1 Corinthians 11:23-34 says, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you; that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take,eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this in rememberance of me". In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; this do, as often as you drink it, do this in rememberance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgement. And the rest I will set in order when I come".
Father, thank you this morning for your word. God, we thank you for this week and all that we have to be thankful and grateful for. Let us decrease and may you increase, in Jesus name. Amen
Look at verse 17-21, his word is so beautiful and I want to just set the table for where we're going with this message. "Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it. For there must always be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore, when you come together in one place it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and the other is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you".
I want to speak a message this morning entitled, "Table Manners". As we're coming into this time of year through Thanksgiving and Christmastime I want to talk about having the proper manners as we come to celebrate all that God has done for us together. At home we have manners that are required around our table, something that we've taught our children and something that we practice as a household. One of the rules that we have when we come to the table for dinner is to wash our hands. How many know it just makes good sense to come to the table clean? One of the other things that we do is to not talk with our mouth full. One of my wife's pet peeves is when we're around the table and we talk with our mouth's full of food. There is nothing more unappetizing than to try and enjoy the food that someone else is eating. We are from an Italian household so talking and eating go hand in hand. My poor wife has to watch us boys with food in our mouth all the time.
One of the other things that we have as a table manner is not to talk about inappropriate things or disgusting issues at the dinner table because we would like to enjoy our food. Certainly one of the great rules in any home should be no passing of gas verbally or otherwise when you are at the table. I know that in some nations a burp is a sign of a good dinner but in our home you get sent away from the table if you decide to let mom know how good dinner is. Also, because we have teenagers in our home, one of the things we require is that we take reasonable portions. All of our kids are teenagers and when we come together we like to eat. Normally we don't serve the food and make the plate for the kids; we just come around the stove and put the food on our plates. We have learned, now that we have teenage boys that Mom and Dad go first so we don't go hungry. It's amazing how one pot of mashed potatoes seems to be a whole meal for a child. I don't understand that.
Some of the best times in my life have been spent around the dinner table; romantic dinners with my wife, times that we share together.; great times with family and friends as we share our days and eat together. Some of the fondest memories I have are at Thanksgiving time with my family and my relatives and we would laugh; our home was a joyful place. Our celebration of Thanksgiving and the Lord's table have a lot in common. Usually when it comes to Thanksgiving time and other holidays through the year, I'm not a cliché' preacher and will usually preach what the Lord lays on my heart for those weeks and today I felt like the Lord wanted me to speak on this idea of table manners.
Our celebration of Thanksgiving and the Lord's supper have a lot in common. The first thing we know is that it is more about the thanks than the food. The truth is as we come around the Lord's table we are thankful for what he's done. The symbols that he gave us are just the body and blood of what Christ did for us; those two elements that symbolize who he is. But the table of the Lord is not a depressing time; it is a time to celebrate what the Lord did. The same is true for Thanksgiving. To me, Thanksgiving food although it is very good is very bland. The food I eat throughout most of the year has a lot more spice and a whole lot more garlic in it. But Thanksgiving food is still good; I love the turkey and the mashed potatoes. The truth is I don't just celebrate the food that's before me for that day because we eat so well throughout the year. The thanks that we have for Jesus and everything that he has done all year long, we have just set that day aside to acknowledge all that he's done and the blessings that he's given.
There are two significant things that happen around a table. The first one is nutrition and the second thing is fellowship or relationship. God created us to need both. The truth is he created us to eat because we need to eat to live. I'm thankful that we have the privilege in America to really be able to get in the mood for something that we want to eat to live. Around the world, for many people it's not about the taste but they'll eat whatever they can get their hands on because they need the nutrition to stay alive. It brings us strength and sustenance and keeps us healthy. Those who don't eat starve. We also need to eat of the Lord. Communion is a recognition of our daily need to be spiritually healthy. The Bible says that we are to eat his flesh and drink his blood which means we are to have that time where we eat of the Lord every day, where we trust in his word and have that time with him and we allow that to keep us healthy. The truth is if most people ate on a daily basis the way they eat of the Lord Jesus Christ, they would be physically dead like they are almost spiritually starved to death. God says we are to eat and see that the Lord is good.
Proverbs 24:13-14 says, "My son, eat honey because it is good and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste, so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul. If you have found it there is a prospect and your hope will not be cut off".
Food is good, we need it and when we put it in our mouth we recognize how sweet it is. When we begin to taste of the Lord we begin to see that we need him. The 2nd thing is that the table is about relationships. When you gather around the table and sit down to eat you recognize who's missing and who isn't. My daughter, Brittany, has moved out, she's in college and on her own and still there is a seat around the table that is reserved for her. On the Holidays when we sit down to eat, it's nice to have family together. I'm glad that my mother in law comes down at least once a year. Holidays are a great time to be with family. When we sit down to eat in our home we do recognize who's missing because most of my family is about 1200 miles away and we miss them. Have you ever noticed that when you come to sit down at the dinner table you know what the atmosphere is like? How many have ever sat down to a tense dinner before? Or you can sit down and know that the family is together for a time of love and fellowship.
I believe we can learn some of the same truths of the Lord's supper that will help us in our lives. One of the things is that we need to take full advantage of enjoying the Lord's blessing. How many are thankful for all of the blessings that God has put into your life?
1st Corinthians 11:26 says, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes". It's interesting when we come to communion that somehow it becomes such a depressing time. How many know it was never meant to be that way? We proclaim what Jesus did. He died but he lives again. A feast is a time of celebration. When you sit down to Thanksgiving, I want you to thoroughly enjoy how good God has been in your life. Don't be afraid to celebrate the Lord's goodness and his blessings. Thanksgiving is not a day for dieting. It's a day to be thankful for all that God has given you. I know we should take things in moderation, but if you have the abundance of the Lord and you sit and have a feast before you, enjoy what God has given. God has blessed your life, enjoy what he's given you. It's a time to be thankful. Over this next Wednesday we're going to have time to reach out and touch many lives. We have 5 foodbaskets to send out to familes that will not only provide the actual dinners but food beyond. We're also preparing on Wednesday to serve 100 meals. To some of you that sounds like a lot but that's only 20 families with 5 people in it. What a blessing to be able to reach out and touch some families.
The Bible says in Proverbs 10:22 that "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich and he adds no sorrow to it". When you sit down this week, know that you've been blessed. You are blessed whether you know it or not. The truth is that fat is a sign of abundance and having more than enough. If you have a few extra pounds on your body you are the blessed of the Lord. You have more than enough and that's ok. Genesis 45:18 says, "Bring your father and your household to me and I will give you the best in the land of Egypt, and you will eat of the fat of the land". That means you're going to eat of the "more than enough". I'm not telling you to live an unhealthy lifestyle but the Lord has blessed us and it's ok to enjoy that. We're to enjoy the resources at the table, both the provision of forgiveness that Jesus gave us on the cross, the healing that he brings in our family and the provision that God gives.
I believe that one of the reasons so many people suffer lack and a lack of strength is because they do not take advantage of the blessing that God has set before them. The table has been set and God has already made the way. He's made a way for us to come to Him and he's made a way for us to know that he is the provider and the one who cares for us. The table is set and I encourage you to reach out and eat and enjoy. The regular celebration of communion and the regular yearly Thanksgiving is to come and receive the strength, the grace and the power that God has for you. When you sit down and see all that God has provided, remember that he has always made a way. Not only thank him for it but where there is lack and where there is need, remember he has also made a way and begin to thank him for that as well. Begin to thank him for the blessings and the promises of his word and reach out and appropriate them for yourself.
Next, as we celebrate God's goodness and as we come around the table that he has set for us, we need to remember that we should wash up first. When you come to the table you should come clean. 1st Corinthians 11:27-31 talks about that. It says, "Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the blood and the body of the Lord. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged. But when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world".
James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you doubleminded". Dirty hands contaminate good food and they contaminate a table. They can bring about sickness and disease.
Just a couple hundred years ago people began to realize that they needed to practice good hygiene. When they would come to the table they realized they needed to wash their hands so that the contaminants from their hands would not transfer to the food and hence into the body. People began to realize the need for pasteurization. How many are thankful today that you have pasteurized milk in your refrigerator? I've had milk straight from the cow and I still think pasteurization tastes a whole lot better. You need to learn to sterilize. Before you come to the table this Thanksgiving and before you thank the Lord for all that he's done, check yourself to see what you're bringing to the table. Jesus brought his best to the table and so should we. I know when we go to make the food for Thanksgiving, we work hard to make sure the stuff we put on the table for our guests and for our family is right on target. My wife makes the best turkey in all the world. It's juicy and perfect and when it comes out you could take a picture and usually I do and look back and remember all the good that it did for me.
Coming to the table of the Lord isn't a Christian ritual. It is a living reality of what God has done for us and what Christ has done in us. It's an opportunity to realistically evaluate our walk with him and to take a look at what we do at his table everyday. To come in an unworthy manner is to take lightly the full weight of all Christ has done for us and all that he has provided. When we come to the table of the Lord to celebrate communion, the Bible says that we are to come to the table and examine our life making sure that we are clean and pure and that we never take lightly the cost of what Jesus did on Calvary. Even when I come to our Thanksgiving table, I never want to come in an unworthy manner. I look at all that God has put before me. I see my wife and my children, my mother in-law, friends and family and I'm very grateful for all that God has brought into my life. As I look around my home, as we laugh and celebrate I'll think of all that God has done for me throughout the year.
How many can look over this year even if you've been affected by the recession and have seen God see you through every single step of the way? There have been many times when we have gathered around that table and I have examined my own heart and realized that I have taken for granted all that God has done. There's never been a Thanksgiving where either I have had the money to buy the food that was there or someone gave it to me that God hasn't provided. The fact that I had that abundance in front of me I could always be absolutely grateful for it. In years past people have given turkeys to me and that's why every year we make sure even as a family that we buy turkeys and things to give to others because we remember what it was like when we needed people to bless us. I'm thankful this year that I don't have to have someone buy that for us. We have a 20 lb turkey right now sitting in our freezer and it's almost time to thaw it. What a blessing.
But never come in an unworthy manner. We are to judge ourselves so that we don't come under the judgement of God or receive the natural consequences of our sin. In 1st Corinthians 11:30 it says, "For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep". That's heavy stuff. Many lives are not full of the blessing of God because of their sin. For some, the result of their sin has led to their own death. For some, the result of their sin is the source of their sickness or the source of their lack, or the source of their trouble. For some, the source of their sin truly has brought the judgement of God. When you come to the table of the Lord and you see the blessing God has before you, you may think just because you have all this abundance on the table that everything is right between you and the Lord. The truth is you may be blessed to spite yourself. I have met so many people where the reason they are sick in their body, the reason their life is in shambles is because of the choices they have made and the sin that is in their life.
Take time to examine your heart and your life this Thanksgiving. Come to the table in a worthy manner. Honest reflection helps us to choose the blessing of God over the curse of our sin. I want to ask you, are you living worthy of the blessing of God for your life? I love to make sure I am when I'm sitting at the table of the Lord. I want you to notice this too, a feast is meant to be shared. There is nothing more lonely than a big meal all by yourself. How many have ever sat at a restaurant all by yourself? There's nothing more miserable. I love a time with family. A feast is a time to mend fences, to drop the walls around us and the pretense and to build relationships. The table of the Lord is a blessing meant to be shared. When you come and receive communion it is a time to share with others. I love that we do it in church. You can do it at home with family or by yourself but there is something special about sharing that communion with everyone in the house of God. The truth is that big feasts are meant to be shared. Take time to share the blessing that God has given you.
Some of Paul's greatest criticism for the church came while he was instructing people about communion. It wasn't just about coming in an unworthy manner. He had criticism for the church at Corinth because of the relationships, the way people treated each other. He said because of your relationships, that's why some of you are sick and some die among you.
1st Corinthians 11:17 says, "Now, in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse. First of all when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and I believe it in part. For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk".
Some of you folks are going to get together with family and friends on Thanksgiving day and the feast just becomes another time to get wasted. That just ought not to be so. There should never be a Christian house where those people are getting drunk; they eat, drink and fall down. That's not what God called us to. Paul says this when he gets to verse 22, "What, don't you have houses to eat and drink in or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you, shall I praise you in this? I don't praise you".
The people in Corinth were celebrating what God had done but they were meeting in cliques, overeating and getting drunk. The poor were left out and treated as inferior. People were fighting and didn't come together to reconcile but just continued to treat each other badly. May that never be so around our Thanksgiving tables and our homes and may that never be so in our church. In our home, time around the table puts an end to divisions. On those days we come together and eat together. We may have fought with family and had difficult times but on that day we truly decide we're going to get along with each other. How many know that's a blessing in the house? It's time for families to heal and many times in our home we welcome those who are unloved and hurting. That's why on this Wednesday we're going to go and minister. There is no looking down our nose at anyone. In our abundance we welcome them to be a part of the abundance we have. Many of us won't be able to put a turkey on our table but on someone else's. That is the overflow of the Lord, touching someone else. People shouldn't be hungry around us. I do believe as we sit and eat and enjoy the blessing, that blessing can be shared. The truth is if I don't have another open faced turkey sandwich sometime during the week, that's ok if someone else can be blessed.
I feel like the Lord wanted me to address the issue of racism. In my home I grew up with a black sister, a bi-racial sister, a Korean brother and a Korean sister. The family of God will look much the same way. There should be no division and no schizm in our church or around our tables. In America we always think that racism is a white/black thing but it's not. The truth is that America is the greatest melting pot in all the world but have you ever noticed that America has also been an equal opportunity racist? I come from an Italian Jewish family. Italians weren't always praised, people didn't always love their food. As a matter of fact they were shoved into the slums of New York City and New Jersey. The Jews have been persecuted throughout their lives. The Chinese came in and helped build the railroads in this country but were treated as 2nd class citizens. During WWII they put the Japanese into internment camps because they thought if you were Japanese that somehow you would kill America. Today, in our country we also have many Hispanics.
I don't know and I really don't care what your stand is on illegal immigrants. If you have a problem with it you can vote at the box but as a church when people are in our country, our job is not to discriminate against who they are but to love and accept them and to bless them bringing them into the body of Christ. There should be no division at our table. I used to think I didn't have a racist bone in my body because I grew up in a very diverse family. Then when I was growing up in Pittsburgh, people from the nation of India started moving to Pittsburgh in droves. They would come into our store and because they could make it from one side of the world to ours, were actually people of money and they had a caste system so they looked down at other people. They couldn't speak the language very well and I remember they would come into my store and talk in their language and look down their nose. Suddenly I found myself getting an attitude. I remember one day muttering under my breath about them going back to their own country, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me that I was in sin. The truth is when I call Dell to help me with my computer I would really enjoy speaking with someone who knew the english language a whole lot better. Although my frustration is over language I should never treat that person from India any differently because they're still a valuable human being.
I believe there should be no division in the body of Christ and never should those thoughts come into our mind. I don't know why the Lord laid that so strongly on my heart but may he touch you if that is something that you deal with. May God clean your mind because in heaven we're all going to be together around the table. As we come to the table of the Lord in this church there is always room, not only at the cross but in our home for everyone. One day I'll preach a message that I preached once on the sin of racism and it will challenge everyone in this room.
One of the primary manners that I learned in our home is to show proper appreciation to the host of the dinner. We are always to have gratitude for the blessing even if everything wasn't quite to our taste. One of the things that we've taught our kids and my mom taught me is that we were never allowed to turn our nose up at something we didn't think we'd like. We always had to try something at least once. If you didn't like it, you weren't supposed to tell the host that you didn't like the food. That's why God made a side of a plate or a dog on the floor where you could hide it.
Psalms 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him".
The truth is I've been plenty surprised to discover that many things I thought I wouldn't like turned out to be awesome. I remember the first time I got introduced to Pumpkin Pie. We were over a friend of my mom's and I've got to tell you it was the ugliest pie I had ever seen in my life. We were sitting at the table and the lady was so proud and cut a piece of pie and put it in front of me. My mom looked at me and told me to put whipped cream on it. I began to bite into that piece of pie and it was the greatest thing I had ever had. I have discovered that some things I didn't like were actually good for me and they became an acquired taste.
The truth is when I come to the table of the Lord there are some things that have happened to me in my life that I really didn't want to eat. Sometimes trial and tribulation come and struggles. This Thanksgiving and Christmas may be one of those times. What I have found that with those acquired tastes, those things are necessary to build my life. There are things that I will eat that over time I have learned to like not because they are bad but because they are good and I am better for having had them in my life.
What is the Lord doing? Thank God for all the things that he set on the table, not just the things that help make you full but the things that help make you healthy. There may be some things that you're going through that God has allowed so that you are better for it. Learn to enjoy that as well. I haven't always liked trial and tribulation and sometimes it's still uncomfortable but when it comes I can see what God is doing. When we come out on the other side he is faithful.
The last thing I want to leave you with is, "don't miss dinner even if you're late". As your family begins to grow you begin to find out you're going to have ones that have to go to other places to be with other family. I remember when we lived in Pittsburgh we would have to go from home to home and I used to think that was a real problem. I would go from my Mom's to my Mother in-law's and then to another person's house because they all wanted us for Thanksgiving. Then I began to realize that it really wasn't that much of a hassle because I got to eat 3 times. Our families used to say to me, "I know you're going to be late but still come, there will always be food for you". Maybe today you've been late coming to the Lord. Maybe there's stuff going on in your life that you need to lay aside. It's never too late. He set the table and with God there is always enough for you.
The reason we celebrate communion and he's done it with food, the symbol of the bread as his body and the wine as his blood, because he's always enough. He'll never run out. Do you know Christ as your savior? Is he the Lord of your life? You may say, Pastor, you don't know what I've done or the life that I've lived or how much I've messed up. Listen, it doesn't matter. When family gets together, you're still family and if you'll knock on the door, we're going to open it and we're going to put a chair for you at the table. We're not going to put you at the kiddy table and we're not going to put you in the other room where no one is eating. You're going to come right up to the table and you are welcome, your place is there. It's the same with Jesus, there is room for you. There's not just room at the cross so you can receive his salvation, there is room for you to receive all the blessings. You may come late but I encourage you, still come.
