Q. 92. What is a sacrament?
A. A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:26-28)
The congregation is the basic locale for telling and celebrating the Christian story. Here is the place where, in season and out, the Word is preached and the sacraments administered, and by the grace of God, rightly so. For all its manifest flaws, this assembly is the basic bearer of the promises of God to this people of God. — Gabriel Fackre, “The Congregation and the Unity of the Church”
The terms “sign” and “seal” have been important in Reformed thought to indicate the nature of what occurs in Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper. A sacrament is, as Augustine put it, an “outward sign of an inward grace.” It is an outward expression of a spiritual reality. Sacraments are called a “means of grace,” an “instrument” God uses to convey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through the sacraments God seals believers in redemption, God renews our identity as God marks us for service. But participation is a corporate act rather than an act between an individual and God.
God’s promise of grace precedes any human decision to be baptized. For adults as well as children, baptism is a sign of grace and a means of grace. Baptism is a sign that God’s grace is being received. The outward action of baptism is an act of God, given by God.
For John Calvin, God has ordained the Lord’s Supper, as a sacrament, as a means by which Jesus Christ with the benefits of Christ’s death are imparted to those who receive the Supper in faith. The sacrament is given for your, so you can remember Jesus Christ who gave his body for your and shed his blood for you.
In 1977 Oscar Romero, a quiet, traditional cleric, was consecrated Archbishop of San Salvador. Deemed a safe bet by government authorities, his installation service was even used as an excuse for more government- sanctioned murders. The killings radicalized Romero, prompting him to agree with the sentiment circulated by the priests aligned with the poor people of the country: The church is where it always should have been: with the people, surrounded by wolves.
The martyrdom of a rural priest furthered Romero's radicalism. Against official policies Romero began to support new liturgies and worship services more relevant to the poor and oppressed. He called for the church to become the voice of those whose voices were stopped up. Romero became more and more of a thorn in the government's side.
On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero celebrated Mass from behind the altar of the Chapel of the Divine Providence in San Salvador. As he raised the elements and proclaimed, This is my body given for you ... this is my blood shed for you, a single shot was fired. Romero collapsed, his heart pierced by an assassin's bullet.
The word sacrament comes from a Latin word used for the loyalty oath a Roman soldier took to the emperor. A soldier took a sacramentum to serve the emperor faithfully, even to death. Similarly, when we drink the cup and eat the bread, are we not renewing our vows to be faithful to Christ, until death? Archbishop Romero knew the meaning of Sacramental discipleship. He stands as one of the great Christian martyrs of our time. -Christopher C. Walker, Connecting With the Spirit of Christ, Evangelism for a Secular age (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1988), 104.
According to an ancient image, the church is a pilgrim people. We gaze upon the promised land, but only from afar. The Christian life never takes a straight and direct path; we regularly falter, lose our way, and resist God’s guidance. Yet God seeks us out again and again, calling us to repent and return to him. Calvin argued that we never achieve holiness in this life, that only Christ is holy. But he was certain that we could make progress, for God’s Spirit stirs us to more faithful living. The Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms speak in particular of Word, sacraments, and prayer as “outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption” (7.088; cf. 7.264). Disciplined use of these means of grace helps us grow in the life of faith; in them, we draw strength “from the death and resurrection of Christ,… for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace” (7.277).
Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning Psalm: 98, 135
Evening Psalm: 41, 110
Zechariah 9:9-12; 12:9-11; 13:1, 7-9
1 Timothy 6:12-16
Matthew 21:12-17
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