Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Formal fellowship
1 Corinthians 11:22
What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.
Living Stones is a small church, we meet in a house where, over time, we have taken down walls to get more space for a place to worship. With space taken up by musical instruments, microphone stands, and singers, the lectern brings the preacher very close to the congregation, there is no elevated area. This makes for a very intimate setting, like the early church.
When I am preaching I can touch people, I can look everyone in the eye, and, given the size, I could call almost every person by name. This also makes our church pretty informal. While I am preaching I may welcome someone who walks in the door and continue preaching, if the person is here for the first time I may even stop to have people greet them, explain what it is we are talking about and then continue the sermon.
Another thing about Living Stones is that we like food and drink. We look for any occasion to cook and serve. We have quarterly praying and fasting weekends and we break the fast together on the Sunday morning after the service. Everyone gets a fruit plate and a bowl or a cup of soup. There is food on every special day like Mother’s and Father’s. There is food at Christmas, and some people bring food for their birthday or other personal celebration.
One friend of mine, who happened to come on several special occasions said that it looks like we always have food. Truth be told, there was a time when we had food to share at every service, I am praying for those days to come back once more.
Not everyone can handle our intimate setting and informal style. Some find it off-putting, and there are persons who have been so put off by our style that they have stopped coming. The possibility of such intimacy and such formality they find uncomfortable for church.
One friend who came recently observed that the worship leader that day had on torn jeans and slippers while the backup singer was well dressed in a fancy outfit and high heels. Also, the preacher and the congregation were engaging each other all through the sermon, and the preacher would respond to a question or comment and then continue. Her summary, “you all are unusual.”
The most stinging comments though came from a young man who was there on a first Sunday when we usually have the Lords Supper as a part of the service. He said that we were not formal enough for such a moment in the service.
This comment got me thinking and brought to the fore two critical issues. The first is whether there is a necessary relationship between formality and reverence, and the second is when did formality enter the church and why. We are not going to attempt to address those issues today but you should think about it yourself.
As a child, I grew up in the Anglican tradition. The Eucharist (the bread and wine emblems for communion) was always at the front of the church with a light on. Everyone was required to face the Eucharist, genuflect (go down on one knee), and make the sign of the cross on entering or leaving the pew. This is not just in the Anglican tradition but also in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and a few others.
In the early assemblies planted by the Apostles on their missionary journeys, Christians often met in homes, like at Philemon’s home, “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:” Philemon 1:1
But sometimes, especially if a group outgrew the available space in homes, they looked for other spaces to meet. The evidence suggests that the Lord’s Supper was central to these meetings and people brought various things to share when they came together around the table for the worship, word and supper. It was a relatively informal gathering. So informal was their meetings that, in the absence of strong leadership and any rules, things fell into disarray in places like Corinth.
As is usual, churches tend to reflect the society and culture where they are planted, Corinth is an example of this in many ways. Rich and powerful Christians were conducting themselves the way they did in the society before coming to Christ. They brought the most food to the meeting and, of course, ate the most and the best without consideration for the other members who were poor and had less. Sometimes, it seems, they came with their food, ate with their friends and there was nothing left for the others.
Corinth is a bad example and Paul had to step in to restore order quickly, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. But replacing fellowship with formality doesn’t seem like the right solution. We don’t want to have people drunk on wine as they were at Corinth, but we don’t want a meal where there is no fellowship. As we reverence Christ and reflect on our own lives we must also be concerned for the well-being of each other and be ready to support those in need.
Communion would be very different if it is accompanied by genuine fellowship and an expression of true feelings for those in our midst who need our support.
Think on these things:
- How important is formality to your faith?
- How much do you know about the people with who you share the Lord’s table?
- Does your church provide the opportunity for members to have fellowship and engagement around the Lord’s Supper?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would focus on reverence for Jesus and genuine fellowship with the saints and not be overtaken by formality.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
