Chapter 02: Sacraments

[00:00:01] Chapter 2 sacraments questions what comes to your mind when you think of baptism? [00:00:10] What comes to your mind when you think of communion? [00:00:14] In your mind, what is a sacrament? Why do you think these practices are considered sacraments? [00:00:22] It's pretty obvious that humans naturally find sacred moments and sacred places. [00:00:28] Almost every culture has had sacred places, rituals and even words. It has become common to describe humans as meaning making creatures. But it's not just the big obvious culture wide things that are sacred. No one needs to tell you to find a favorite overlook in the mountains, a song that you turn on to get pumped up, or a movie that you watch when you're sad. We do this in big once in a lifetime ways, like marriage ceremonies. We do this in small, repeatable ways, like family camping trips to same lake or pizza night once a month with our close friends. [00:01:03] These sacred moments contain two truths that seem to contradict. [00:01:09] First, the sacredness is not really about the moment. They are sacred because they represent something a lot bigger than the silly little tradition. But also the moment becomes sacred because somehow it has been imbued with the bigger meaning. Your marriage ceremony isn't why you got married. You got married because of a deep love that led to a lifelong commitment. Your lives are now intertwined in a way that the Bible calls one flesh. That's bigger than a ceremony. But the ceremony represents all of those things and stirs us to honor the significance of those big themes. [00:01:48] Pizza night isn't about pizza and watching Tommy boy for the 274th time with your buddies. It's about the long term relationships, memories and commitment your buddy bodies have for one another. It has nothing to do with pizza. But when you sit down with those guys eating Papa John's and watching David Spade at his career peak, it somehow contains the feelings and significance of those bigger themes. [00:02:11] When you start thinking this way, you get into the vicinity of thinking sacramentally. [00:02:17] There are specific things we do as Christians. Some of them are once in a lifetime moments, like baptism. [00:02:24] Some of them are regular practices like communion. These things that we do represent something much bigger than the act. But contained within the moment is all of that significance. [00:02:36] What makes the sacraments so much bigger than the simple sacred moments of human life is that each is enlivened with the work of the Holy Spirit. Sacraments are practices that Jesus commands and to which he gives a unique vibrance. [00:02:52] When we obey with a sacrament, we are met by the former primitive work of the Holy. We are not saved by them, but we are marked by them and changed as we participate in them. [00:03:04] Baptism. [00:03:05] If you have not been baptized, then this is your next step. Jesus commanded that all who follow him should be baptized following his example. He was baptized as the initiation of his public ministry. In the same way, baptism is the public affirmation of our faith in Jesus. It is a physical declaration that we believe Jesus is Lord, trust his work on the cross and have decided to follow him in baptism. You will be seated in a body of water, river, pond, pool, etc immersed in the water and raised back up. As this is done, the minister will baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In this act, you take upon yourself the representation of Christ who was buried and rose again. You also acknowledge that you have turned away from sometimes called dying to your old life and have been given new life. In Jesus. [00:04:01] Baptism is an act of obedience and a public statement. It is also an important physical moment in which you engage your senses, your body, in your decision to follow Jesus. In this act of obedience, we believe that the Holy Spirit meets you and works in your heart in a mysterious way. We don't have a clear expectation for what the Holy Spirit does in this moment, but we know he does something. [00:04:28] Communion on the night Christ was betrayed, he took bread and after giving thanks, he broke it. [00:04:35] If those words sound familiar, it's because they are the usual words spoken to begin the communion service at most churches across the globe. They are also taken from 1st Corinthians 11, verse 23 and 24. Communion in some traditions called the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, is the way in which we physically remember the death of Jesus as he instructed before his arrest. [00:05:02] Practically, we consume bread and juice or wine in some churches as representations of the body and blood of Jesus that were broken and spilled on the cross. When we do so, we taste and see that the Lord is good. We remember our sins and remember that we are so deeply loved that Christ would die to remove the guilt of those sins. [00:05:25] Once again. We do this to remember and reorient our lives around Jesus. But when we take communion, we are opening ourselves up to the work of the Holy Spirit in a sacred and unique way. [00:05:37] This act does not save us or forgive our sins, but it does remind us and open our hearts to the transformation in a unique way. [00:05:48] When we participate in the sacraments, we are practicing obedience to Jesus in a very physical, practical way. We are also receiving grace and formation that comes from the Holy Spirit. Both of these practices are to be part of the life of every follower of Jesus. [00:06:06] Our prayer for this chapter comes from the theologian and Church, Father Augustine of Hippo. It reminds us of the work of the Holy Spirit that meets us in our obedience and changes our hearts. [00:06:19] Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. [00:06:24] Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work too may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy? [00:06:34] Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.