1 Corinthians 11:33
Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Today we are graced to have another opportunity to join together in holy communion. This is a great honor and privilege. Not only are we jointly celebrating the Spirit of Christ in our lives, but we get to celebrate one another. What can be better than that? Well, let me tell you. This week I was challenged to explore just how awesome our corporate expression of love really is. And I want to challenge each of you to consider it also.
As you probably know, we are making plans to get back into the church building. And as exciting as the prospect of returning to in-person worship may be, there are serious considerations lurking before us. Issues range from sanitation methods, to taking temperature, wearing masks, having to register before attending, seating assignments and bathroom utilization. And there are credible arguments on both sides of each position. What’s the church to do? What am I going to do?
May I be honest with you? I was seriously thinking that it would be better to just wait until COVID-19 goes away. I was thinking maybe we should wait until there are no more masks, vaccines, seating issues or anything related to this pandemic. For a moment it seemed to just make more sense. But I reached out to some other leaders for sound counsel. There’s nothing like having some anointed people in your corner during difficult decision making times. And I spoke to my sister. And she made me see the glorious opportunity I was about to miss. The same type opportunity some saints at Corinth missed.
The admonishment of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians about communion in chapter 11, is summed up in verse 33. Of all the things they did wrong (and there were a bunch of things), the most egregious was their treatment of their brothers and sisters during communion. They didn’t consider them worthy to commune with. They didn’t respect them as equals. They didn’t wait for them…they didn’t wait on them. And the Spirit of Christ wasn’t happy at all. Of all the things Jesus set in place during his last supper, service, respect and love were the main courses. He washed his disciples feet! Nothing could demonstrate the true attitude of servitude more than that. Whenever, and if ever we lose that, we risk losing everything Jesus brought us together to experience and to accomplish.
Well, my sis brought that to my attention. What I saw as challenges are really opportunities. Think about it. The entire planet earth has been rocked by an evil virus. Lives have been lost, economies shattered, jobs lost and families terrified. And no one seems to have the answer. People are quitting work rather than going back into what could be dangerous environments. Fear is growing and uncertainty reigning. And then there’s us!
We are prone to all the same feelings that the rest of the world has. Some of us want to continue wearing masks and some of us don’t. Some of us want to have registration and assigned seating and some of us don’t. Some of us are vaccinated and some of us aren’t. In every conceivable way we are just regular people. But we have a very irregular opportunity. We have the opportunity to demonstrate love like never before.
As we hear the voice of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John (13:35) saying, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”, we are reminded of our ultimate mission: loving each other.
I’m sure none of us are dying to wear masks. But if that makes my brother or sister feel more comfortable, I’ll do it. I’ll wait for them. I’ll carry them while we climb together. If folk don’t feel comfortable sitting close, I’ll move over, cause I’m waiting on them. And there are a dozen other issues we will face together as we attempt to restart our gathering process. But we will do them as a unit, in unity. Just like two mountain climbers. We will not leave anyone behind. As we go up, we lift all those in our company.
Dear Children of God, this is our moment. This is our greatest opportunity to show the entire world the difference between those that love the Lord and those that don’t. Our ability through the Spirit of Christ to prefer our spiritual siblings over ourselves is proof positive that Christ reigns in our hearts. Let’s go up together and remember to lift as we climb.
God bless
