Yes, it really happened. Recently a brother gave a little speech while presiding at the Lord's Table. He rebuked the congregation for being so solemn. It was a joyful occasion, he said, and the observance should be joyful, even jubilant. He confessed that his wife once rebuked him for eating Cheerios while observing the Lord's Supper, but he saw nothing wrong in doing it. Is this a case of abusing the Lord's Supper?

The church at Corinth was guilty of abusing the Lord's Supper. Paul accused them of coming together in worship for the worse and not for the better. (I Cor. 11:17). He then told them specifically what they were doing wrong and pointed out that this was a symptom of a spiritual sickness and that some were already dead spiritually (v. 30). Thus they were abusing, perverting and mishandling the privilege of worship. Can we also abuse the Lord's Supper? Let us note how this may now be done:

We abuse the Lord's Supper when there is no intent to worship. We should look forward to and prepare ourselves for worship. We should prepare our minds for worship. We should enter into worship thinking of the great sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf, properly discerning the body and blood of the Lord. (v. 29)

We abuse the Lord's Supper if we think that "this is all that matters." Sometimes people arrive just in time for the Lord's Supper or leave immediately after the Lord's Supper without participating in the other acts of worship ? singing, praying, giving, or hearing God's Word preached.

We abuse the Lord's Supper if we think that it makes up for all we do. We commit sin and then go running to the Lord's Table thinking that somehow this will undo the wrong that has been done. It is sacrilege. We need to seek forgiveness as children of God through the proper avenue of repentance and prayer then partake of the Lord's Supper.

We abuse the Lord's Supper if our minds are on other things. It should be a solemn occasion. We should be concentrating on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The bread represents His body and the fruit of the vine His blood. Paul says that we are to rightly discern the Lord's body or else we are weak and sickly and perhaps even spiritually dead. (I Cor. 11:29,30) Yet, I have seen people actually laughing and talking during the Lord's supper. I have seen young people passing notes. Sometimes people are reading the bulletin or some other literature ? or eating Cheerios! Often we may have our minds on other things. This is abusing the Lord's Supper.

We abuse the Lord's Supper by not partaking on the appointed day. The Lord's Supper belongs to the Lord's Day. The brethren at Troas met together on the Lord's Day to partake of the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7). History testifies that the Lord's Day, or the first day of the week, was when the early church met to partake of the Lord's Supper. To partake of the Lord's Supper at any other time, such a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night, is a flagrant abuse of the Lord's Supper.

Let us examine ourselves (v. 28) so that our coming together will be for the better and not for the worse.