Often we arrive at the weekly memorial meeting ill-prepared and unfocused. Our concentration has been absorbed by our busy lives, whether ecclesial or work, and we feel inadequately prepared to remember our Lord.
Though the words of I Corinthians 11:23-29 are frequently read in conjunction with the memorials, we can easily overlook Paul’s spirit-guided advice to us. “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (v.28). In this exhortation, Paul outlines a needful process. First we must examine ourselves. Then, and only then, are we prepared to partake of the memorial emblems.
Old Testament counterpart
This needful experience of self-examination was earlier spoken of by Jeremiah: “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lam. 3:40-41). Jeremiah saw how necessary it was to search and try our ways. He associates himself with the process by saying “Let us…”.
Let us search
The use of the word “search” in Jeremiah is interesting because the same word is used in Zephaniah, Jeremiah’s contemporary, in a very different context: “And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search Jerusalem with candles” (Zeph. 1:12). We can envision the Babylonian army carrying about lamps as they meticulously inspected each residence looking through each dark room and corner to find Jews in hiding. A similar thoroughness is indicated by
Jeremiah as we examine ourselves. Are we as thorough when we prepare to remember our Lord as the Babylonians were in searching out Jerusalem? Do we exert the same degree of effort?
We are further counseled in Proverbs 20:27 that, “the spirit of man [is] the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Moffat’s translation of this verse reads, “a man’s conscience is the LORD’S searchlight exposing his hidden motives.” The process of self-examination is performed by our conscience. Such a search is only profitable, however, if the searching conscience is filled with the word of God “which is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Try our ways
The word “try” (Lam. 3:40) is equally interesting. According to Strong’ s Concordance, the Hebrew word means “to examine intimately, to penetrate.”
An insight into the full meaning of the word is provided in I Samuel 20:12 where Jonathan and David are making a covenant between them. Jonathan had agreed to observe his father Saul to determine his true intentions toward David and then report them back to David. Jonathan explains, “When I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David…” The word “sounded” is from the same Hebrew word as “try” in Lamentations 3:40. The margin in I Samuel provides an alternative translation, “searched my father’s mind.” Jonathan was going to intimately examine his father’s mind to penetrate his thinking. This search was to take up to three days.
Accordingly, when Jeremiah advises us to “try our ways,” he is counseling us to devote sufficient time to prepare ourselves before we arrive at the memorial meeting. That preparation could take days. We are not to use only the few moments before the emblems are passed to examine ourselves. At that time, we should be totally focused on the emblems, not trying to do a cursory, last minute, self-examination.
Turn again to the Lord
Jeremiah then employs an emphatic construction to round out his exhortation. The force of the phrase “and turn again to” is, “let us go back, not half way, but the whole way.” This is the motive in our attending the memorial service. Once we have examined ourselves, we are prepared to turn the whole way to God.
The prophet continues by saying, “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lam. 3:41). Here is a graphic picture of our heart, when properly prepared by self-examination, being given as an offering to God in an act of sacrifice and dedication.
Coming back to I Corinthians 11, we can refresh our sense of “but let a man examine himself” by inserting in its place Lamentations 3:40-41. “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens…and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
Our preparation before arriving at the memorial feast should be both as thorough as the Babylonians who carefully searched Jerusalem with candles and as lengthy as Jonathan who searched for three days the mind of his father Saul, so that when we gather together we can be fully prepared to remember our Lord.
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