20-22 When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

27-29 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30-32 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33-34 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home - so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. 1 Corinthians 11:20-34 English Standard Version

We sometimes hear of people 'taking communion', or of a teenager taking his or her 'first communion'. But what is clear from this part of Paul's letter is that ‘taking communion’ doesn't make anyone a Christian! It's not a ritual that takes away anyone's sins. Whether it's a bit of bread or a wafer – it cannot undo wrong things we have done. So what is the very clear purpose of what Paul calls 'the Lord's supper'? (vs 23-26)

It’s a remembrance of the amazing sacrifice Jesus made in taking human flesh and dying on the cross for sinners. The bread and wine are symbolic of that event – and each time the believers shared in the Lord's Supper they were proclaiming again what the gospel is all about. Salvation doesn't come from eating the bread and drinking the wine, but through faith in Jesus Christ and resting our confident hope of peace with God in the sacrifice Jesus made.

But believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour also means following him as Lord – and that means a change in our behaviour and lifestyle. What happens if we 'take communion' on a Sunday, but live self serving and sinful lives the rest of the week? (vs 27-29)

Paul says that if we do that – we are are actually eating and drinking judgement on our self. It's as if we are mocking all that Christ's sacrifice means - and that can only lead to God having to discipline us - severely! That's what vs 30-32 imply. It seems that many of their illnesses, and even deaths, were because so many of them had treated the Lord's Supper with such disrespect. But notice that God was disciplining them to keep them from being eternally lost. Verses 33-34 give some basic instructions as to what they needed to do at Corinth. But what is the more important thing that all Christians should do whenever we meet for the Lord's Supper? (vs 27-29).

It should be a time of self-examination – a time when we think honestly about our relationship with God, and with God's people. It is a time to confess to God wrongs we have done and to realize afresh the amazing grace of how Jesus made forgiveness possible. We're not just 'taking communion' – we are remembering the unmeasurable price that was paid for our redemption. “You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold  . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, “ (1 Peter 1:18-19)