Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church constitutes the body of Christ. If you are here this morning you are in one way or another connected to the people of God. Paul stresses that we are to discern the body of Christ when we come to the Lord’s Table. But don’t think for a moment that this is some call to intellectually grasp the fullness of the physical body of Christ. Paul’s entire context in I Corinthians has been to unify the Church in Corinth, which has been so filled with corruption. Paul says that these divisions between rich and poor; slave and free, male and female are completely contrary to the unifying purposes of God in the world. God sent His Son to reconcile the world unto himself, and in the mind of God there is only one race, the chosen race. Discerning the body means to understand the nature of the Church; and the nature of the Church is to be united together with one purpose: the worship of the Triune God. In other words, you can write a dissertation on the crucifixion of Christ, but if you are bitter towards your brother you are not discerning the body. So, when we come to the Lord’s Table at the end of this service, reconcile if reconciliation is needed for this is God’s will for the Church. Let us pray.
Most merciful Christ, you have by your life, death, and resurrection reconciled sinners. Grant that we may live this life of reconciliation thus uniting your body for the sake of your Kingdom. Amen.
