1,000 Times More Powerful than a Sermon
The sacramental stream has two major emphases: (1) the life-giving power of divinely appointed material symbols, and (2) historic continuity with 2,000 years of Christian tradition.
Literally, a sacrament is a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìsacred thing?¢‚Ǩ¬ù or a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìholy thing?¢‚Ǩ¬ù: a church observance understood in some way to convey grace. The Eastern Church prefers the term ?¢‚Ǩ?ìmystery.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù The preeminent sacrament or mystery is Christ himself.
A sacrament is more than an ?¢‚Ǩ?ìordinance.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù ?¢‚Ǩ?ìOrdinance?¢‚Ǩ¬ù suggests something that is done in order to obey a rule rather than for its intrinsic benefits. It may be a city ordinance that I only water my lawn on certain days of the week. I’m certainly happy to observe that ordinance, but not because the observance has any intrinsic worth. It’s just a rule I obey. Are we ever guilty of thinking about baptism or the Lord’s Supper in that way? We can only observe an ordinance, but we can celebrate a sacrament.
How many sacraments are there? Roman Catholicism teaches there are exactly seven. Martin Luther narrowed that down to two or three. (Penance, what modern Catholics call the sacrament of Reconciliation, sometimes makes the cut and sometimes doesn’t, depending on which chapter of which treatise you’re reading!) Baptists, to the extent they admit the term at all, insist on exactly two: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Eastern Orthodoxy refuses to set a specific number, but says that all kinds of symbolic acts may be considered ?¢‚Ǩ?ìsacramental.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù In the ancient church, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the induction of monks into monastic orders, foot-washing, and a host of other observances, acts, and gestures were called “sacraments.” This more open-ended approach has much to commend it, in my opinion.
The sacramental stream is sometimes called the liturgical stream. The terms are somewhat interchangeable, but certain differences should be noted. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìLiturgical,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù points to a particular style of worship. Indeed, most advocates of the convergence movement want to reclaim at least some aspects of ancient liturgical worship. By contrast, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìsacramental?¢‚Ǩ¬ù is a broader term. It speaks of an approach to life and devotion that stresses the mystical presence of God. Early revivalists in Europe and America emphasized the sacraments; particularly the Lord?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Supper, but not necessarily a particular format for celebrating them.
Four key Christian doctrines affirm the goodness of the physical world and therefore give a firm scriptural basis to sacramental thinking.
Creation. God created the physical world and declares it ?¢‚Ǩ?ìgood.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù (Genesis 1:12, 18, 25, 31). The Gnostic heretics believed that matter was evil; orthodox Christianity does not.
Incarnation. The unique message of Christianity is that God became a human being, entering the physical world in a personal way (John 1:14). There is no place for the Gnostic idea of a God so high above us that he cannot be ?¢‚Ǩ?ìcontaminated?¢‚Ǩ¬ù by material existence!
Redemption. God intends to save not just human souls, but all of creation (Acts 3:19-21, Col 1:19-20). God?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ?¢‚Ǩ?ìplan of salvation?¢‚Ǩ¬ù is to renew the earth, not to annihilate it.
Resurrection. The Christian hope is for the resurrection of the body (1 Cor 15:38 42-45, 53). The idea of eternal existence as a disembodied spirit is the teaching of Plato, not Paul.
My journey into the sacramental stream largely began as a journey of exploration of sacramental or liturgical forms of worship. (And it began at the prodding of folks who rejected the very idea of liturgy as something countenanced by the New Testament?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùbut that’s another story!). As I did with the charismatic stream, let me suggest some of the books that I have found helpful in sorting out this aspect of my spirituality.
First, I can’t say enough about Robert Webber‘s many books, articles, and workshops. I’ve heard him in person three times and have read most of his books on the subject of worship renewal. It was The Renewal of Sunday Worship, volume 3 of his Complete Library of Christian Worship that got me started, to the consternation of many! Then there’s Ancient-Future Faith, Worship is a Verb, etc., etc.
I should also note Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, a collection of personal testimonies edited by Webber of traditional evangelicals who discovered wholeness, balance, and rootedness in ancient tradition through their conversion to the Episcopal Church.
Then there’s Thomas Howard’s Evangelical Is Not Enough, which chronicles the author’s spiritual journey to Episcopalianism (he eventually was received into the Roman Catholic Church).
Another helpful book for me was Dan William’s Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism. Williams deals more with theology than worship or spirituality, but he provides a helpful explanation of why Tradition is an important theological concept. His subtitle, “A Primer for Suspicious Protestants,” gives an idea of how he helps folks like me work through the issues without being threatened (too much) by them.
Finally, let me mention William De Arteaga’s Forgotten Power. This discussion of the role of Holy Communion in British and American revival movements is a true eye-opener for those who assume that evangelicalism’s disdain for the sacraments as means of grace goes all the way back to the beginning.
?¢‚Ǩ?ìSacramental?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Worship
Certain elements of corporate worship are particularly associated with worship in the sacramental or liturgical stream. Free-church Christians should consider themselves free to embrace as many or as few of these ancient customs as seems helpful.
Common Gestures. All of the biblical words for worship imply gesture or posture: standing, kneeling, kissing, etc. In addition, certain customary gestures enjoy a centuries-old pedigree.
- The orans prayer posture. Standing, with uplifted hands, is depicted in the Roman catacombs.
- The sign of the cross. Attested by Tertullian and Hippolytus as early as AD 200, well before the rise of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìRoman Catholicism.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Early Christians were anointed with oil in the sign of the cross at baptism, and this is probably a way of remembering one?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s baptism and one?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s identity as a Christian.
- Acts of veneration. Tertullian, Origen, and others mention bowing, kissing, or otherwise reverencing Gospel books, the cross, the communion table, and other objects used in worship.
Visual Symbols. Banners, candles, icons, and other expressions of the visual arts. The visual arts were extravagantly present in the worship practices of ancient Israel (see Exod 31:1-11)
Sacred Acts, the recognized ?¢‚Ǩ?ìSacraments?¢‚Ǩ¬ù or ?¢‚Ǩ?ìMysteries?¢‚Ǩ¬ù of the Church: Communion, baptism, anointing, laying on of hands, etc.
