I read somewhere recently where someone (I forget who) described a sacrament as that intersection of heaven and earth. I kind of like that. In Churches of Christ, we hold that, officially, there are two sacraments – baptism and Lord’s Supper. Although, the word “sacrament” is rarely used – we prefer the word “ordinance” which I think is unfortunate and loses the richer meaning. I think “sacrament” is a very special word, and I think that sacramental experiences are not limited to the heaven and earth intersections of Lord’s Supper and baptism. Such a narrow categorisation does not make sense to me. Nevertheless, these two sacraments are important to us, of course.
The Lord’s Supper (or Communion) is a sacrament and, therefore, when conducted properly and participated in with reverent preparation, there is an experience of God’s presence that is way beyond the ritual, itself. The presence of Christ should always be part of our “remembering”. In fact, in Luke’s Gospel he records the words of Jesus at that last supper where he says, “Do this in remembrance of Me”. The word Luke uses here for “remembrance” – anamnesis – is not the usual word for “remember”, as in to simply recall a past event. Anamnesis means to remember in such a way that we become immersed in the event of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and so, become participants in the powerful ongoing blessing of it all – a heaven-earth intersection where time seems suspended, and we are in an eternity-like moment. This is far more than remembering a fact like when your footy team last won a grand final. It is sacramental, as if heaven is participating with us to bring to living reality in us the full import of the atonement and resurrection. This is why we must never treat the Lord’s Supper as some mundane inclusion in worship.
Likewise in baptism. When we prepare properly for baptism and understand it as something far more than a ceremony, or ritual, and that it is a sacramental experience where God waits to meet with us personally, we experience something of His magnificent grace. Sacraments are means by which, if we approach them with proper preparation, God imparts fresh grace to us each time.
My understanding, as I read scripture, holds that there are more than two official sacraments – there has to be! I believe that there are several other significant ways in which heaven intersects with earth – Lord’s Supper and baptism are not the only sacramental experiences. I think the Gospel, for example, is also a sacrament. The Gospel has tremendous power as the apostle Paul stated …
Romans 1:16 (NIV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."
The Gospel, says the apostle, is far more than mere words and information. It is the power of God’s grace that breaks into the world with a truth revelation that the soul of a person experiences as conviction – and they are left in no doubt about eternity and where they stand in the moment. The right preaching of the Word of God should also be a sacramental experience for God’s people. The sermon is more than information, argument and persuasion – or it should be. It must carry the grace of God such that people have that experience of heaven intersecting with earth such that earth’s frames lose their hold and power in that moment so that God’s grace can be experienced as truth, healing, empowerment and so on. This is the beginning of genuine repentance.
Our personal witness to Christ should be a sacrament to others – a special and unique way by which God imparts His grace to another soul. God releases from us – often without us even realising – the fragrance of Christ which is definitely a heaven-earth intersection moment.
2 Corinthians 2:15 (NIV) “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”
Our very presence in the world should be - must be - a sacrament. A powerful means by which the grace of God is mediated to others. And so, our words and actions, our servant-heartedness and generosity to others need to be sanctified and thus capable of carrying sacramental blessing. This is one of the main reasons we Christians are here – in the world, but not of it. Yet another sacrament is the anointing of the sick with oil …
James 5:14 (NIV) “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.”
So, does the anointing oil have some special healing properties? No, of course not. The key to understanding what James is alluding to here (clearly the early church already knew) is that when the people of God enact something of the ministry of Jesus in obedient faith, with proper consecration, there is a result. The experience of the healing that takes place is powerfully sacramental for all concerned. As I see it, and I am still learning, sacramental experiences fall into two main categories. There are things we enact in obedient faith when properly consecrated that bring to real, living experience, in special heaven-earth intersection moments, the powerful ministry of Jesus. And I think this is what He meant when He gave us the Great Commission and then said …
Matthew 28:20 (NIV) “… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The second category of sacramental experiences are God-initiated. Whether these are kairos moments or something far bigger. We become very aware of what Elijah experienced at the mouth of the cave where he spent a night after fleeing Jezebel …
1 Kings 19:11-13 (NIV)
The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
The Hebrew says, “there came a still”, or “a thin silence” rather than a gentle whisper. This points to a heaven-earth intersection moment. The distance between heaven and earth was whisper thin … Perhaps the most wondrous moment of a heaven-earth intersection in the New Testament was when Jesus gave up His spirit and died. Something momentous happened. The Roman centurion standing there suddenly became aware of something far, far more than a routine execution of a criminal. In that moment of Jesus’ death, heaven and earth intersected in a moment in eternity, and this hardened man was shocked to his core.
Mark 15:39 (NIV) And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how He died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"
Sacraments have been far too categorised by the institutionalising tendencies of the church to hold safe something important. After a while these can become rigid man-made rules or laws to the exclusion of other heaven-earth intersection possibilities.
Let’s be open and prepared for heaven-earth intersections where we, and others, may experience fresh new grace impartations.
Think on these things.
Ps Milton