Symbols are all over the news these days, and it has us asking lots of questions about what these symbols mean or whether they mean anything at all:

• Is the Confederate flag a display of heritage or in-your-face racism?
• Should Confederate statues come down?
• Should statues of anyone with presumed ties to historical bigotry come down?
• Is it offensive to take a knee during the national anthem?
• Should the president use the Bible as a photo prop?
• Is it cultural appropriation for congressional leaders to wear African garb at a photo op?
• Should the president wear a face mask in public even if the risks are minimal?

Symbols can be powerful. They remind us of important events and people. But symbols also can become superficial.

That’s true for the symbols before us now. Christ instituted them to remind us of his sacrifice – the bread as a representation of His body and the fruit of the vine as a symbol of the blood He shed to cleanse men’s souls. But it’s possible, for all of us collectively and each of us individually, to rob these symbols of their meaning.

The Corinthians did, and Paul admonished them for it.

Now in giving this next instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there also have to be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you come together it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for when you eat, each one takes his own supper first; and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What am I to say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you. (I Corinthians 11:17-22)

… Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, have him eat at home, so that you do not come together for judgment. As to the remaining matters, I will give instructions when I come. (11:27-34)

In other words, the burden is on us to keep the substance in these symbols. Christ’s death is important enough that God gave us a weekly reminder of it. But we can turn it into something superficial or meaningless, and condemn ourselves in the process. Let’s make sure our heads and hearts are in the right place this morning and every Lord’s Day.