Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 NKJV.

In reading our chapter, it’s good and needed to remember that Paul is writing in response to a letter the church in Corinth had written to him about serious problems they were experiencing. It’s also good to remember that Paul was writing to a people living in the first century A.D. For perspective, in listening to the discussions on this chapter with Open Table Conference, for a woman to appear in public with her hair uncovered then, and especially for worship, would be like a woman going to church today in a bathing suit. Customs change through time. Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord…neither is woman independent of man…nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man…so also the man has his birth through the woman…and all things originate from God. v. 1-12. Fashions in that day are not the fashions of our day in the western world. In other parts of the world, a woman covers her hair even today, as is their custom. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God. v. 13-16. Today men have long hair and short hair and no hair. Our hearts and not our hair are what are important for us in God’s eyes. Again, Paul was speaking to a people of a time with very specific customs, not for people living over two thousand years later. What would he say today is important? But in giving this 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 must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is 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 shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus…in the night in which He was betrayed…took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eat and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 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 brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come. v. 17-34.

Customs and fashions change greatly from one age to another. But our hearts! Do our hearts reflect our love for Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit? The Lord’s Supper is sacred. Remember, Jesus instituted this sacred covenant after they had eaten of the Passover meal together. To come together for a communal meal as they did in Paul’s day after a hard day of work, and for some that being their only meal of the day, should be done with a heart for one another in love and consideration leaving no one hungry nor any drunk. And the coming together as His body of believers, to remember the Lord’s death until He returns, is to partake of the new covenant symbols given to us by Jesus, the Son. Just hours before He was taken…He gave this to the disciples and by extension to us, as a much needed remembrance of all He did for us. And we remember faithfully until He returns. That is such a privilege. That is what binds us together with Him and His people generation after generation. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6. The Spirit gives life always! And that is just as needed today as it was then and will be for all eternity.