The Answer: Wait for Each Other
11: 33-34
The answer: wait for each other DIG: Why does the phrase, “Wait for each other,” get at the heart of what Paul was saying? What changes did Paul call on the Corinthians to make in their observance of the Lord’s Supper? Why wasn’t merely “waiting” enough? Why were the Corinthians under divine judgment? What was the simple remedy for that judgment?
REFLECT: Who are the “haves” and the “have-nots” where you worship? What can you do to bring them together? What have you done for a “have-not” lately? How can you help someone this week? What in Paul’s instructions on the Lord’s Supper do you need to take to heart? What unfinished business would Yeshua come personally to talk to you about?
Only by “the haves” sharing their food and fellowship, could they ease the acute embarrassment of “the have-nots” and capture the spirit of Yeshua’s sacrifice.
Paul is ready to wrap up this discussion and move on to another topic. His words here bring a brotherly touch at the end, but at the same time shows in what spirit Paul was writing throughout. So then, my brothers, when you gather together (Greek: synerchomenoi) points us back to the verb used in 11:17-18 to open this discussion, and serves to bracket this unit (to see link click By – Issues Surrounding the Lord’s Supper). When you gather together to eat at the fellowship (Greek: agape) meal, wait for one another (11:33). This seems to get at the heart of things. Just as “the ground is level at the foot of the cross,” so it must be level when it comes to sharing at the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s conclusion was clear: the Corinthians were to wait for everyone to arrive before they began eating.
The agape feast went like this: The “haves” provided everything that was needed, the “have-nots” brought what they could, and the slaves probably brought nothing at all. The agape feast did not take place like an ordinary meal as we know of today where people eat to satisfy their hunger. Its purpose was to reveal the congregation as a loving, united Body. The fitting climax was the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.340
But the problem was not so easily solved because the “have-nots” brought barely anything, and what they did bring, the “haves” probably wouldn’t want to eat anyway. So, the problem of sharing would not be solved simply by the early arrivals waiting for them to show up. If everyone was to wait before unpacking their own food basket, it stands to reason that the contents of these should have been shared on common platters. Otherwise, the waiting, which was supposed to prevent some from remaining hungry, would be useless. Even if Paul meant wait until everyone showed up, it still would necessitate sharing. But that is exactly what was not happening. So only by the “haves” sharing their food, could they ease the acute embarrassment of the “have-nots” (see Bz – The Problem: The Abuse of the Poor) and capture the spirit of Yeshua’s sacrifice.
If the “haves” come only to fill their belly, the Lord’s Supper was not the place to do it. But to say that they should celebrate the Lord’s Supper in their own homes misses the entire point. Paul does not believe that the “haves” can retreat from the demands of the gospel in their own homes. This command to eat at home connects with Paul’s first warning that they did more harm than good when they gathered together (11:17). If they were intent only on indulging their appetites, then they should stay at home and not even show up at all (11:34a). If the agape feast was to be meaningful, it had to be an expression of real fellowship.341
That real fellowship was Paul’s intent is supported by the fact that he warned “the haves” regarding their behavior: So that when you meet together it will not result in judgment (11:34:b). This picked up on the “judgment” motif in 11:28-32. Yes, they were meeting together to eat the Lord’s Supper, but in doing so they were “devouring” their own private meals with their privileged portions and thereby humiliating those who barely had anything. Therefore, because they had treated the Lord’s Supper so badly, neither proclaiming the salvation for which His meal is intended, nor honoring the “have-nots” who are a part of His Body, they were presently experiencing divine judgment. The remedy was simple. When they gathered together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, welcome everyone with true fellowship.
As for the other matters, Paul would instruct the Corinthians more about them when he returned personally to Corinth (see Ea – Doing God’s Work) (11:34c). How much we are left in the dark because Paul was not writing first of all to us! Indeed, it is not possible even to know what the other matters refer to. The Lord’s Supper? Traditions that were being kept but requiring further instruction? Relationships between the “haves” and the “have-nots?” We simply don’t know. What a sentence like this does, is to remind us of how little we really do know, and to teach us to be grateful for what we have received – even if it had to be at the expense of some unfortunate abuses in the church at Corinth.342
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your excellent example of sharing Your righteousness with those who love You. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).Thank You for Your sure gift of righteousness for all who love You. Thank You for Moses’ example of keeping his eyes on the future rather than being caught up in treasures that would soon pass away. He considered the disgrace of Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt – because he was looking ahead to the reward (Hebrews 11:26).
Thank you for the example of the Messiah’s communities in Macedonia – that in much testing by affliction, the abundance of their joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part (Second Corinthians 81c-2). Often it is much easier to look at those who have more than we do and so we want to keep what we have; but if we look thru Your eyes that see everywhere, we will see brothers and sisters in Messiah who have much less than we do. Please help us to remember always that this world and its treasures are but a blink – while the treasures we will get as we share what You have given us, will last for all eternity! We love to please You in our sharing! Thank You for Your sharing. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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