Through A Glass Darkly

In Alexander Schmemann’s wonderful book For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy, he touches upon the relation of baptism to exorcism and evil and makes some great applications to today’s “smiling” Churches.

“The exorcisms [in relation to baptism...this was the early church's baptismal liturgy] mean this: to face evil, to acknowledge its reality, to know its power, and to proclaim the power of God to destroy it. The exorcisms announce the forthcoming baptism as an act of victory.

Then the priest turneth the person who is come to baptism to the west, unclad, unshod, and having his hands uplifted, and he says—”Dost thou renounce Satan, and all his angels, and all his works, and all his services, and all his pride?” And the catechumen [candidate for baptism] makes answer, or his sponsor for him, and says, “I do.”

The first act of the Christian life is a renunciation, a challenge. No one can be Christ’s until he has, first, faced evil and then become ready to fight it. How far is this spirit from the way in which we often proclaim, or to use a more modern term, “sell” Christianity today! Is it now usually presented as a comfort, help, release from tensions, a reasonable investment of time, energy and money? One has only to read–be it but once–the topics of the Sunday sermons announced in the Saturday newspapers, or the various syndicated “religious columns,” to get the impression that “religion” is almost invariably presented as salvation from something–fear, frustration, anxiety–but never as the salvation of man and the world. How could we then speak of “fight” when the very set-up of our churches must, by definition, convey the idea of softness, comfort, peace? How can the Church use again the military language, which was its own in the first days, when it still though of itself as militia Christi? One does not see very well where and how “fight” would fit into the weekly bulletin of a suburban parish, among all kids of counseling sessions, bake sales, and “young adult” get-togethers.

And yet it is, indeed, the necessary condition of the next decisive step.

“Dost thou unite thyself unto Christ?” says the priest, when he has turned–has converted–the catechumen to the east.

Then comes the confession of faith, the confession by the catechumen of the faith of the Church, of his acceptance of this faith and obedience to it. And again it is difficult to convince a modern Christian that to be the life of the world, the Church must not “keep smiling” at the world, putting the “All Welcome” signs on teh churches, and adjusting its language to that of the last best seller. The beginning of the Christian life–of the life in the Church–is humility, obedience, and discipline. The last act of preparation for baptism, therefore, is this order:

“Bow down also before Him.” And the Catechumen answers, “I bow down before the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.“  Psalm 8:1-2

I love that passage!   A few weeks ago during our worship service, the kids were asked to come to the front to talk about the meaning of Advent.  Dick Miller, our Deacon asked the children what kind of kid Jesus wanted them to be?  There were all kinds of good answers circulated about and then I heard my very loud 2 year old, Tyler say, “Eat the bread!”  I kind of chuckled as I thought of his weekly excitement in partaking of Holy Eucharist.  And then as I thought more about his zealous answer, I concluded that he has it right.  “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast!” (1Cor 5:7-8)  I pray that he never departs from this confession, “Jesus wants us to eat the bread!” (John 6:22-59)

I have had many conversations over the last 2 years regarding the nature of the sacraments. I made a huge leap in my own thinking about that long ago from a symbolic view of the “ordinances” of baptism and the lord’s supper to a truly sacramental view. Naturally the questions/comments I get go something like this:

1. That seems too Catholic.

2. You are taking those passages too literal.

3. So you believe in baptismal regeneration?

4. What is this, some sort of magic?

5. What about the necessity of faith and repentance?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. When someone says that they believe that the sacraments actually communicate what they represent, things get weird. Well, I have come to believe that it isn’t that weird after all. In fact, I think we take this kind of stuff for granted all the time. Consider these two common examples:

1. Marriage – Does something happen to the status of the couple when the minister/witness states: “By the power vested in me by God/the state of _____, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” ? I mean does the status of that couple actually change at that moment? Do they become something that they weren’t before? If someone would argue that the change doesn’t come in the ceremony but rather in the act of consummation, I would reply with the same question, does their status change because of that act? and then I would ask, Why?

2. Court – When a judge pronounces someone innocent or guilty, the state or country or province at that moment is bound to consider that person innocent or guilty. Their status is fixed by that act. What they were considered to be before is no longer true. I am not referring to the truthfulness of their doing or not doing the crime. That is immaterial as it pertains to this point. Does the judge/jury have the power to pronounce something or not? Is that “act” of pronouncement charged with the authority to determine the state of that individual or not?

I do believe we base much of our lives on the power of rituals and customs…that they actually “do” what they symbolize. But for some reason, modern American evangelicals have a hard time transferring these principles into the church. I believe the cause of that is because they really believe that the bible doesn’t teach it. What I want to do is list some passages that I believe to prove prima facie that the commonly referred to “ordinances” of baptism and communion not only symbolize certain things but also communicate those very things. I believe the burden of proof is not on the one who affirms the sacramental nature of the sacraments but those who deny them.

Baptism

1. John 3:3-5 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

2. 1Peter 3:18-22 18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

3. Acts 2:37-38 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

4. Acts 19:12-16 12“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

Remember, my purpose for quoting these verses is to establish a prima facie case for the sacramental nature of the sacraments. I understand that there are arguments against the sacramental nature of these verses. Whether or not they are compelling is another thing. What you don’t find here in these verses is a qualification or a theological explanation that assures the reader of the purely symbolical nature of baptism. Many more verses could be sited and maybe I will at some point, but for now prayerfully consider these passages.

Communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist

1. John 6:52-58 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

2. 1Corinthians 10:14-22 14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

3. 1Corinthians 11:23-30 23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

Is something happening here? Sure sounds like it. Again, my point is to focus on the actual biblical texts. I believe that if Christians take seriously the words of scripture they will be led into a more sacramental view of the “ordinances.”

Here are the words of Luther, that great defender of justification by faith, taken from his declaration in the Galatians commentary,

“Let us diligently learn to judge between these two kinds of righteousness [the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith], that we may know how far we ought to obey the law. We have said before that the law in a Christian ought not to pass its bounds,buty ought to have dominion only over the flesh, which is in subjection to it, and remaineth under it. But if it shall presume to creep into the conscience, and there seek to reign, see thou play the cunning logician, and make the true division. Say thou: ‘O law, thou wouldest climb up into the kingdom of my conscience, and there reprove it of sin, and take from me the joy of my heart, which I have by faith in Christ, and drive me to desperation that I may be without hope, and utterly persih. Keep within thy bounds, and exercise thy power upon the flesh: for I am baptized, and by the gospel am called to the partaking of righteousness and everlasting life.’”

This sure sounds alot like Paul, baptism and calling [that which happens when we hear and believe the gospel] used as guideposts for the conscience (Rom 6:1-4; 1Thess 1:4-7).