Church in the Wild
Week 10: Food Fight
Pastor Rick Henderson March 7-8, 2026
Note: This manuscript isn’t a transcript of the sermon, but a planning guide showing what the speaker intends to say.
I’d love for you to grab a Bible and turn to this passage.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34
I want you to imagine a scenario with me, even if it’s not something you would normally do. Give yourself permission to use your imagination.
It’s a Monday morning, and you don’t feel like going to work. It’s finally sunny and warm; winter has been long, so you decide to give yourself a mental health day. You call into work and say you can’t make it in. Maybe you don’t lie, but you allow your boss to believe you’re sick.
You go to your favorite coffee shop. It’s busy and lively, and the first sip of your froo-froo drink tastes just a little bit better because you’re playing hooky. You find a seat, only to realize your boss is in the booth next to you. His back is turned to you; he has earbuds in. This is your chance to sneak out. That’s when you realize he’s on a call with his boss. And you realize he’s talking about your performance. What do you do? Do you sneak out, or do you risk it so that you can hear his unfiltered comments about you (show of hands)?
For you daring folks who stay, imagine that you are enjoying the adrenaline rush of secrecy. You feel a little bit like a spy. Then you hear your boss describe you like this. “Sometimes I feel like they are doing more harm than good. Honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can keep them around.” Just like that, you went from feeling like 007 to 00-severance.
The passage we’re going to read is a little bit like that. Instead of getting a knife to the back, they’re getting a knife to the front. It’s another dose of confrontation and accountability. As we read, remember this is a letter from the Apostle Paul to them. This would have been read out loud in front of everyone.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. 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.
Yikes! What was going on with communion at the church in Corinth? First, we need to understand what Love Feasts are. That’s what they called communion.
We’re going to have communion in a few minutes. How we do it is very different than how it was done in churches during the first few centuries. The way we do it isn’t wrong, but you might like their way better.
Every week, probably on Sunday, when the church gathered, they shared a meal. Churches met in houses. The size of the gathering ranged from about 20 to maybe 50 or 60 people. Everyone who had food to contribute would bring food to share. Let’s be clear, not everyone had food to share.
Some people were rich. Some were poor. Some were slaves. Each week, the food was combined, and people ate together. They shared everything in common. A wealthy landowner and an impoverished slave sat side by side, eating the exact same food and sharing the exact same portions. As crazy as it might sound, you might see a slave owner serving food and wine to slaves before he ate his own portion. You have got to understand that this was scandalous and revolutionary. There was nothing else like this anywhere in the Roman world.
They were equals, and they were united. And at some point, in the meal, there would be a time to remember who itwas and what he did to allow them all to enjoy such exquisite unity. Someone might hold up bread and remind everyone that Jesus’ body was given for them on the cross. In sacred, solemn gratitude, they ate. Someone would hold up a cup of wine and remind everyone that Jesus’ blood was shed to cover and forgive their sin. In sacred, solemn gratitude, they drank.
Let yourself imagine that. Week after week, year after year of that—is it any surprise that people, who were used to being on the wrong side of discrimination, would be attracted to a community like that? In the face of persecution and government-funded oppression, the gospel movement spread. This kind of love and inclusion was powerful. Week after week, year after year—is it any surprise that the Christian community lost its stomach for slavery, social injustices, and discrimination?
What I just described was common practice in churches across the Roman world, but not in Corinth. When theygathered, the rich ate first. And they didn’t stop eating until they were bloated with gluttony. They didn’t stop drinking till they were wasted. People of lower status had to wait for food, and far too often, there wasn’t any food left. Remember this, for some of the folks, this would have been the meal that sustained them for the week. But they were robbed of their portion, and they weren’t given a place at the table because the church in Corinth was divided into rich and poor.
What was supposed to be the love feast, commemorating Jesus' self-sacrificing love, became a tribute to their self-indulgence. What went wrong? I want to introduce you to Nadya Williams, a Greco-Roman scholar. This is from her book, Cultural Christians in the Early Church.
The Corinthian Christians’ behavior at their celebrations of the Lord’s Supper as described by Paul combined the worst features of both the Greek symposium and the Roman convivium…The symposium was a place where regular societal limitations on moderating pleasures of the flesh were suspended. So immoderate drinking…was an accepted part of the festivities…The Roman banquet, convivium represented a different set of cultural values…Many a Roman aristocrat would have considered it normal that others around him were starving. Both the quality and quantity of food available were meant simply to reinforce social order.
–Nadya Williams (Cultural Christians in the Early Church)
Corinth was a Greek city with a Roman culture. Of course, you’d drink till you passed out, that’s what a good Greek did at a symposium. Of course, a wealthy guy would eat till he puked, even if it meant a poor mom and her kids didn’t get anything. That’s life in the Roman convivium. And you might say, but this was church!
When a person’s conscience is calibrated to the values of the culture, he’s not going to be alarmed by behaviors at church that are just like his culture, even when those behaviors are anti-gospel. If you’ve been tracking with this series, I probably sound like a broken record. The Christians in Corinth were shaped more by their culture than by their crucified and resurrected savior. We may not be guilty of the same things, but we’re just as vulnerable as anyone else.
Let’s do a recap.
RECAP:
In week 2, we highlighted their tendency to create litmus tests for who was in and who was out. They loved prestige and wanted to be seen as more prestigious than others and to be associated with prestigious people. But in the gospel community, there are no fences and ladders. We said this.
EMBRACE each other like there are no fences. HONOR each other like there are no ladders
In week 6, we highlighted another reason that there should be no divisions in a church. Together, we are the temple of God. We are the body of Jesus. We said this.
We aren’t SPECTATORS at a show of God’s presence—we are the TEMPLE who host it.
Two weeks ago, we compared and contrasted a life shaped by culture with the cruciform life. By cruciform, this is what we mean.
CRUCIFORM: A way of living that’s shaped by the cross, in which we are formed by the self-sacrificing love of Jesus and the hope of resurrection
When people start to take that seriously in the church, more people are going to be attracted to that church. Increasingly, different kinds of people will be attracted to the church. Just like heaven will be, our churches should be diverse. We should want our church to be diverse.
We need to quickly talk about diversity in American culture. Honestly, I’m not sure where we stand as a country. In the past year, we’ve seen conflict and maneuvering between businesses, colleges and universities, and the current Presidential administration over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I’m not offering commentary on that. I’m observing what appears to be rapid changes in viewpoints and practices around diversity. Candidly, I haven’t been able to keep up with those changes. For the first time in my life, I’m hearing people in the mainstream talk about Heritage Americans. I want you to hear me state clearly why I’m bringing this up. We live in a moment in history when increased attention is being given to distinctions. And it appears that, increasingly, distinctions are being treated as divisions.
At Autum Ridge Church, we owe it to ourselves to be honest with ourselves. Are we more cruciform or are we more formed by culture? That’s both a collective question and a personal question. What I must share today may diverge from, and even contradict, each of the viewpoints swirling around us. The gospel will not be hijacked; it will not be forced into alignment with any political, social, or cultural category.
Let’s start here.
Diversity is a gospel-shaped OUTCOME, not a gospel-shaped VALUE.
We should pray for, long for, and work for a church that is full of diversity of all kinds: socio-economic, age, ethnicity, culture, gender, politics—you name it. But why do I say it like this? We don’t get diversity by aiming at. Rather, it’s an outcome of valuing the right things appropriately. Diversity that honors God and truly honors people doesn’t come from aiming at diversity. Diverse people, bound together in unity, is what we get because of two things:
- Honoring all people as made in the image of God. That’s why C.S. Lewis said, “You’ve never met a mere mortal.”
Loving your neighbor as yourself. When Jesus was asked, “Who’s my neighbor?” He responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was a story of an outsider, an ethnic, cultural, and religious outsider who was financially generous and provided medical care to a stranger. The point is be a neighbor, to love every human just as you love you. POWERFUL!
You don’t get that simply by aiming at diversity. But you will always get diversity when you honor every person as made in the image of God and treat every person as your neighbor, deserving to be loved in the same way Jesus loved you.
The church in Corinth had a diverse mix of people, but they weren’t honoring and loving one another. Sadly, that was most obvious at communion, which was supposed to be about remembering the self-sacrificing love of Jesus.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:27-29 So then, 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. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
What does it mean to participate in communion in an unworthy manner? It doesn’t mean that you come up and partake while secretly struggling with a sin. That’s not it. An unworthy manner is partaking in communion, which celebrates Jesus’ self-sacrificing love, while practicing divisive and exclusionary behaviors in the church. It’s pretending to be united, while practicing division and exclusion. That’s taking communion in an unworthy manner.
Communion reminds us that Jesus gave his physical body for us on the cross. When we trust in him, we become united with him and with all other people who trust in him. Collectively, we are the body of Christ. If we were to tolerate discrimination, treat some as better than others, only welcome into small groups the people we like most, avoid brothers and sisters that take a little extra effort to love—if we were to do anything divisive in any way, we make a mockery of communion and a mockery of the cross. It would be a sin against Jesus’ own physical body and against his body, the church. That was the root of the issue in the church at Corinth.
Gospel-shaped unity isn’t diverse people AROUND each other; its diverse people BOUND to each other.
There really isn’t anything amazing about proximity is there? I know that sounds like a dumb question. Let me try again. Is there anything compelling or inspiring about different kinds of people occupying the same space? No. It’s not that impressive. But what about when people who come from distinct backgrounds are not just around each other, but truly bound to each other? Isn’t it compelling when people like that love, serve, and submit to each other? That’s revolutionary.
To lead them from this [Around] to this [Bound], the Apostle Paul gave them some new practices.
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.
No one eats until we all eat. If you’re used to treating this like an all-you-can-eat buffet, have an appetizer at home. But when we get together, we all eat at the same time and get the same portions. Why? Because we are one. We are equal. We refuse to dishonor one another. Isn’t this simple?
STAGES OF [MIS]UNDERSTANDING:
I think there are 3 common mindsets about unity in the church. I’m sure there are more, but these are the most common. They range from a misunderstanding to actually understanding.
- Tolerate
This is the person who says, “I can figure out a way to put up with people who are different from me.” (Sarcasm) Thank you. While this is better than being intolerant, that mindset isn’t yet shaped like Jesus.
- Celebrate
This is the person who excitedly says, “We have _____ people at our church.” Fill in the blank with whatever category of people isn’t the majority category. It’s great that they are happy about it. It’s much better to celebrate than to simply tolerate. And yet, it can feel hollow because it still feels like there is a gap of us and them. It’s a mindset that isn’t yet shaped like Jesus.
- Elevate
This is the person who says, “Your needs are more important than my needs. I’m happy to say no to me so that I can say yes to you. I will never say no to your needs so that I can say yes to me.” This is the mindset that’s shaped like Jesus. It’s revolutionary. It’s scandalous. It’s amazing.
When we pause to partake of communion, I want this to be the experience.
Communion should COMFORT and CONFRONT us.
You might have heard me say, Jesus lowered the bar and raised the standard. It should be a comfort that he lowered the bar. This is all it takes to be forgiven, to be welcomed, to experience his love and new life. Give your trust and allegiance to Jesus. The bar is ridiculously low. Jesus did all the work. Our part is to believe he died on the cross for us, that he rose from the dead, to give him our lives and receive his life in return.
Jesus lowered the bar and he raised the standard. The raised standard is what confronts us. We no longer live for ourselves, but for him. Our lives should be growing to look more like him. That will require getting honest about patterns and practices in our lives that are anti-gospel. And when we recognize them, we repent. And that means we turn away.
I’m going to lead us in a prayer of reflection. Maybe some things will come to mind that you need to repent of. I believe the Holy Spirit is going to nudge some of us to action. Maybe you’ll want to walk over to someone and apologize before taking communion. Maybe you take out your phone and text someone, we need to talk. Maybe, today is the day that you give your allegiance to Jesus. Right where you are you can pray,
“Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you rose from the dead. I give my life to you. Will you give new life to me.”
As I pray over us, you get to respond to how the Lord is leading you.
PRAYER OF RESPONSE:
Lord Jesus, you gave your body for us, and you poured out your blood for us. You created a family where the wealthy and the poor, the powerful and the overlooked, sit side by side and share the same bread and the same cup. You meant your church to be a place where diverse people are not just around each other but bound to each other in love. As we prepare to take communion, would you help us see whether we are living that way, or only pretending?
Holy Spirit, search us now. Bring to mind any ways we are practicing division while we talk about unity.
Show us if we are treating anyone as less important, less welcome, or less valuable than others.
Show us if we keep people at arm’s length because they are different from us in age, ethnicity, income, politics, or personality.
Show us if we have turned small groups, friend circles, and ministry teams into safe little pockets for people “like us,” instead of open doors for brothers and sisters you love.
Now, Jesus, as we get ready to receive the bread, help us to discern your body. Help us to remember that your physical body was given for us on the cross, and that your spiritual body is the people sitting all around us. Help us to see that when we harm, exclude, gossip about, or look down on a brother or sister, we are sinning against you. Give us a renewed reverence for your church, a renewed tenderness toward one another, and a renewed resolve to protect unity instead of quietly tolerating division.
As we prepare to take the cup, we thank you for the new covenant in your blood, for full forgiveness, for new life, for a future hope that cannot be taken away. Let this cup wash over our grudges, our pride, our prejudice, and our indifference. Where we have participated in patterns that leave some on the margins or outside the room, cleanse us and change us. Make Autumn Ridge a place where every person knows they have a seat at the table because you gave up your seat and went to the cross.
Lord, give us the humility to agree with you and the faith to obey you. If there is anyone here who has been hurt, overlooked, or left hungry—physically, emotionally, or spiritually—would you comfort them and assure them that you see, you care, and you are not indifferent? Begin healing in them and use us as instruments of that healing.
Jesus, we do not want to rush into this moment. We want to examine ourselves. So, in these next moments of quiet, would you speak clearly and kindly to each of us:
Where do I need to repent of division?
Who do I need to move toward in love?
How are you inviting me to honor others as image‑bearers and to love them as neighbors?
Lord, as we listen, give us soft hearts and willing hands. Make this time of communion a feast of genuine, gospel‑shaped unity—diverse people, bound together in you. May our love for one another preach as loudly as the bread and the cup that we are about to receive.
We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.