Because the Lord’s Supper is a covenant meal, it may be abused. It is a covenant Supper, not a magic Supper. In the history of the Church, tragically, abuse has happened often. Paul says in one place that it is possible for the Supper to do more harm than good. He says that when the Corinthians came together, it was not for the better, but for the worse.
This is not an incongruous point to make on Easter morning. If ever there was a time for fear and trembling, it is when a man has come back from the dead.
So notice that Paul’s solution is to address the abuses, and not to have the Corinthians shrink back from the Supper in fear. If anyone had cause to shrink back in fear—some of them had died, remember—it was they. But Paul notes the abuses, and urges them to reform what they do, and how they do it.
So as you come, take care to guard yourself against some contemporary abuses. You are invited to come if you have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you have not been baptized, you are invited, but not to the Supper. You are invited to be baptized, which is in fact the central invitation to the Supper.
As you come, come in faith. Do not come in perfection, for you have none. Do not come in maturity—none of us are there yet. Do not come in your own name—God gives you your true name in the Supper. Do not come clinging to any superstitious devices—the just shall live by faith. In faith, just come, and eat. Come and drink.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.