Understanding The Importance Of The Sacrament

In the name of the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are continuing to think about Christ as the Bread of Life, and while the previous two weeks focussed upon aspect of things that happen because of our understanding, this week, we come into a place where we consider the actual elements and how they have an impact on our faith and whole life.

When we think about the bread and wine, the body and blood, The church calls this a Sacrament, and throughout it there are two which are universally recognised, there are also five others which are recognised by some, but not all, although it is also argued that there is no limit to the number of them, and other things could be deemed a sacrament, which is essentially a Latin translation of the word mystery, and it is through these mysteries that we encounter the presence of God.

The two Universally recognised ones are Baptism, our entry into the household of faith, and the second, The Eucharist, which is the one that we are going to consider today.

But what is a Sacrament? St Augustine first described them as an outward sign of an invisible grace upon our lives, so for example in Baptism, the sacrament of New Life, the outward sign would be the blessed water being poured over the head, whilst the inward grace would be the person receiving forgiveness and new life in Christ.

By the same token, the Eucharist, the sacrament of Unity, the outward sign is the bread and wine, whilst the inward grace that we receive is Life and Strength through the Risen Christ, words which resonate deeply with the words of our Gospel this morning.

Within this passage Christ is giving us a foretaste of the way in which He is going to bring salvation through his brokenness. This is reflected when He says ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.’

Through this invitation we become partakers of this spiritual food so that we can enter into the new covenant with Him. Christ then continues ‘Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them’, within this statement Christ is instructing the disciples in the way in which this salvation will be given.

In these few short passages of scripture there is much for us to consider, and perhaps the best place to begin is by asking what we understand as happening at the altar during the prayer. For each of us, it will be different, for Roman Catholics, it would be something called Transubstantiation where the elements are literally transformed into the body and blood, and at the other side of the spectrum are the memorialists, who believe that the eucharist is a simple remembrance of the events and no change takes place.

Theologians would say that a memorialist point of view would be more of an ordinance, rather than a sacrament, but where there is a belief that something, however small is happening during the prayer, then it would demonstrate that the grace of God is at work in this great prayer of the church.

Through taking part within the eucharist, we literally embody the meaning of this scripture, because the prayer recalls the past, how Christ died on the cross for us all, as the atoning act to bring us back into right relationship with God.

The present, what is happening right here and now, how we join together in this feast as we offer thanksgiving and praise as a sacrifice to God for the gift which we cannot earn, but in humility receive. We remember Christ's presence within the elements through whichever theology is appropriate to us, and how His body was broken and His blood spilled.

So, as we become partakers in the meal we receive God’s forgiveness anew for our lives, and this causes us to look to the future, of Christ’s return when we will join Him and the saints when Heaven and Earth become one in the new Kingdom.

What underpins all of this is the grace that we receive through partaking in the eucharist. We have already considered the Gospel from this morning, but we also need to consider the point where these words were put into action at the Last supper. In Matthew’s Gospel we see many similarities, and we need to bear in mind that this was actually a Pesach or Passover meal.

In it we see Jesus teaching His disciples about the new covenant, whilst also observing the traditional Jewish custom. He removes the old sacrifice of the slain lamb, and makes Himself the sacrifice, thus bringing an end to the old custom of slaughtering a lamb to honour the Jews covenant with God, then through this new sacrifice He brings redemption for the whole Human Race.