Lenten Meditation: March 12, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
All who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves. — I Corinthians 11:29
Paul’s account of the Eucharist is unique in a number of ways. First, it is the earliest account we have of Jesus’ meal with his disciples the night before he died. Mark, in his Gospel, is the next to tell us about the supper, but that was perhaps 20 years later. Second, Paul does not just describe Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. He describes the Corinthians' regular Lord’s Supper. It is the only place in the New Testament that gives us a picture of the Church celebrating the Eucharist. Third, Paul draws ethical conclusions about participation in the Lord’s Supper. It demands something of those who eat and drink.
A nineteenth-century French author wrote, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” Paul assured the Corinthians that what they were eating was the Body of Christ, that is to say, the very life of Christ. He might have written to them, “Tell me that you eat the Body of Christ and I can tell you that you are the Body of Christ.”
Unfortunately the Corinthians did not see it. The Body of Christ was on the table, and the Body of Christ was around the table. Maybe the Corinthians saw the former, but they definitely did not see the latter, so they treated their dinner companions with disrespect if not with contempt.
Treating the Eucharistic Food and Drink as sacred things—as bearers of the Life of Christ—is easy. Treating the Eucharistic Assembly as a sacred thing—as a bearer of the Life of Christ—can be hard.
I worshipped with a congregation once that sat facing one another as we do at the Cathedral. At the very beginning of the liturgy, before even a word was said, they all bowed before the others. They began by acknowledging that the Body of Christ was in the room, and it was them, so the Body reverenced the Body. After that, the energy in the room shifted. “All who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves,” Paul warned the Corinthians. In that wonderful congregation who welcomed me into their Eucharist, it was impossible not to discern the Body.