Eucharist and baptism
by Tia Hudson
I want to talk today about the two sacraments of the church considered essential by the Episcopal Church to being a Christian.
First of all, we need to define sacrament. According the Book of Common Prayer:
Our Anglican tradition recognizes sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 857) Holy Baptism and the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) are the two great sacraments given by Christ to his Church.
Deemed as less important, because they were not instituted by Jesus, the Episcopal Church recognizes five other sacramental rites:
In addition, there are other spiritual markers in our journey of faith that can serve as means of grace. These include:
- Confirmation: the adult affirmation of our baptismal vows
- Reconciliation of a Penitent: private confession
- Matrimony: Christian marriage
- Orders: ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, or episcopacy
- Unction: anointing those who are sick or dying with holy oil
Today we will be looking at the two sacraments instituted by Christ.
The first is the Eucharist, which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper. We have been hearing for the last few weeks about what is meant by the Lord’s supper, which we celebrate almost every Sunday. The verses from John contain disturbingly graphic images, and those images continue in what we heard in today’s Gospel, when Jesus explained to the larger group of disciples while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
Through repetition, the words have become less graphic, softer, spiritual and comforting rather than visceral, or “felt … as if in the internal organs of the body.” Merriam Webster
Jesus here is laying out what it will take to be his disciple. It is not a message welcomed by all. Jesus was and is seen as a healer and someone who talked about the love of God. Now here he is presenting a harsher picture of what his life required from all of them as his disciples.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? … The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.
It was too much for some of them, and for some of us. We don’t want to hear about eating flesh and drinking blood. As it says in the Eucharistic Prayer C in the Book of Common Prayer, often we come to the table “for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal.”
But strength is what is needed to follow the Way of Jesus, and renewal is what gives us that strength.
Both the Hebrew scripture and the New Testament readings tell us some of what we need to follow the Way of Jesus:
In Kings, we are told God will keep “covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”
In Ephesians, we are told to
Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
These are the things we are called to as Christians. The inward and spiritual truth of baptism helps us be steadfast in all these things.
And that brings us to the sacrament we will be celebrating today – baptism.
Reading again from the Book of Common Prayer we find the following:
Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.
The fact that Baptism is “indissoluble” is why we say in the Nicene Creed that “there is one baptism.” Once done, it cannot be undone. “You are marked as Christ’s own forever.” The church has provided for a renewal of baptismal vows, but not for a second baptism. The outward and visible sign of baptism bestows an eternal grace of the presence of God in our lives.
We read in the New Testament of baptisms done quickly and spontaneously. In Acts 8:26-40, we hear the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, where Philip was directed by God to explain to the eunuch the meaning of what he was reading in Isaiah.
Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’[h] 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip[i] baptized him.
But as the church began to become more organized, it became important that people understood what it meant to be baptized. This developed eventually into a long, drawn-out preparation for baptism – sometimes as long as three years. Over time, and especially after Christianity became the official religion under Constantine and many more people were coming to be baptized, the preparation was shortened. However, it was still expected that people would learn thoroughly what they were committing themselves to. The sacrament called for a complete renewal of life. It was not a simple sprinkling of water. It was an expectation that the baptized person would live out that renewal and live as Christ’s body in the world.
For this reason, many Protestant churches will not baptize children until they reach an age where they can decide for themselves to be Christians. However, the Episcopal Church baptizes infants and adults. That’s why the service requires a commitment from parents, godparents, and the congregation to teach the child what they need to know about the meaning of their baptism, and to help them live out fully that meaning. Remember, according to the Episcopal Church now, and the Church through history, “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”
So, we come back to what we know about the two sacraments of Eucharist and Baptism:
First, these are seen as joyful celebrations. We go willingly to eat the blood and drink the wine, and we accept that it is not for solace only, but also for strength, that it is not for pardon only but also renewal. We find all those things there, and we rejoice in being the Body of Christ in the world.
And in accepting those things willingly, we also acknowledge that it is not always easy to live out our faith as fully as we would like. We recognize that walking the Way of Jesus can be hard, can be a struggle. So, each week we come back to the Eucharist, both to thankfully remember Jesus’ sacrifice and find the strength to continue on the Way.
Also, when we witness another’s baptism, as promises are made by them or for them as they enter into the Way of Jesus, we are reminded of the promises we have made to be disciples of Christ, living as his body in the world.