Robert didn't want to testify in court. He had been an eyewitness to an automobile accident in which there had been personal injury. Robert's testimony was 'crucial to the determination of fault and monetary damages.

Because of his reluctance to testify, it became necessary for Robert to be subpoenaed. A subpoena is a legal document issued under the authority of a court and requiring a witness to appear at a specified time and place to tell what he knows. It is not merely an invitation to come to court, but a command that one do so. Failure to appear as directed can subject the person named in the subpoena to contempt proceedings. Possible penalties include a fine, imprisonment, or both.

For this reason a subpoena cannot be dismissed as a trivial matter. It must be taken seriously, and its requirements faithfully performed. In Bible times the penalties may have been different, but a summons to court, then as now, was considered a very important matter. Against this background consider once more the teaching of the Apostle Paul with reference to the scriptural observance of the Lord's Supper. (1 Cor. 11)

Paul introduces the discussion by saying, "But in giving you this charge, I praise you not..." (v.17, ASV) There is an oblique criticism of the behavior of the Corinthians in the words "I praise you not." Paul is, in effect, saying, "I censure and condemn your practice." Why? Because their practice was contrary to "this charge."

As noted by McGarvey and Pendleton in their commentary on this verse, the "charge" involves all the matters about to be discussed. Clearly, it refers to the entire discussion about the proper observance of the Lord's Supper.

'The word translated "charge" in this verse is a Greek word which sometimes means to summons a witness or defendant to court. And just as a summons places a witness under an obligation to do as directed in the summons, even so Paul's charge placed the Corinthians under an obligation to follow his instructions in observing the Lord's Supper. "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you." (v.23)

The obligatory nature of this charge is further seen when consideration is given to other ways in which this word is used. It not only has a legal background, emphasizing the responsibility a summons imposes, but it also has a military background. It is the customary word of command when a superior officer is giving orders to a subordinate.

In the field of medicine this word stands for the regimen of treatment prescribed by the physician.

It has an ethical background where it describes the teaching and discipline a respected instructor would pass along to his disciples. It is the moral code by which their behavior must be measured.

Finally, it has a technical background. It is used to refer to the manner, the method, the technique for doing a thing. It's the how-to-do-it instruction. Here, it tells us how to worship God--specifically, how to partake of the Lord's Supper in a way that will please Him.

William Barclay concludes that this word in its noun and verb forms tells "us that the Christian is the soldier of Christ, the man on trial before Christ, the disciple of Christ, the trainee of Christ, and the patient of Christ."

What bearing does this have on our observance of the communion? Well, read Paul's charge again: "For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Cor 11:23-25)

If these words are read with the same care with which a summons to court would be read, there is little chance that we will misunderstand them. It is clear that the Lord used a single loaf of bread and a single cup of the fruit of the vine in the institution of this memorial feast. In so doing he set the pattern for all time. Thus, Paul said, "I delivered unto you" what "I received of the Lord."

We should no more think of ignoring these instructions than a witness would ignore a summons. To disregard this charge should be as unthinkable as the notion that an enlisted man would disregard the command of a general. We ought to adhere to these injunctions in the same way that a patient adheres to the prescription of his doctor. The nice-ties of this observance ought to be important to us in the same way the need to remember Christ is important to us.

Paul's use of the word "charge" is no accident. The Holy Spirit guided him in its use to emphasize in the most forceful way possible that God's things must be done in God's way. Doing the will of God is never an optional matter. Christians are under a continuing obligation not only to do the will of God but also to do it in the way in which God wills it to be done. Taylor Joyce, 1713 Savannah, Fort Smith, AR 72901