On the Lord's Supper
Bishop Dehon. Luke 14:16-24 Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:… The causes which prevent men from observing this ordinance of our religion are various It may be presumed that a leading cause of the neglect of this ordinance is a thoughtlessness of its nature and obligations. 1. The pressure of the business and cares of this world is urged by many as a reason why they neglect to receive this sacrament. 2. Further. A sense of sinfulness deters many from approaching the table of the Lord. They are so oppressed with the consciousness of having transgressed many commands, and omitted many duties, that they dare not go to so holy an ordinance. 3. There are many persons, who have a lively sense of the holiness of this ordinance, and wish to join in the celebration of it, who are deterred by a fear that they shall not be able afterwards to live up to their obligations. 4. Another cause which prevents men from receiving this sacrament is the existence of anger and animosity in their bosoms — the consciousness of ill-will between them and some of their fellow-beings. 5. It is urged by some who neglect this ordinance that they see many go to the Lord's table who seem not in any respect to be benefited by it. There are many persons deterred from receiving this sacrament by a particular passage of Scripture, which is frequently misunderstood. I mean that striking observation by St. Paul, that "he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." There are two causes from which the misapplication of this passage proceeds — from affixing a meaning to the word "damnation," which in the original it does not bear, and from indefinite or erroneous ideas of the unworthiness which the apostle condemns. By damnation is not here meant, as by many is supposed, everlasting destruction, but immediate disapprobation, the displeasure of the Most High; which displeasure is manifested, as the apostle states, by visiting the unworthy recipients with divers temporal judgments; and this too in order to their final salvation; if, haply, being chastened of the Lord, they may not be condemned with the world. And, accordingly, the same word which is here rendered "damnation" is rendered in one of the following verses of the same chapter, by "condemnation." Moreover, we should have definite ideas what it is to eat and drink unworthily. The Corinthians, whom the apostle here addresses, had fallen into an irreverent, and in some cases profane, manner of celebrating the Lord's Supper. They brought their own bread and wine; they blended this sacred mystery with their common feast; the rich waited not for the poor; the poor were jealous of the rich. (Bishop Dehon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: WEB: But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.