Reflections with Andy - 1 Corinthians 11: 17-34 – The Lord’s Supper, Part One

We’re going to look at the Lord’s Supper the next couple of days, and today we’ll spend some time talking about what it means to eat and drink unworthily

What does Paul really mean when he warns about taking Communion “in an unworthy manner”? For many Christians, these verses have been associated with fear and anxiety about approaching the Lord’s Table. In today’s reflection, Andy explores 1 Corinthians 11 in its original context and explains why the Wesleyan understanding of Communion is rooted in grace rather than gatekeeping. By looking at what was actually happening in the Corinthian church, we discover that Paul’s concern wasn’t hidden sin as much as it was divisions, exclusion, and failing to welcome one another. It’s an invitation to see the Lord’s Table as Christ intended—a place where grace is offered freely to all who come.

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Good morning! I hope you’re doing well this Monday morning as we continue our time together in 1 Corinthians.

We had a great weekend of worship here at First United Methodist Church in Starkville, and what we experienced yesterday actually ties in beautifully with today’s reading because Paul is teaching about Communion.

My Bible breaks the rest of this chapter into three sections, but I actually want to read it as one passage because I think it helps everything make more sense. We may spend a couple of days here depending on how the conversation unfolds, but I think it’s important to hear the whole thing together - 1 Corinthians 11:17–34.

This is one of the most significant passages in Scripture about the Lord’s Supper, and it’s also one of the passages that has most shaped my theology as a Wesleyan. At the same time, I think it’s one of the passages that can be misunderstood in ways that actually do harm. So let’s talk about it.

Now, let me begin by saying there are a lot of different ways Christians understand Communion. One of the reasons I’m United Methodist is because I deeply love our understanding of the Lord’s Table.

You may have grown up hearing these words:

“Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.”

For many Christians, those verses have created the idea—sometimes spoken, sometimes unspoken—that you should never come to Communion if there’s any unconfessed sin in your life. Maybe it’s a sin you know about. Maybe it’s one you don’t even realize is there. The fear becomes that if you come to the table without being completely spiritually cleaned up, you’re somehow putting your soul in danger.

The result is that Communion becomes something people approach with fear instead of joy.

That has never been my experience as a United Methodist.

I’ve often said there are three great gifts John Wesley gave to the wider Christian movement.

The first is the importance of small groups and accountability. If you’ve ever been part of a Sunday school class, a discipleship group, or a life group, you owe a debt to John Wesley. His Methodist movement was built around class meetings and bands where Christians encouraged one another to grow in faith.

The second is his emphasis on sanctification—being made perfect in love. Wesley believed salvation wasn’t the finish line; it was the starting line. We are saved so that God can continue transforming us into the people He created us to be.

And then there’s Communion.

Wesley called Communion a converting ordinance.

That’s a remarkable idea.

He believed someone could come to the Lord’s Table without yet knowing Christ and, in encountering Christ through the sacrament, experience conversion. In other words, Communion wasn’t just something believers did after they were saved. It was one of the ways God reached people with grace.

Think about what that means.

If that’s true, then people are naturally going to come to the table with unconfessed sin. They may come carrying burdens they haven’t named yet. They may not even know Christ yet. They come exactly as they are.

Now, we do take self-examination seriously. Every United Methodist Communion liturgy includes a prayer of confession before we receive the elements. We search our hearts. We confess our sins. We ask for God’s forgiveness.

But here’s the difference.

If you can only come to the Lord’s Table once you’re worthy, then nobody comes.

None of us are worthy.

That’s the whole point of grace.

So I’m not a fan of gatekeeping the Lord’s Table because I don’t believe that’s the best reading of either Scripture or grace.

Now, I think understanding Paul’s context is incredibly important.

Listen again to what he says:

“When the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry while another becomes drunk.”

Then, just a few verses later, he says:

“So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you’re hungry, eat at home.”

That’s why I wanted us to read this entire passage together instead of pulling one verse out by itself.

Here’s what’s happening.

Don’t picture Communion the way we celebrate it today.

Whether your church passes trays, comes forward to receive bread and cup, uses wafers, or serves little cups of juice, we think of Communion as a brief moment during worship.

That wasn’t the case in Corinth.

For the early church, Communion happened as part of a full meal.

Remember, Sunday wasn’t a day off in the Roman Empire. Most believers still worked. Slaves worked. Laborers worked. The church often met in the home of one of its wealthier members, and the people with flexible schedules got there first.

And you know how people are.

You’ve been to parties where someone sets out Rotel and chips before everyone arrives.

You know you’re supposed to wait...

...but that Rotel sure looks good.

Maybe it’s just me.

Well, that’s essentially what’s happening in Corinth.

The wealthier Christians were arriving early and starting the meal before everyone else got there. They were eating the food and drinking the wine, and by the time the working people and slaves finally arrived, there wasn’t much left. Some went hungry while others were drunk.

That’s what Paul is correcting.

He’s talking about divisions within the church.

He’s talking about people failing to honor one another.

He’s talking about Christians who weren’t willing to wait so everyone could share equally in the hospitality of Christ.

That’s what it means to eat and drink in an unworthy manner.

It’s not about some secret sin you forgot to confess.

It’s about treating your brothers and sisters as though they don’t belong at the table.

So maybe the modern equivalent isn’t someone grabbing the Communion bread before everyone else.

Maybe it’s how we decide who belongs.

Do we welcome people who don’t look like us, vote like us, or live like us?

Or do we build invisible fences around Christ’s Table?

One of the things I’ve always loved about being Methodist is our commitment to the open table.

I’ve joked before that if you really want to upset an old-school Methodist, let Communion run out before they get there.

That’ll do it.

Because we believe this isn’t our table.

Every first Sunday of the month, when we celebrate Communion, I remind our congregation:

“This is not my table. It is not the church’s table. It is Christ’s table. And all who seek to follow Him are welcome.”

That’s a beautiful understanding of grace.

Tomorrow we’ll come back to this passage and continue talking about the Lord’s Supper, because there’s still more here to unpack.

But for today, I wanted us to understand what was actually happening in Corinth. Once you understand the context, Paul’s words sound very different than they often do when they’re taken out of context.

Thanks for being with us today. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.