Written by Pastor Siu Fung Wu

One of the marks of this postmodern generation is its advancement
in technological communications. We live in a world of virtual
realities. Most of the time we communicate not by personal contact,
but through the mass media with the world, E-mail systems at work,
mobile phones with our friends, and through cordless microphones
from the platform in church. Seeing and feeling the real person is
no longer part of our communications. No wonder that when we come
to church life, it is so easy to neglect the very thing that God
originally intended us to be. God did not call us to become a
sophisticated organisation, but a closely knitted community.

Have we missed the point?

The concept of community living is found everywhere in the Bible.
But one of the best examples is actually the most well-known text
for communion, that is, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. It is in this
passage that we quote: “On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took
bread, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do
this in remembrance of me.” Although this passage is often read
at church, seldom do we look at its context carefully.

A quick look at the beginning verses of this passage will tell us
that Paul’s concern was community living: “In the following
directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm
than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together
as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I
believe it.” (vv. 17-18) If we read on, we shall find that the
main problem with the Corinthians at the communion table was their
lack of concern for each other.

Here we need a bit of imagination. Let’s go back to the world of
the Roman Empire. In those days, social class distinction was a
common phenomenon. When people came together for a meal, those of
high social status sat at places of honour, and they were served
with better food and wine. Those of lower social standing sat at
inferior places, and were given inferior food. According to
scholars, the problem was that this behaviour spilled over into the
church at the communion,1 which, by the way, was often shared at
an actual meal in the early church.

Hence, we find that while there were people who had much to eat,
some remained hungry. In fact, those who had nothing were
humiliated by the rich. The rich Christians simply forgot about
the needs of the poor Christians around them. While they enjoyed
their life, the poor remained hungry (vv. 33-4). It is in this
context that Paul says that we are remembering Christ’s death and
his return at the table of the Lord.

In other words, there are two important things that we have to
remember as we come to the communion table:
(1) We are to
remember what Christ has done for us; (2) We are a community. But
these two things are inseparable! It is precisely because we are
saved by the same Saviour that we belong to the same body of
Christ. And it is exactly because we are a community that we
remember Christ’s death when we get together, not individually at
home.

Our problem today

The problem we have today is that we are a sophisticated
individualistic society. The technologies that make the world
smaller (for example, internet, mobile phones, satellite
communication) also keep a distance between people. Without
knowing it we have become very individualistic beings. Hence our
communion is seen as part of the program in a Sunday service, where
we individually remember Christ, rather than sharing the table as a
community.

Therefore, we feel secure to watch a Christian video at home by
ourselves, because no one sees us when we respond to the message.
We enjoy going to large church meetings because all that we have to
do is to receive. We enjoy being blessedly individually by the
Lord in our personal life, but we care little about the sufferings
of the people around us. However, many of us find it difficult to
offer practical love to someone with a physical need. We are
reluctant to share our resources, money and time with someone who
barely makes ends meet even though he or she is doing a few part-
time jobs. And we prefer not to make ourselves vulnerable to each
other by admitting our limitations.

However, the challenge that the apostle Paul gives us at the
communion table is: Do we really have a sense of community? As we
remember what God has done for us, do we even care about the
persons sitting next to us, who may not even have money to pay
their bills tomorrow?

A symbolic communion

A few months ago we had one of our most beautiful communions.
Because of a family emergency situation, my wife and I had to
organise an urgent trip to Canada. Before we went, a family in our
church offered to take us to the airport, despite the fact that
they had to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning. Another family
offered to pick us up from the airport when we returned from
Canada, and look after our house while we were away. As it turned
out, giving us a ride home was not as simple as jumping into the
car and go. What happened on the day when we came back was that
the husband was working. As a result, the wife had to organise
baby-sitters to look after their kids so that she herself could
come to the airport.

When she took us home, what surprised us was that she had actually
prepared lunch for us. She then left to return to her busy
housework. What amazed us next was that this family left some
money on our dinning table, because they knew that we were very
tight financially. When we sat down to enjoy that beautiful lunch,
we felt as if it was a communion. We remembered the goodness of
the Lord who had made such a blessing possible through the Cross.
And we knew that it was all because we had the same Saviour that we
were so blessed by this family.

What it means to us

Next time when we partake at the table of the Lord, let us remember
how we can help someone in need in our church. Let us offer a
smile to someone after the service. Let us give someone a hug.
Perhaps instead of getting lost in our busyness, we can ring up
someone during the week just to say how much we love them in the
name of Christ.

Better still, let those of us who have stable income to help those
who barely survive financially. Let us take the initiative to help
a single working mum with her housework and gardening. Let those
who live in luxury give to the poor. Let us follow the example of
Jesus who became a man to share the trials and turmoils of
humankind. Let us truly share the difficulties that life brings to
the less fortunate members in the body of Christ. Let us “walk the
walk,” rather than just “doing the talk.”

Finally, we should return to Paul’s message to the Corinthians.
There is a solemn warning for those of us who only cares about what
we can get from the communion table, and do not think of the needs
of the person sitting next to us. These people simply miss the
point of communion altogether. Let us examine our lives before we
partake of the Lord’s table, for this is precisely what Paul asks
us to do (vv. 27-32).

1 See, eg., Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians
(NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 531ff; Craig Keener, The IVP
Background Commentary New Testament (Downers Grove: IVP, 1993),
477-8.