Easter Workshop 1981
ENCOUNTERING JESUS IN THE SACRAMENTS -John K. Newsome

A. Discovering the Sacraments

Often when a person becomes a Christian or is received into church membership teaching on the sacraments plays a relatively minor role. Perhaps this is partly because churches often disagree on just what the sacraments mean. The impression is often given, unintentionally maybe, that the sacraments are on the fringe of church life. This is a pity, because a sound sacramental understanding of life is an essential part of the full Christian faith. To be truly Christian each of us needs to discover the sacraments for ourselves. A sacrament is a gift from God, which helps us to deepen our fellowship with Him and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. How does it differ from other ways in which God comes to us? It is something outward – a physical object, gesture, act, something that we can apprehend with the senses and not just with the intellect. It is a part of the material world which God takes and blesses and uses as a vehicle of His presence.

To be a sacramental Christian means therefore to have a very high view of the material creation. It means that we believe God can come to us through matter. Often Christianity has divorced matter from spirit and regarded the former as essentially bad. Many thought that God was to be sought outside the ordinary world of physical objects. But this denies the essential goodness of the created order in God’s eyes (cf. the refrain in Genesis 1, “and God saw that it was good.”) It also denies the Incarnation. The most mind-boggling truth about the Christian faith is that God Himself became matter. In Jesus He used ordinary flesh and blood to convey Himself to us. He still uses ordinary everyday objects to come to us. So really Jesus is the Sacrament par excellence. The Church, i.e. the fellowship of believers existing as the Body of Christ, is a secondary sacrament. It is a physical body which extends the saving work of Jesus into the world today in the Holy Spirit’s power. What we usually call the sacraments are particular ways God comes to people, through matter, within the life of the Church. Therefore sacraments have been called “extensions of the incarnation.” They “en-flesh” or “incarnate” Jesus for us now. Because they are physical, they often speak to us physical beings at a deeper level than mere words. We understand not just by hearing the word but by getting involved in a drama or ritual. After all, actions speak louder than words.

B. The Traditional Sacraments

1. The two most important are Baptism and Holy Communion (the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Mass.) These are explicitly commanded by Jesus as ways we receive His life into our life – Baptism as a once for all experience to mark a changing point when we become Christians, Holy Communion to feed us regularly as we grow daily in the Christian life.

2. Some churches recognize five other rites as sacramental- Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Confession (ministry of Reconciliation), Anointing the sick.

3. But really any physical thing or ceremony, gesture, ritual, which makes God more real to you could be called a sacrament. Our aim should be to see the whole of life as sacramental. Many feel that nature especially can be sacramental in that it makes us more aware of God, but so too can the life of a busy city, or the ordinary everyday chores we do. Every moment can be pregnant with God. Some spiritual writers talk about the “Sacrament of the Present World.”

C. Developments

It is important to remember that in the sacraments God actually does something. Their validity doesn’t depend simply upon our feelings or the extent of our faith. But on the other hand any ritual can become automatic, and it’s easy to lose sight of the inward reality and take God’s grace for granted. Unfortunately that has often happened with the sacraments with result that for many people they aren’t true encounters with Jesus and means of receiving His power. Another consequence of that development is that in some churches the sacraments are celebrated infrequently. This is a pity. We need to rediscover the importance of outward forms, but they must be combined with a personal appreciation of the inner reality. Then matter and spirit are truly married.

D. How can the Sacraments be true encounter with Jesus for us again?

1. We must be aware of our need of God, and desire to be continually renewed by the Holy Spirit. When we thirst for God we will seek all the means He provides through which He can come to us. So as well as prayer and scripture, we will ardently desire the sacraments and run to meet Him there. Without this desire the means of grace are bound to remain dull and formal, more outward ceremonies. It is our own attitude which can make the crucial difference.

2. We need to recognize more fully just Who it is who comes to us in the Sacraments. It is Jesus himself, our Lord and Saviour. He is really present though it is unwise to define exactly how. The Sacraments are not just symbols of His presence, i.e. they don’t stand for an absent reality. They actually convey His presence. And if we genuinely desire to grow into a deeper relationship with Him the thought of His coming to us in the sacraments should fill us with delight and reverent awe.

3. Expectancy. We should come expectant, with anticipation. Unless we really expect to meet Jesus then we won’t, because we won’t be looking for Him. The first disciples gathered with eager expectancy. They knew God was going to act.

4.Preparation. We need to prepare ourselves to receive the sacraments. If we come casually the chances are we are not spiritually aware. We should examine ourselves, our lives, confess our sins, read the lessons in advance, pray for the leaders and the other worshipers. Pray that God will act. But the best form of preparation is to cultivate a sense of God present in all moments of our lives (see previously about the whole of life as a sacrament.) When you can recognize God at work in the little things in your life it’s much easier to see Him at work in the traditional sacraments. These then become the focal points of God’s activity, and you can slip into them more easily.

5. Pray. Make the set prayers of the service your own prayers. In time you will learn not just to pray them but to pray through them, going beyond the surface level of meaning. Your own devotions can be going on in your own mind while you are saying the outward words with the rest of the congregation. Offer your own concerns to God.

6. Make every effort to understand what is going on – its meaning (esp. of the Holy Communion), why it is done as it is done in your particular church and how it is done in other churches. Ask you minister, read books, discuss.

7. Be aware of the other worshipers. The sacraments are communal. They’re not just supposed to bind you closer to God but also to you fellow Christians. Be joyful, they are also a celebration.

8. Get involves in the action – physically if you can. (This will depend to a certain extent on how it’s done in your church.) After all you are making present again the drama of salvation. If there’s not much scope for physical involvement then identify yourself with the action as much as you can with your mind and spirit, so that it really does become a part of you. Remember worship needs to be worked at. If you don’t give much you won’t get much out of it.

9. Attend regularly. The more you use the sacraments the more you see how you need them. They won’t become stale with use if you always remember the inward reality behind the outward form. Stand amazed at the mystery of how the great God of Heaven and earth comes to us in such ordinary things. What an expression of love!