My all time favorite TV program is the Andy Griffith Show, although I must admit I really like Monk.  But the Andy Griffith Show has been around for over 50 years, so I know the scripts of some of the episodes by heart.  Not word perfect mind you, but pretty close.  In one of my favorite episodes Briscoe Darling (a rather unrefined mountain man) and his boys (who sing but never talk) are invited to the Taylor house for supper.  The Darlings are hearty eaters and they quickly run out of potatoes.  Briscoe yells, “Taters!”  Startled, Aunt Bee scurries to the kitchen to scrounge up more potatoes.  Then they run out of bread, and Briscoe puts in his request for more bread in the same rude fashion.  Opie (Andy’s eight year old son), picks up on Briscoe’s unconventional table manners and hollers, “Meat!”  He is immediately reprimanded by his Pa.  The Apostle Paul would have approved of that.  The reprimand, that is.  Not the obnoxious behavior.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to behave at the table.  Some of the folks in the church at Corinth had terrible table manners.  They went beyond rude to the point of being mean.  Let me explain.  Church services were a lot different in those days—much more informal.  They didn’t have church buildings.  They met in homes instead.  A large house could accommodate 30, 40, or maybe 50 people.  The Corinthians apparently had “dinner on the grounds” every Sunday, but instead of using that as a way to build community, they used the Lord’s Supper as a means to bring division. 

By their obnoxious behavior at the table, the Corinthians found a way to turn the Lord’s Supper from a picture of how our sins have been forgiven into a means of sin.  They separated the wealthy from the poor.  The more prosperous people in the church gathered in the main dining area of the house called the Triclinium, which would hold about 8-10 people.  There was also a larger, courtyard area called the Atrium which might hold anywhere from 30-40 people. And, when it came to eating customs, these two rooms actually served to maintain certain class and social distinctions that were common in that day.

So, for example if a person was having a large dinner party, the guests would arrive and certain ones would be invited to dine in the smaller Triclinium while the rest would eat in the Atrium.  At such events, typically, the closer friends and more preferred guests were in the smaller room and actually received the better portions of what was on offer. Everyone else got what was left over. Now you and I might think this sort of thing a little odd, but nobody back then did. It was simply the way things were. 

The poor table manners, the selfish, rude behavior of some at Corinth prompted Paul to address the situation.  The Corinthians had lost their focus.  They had made a mockery of the Lord’s Supper. They were taking the Lord's Supper which is, after all, all about his love for us and his sacrifice for us, while showing no love and no spirit of sacrifice.  So, taking communion is something we do, not only to remind us of Christ’s love and sacrifice for us, but to remind us that we also need to express love and a spirit of sacrifice to others who need us.