Let A Man Examine Himself
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 

"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." 

These instruction from St. Paul cause us to consider how we are to come the table of the Lord's Supper in a worthy and right manner. 

I.  Examine Self.

            A. Meal fellowship.

If eating were only a matter of satisfying our hunger, we might all have an easier time fitting into last year's slacks.  The fact is that we eat for more than sustenance reasons.  Meals are the primary time of fellowship among those who eat together. 

Consider a romantic relationship and how it moves to a different and more intimate level when the date involves dinner together.  

The most important time of the day for every family is the time spent together at dinner.  It is how the family reconnects with each other after being apart all day. 

Consider what congregations do when they want to enjoy a time of special fellowship together.  They have an Easter breakfast or a pot-luck dinner.   

The same thing happens in the Lord's Supper.  It is here that our Lord and Savior invites us to join Him over a special meal that happens to be His very own body and blood.  And as we dine with God, the fellowship between He and we is as close and intimate as it will ever get this side of  the great wedding feast in the heavenly banquet hall.   

            B. Preparation

Just as you wouldn't think of going on a dinner date without thinking about what you will wear and where you will go, neither would you sit down to a family dinner without first preparing the food, setting the table and washing your hands. 

St. Paul warns us, that due to the nature of the Lord's Supper, we dare not come to this meal unprepared.  Here, our Lord invites us to come to a meal that He Himself has prepared, at which He Himself is the host, and He Himself is the food.  To come to this meal is to encounter the living God who sits as judge over all heaven and earth.   

And so we must come, because the Lord has invited us and we dare not turn down His invitation.  Yet we dare not come unprepared for to come unprepared is no mere embarrassment.  It is to invite God's judgment upon ourselves and be guilty of a crime against the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

            C. Examination

Proper preparation for this meal requires examination - self examination.  There are three questions to this exam.   

            Question #1 - Am I sorry for my sins?

The first question is, "Am I sorry for my sins?"  This is not an easy question for us to answer because it assumes that we believe that we have sin that we should be sorry for.    

Men like Moses and Isaiah and Peter had no trouble with this question because they knew their sinful condition.  When Moses encountered God in the burning bush, he tried to bury his face in the dirt because He knew he was a sinner in the presence of a holy God.  When Isaiah encountered the Lord in His temple he pronounced the divine curse upon himself.  "Woe is me - I am ruined."  When Peter realized he was in the presence of the Lord God at the great catch of fish, he too fell to his face and asked Jesus to "depart from me, for I am a sinful man."   These men approached God as an guilty person approaches the judge.  They knew they difference between what they had been created to be and what they had become and the shame was so great that they tried to hide their face, assume the divine curse, and try to get God to go away. 

But modern man has reversed all of this.  He thinks he is the judge and God is on trial.  C.S. Lewis says that we may be a kind judge and if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, we will listen.  The trial may even end in God's acquittal but the important thing is that it is man who is on the bench and God who is in the witness chair.   

To pass the exam in this way is to fail it altogether.  We must hear our Creator's assessment of our condition for He knows us better than we know ourselves.  "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we say we have not sinned we make God out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives." (1Jn.1:10,12). 

St. Paul writes to the Corinthians saying, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2Cor. 7:10-11).   

This Supper is prepared and offered for sinners.  The question you must answer is, “am I a sinner in need of a Savior? Have I failed to be the person whom God has created me to be?”  To answer “yes” is to admit failure, yet to fail this question in this way is to pass it.   

            Question #2.   We believe in our Savior Jesus Christ and in His word. 

The second question of this self-examination is to ask ourselves whether or not we believe in our Savior Jesus Christ and in His Words in this sacrament.  

His words to us here are these, "This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."  

This body and  blood is the same body and blood as that which was "crucified, died and buried" outside Jerusalem 2,00 years ago.  It is the body and blood of the Lamb of God who was "slain from the foundation of the world" according to Revelation. 

It is not our faith that makes it so, as if it really remained just bread and wine if we aren't sincere.  Rather it is by faith that we receive it as the body and blood that Jesus says "this is."   

It is "body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."   Listen to Martin Luther here.  "What is the use or fruit of this sacrament?  Listen to this: "given for you"' "shed for you."  I go to the sacrament in order to take and use Christ's body and blood given and shed for me.  When the minister intones, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood,"  to whom is it spoken?  Not to my dog, but to those who are gathered to take the sacrament.  These words must be apprehended by faith.  Therefore I use the sacrament for the forgiveness of my sins;  I say:  I will go and take the body and blood;  it is a sure sign that it was instituted form me against my death.  "Which is given for you."  There is the benefit." 

            Question #3 - We plan, with the help of the Holy Spirit to change our lives. 

The third question in this self-examination which we must answer correctly to receive the sacrament worthily is this, "Do I plan, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to change my sinful life?" 

This is what the word repentance really means.  In Greek, the word for repentance is "metanoia."  That's a compound word made of two roots that we are familiar with.  “Meta” means change as in when a moth becomes a butterfly it goes through metamorphous.  It's body is changed.  "Noia" means mind as in  paranoia - a split mind.    “Metanoia” means a change of mind.  That is what repentance is all about.   

It is not enough to say I am sorry for my sin and I believe Jesus when He says that this is His blood and body given and shed for me for the forgiveness of sins.  But I have no desire to change my mind in the sinful matter I am currently engaged in.  To come to the Lord's Supper without a sincere desire to change the sinful behavior is nothing less than utter abuse of the body and blood of Jesus.   

Let's listen again to Dr. Luther here.  "They, however, receive it unworthily who knowingly and intentionally persist in their sins, such as revengeful wrath, murder, fornication, adultery and similar manifest sins and crimes.  Christ instituted the Holy Sacrament unto the forgiveness of our sins, that we should forsake them and not continue in them... He declares it to be damnable, if persons deliberately sin, and then go to the Sacrament as though nothing had happened.  They who act thus, eat and drink the sacrament unworthily, and God punishes them with sickness and other afflictions...   The best thing we could do, under such circumstances, would be to put a stop to such wickedness, to repent, to trust faithfully in the promises and mercy of God, and to unite again with Christians in the participation of the Holy Sacrament." 

"Therefore, a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup."  Amen.