Conversation # 6 – Beginning to think about Christian practices

Central to the Anglican way of life is the important place we have for the sacraments. I have already written briefly about Baptism in the first conversation. In this blog I will write about the Eucharist, and some other sacraments that are important to Anglicans. I will use their formal names, so we know what they are if other people refer to them in that way. A sacrament is often called an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

The Eucharist

The Eucharist, which means thanksgiving, is known by some other names: the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion or Mass. In the Eucharist we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ through the everyday forms of bread and wine. In the Eucharist we commemorate and celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We repeat what he told us to do: ‘do this in remembrance of me’.  Through the Eucharist we celebrate Jesus’ eternal presence with us, and look forward to the time when we will be with Jesus forever. The Eucharist is a Trinitarian (I wrote about the Trinity 2 weeks ago) act of worship to the Father, through Jesus Christ in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. God the Trinity is present with us whenever we celebrate the Eucharist.

Some people get a little hung up about how the body and blood of Jesus is present. Do the bread and the wine actually change? Is the Eucharist just a form of remembering and nothing more? In the Anglican Church we allow for a number of interpretations, but the ‘official line’ is that ‘we feed on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving’, or as the 39 Articles put it: ‘the body of Christ is given, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner.’ (Article 28)

Confirmation, Penance, Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Unction

The main sacraments of the church are Baptism and the Eucharist. These have been given to us by Jesus. However, we do have five extra sacraments in the church, which we call ‘commonly called sacraments’. These are not necessarily from Jesus, but have came to be valued in the life of the church.

Confirmation - In confirmation we confirm the promises made at out baptism. Some of us were baptised as infants and so we were not able to speak for ourselves. At confirmation we are given the opportunity to publicly take on for ourselves our Christian commitment. This rite is performed by the bishop who represents the wider church and is our chief Pastor.

Penance – In penance we make our own confession for sin. We normally do this together at the Eucharist, but at other times we can make private confession to a priest. The priest will offer us guidance, prayer and, normally, God’s forgiveness of our sins (absolution). Please speak to me if you wish to make a private confession. The Anglican rule for private confessions is: all can, none must, some should. Please remember that confession is confidential, accept in cases of the abuse of a child where the priest is mandated to report.

Holy Orders – Holy orders are the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop. All Christians are commissioned for ministry. However, holy orders are ministries given to the church for guidance, instruction, pastoral care and leadership.

Matrimony – Christian marriage is given to the Church to bless people who choose to live together in a loving partnership.

Unction - Christians are called to pray, lay hands upon, and anoint with oil those who are sick (James 5: 14 – 15). Unction is the ministry of healing. At St. Jude’s we have a healing service at the 9.30am service on the third Sunday of the month. At this service people are invited to receive the ministry of healing, either for themselves or in the name of another. However, the ministry of healing occurs at other times as well. Please let me know if you desire this ministry of prayer.

Once again, we will explore the above a bit further at our catch up sessions.

Next week I will look at reading the Bible and Christian behaviour.

Chris

Conversation # 5 – Beginning to think about Christian practices - Prayer

This week I want to start thinking about some Christian practices: prayer, sacramental worship, reading the Bible, acts of justice and kindness, and Christian behaviour. It will take me a few weeks to cover these. If you have any questions, as per usual blog or raise them in our catch-up sessions.

Prayer

All relationships need communication for them to be healthy and rewarding. We find that with our own families and friends. We need to communicate with them if they are to understand us and we them. That communication can take a number of forms. It can be deep conversation about something that concerns us, simple requests for something, angry expressions of displeasure or happy conversation where there is much humour and laughter. All these are normal human conversation and communication. They help us to be in a relationship with others.

Prayer to God can be exactly the same. We can talk to God in prayer, just sharing our day with God. We can bring to God our concerns and pray for those we love. We can express our disappointment when things do not quite go right, and, at times, we can express our anger with God about the injustices we experience in the world. Prayer often motivates us to take action about such things as we co-operate with God in God’s mission in the world.

One area that often troubles us is when God seems not to answer our prayer or doesn’t appear to be listening. We can feel that God has abandoned us. That experience is common to most of us. The answer to this is not straight forward, but I tend to think that sometimes God says no to our prayer, just like our parents say no to, what may seem to us at least, a fair request. God knows what is best for the long term and into eternity. At the other times, God may say not yet, but in time our prayer request may be answered. Other times, I have found, that God says yes straight away. Like many things in the Christian faith prayer is something of a mystery and we will not seem totally logical to us. Most important of all, however, is that prayer draws us closer to God and something of God’s heart shared with us. As with all relationships, there are times of great joy and at other times moments of struggle.

What does prayer mean to you?

Has God answered prayer the way you wanted?

Have there been other times when you have felt disappointed that your prayer has not been answered?

Chris

Conversation # 4 – God

This week we come to the heart of the Christian Faith – God. You may be wondering why it has taken me three weeks to deal with the very core belief of the Christian Faith. What I wanted to do, however, was say something first about how we come into contact with the Christian Faith: the Christian life, Baptism and the Church. However, without God none of these things make sense, of course.

So now let me speak a little about God. Many people throughout the world profess belief in God. There are many religions that profess a belief in something ‘other’ and beyond us, and many people, who would not say they are religious, still believe in a God in some form. Christianity shares with Judaism and Islam the belief in one God as revealed to us through the Old Testament of the Bible. Christianity, though, has a unique take on this. We proclaim that this God is Trinity, that is, God is one but also three. There is one God who is in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

To the Father is attributed the ministry of creation. To the Son is attributed the ministry of salvation, and to the Holy Spirit is attributed the ministry of sanctification. This is reflected in the Nicene Creed, which we recite together at our Sunday morning services.

For many people the Trinity just doesn’t make sense. How can three be one? There is always a danger when trying to explain the Trinity that we will either make people more confused, or we will explain it in such a way that makes God into three Gods (tritheism) or one God who appears to us in three ways (modalism). It is best, I think, and inadequate as it is, to say that the Trinity is a mystery that we will never fully understand in a purely logical way. The New Testament Christians experienced God in this three-personed way, and quite wisely, I think, left it unexplained (Matt 2: 19; 1 John 4: 3-14).

As you are thinking about these things, you might like to pay close attention to the words that we use at our Sunday morning services (the greetings, creed, prayers, Eucharistic prayers and blessing). They are all thoroughly Trinitarian. You may also like to look up the ‘Athanasian Creed’, as it is called, and the Catechism. These can be found at the back of the prayer book. At our catch-up time we will spend more time talking about what I have said here.

Some things to think about until then:

Do we need to believe in the Trinity to be Christians?

Do I believe in a God that is one but three?

What questions do I need to ask about the Trinity?

Please feel free to post your thoughts about the Trinity on this ‘blog’

. Chris