The Means of Grace: the Sacraments

As a coach, there is one thing I’ve found that seems true over all age groups and in pretty much any sport. That truth is this: if you focus on the basics, you will be more likely to succeed. Not just focusing on the basics, but practicing them over and over. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a football player try to “thud up” a ball carrier or an outfielder get ready to make the big throw before the ball is in his mitt or a basketball player blow a slam dunk when an easy lay-up would have done just fine. I even remember a soccer teammate who tried to do a fancy backwards overhead kick to clear out the ball and ended up scoring on our own goal.

As a Christian, and as a pastor, I’ve found that sometimes we can focus a whole lot of attention on the little things, and some of them seem really important, but if we don’t spend time focusing on the main thing, we can forget the whole point. A prime example would be a famous pastor and public speaker who has always focused on lost and lonely and alienated people, people who have been pushed to the margins. In exploring some ways the Church has failed these marginalized folks, he recognizes that instead of winning souls by showing them the love of God in Jesus Christ, some churches have instead tried to scare people into heaven by threatening them with Hell. Instead of basing his study and counsel on Scripture, he bases it on emotion, and concludes that a loving God would never send anyone to Hell. As an aside, a loving God does not take a permissive attitude of boys-will-be-boys or humans-will-be-humans. A loving God is also a holy God of justice and will not allow sin to go unchecked; our sin separates us from God, and the due payment for sin is death, and without the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross, our destination is eternal separation from God, and that is what Hell is. Denial of the existence of Hell does not come from studying the scriptures. In fact, an extremely liberal retired pastor friend of mine who happens to be a universalist, even admitted to me point blank that his universalism does not come from the scriptures and he understands that the biblical authors were not universalist.

So anyway, we have been looking at some of the basics of the United Methodist Church. What do we believe? What makes us unique?

One of the things that is most basic for the church is our understanding of the Sacraments. A Sacrament is an action that Jesus Christ commanded as a symbol and a pledge of our love to God and of God’s love toward us. Additionally, the sacraments are the main means of grace, things we do, but through which God works to strengthen and confirm our faith. If you grew up in a different Christian tradition, you might have a different understanding or even count a different number, as Roman Catholics celebrate seven (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing the Sick).

The reason why we have two rather than seven is because Jesus only specifically commanded two: Baptism and Communion. While the others are important rites, Martin Luther first made the distinction that only these two were explicitly commanded by Jesus. Furthermore, not all of them are available for everyone – for example, not all are called to marriage. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul even states that he believes it would be better if unmarried people and widows would remain unmarried, like he was. Likewise with Holy Orders; not everyone is called to be Ordained. In fact there are some who have sought it who might not be called to Ordination…

As for Baptism, not only was Jesus himself baptized, but just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus came to [his disciples] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus commanded baptism.

Baptism signifies the entrance into the family of faith. The United Methodist Church baptizes infants, children, or adults, and we sprinkle, pour, or immerse. This is different from some of our Christian brothers and sisters, some of whom only baptize adults or who only baptize by immersion. John Wesley’s teaching on baptism is kind of funny. Although he was usually so methodical in spelling everything out, he doesn’t do this regarding baptism, presumably because he simply accepts the Anglican view on it. There are some tensions, however, within the scope of United Methodist teaching on baptism.

The first of those tensions is that John Wesley teaches from the Bible that baptism accompanies regeneration, that is, the new birth. In Acts 2, Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:37-39

Because of this reference, many theologians have continued to link repentance, baptism, and salvation. One of the difficulties in this is the question: if baptism is required for salvation, is it a “work” – and we know that salvation is a gift of grace by faith, not of works. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We can never work our way to salvation. So we do not understand baptism as being our salvation, but John Wesley explains that the reason we should be baptized is because Jesus commands it. That should be enough for us. I know many of us fought against that mentality ever since we were kids and our parents told us to do something and when we asked, “Why?” they told us, “Because I’m your mother and I told you to.”

There are times when we might chafe against obedience “because Jesus told us to” until we reflect on the fact that, as we read in Isaiah 40:13-14: Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?

We don’t always know why God tells us to do certain things, only that God’s mind is more than ours, and we know that God has a plan.

Back to baptism. Along with other Christian denominations, we understand it as a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of the new birth in Christ Jesus and a mark of Christian discipleship.

When it comes to baptizing children, we recognize that in many occasions, entire households were saved at once, including the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. Paul and Silas were in jail, but God caused an earthquake. The jailer thought everyone had escaped and was preparing to take his own life, as he knew his life was forfeit anyway as soon as his superiors discovered that prisoners had escaped during his watch. But they hadn’t left at all. After Paul spoke the word of the Lord to him and his family, At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. (Acts 16:33) Though the Bible doesn’t explicitly show children being baptized, it doesn’t prohibit them. Indeed, to be careful, one might apply Jesus’ words from Matthew 19:14: Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Furthermore, we believe that baptism is the mark of a new covenant between God and humanity. Through circumcision, children of Abraham were included in the covenant, and through baptism, children are included in the new covenant by their baptism. This is a reminder that baptism is not about us! It’s about God’s grace which God pours out on us!

But baptism is a means of grace that is administered through the Church. If you come to me and ask me to baptize your out-of-town-grandchild who has no connection to this church except through you, I’ll have to tell you no. Because Christianity isn’t just between you and God; it’s between the Church and God. Did you know that the baptismal covenant includes asking the congregation if they will nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include the newly baptized person in their care?

Because children are recipients of God’s grace and are heirs of the kingdom of God, they are acceptable subjects for Christian baptism. But the children of believing parents through baptism become the special responsibility of the Church. They should be nurtured and led to personal acceptance of Christ, and by profession of faith confirm their baptism.

When I was serving in Gahanna, we had mice in the parsonage. We tried poison, snap traps, and glue traps (those are terrible – use snap traps; at least they aren’t so horrible), but nothing would work. I told the senior pastor, and he told me what to do: baptize them and confirm them and you’ll never see them again.

This is not what baptism is all about! Baptism and confirmation are not fire insurance or “Get out of Hell Free” cards. You need to continue in the faith even after you’ve been baptized or confirmed. This is why at our Conference office there is a fountain with the inscription, “Remember your baptism and be thankful.”

Jesus not only instituted baptism, but he also instituted the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. This is the second of our Sacraments. In Luke 22:19, Jesus actually commands his followers to celebrate Communion. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Do this in remembrance of me.

One of the reasons that Methodism broke from the Church of England was that during the American Revolution, there were no clergy to give Communion in the American colonies! It was so important that they got to celebrate Communion that John Wesley took matters into his own hands and ordained bishops for America. And when you do that, you cannot expect to stay a part of the original institution!

There are reasons why Communion is so important for us. The Lord's Supper is a representation of our redemption. Every time we receive it, we are reminded that we are redeemed people. We are no longer dead in sin, but we were bought with a price. Indeed, God’s grace is free, but it wasn’t cheap. It cost Jesus dearly. So Communion is also a memorial of the suffering and death of Christ.

This is a reason why we don’t play around with Communion. It is a very solemn celebration – always respectful and dignified, because of who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us. In my youth ministry days, there would always be questions like, “Can we celebrate Communion with potato chips and Coke?” Here is my answer to that: Jesus celebrated Communion using bread and wine. From its beginnings, Methodists were strongly opposed to the “manufacturing, buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors,” and so the use of wine in church services seemed hypocritical. So Thomas Welch developed a method of pasteurizing grape juice to make it non-alcoholic. So this is why grape juice is acceptable. But bread and the fruit of the vine were what Jesus used. If you are ok with changing the symbols of the faith, then you can be ok with changing the elements of Communion – for example, since Jesus was executed on a cross, we use the cross as one of our main symbols. To update that symbol, you might us an electric chair or a lethal injection needle as a symbol of execution. To me, that wouldn’t be the same, though we could all stand to evaluate what it means to wear a cross as an ornament. So the same reasoning would fit for the Communion elements.

Also, consider the contextual evidence: the images of bread and wine are found throughout the Scriptures, and Jesus’ use of these elements for Communion falls directly into their use in other places. The imagery goes all the way back to the original Passover story, to God feeding Moses and the Israelites with manna and continues with Jesus feeding the 5000 with bread and calling himself the Bread of Life.

Communion is primarily between us and God, but, like Christianity itself, it is not meant to be solitary. Communion is a demonstration of the love and unity which Christians have with Christ and with one another. There is one loaf, given for many. This is why it is important that we see the one loaf being broken – reminding us that we are partaking of the same bread because we are indeed one body. This is why the Communion liturgy asks us to demonstrate signs of peace with one another. This is why we are told to confess our sins and to reconcile before we partake; because to do otherwise is to take Communion wrongly and unworthily.

But all who rightly, worthily and in faith eat the broken bread and drink the blessed cup partake of the body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner until he returns.

Remember that the means of grace are not ends in themselves, but are the means to the end of holiness. In other words, we baptize not just for the sake of baptism, but to welcome someone into God’s family and help them continue along the path of holiness. We celebrate Communion as it helps us identify with Jesus and know his sacrifice, and it unifies us, which was Jesus’ prayer for his followers.