1 Corinthians 11:33-34
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.
There is something powerful about coming to the Lord’s Supper with a group of people with shared purpose. We will grow closer together because we have grown closer to God. In the Corinthians’ situation, some of them were eating all the supper and other people were left out. Paul wanted them to come together as one group. This meant that for some of them, they needed to prepare ahead of time and not come hungry. The simple application for us today is that we too should come to the Supper prepared. We should have a spiritual hunger and expectation of meeting God in worship. Paul uses the “bad word” here “judgment.” We don’t like to hear this word. It is a strong warning to the Corinthians that they should see this not as a physical matter or a matter of human relationships, but it influences our relationship with God. Just like then, we too must take seriously the Lord’s Supper and allow it to grow us into Christ-likeness as we grow in our love for God, others, and ourselves.
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