The Lord’s Supper
The Other Side of The Koin(onia)

Here at the Scullville Bible Church we gather together on the first Sunday of each month to partake together as a congregation in the sharing of the emblems that Jesus used when He instituted the Memorial during the Last Supper in the upper room.  We recognize this act of Jesus as the inauguration of the New Covenant in His blood, confirmed by the Crucifixion of His own Body on the Cross of Calvary. 

We hold the elements of bread and wine to be "Symbols", having no actual, magical or spiritual value inherent in them but serving as a reminder, as a Memorial, to that very death of Christ until he comes again. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come I Cor. 11:26. We believe that this act of faith is a commandment of Christ, and is to be entered into by faith, with a solemn sense of our own unworthiness, confessing our sins, and with deep meditation upon the grace and mercy of God demonstrated in that One who gave His life so willingly for so many who were hopelessly held captive by sin and death.  Hallelujah!

The Communion Service as practiced in our assembly, and indeed as practiced in most evangelical and fundamental Churches of the world serves to bring our thoughts and attention towards God. It also causes us to consider our own humble need for the Savior when we are asked to examine ourselves concerning our faith in Him and to confront anything that would hinder our fellowship with God through Christ. It is a blessed time, both in sorrow at the acknowledgment that our Savior died the cruel death because of our sin and in joy because by His Life, death and Resurrection He won the victory over death for us. 

Everything that I have said so far is common knowledge to the great bulk of those who partake of the Lord's Supper. But it is only one side of the coin. In fact, I have “Coined” the phrase "koin"(onia) since the word KOINONIA (Strong's dictionary #2842) is the Greek word for “fellowship”, “partnership”, “participation”, “communion”, etc. What I want you to do as you read this article is to bear in mind that our Lord had two grand purposes in mind when He instituted the Supper, the first as surveyed above was to remind us to remember Him until He comes again the second time at the consummation of the age and the other was to bind believers together in love one for another. That He wants us to live together in unity and to love one another is of course well known by all. But that the Lord's Supper plays a major roll in this unity is not always as clear to us.  

The fact that the Communion service is a Memorial is significant in itself. It indicates that it is a remembrance, and a remembrance is not something that exists in the present moment only but something from the past that is called to mind in the present. In the case of the Lord's Supper that thing from the past is the promise that we shall once again eat with Him when He comes again. He is not here in the same physical way that He was here then, as John 16:7 tells us Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Nor is he here in the same physical way that He will be here some day. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:3 He has gone away physically with the promise that He shall return again.  In the mean time, His body and blood are symbolized by the elements of communion. But His actual presence is discernible to the world, not in those symbols, but in the Body of Christ, the Church and in our love for one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.   John 13:35.  (NIV)

As we examine these passages a little closer we find evidence that our Lord knew how difficult it would be for us all to unite as one body. I also think that by giving us the Lord’s Supper He instituted the necessary means for insuring a continual fellowship of His people until He comes back again. Most Christians have very little trouble getting along with God our Father. It is His other kids that give us grief. This “forced” unity is the message that Paul wants to communicate to the Corinthians in his first epistle. In I Corinthians chapter ten Paul begins to lay the foundation for what he will use to rebuke the Corinthians in the well-known “Communion Section” of Chapter 11. Notice I Cor.10:16-17:

  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood
of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body
 of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all
partakers of that one bread.

In this passage Paul tells us that the bread and cup are a "fellowship" or "Partnership" in Christ. We are one bread or loaf, which is to say that we are one body. Even Israel after the flesh was bound together by the Altar. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they, which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? I Cor. 10:18 Are we bound to God? Of course, but we are also bound together as a people by the sacrifice. 

He goes on in the rest of Ch. 10 to show the fellowship that results from partaking of food and drink in both a positive and a negative way.  If we partake of food with the heathen with no "intention" of spiritual communion, simply as a social function, then no harm is done even though the food may have been sacrificed to idols prior to being sold in the market.  But, if anyone speaks up to make the connection between the food and the "deity" to whom it was offered in sacrifice everything changes. Now we must take into consideration the other person’s conscience. Although eating meat offered to idols means nothing to you (because the idol is nothing), it is obvious that it means something to the one who brought it to your attention, or else they would not have mentioned it, and so you must refrain from eating as this would be taken by that person as a willingness on your part to fellowship with demons. This is the very impression that you wish to avoid

Conversely, when Christians partake among themselves of bread and wine, it may be nothing more than everyday eating and drinking since the elements in and of themselves are neutral. But when the "intention" of the individual or group is to connect the food with the Lord as in the Lord’s Supper then the conscience is involved and the communion between individuals and  the Lord and between individuals and "His Body" the Church must come to the fore.

Based upon what I have said so far it should be rather obvious that the lesson taught in I Cor. 11:17-34 is not about the form of the ritual or the composition of the elements. It is about the results of partaking of these elements  with an improper attitude towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. The whole scenario is about the coming together. It is about division in the assembly. It is about failure to consider one another. I do not want to mess with Church tradition, but I must ask you if it is possible that when Paul speaks of partaking "unworthily" that his primary concern is not subjective examination of sins committed  (although such sins must certainly be confessed before God and dealt with) but rather the failure in this case to comprehend the "communal" aspect of the occasion?  Is it possible that when he says that they do not "discern the Lords body", he is referring to what has been his subject throughout the narrative and perhaps throughout the entire book of I Corinthians, namely the consideration of the other "partners" in the Table of the Lord? Even when Paul concludes this section about the Lord's Table, it is a return to his original point, "wait for one another".    

If my understanding of these Scriptures is correct then we have an explanation for our insistence that we take the elements in unison. But if my understanding is correct we also need to shift some of the emphasis from concentrating on whether we have any personal sins to confess before we partake of Communion, to concentrating on how we relate to those folks around us who are participating in the Memorial Dinner with us.

Take the time to dig a little deeper into the significance of our gathering together around the Lord's Table. Let us consider one another. Those of you who are not actively joining with the body of Christ on a regular basis need to examine this matter most of all. The hand cannot say to the foot, I have no need of you, and the foot, because it is not the head must not fail to fulfill its own role. The Church that we belong to is not our idea. Jesus Christ is building His Church. And you may rest assured that He is going to bestow the more abundant honor on the less comely parts. Let us show the world that we are His by loving one another. And let us show His death till he comes again by joining with the saints each time they schedule a celebration of the Lord’s Supper. You cannot do Communion by yourself or by television.  You need ME! And I need YOU! Jesus made it that way. 

Come Lord Jesus!

                                                                                                            Hayden

I Cor. 10:20-33           But I say, that the things, which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.