The Lord's Supper: Let Us Wait For One Another
1 Corinthians. 11: 17- 33
Paul raises a critique against the way the Christians of Corinth had celebrated the Lord’s Supper. The context is that of the agape or love feast- a common meal in which the congregation had participated before they celebrated the Lord’s Supper. This meal had become one that really brought to the forefront the “divisions” and “factions” within the congregation. It is apparent that these divisions are based on class differences.
Christians who were well off, brought ample food and drink to the assembly and enjoyed it without consideration for the poor who had not brought food. Some also over indulged, even became intoxicated, while others were left hungry. Although they gathered in the same place, they did not show any care or concern for those who were in need. It was this context that made Paul say, “When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Supper (Because) you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing.”
The Lord’s Supper is the central act that makes us who we are. It is a critique of the way that the existing world is organized, whether economically, socially, or otherwise. It is an act that reminds us of who we are and who we ought to be. If we are not concerned about the social divisions within our society and if we are not prepared to decisively act against removing the root causes of hunger, and work for a more equitable, just, participatory and sustainable society, then we are not eating the Lord’s Supper, but some other meal.
The Lord’s Supper brings to the centre of Christian life and witness the concern for working towards a more equitable and just world order. For a Christian, it cannot be a peripheral concern. The Lord’s Supper, as a sacrament, reminds us of what the nature of all our meals should be. It represents “spiritual communion, social community, and economic communism”. We often confine its significance to spiritual communion.
Those of us from India know how caste distinctions are enforced and maintained through non-commensality- prohibiting people from eating at the same table. Only people of the same caste can eat at the same table. In a society that is divided on the basis of Caste, celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an act of breaking the barriers of caste and establishing a social community. It is also economic communism- equitable distribution of economic resources. Such was the character of the earliest Christian community. “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. They broke bread at home and ate food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all people.” (Acts. 2: 43- 46) “There was not a needy person among them” (Acts.4: 34) In a world where a few wallow in affluence and the majority is deprived of the basic necessities of life, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a revolutionary act of calling into question an economic order that perpetuates unequal distribution of the world’s resource and leaves people in poverty and destitution.
To the crowd that was so much taken aback by the so called miracle of feeding the five thousand and wanted to make Jesus king, he said, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs (in breaking of the rule of God), but because you ate your fill of loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the son of man will give you.” (John.6: 26 & 27) This verse has allusion to the food that God provided in the desert for the Israelites- manna. God had given them clear instructions: “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” “But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul.” (Exodus.16: 17- 20). “Food that perishes” is hoarded food or accumulated food. Other characteristics of this food are also mentioned, “those who had gathered much had nothing over, those who had gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.” God’s dispensation is not one of accumulation of wealth by a few and deprivation of the basic needs of the majority. It is for this sort of an order that we are taught to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. We don’t ask for food that would last till our death. We pray for God’s rule that would ensure a just, equitable sharing of the resources of this earth. Sixty million tons of wheat rot in the store houses of India while 80 million of its people are starving. Why? A certain global economic arrangement demands it. It has no rhyme or reason other than that. Is it not a form of “terrorism”?
Camilo Torres, the Columbian guerilla Priest, who was killed in an encounter with the armed forces, held the position that he could not celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a society that was riddled with such gross inequality. I do not agree with him fully. I would like to continue this sacramental act as a subversive act and as a protest. However, I am against reducing it to a “Holy Communion” and thus separating it from stark realities of exploitation, oppression and suffering in this world. Paul writes, “Whoever, therefore, 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 all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” “The body” here refers not to the physical body, but the community of the people of God. As a community committed to Christ, it is important that we discern the true state of affairs of the body, the communities, regions and nations from where we come and the world at large, and it is in response to this discernment that we should partake of this meal.
It was expedient for Paul and not right on his part to suggest that “if you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together it will not be for your condemnation.” (I Cor.11: 34). He, it seems, is asking for separation between the private and the public, the Holy and the secular. It is this expediency of Paul and the like that has reduced the Lord’s Supper to a spiritual mystery that has nothing to do with the realities of this world. I wish Paul had said, “If you are hungry, don’t eat your food till you come to the assembly, bring your food over and share it with those who have no food, and then eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord. Otherwise, it will be for your condemnation.”
Let us take part in the Lord’s Supper as a means of protest, as a means of sharing our commitment and vision, as a subversive act against a world in which people go hungry every day and dollars are spent for armaments. Let us take part in the Lord’s Supper as a means of sharing in the sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of a world that is broken, divided and torn asunder by class, race, nationality and creed. Let us partake in this meal with discernment of the body- with the full awareness of our interdependence, our broken-ness, and the costly sacrifice demanded of us to mend and to heal.