While filling the pulpit of a New England church, David McCarthy was confronted by a young man who asked about the phrase found in 1 Corinthians 11:29: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” Often conscious of his own shortcomings at the communion table, he wondered if the passage applied to him. David McCarthy’s response was a follows: “For one thing, the Apostle Paul is talking about a man who has no sense of the greatness of what he is doing. He does not appreciate the sacred meaning of the Lord’s Supper. He engages in the practice without reverence, failing to grasp the love these emblems stand for or the obligations laid upon him.  And we may also look at the problem another way. The church is the Lord’s body, too. Paul had just been talking about those who divide the church by their spirit of division and class distinction. [Did] Paul [have] in mind those who are at variance with their brother? But these verses are never intended to shut out the sinner who recognizes his need of forgiveness. To the man who truly loves God and his fellow Christians, the promise is ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.’” As we come together this afternoon for the Lord’s Supper, there will be ample time for self-examination, as there should be. And though we should not think lightly of our sin, it is just as important that we do not come to the Lord’s Table by rote or routine, not discerning the Lord’s body and blood shed for us. Often conscious of his own shortcomings at the communion table, he wondered if the passage applied to him. David McCarthy’s response was a follows: “For one thing, the Apostle Paul is talking about a man who has no sense of the greatness of what he is doing. He does not appreciate the sacred meaning of the Lord’s Supper. He engages in the practice without reverence, failing to grasp the love these emblems stand for or the obligations laid upon him.  And we may also look at the problem another way. The church is the Lord’s body, too. Paul had just been talking about those who divide the church by their spirit of division and class distinction. [Did] Paul [have] in mind those who are at variance with their brother? But these verses are never intended to shut out the sinner who recognizes his need of forgiveness. To the man who truly loves God and his fellow Christians, the promise is ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.’” As we come together this afternoon for the Lord’s Supper, there will be ample time for self-examination, as there should be. And though we should not think lightly of our sin, it is just as important that we do not come to the Lord’s Table by rote or routine, not discerning the Lord’s body and blood shed for us.