Somehow, we are reaching the
conclusion of another week. It’s been busy at work this week and it seldom
feels like there is enough time to squeeze everything in. Hopefully your week
has been as productive as mine has been. I’ll be heading to Bean Blossom (yes,
that’s a real town!), Indiana this weekend to take in the Bill Monroe Bluegrass
festival. I’m looking forward to spending time in my home state before returning
to the Nashville area late Sunday evening.
It
recently occurred to me that I hadn’t taken time to explain the title of this
blog. How rude of me! In contemplating the title of the blog, I considered the
ideals I want to convey in this blog space. I want this blog to be a place
where readers can find encouragement and direction in their Christian walk. Encouragement
and direction can be found in the ordinary means of grace – word and sacrament.
To that end, “Word & Sacrament” seemed to be a logical name for this space.
For
those of us who have been saturated in Church life for as long as we can
remember, Word & Sacrament may be very familiar. New believers, however,
may have no clue what these words signify. To understand the significance of ‘means
of grace’, we must first define the word grace itself. A quick Google search
yields the following definition of grace: “courteous goodwill”. Though vague,
this definition will prove sufficient for our exercise. There can be no doubt
that God’s ultimate act of grace towards his people was to send his only Son down
from heaven ultimately to die on the cross. It’s this act which imputes Christ’s
righteousness to us Earthly sinners and allows the faithful to be justified before
God. With that “ultimate” act of grace in mind, we can now consider the “ordinary”
means of grace in their proper place.
God
knew that we would need help persevering in our walk with him. He knew our
broken nature would often lead us into temptation. Thankfully, God puts some
incredible tools in our spiritual tool box. Utilizing word, sacrament, and the
guiding light of the Holy Spirit is essential to persevering in the ultimate gift
of Salvation. Let’s take a closer look into the ordinary means of grace.
I
would venture to guess that nearly everyone reading a blog on theology is
familiar with the word of God – the Bible. As orthodox Christians, we assert
the 66 books (73 if you’re Roman Catholic! – more on that another time) of the
Biblical cannon to be the inspired, inerrant (free from error) word of God. We
read in 2 Timothy: 3 verses 16 and 17: “All scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so
that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Thus,
we are able to trust and discern God’s will for us in his written word. What an incredible gift to have the
ability to follow the entirety of Salvation history from Genesis to Revelation
while simultaneously edifying ourselves and feeling God’s love oozing from the
pages of Scripture. When we find ourselves drifting from the narrow path of Salvation,
we only need to open God’s faithful word in order to find our way back. Too
often, we take the accessibility of God’s word for granted. Until the invention
of the printing press in the middle ages, it was rare to have a copy of God’s written
word.
Many
of us may not be as familiar with the second of the ordinary means of grace –
sacrament. There is substantial dispute regarding the total number of Sacraments.
Roman Catholic theology holds to seven sacraments while most Protestant
traditions only affirm two. Both traditions consider Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper (often referred to as Communion or the Eucharist) to be sacraments. Thus,
those are the two sacraments that I will focus on in this blog. What is a
sacrament you ask? Augustine, a father of the early Christian Church defines a sacrament
as “an outward sign of an inward grace”. Saint Thomas adds that a sacrament is “the
sign of a sacred thing in so far as it sanctifies men”. Thomas's position is that sacraments are efficacious is conveying grace to the believer. The modern-day ethos in
most Evangelical Churches contends that sacraments are only a symbol of what
has already taken place in the heart of the believer and conveys no real grace.
Essentially, Evangelicals affirm Augustine and shove Thomas to the side. They
are correct that sacraments are indeed symbols. However, sacraments don’t stop
at symbolism. As Saint Thomas points out, sacraments play a huge part in our sanctification.
Over time, sacraments help conform the believer into a more Christ-like image.
You see, Christ’s death on the cross imputed
his righteousness to us in order that we may be justified before God. Conversely,
the sacraments impart Christ’s
righteousness within in our souls and allow us to become more like him each
day. This dichotomy is important. The sacraments do not save us, they sustain us through the power of the Holy Spirit. No, we won’t ever be completely Christ-like this side of heaven! Given the
sinful nature forever implanted in our DNA through the fall, complete sanctification
is impossible on this Earth. However, we
should strive to allow ourselves to perpetually be conformed to His image. A rightly
administered Baptism and frequent reception of the Lord’s Supper are a means to
this end. In future posts, I’ll dive deeper into both Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper.
One
last note. I almost included the word ‘tradition’ as part of the title of this
blog. I left this word out as it can often become rather difficult to distinguish
the apostolic tradition from the traditions of man. Evangelicals reading this
blog likely covered their head and ducked under a desk at the sight of the
dreaded ‘T word’. However, the man who the Holy Spirit inspired to write a
significant portion of the new testament warns us against dismissing the
tradition. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians: 2 verse 15: “So then, brothers and
sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether
by word of mouth or by letter.” Much like word and sacrament, the
traditions of the Church are ordered to bless our spiritual journey. I will offer
insight into various traditions of the Church, such as the liturgical calendar,
in future blog posts.
Have a great weekend!
In Christ,
Kendal May
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