According to Harvard University's Family Dinner Project, about half of American families rarely sit down to a family dinner.¹¹ Yet research shows that when a family eats together, it helps them handle the stresses of daily life, promotes more sensible eating habits, and leads to healthier lifestyles and less money being spent on food. Eating together as a family has huge benefits.

The same is true for God's family. Jesus left us with a simple family meal of bread and wine to remind us that it is His sacrificial death which brings us together (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). It is the ″Lord's Supper″ (v. 20), but as Paul learns, in the church in Corinth, this meal-which was meant to unite the church and bring harmony-was doing ″more harm than good″ (v. 17).

Social divisions among the believers had erupted at the table (v. 18). The rich Christians were bringing their food and drink and gorging themselves, while the poor Christians, who couldn't afford to buy food, go without (v. 21). Paul is so outraged that he says: ″It is not the Lord's Supper you eat!″ (v. 20).

It's possible to eat bread and drink wine in such a way as to ″despise the church of God″ (v. 22). When a believer behaves selfishly during Communion and forgets about his brothers and sisters, the meal he is eating no longer fulfils the purpose of the Lord's Supper.

So, Paul reminds the Corinthians of the origins of this meal (vv. 23-26). Before His death, on the night that He was betrayed, Jesus ate a meal with His family of disciples. The bread and wine point to Him, and as His followers eat and drink, they benefit from Jesus' sacrifice and are given a foretaste of the beautiful messianic banquet in heaven.

No wonder Paul insists that such a meal requires care from every participant to act in a worthy manner (v. 27). Self-examination of unconfessed sin (v. 28) and love for the body of Christ (v. 29) must be the order of the day. Otherwise, this meal, if approached wrongly, will bring about judgment and discipline (vv. 31-32).

Heavenly Father, thank You for my church family, and thank You that we can gather to remember Jesus' sacrifice as we take bread and wine. Help me to approach this meal in the right way, honouring my brothers and sisters and You.