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ. Then Paul says in verse 3, “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Here three things are written concerning head. “The head of every man is Christ” means Jesus Christ is the Lord of all, having the authority over every person in the church. Each church member should enjoy a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and live in submission to him, the head. The same word “head” is used to describe the position of a husband in a family: the head of the woman is man. The husband is the head of the family. His wife should submit to him so that they be an order in the family. Then Paul says, “the head of Christ is God.” When we understand the meaning, “the head of Christ is God,” we can better understand the meaning of “the head of woman is man.” According to the Scriptures, undoubtedly Christ Jesus is God. Christ Jesus the Son is equal to God the Father (John 1:1, 14). It is written in Philippians 2:5-6, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Although he is in equality with God the Father, Christ submitted himself to God the Father, the Sovereign Ruler, to the point of even death on a cross. This submission was the expression of his love for God the Father, who also always loves the Son, placing everything in his hands (Jn 3:35), even entrusting all judgment to him (Jn 5:22). It was to achieve world salvation for all of humanity. God the Father and Christ the Son are truly one—one in mind, heart and spirit, but their roles are different. Their relationship is one of absolute love and respect. In this we can understand the expression, “the head of woman is man.” This is spiritual order, which is not a euphemism for Confucian hierarchy or dictatorship. Rather, the concept embodies mutual love and respect, necessary authority and willing submission. So, Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Then how much more to Christ and to one’s husband? Then Paul says in verses 4 and 5, “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishnours his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head—it is just as though her head were shaved.” Here we see that some Corinthians women prayed or prophesied in public worship. Paul did not criticize the practice but accepted it. Rather he brings out the matter of head covered or uncovered. At that time, typically, Greek women covered their heads as a sign of submission to their husbands. If a woman did not cover her head, it was a sign of disrespect or waywardness. We sense that some Corinthian Christian women refused to cover their heads. Paul does not say the reason. Probably they wanted to promote womens rights. Anyway Paul is helping them. A womans not covering her head is just as though her head were shaved. This is a kind of humiliating expression. Then Paul says, “If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.” In this way Paul stresses that a woman should cover her head. Thus Paul affirms a worthy Corinthian cultural custom: Men should uncover their heads and women should cover their heads during public worship. To violate this custom was dishonourable culturally, and Paul affirms it to be dishonourable before God also. Then Paul says continually in verses 7-8, “A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” According to Genesis, God made man in his image and crowned him with glory and honour (Ge 1:27; Ps 8:5). So man is the image and glory of God. And God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man (Ge 2:22), and made her as a helper suitable for man (Ge 2:18). So it is right that woman came from man, and woman was created for man. Thus women’s covering their heads was to keep creation order. But its meaning goes further. According to Paul’s understanding woman is the glory of man. The glory of God should not be obscured or veiled but displayed, especially in the public worship, so man ought not to cover his head. It is precisely the glory of man that should be veiled in the presence of God. So woman ought to cover her head. In worship God alone must be glorified. As it was mentioned above, at that time in Corinth women’s covering her head was usual practice. But Paul elaborated it from biblical viewpoint, and helped them to understand it spiritually. Paul goes further and says in verse 10, “For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.” As we studied in Hebrews 1:14, all angels are ministering spirit sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. Mentioning angels, Paul probably means that there is more to worship than the people in the congregation. Angels are there. The angels observe, and the women must not be unseemly (inappropriate) before them. Here, what is notable is that a woman’s covering is a sign of authority on her head. What does this mean? The woman’s head-covering in praying or prophesying is her act of obedience to God, veiling the glory of man. It is from deep recognition of the sovereign God, whose glory only had to be revealed. We know that those who obey God have authority. So we can say that the woman’s covering her head is a sign of indirect authority. There are beautiful examples of women who obeyed God in the bible and were submissive to their husband. According to 1 Peter 3:5-6, Sarah put her hope in God and was submissive to Abraham calling him her master. This was her inner beauty. Also Rebekah took her veil and covered herself (Ge 24:65) when she noticed Isaac as he came to welcome her. Rebekah later obeyed God keeping God’s direction that “the older would serve the younger”, especially when her husband Isaac seemed to have lost discernment for this. She seemed to be stronger spiritually but was supportive and submissive to Isaac. Paul further writes in verses 11-12, “In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” Now Paul refers to the ordinary process of birth. Every man is born of a woman, while woman came from man. And both coming from God, man and woman are dependent of and essential to each other in the Lord, in whom there is true equality between man and woman. Then Paul says in verses 13-15, “Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.” Here Paul makes another appeal, this time to the “very nature of things.” It is natural for a woman to have hair longer than a man. This certainty must have been the case in the first-century Corinth and the places known to those who lived there, or else Paul could not have couched his appeal in these terms. Historically, a woman’s long hair was a symbol of her glory. Since this distinction is inherent in nature and in creation order, it should be reflected during public worship with visible things. Church is not the place for gender neutrality, but the place where women should be women and men should be men. In Corinthian culture, it meant that women must cover their heads. Since this custom was entirely rooted in spiritual principles, Paul insists on it and does not yield. So he says in verse 16, “If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.” What can we learn from this? Definitely we learn the right attitude in worshipping God. We have learned that those who worship God should worship in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24). Nonetheless to say, in worshiping God our inner attitude is most important. Also, our outward attitude cannot be ignored. In this part we see that Paul was very sensitive to and serious about covering the head or not covering it in a public worship service. Although we do not have the direction application, we can learn reverence in worshipping God. One’s outward appearance should be the expression of awareness of God and so reverence to him, especially in our worship service. Nowadays, many worship God according to their convenience including wearing clothes as they see fit, saying that God sees our hearts, not our outward appearance. They come to worship God just with casual, even provocative clothing even though they would never wear such clothes to have an interview or to meet someone they respect. It is so easy to despise God unwittingly, simply because he is not visible. Certainly God cannot be mocked. One’s worship attitude matters in life. Our reverence to God in worshipping him should be expressed in our outward appearance, including our clothing. We should wear our best clothes as the expression of our love and reverence to him. We should be aware of God more than people. Of course, just clothing best habitually is another matter. Coming to worship God is coming to meet God, our great loving God. May we revere God as God inwardly and outwardly each time we come to worship him. Second, reverence in fellowship (17-34). Now Paul says about the Lord’s Supper among them. In verses 17-21, “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.” To our understanding, the Corinthians seem to have gone too far. We wonder how they could act like that in the Lord’s Supper. Yet, we should consider their situation. Clearly, at Corinth, the Holy Communion was a full meal, of the type called a ‘love feast’ (Jude 12; some MSS; of 2 Peter 2:13). But what happened at Corinth was a travesty of love. We can think of the congregation in the Corinthian church. Paul wrote in 1:26, “…Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.” Many of the congregation were slaves. So they had to work hard as slaves and then came to the Lord’s Supper. They were hungry. However, some rich people probably prepared the Lord’s Supper and enjoyed the love feast not waiting for the late comers of the poor people. So one remained hungry, another gets drunk. As a result it was not a love feast at all, but loveless and reckless feast. So Paul rebukes them in verses 22, “Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!” This is Paul’s clear rebuking for their irreverence in the Holy Communion. Paul could have stopped here with this reprimand. Yet, as usual he goes to the fundamentals, to the basic, deep truth of God. Paul helps them to go back to the origin of the Lord’s Supper so that they may renew the meaning of the Lord’s Supper and so have a right attitude for the communion. In verses 23-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took the 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, 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.’” First of all, it was not Paul’s idea to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper originated with Christ himself. He is the one who initiated and conducted the first communion. Humanly speaking, that night was the worst night to him, for he was betrayed by one of the Twelve, one of the chosen, who used a holy kiss as a signal to arrest him. The betrayal would bring him unbearable pain of crucifixion after flogging and mocking, and unspeakable agony of soul to take upon himself all the sins of men. Again, from a human viewpoint, it was the worst and most horrible night for Jesus. But from God’s point of view, spiritually speaking, the night would be the night of immeasurable blessing upon mankind, the blessing of eternal salvation, which God had promised at the time of man’s fall and promised to Abraham to bless all peoples on earth through his offspring (Ge 12:3; 22:18). Anticipating the cross where his body would be completely broken and his whole blood shed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you...’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood…’” In this way he would give his whole body and blood to each of his people. Especially, the Lord said, “the new covenant in my blood.” As we studied in Hebrews, the first or old covenant was established on Mt. Sinai as God gave the Israelites Ten Commandments and revealed his hope for them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. At that time animal’s blood was sprinkled on the scroll and all the people. Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” So the act of animals being killed and the blood being sprinkled put the first covenant into effect. Moses also sprinkled both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies for cleansing with the blood. It is later written in Hebrews 9:22, “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The first covenant was broken because of the unfaithfulness of the Israelites. The new covenant was made in the blood of Christ through the sacrifice of himself on Golgotha (Mt 27:33; Mk 14:22; Jn 19:17) on Mount Zion. It is written in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin.” His body was broken and his blood was shed to bestow upon us the grace of forgiveness of our sins. As we studied in Hebrews, the blood of animals was for outward or ceremonial cleansing. But the blood of Christ is for inner cleansing, cleansing our consciences through the forgiveness of sins. So the core of the new covenant is the forgiveness of sins as written in Hebrews 8:12 quoted from Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” and written again in 10:17, “This sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Also another important point of the new covenant is written in Hebrews 8:10 quoted from Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts” and written again in Hebrews 10:16, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” This law is not the law of sin and death, but the law of the Spirit of life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So new covenant people are to live in the grace of forgiveness of sins and live by the Spirit that goes together with obedience to the words of God. In this passage, the expression “do this in remembrance of me” is written two times. First of all, it is to keep the Holy Communion. In the communion Christ who gave his body and blood on the cross is to be remembered. At the same time “do this in remembrance of me” should be our daily life beyond the ceremony. Jesus said in John 6:55-57, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” To eat his flesh and drink his blood is to come to the cross of Jesus in repentance each time. It is also to feed on Jesus through his words and in prayer and so remain in him, having nutrition in our souls. It is also to be united with Christ as Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Apostle Peter also said in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wound you have been healed.” Those who participate in communion are to have a clear direction to die to sins and live for righteousness in the grace of forgiveness of sin and according to the will of God for their lives. Then Paul says in verse 26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” So communion goes back to the cross of Jesus on Golgotha at his first coming and looks forward to his second coming for the fulfillment in the kingdom of God, where his people will eat and drink a new with the Lord at the wedding supper of the Lamb (Mt 26:29; Mk 14:25; Lk 22:16; Rev 19:9). Until that time his people are to proclaim the Lord’s death. The Eucharist is an acted visual message of the gospel. We are to preach the gospel visually and audibly. We remember Paul’s absolute attitude toward the gospel, “I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor.9:16). He also said in 1:17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” Christ’s giving his body and blood should not be forgotten but remembered at each and every generation through the visual and audible proclamation of his death by his people until he comes again. Now in light of the deep meaning of the Lord’s Supper, Paul helps the Corinthians to correct wrong attitude in their communion. He says in verses 27-30, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats and of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” It is indeed a dreadful thing to have the Holy Communion in an unworthy manner. It can even result in the death of a person. And then in verses 31-32, “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” We really need to examine ourselves standing before him and being judged by him here and now, which is a spiritual discipline, not being just obscured in the mere thought of the judgment on the last days. And then Paul says in verses 33-34, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.” May we deeply learn reverence in our worship and fellowship.



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