“Offered
to All” – “Received only by Grace”
By far this is my favorite reading from Calvin. Below I
have highlighted the early section of this chapter which I believe answers Lane’s (Go
Fetch!) questions to us students.
What
is a Sacrament? What does God do through
a Sacrament?
(4.14.1) Definition: We have
in the sacraments another aid to our faith related to the preaching of the
gospel… First, we must consider what a
sacrament is. It seems to me that a
simple and proper definition would be to say that it is an outward sign by
which the Lord seals on our consciences the promise of his good will toward us
in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and we in turn attest our piety
toward him in the presence of the Lord and his angels and before men.”
(4.14.3) Word and
Sign “Now, from the definition that I
have set forth we understand that a sacrament is never without a preceding promise
but is joined to it as a sort of appendix, with the purpose of confirming and
sealing itself, and of making it more evident to us and in a sense ratifying
it.”
(4.14.4) The Word must
explain the Sign “The word must
explain the sign… not as one whispered
without meaning and without faith, a mere noise, like a magic incarnation,
which has the force to consecrate the element. Rather, it should, when preached, make us understand what the visible
sing means… The sacrament requires
preaching to beget faith… Accordingly,
when we hear the sacrament word mentioned, let us understand the promise, proclaimed
in a clear voice by the minister, to lead the people by the hand wherever the
sign tends and directs us.”
(4.14.5) The
Sacraments as Seals “Indeed, the
believer, when he sees the sacraments with his own eyes, does not halt at the
physical sight of them… Rises up in
devout contemplation to those lofty mysteries which lie hidden in the
sacraments”
(4.14.6) The Sacraments as Signs of a Covenant “The
sacraments, therefore, are exercises which make us more certain of the
trustworthiness of God’s Word… Or we may
call them mirrors in which we may contemplate the riches of God’s grace, which
he lavishes upon us… They confirm faith,
not of themselves, but as agencies of the Holy Spirit and in association with
the Word; and they are distinguishing marks of our profession of faith before
men.”
(4.14.7) The
Reception of the Sacraments by the Wicked in no evidence against their
importance. “It is therefore certain that the Lord offers
us mercy and the pledge of his grace both in his Sacred Word and in his
sacraments with sure faith, just as Christ is offered and held forth by the
Father to all unto Salvation, yet not all acknowledge and receive him... We have determined, therefore, that
sacraments are truly named the testimonies of God’s grace and are like seals of
the good will that he feels towards us, by attesting that good will to us,
sustain, nourish, confirm and increase our faith.”
(4.14.8) To What
extent can we speak of a confirmation of faith through the sacraments? “For
first, the Lord teaches and instructs us by his Word. Secondly, he confirms it by the
sacraments. Finally, he illumines our
minds by the light of his Holy Spirit and opens our hearts for the Word and
sacraments to enter in, which would otherwise only strike our ears and appear
before our eyes, but not at all affect us within.”
(4.14.9) The Holy
Spirit in the Sacraments “As to the confirmation and increase of
faith.. I should therefore like my
readers to be reminded that I assign this particular ministry to the
sacraments. Not that I suppose there is
some secret force or other perpetually seated in them by which they are able to
promote or confirm faith by themselves.
Rather, I consider that they have instituted by the Lord to the end that
they may serve to establish and increase faith…
The sacraments properly fulfill their office only when the Spirit, that
inward teacher, come to them, by whose power alone hearts are penetrated and
affections moved and our souls opened for the sacraments to enter in. If the Spirit be lacking, the sacraments can
accomplish nothing more in our minds that the splendor of the sun shining on
blind eyes, or a voice sounding in deaf ears.”
What most stirred my intellect is how deeply spiritual
Calvin is about the Sacraments
and that they are meant to be contemplated
upon.
I am also struck by his language about the ‘Words of Institution’
for Holy Communion and ‘The Great Commission” for Baptism, that they are to be
preached and that in the Sacraments the ‘Holy
Spirit is ‘Powerfully Active’ especially for those who have come to them with little
faith or understanding.
My questions to you my fellow Reformers:
Are we administering
the Sacraments in our churches
with enough time for ‘contemplation’?
Do we ‘preach’ their institutions?
Do we hold them in ‘awe’ as a testament of our faith
that the ‘Holy Spirit is truly in our presence’?
Hey Tim, nice summary of the chapter. Good pull-quotes. Reading this and contemplating your questions got me to thinking that a lot of our relationship with God is about covenants and agreements. We have all kinds of covenants in the OT and a big one with all humanity in the NT.
ReplyDeleteI think we can view sacraments as covenants or agreements on a personal level between us and God. The sign and seal verbiage in Calvin is a good indication that this is also his view. In Business law, in order for a contract or legal agreement to be binding there has to be a "meeting of the minds". Though I put it in rather secular terms I think this is what you are asking with your questions. Are we getting a meeting of the minds between God and ourselves when sacraments are being administered?
If not, the problem certainly lies on our side. But on a positive note, I think, generally, most people who are faithfully attending church are there because they want a connection with God. Most churches I have attended, make a conscious effort to make the experience of the sacrament one that is meaningful. This includes a deal of contemplation and awe. Although, I have seen exceptions. One Sunday the presiding pastor was not feeling well and I thought his summary of the words of institution were rather perfunctory. Yes, he said them with a mumble and did not explain them with clarity in his usual manner. But this was the exception rather than the rule.
In summary. Yes, I think we are conscientious about keeping the sacraments Holy and ensuring that there is some kind of meeting of minds between God and us.
This is an interesting response in lieu of the wildcard discussion started by Claire who questioned the reverence in which our churches today are reverent in performing the sacraments. Apparently, there is some disagreement about our success and failure in this
DeleteTim, I also highlighted those quotes - I think you captured the essence very well. I was particularly enamored with Calvin's talk of the Spirit as you quoted above, the Spirit is the conduit between us partaking of the sacrament and God. (4.14.9)
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I was a little worried when Calvin decided to forego brevity :) That usually means that some of the "awe" is displaced. However, Calvin often used images (paintings of life, pillars of faith, mirrors, etc.) because words just can't do justice to the covenanting that occurs, as you point out, Bill.
I know from other reading that Calvin would like weekly communion, but with our current worship constraints, I like monthly communion for the opportunity it allows the preacher to preach on the sacrament and the time that can be used in the rite for contemplation. I would say that more time is spent contemplating during our Lord's Supper than Baptism, but that may just be my experience. In the churches that I have attended with weekly communion, I rarely hear it preached.
We are blessed to have both weekly and monthly communion which really gives me a chance to reflect on it. In our 8:00 am chapel service, communion is served every Sunday. I love the ritual of this is our service and it gives the day a completeness. On the other hand, the monthly communion in 10:30 worship is a BIG DEAL and there is an air of anticipation around the service.
DeleteHi Tim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for those quotes and your summary of the meaning associated with sacraments. Good job! I would also like to second Sharon's comments that my experience is that more preaching time is spent on the Lord's Supper than Baptism. However as a recognition of the need to connect these sacraments to our entire faith journey, I attempt to make a connection between each sacrament and the proclamation of the gospel as often as possible. Sermons can cause us to reflect on our baptism and the Lord's Supper. Though Calvin does not consider it a "sacrament" even the proclamation of the Word can be thought of as a sacrament which communicates God's Word to a congregation. The spirit is active in each of these events, baptism, Lord's Supper, and the preaching of the Word. As leaders in the church we must try with the help of God's Holy Spirit to draw the connection for those in the pews.
Thank you also for your connection to the Holy Spirit in Calvin's writings.
Tim, thanks for your nice review of the chapter! Your questions are poignant for me because I don’t think we are doing a good job in “preaching” the institutions or in pointing to the sacredness and “awe” of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments. This is a good wake up call for me and what I can bring to the team as we prepare for our upcoming worship services. We definitely have time for contemplation during Communion because of the mechanics of serving everyone. There is no “time” allowed for contemplation in a Baptism. With Baptism, we are adding an element to an already packed service. Because our service is televised—for our homebound members, we are strictly limited to one hour. We don’t leave a lot of room for the Spirit to move! The Spirit can have one heck of a party, as long as she gets it done within the window of 9:00-10:00 a.m. EST.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post, it clarifies my thoughts after the reading..
ReplyDeleteThe 'All are Welcome' to the table, in the offering of the Sacrament of Communion has (in some reformed denominations and in some services) lessened, in my opinion the reverence given to the elements and the partaking. If we are partaking in the Bread of Life given in the Sacrament of the Table, there should be words in acknowledgement of this powerful Spiritual fountain from heaven to us and through us to each other. Reference to the Holy presence and the Gift of Life within the offering. For me, and I think too for Calvin the baskets of oyster crackers beside cups of grape juice for the self service of communion lacks the significance of Communion and too the expedient manner in which Communion is served even with Servants present. A pause for contemplation, as Laurie mentions above is important to me, and brings the right attitude toward the Table. This contemplation should be done by leadership as an example for the congregation.
This discussion reminds me - somewhere along the line, I had a pastor who would put a reminder about Communion in the bulletin a week ahead of time. It was a prompt that we should begin preparing ourselves to partake in the celebration during the upcoming week. We were to make time during the week to contemplate the significance of this sacrament. (Now, I know we celebrate Communion the first Sunday of every month, but this reminder was very useful:))
ReplyDeleteI love the reminder! The church I grew up in did this, and I had forgotten about it.
DeleteGreat summary, contemplation, reverence, and awe in partaking of the supper leaves me re-energized and is always my favorite Sunday. Although I still remember visiting a church where the pastor actually added to the words of institution the Lord stopped by Publix for the bread. As the congregation went forward I left the building not believing what I had just heard. I hope that is not the way of many churches but I do think we need more time in general for some serious contemplation for such a significant sign that seals us in Christ.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Really?
DeleteThis is a very thorough summary Tim. Thank you condensing it down and narrowing in on the key features. You ask some great questions. I think every pastor would answer that we are indeed administering the Sacraments with enough time for contemplation and still concluding the worship service in a timely fashion. Our military town has a few time-keepers (although I don’t think military towns are the only ones with time keepers). It may be a tough reality that we endure. I like what Rick said in an earlier post about pointing to the Sacraments during his sermons. I think we have all seen this done well. Other times, I think we have seen it completely missing from the sermon. Acknowledging the Holy Spirit is essential for me when I administer the Sacraments. It becomes a reminder that God is with us through the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim, I too loved this chapter in Calvin and like Sharon appreciated much of the imagery Calvin provided. I have long spent time thinking about the 7 sacraments of the Roman Catholic tradition and responded to this in another blog, but I am particularly moved by the relationship of our practices to Christ. "the Lord willed to be ordinary [the sacraments] in the church in order to nourish his worshipers and servants in one faith and the confession of one faith." 4.14.19. The practice of these over and over provide a unique balance of ritual and awe. It is the "grace of the Spirit" that comes through these beautiful ceremonies, and I am struck by the commonness of them and the ongoing awe they evoke.
ReplyDeleteI am blessed to be in a church with regular baptisms, usually 2 a month which makes it sometimes more frequent than the monthly ceremony of the Lord's Supper. Also, as the confirmation leader I am regularly referring to baptism, so I guess I see significance of baptism preached frequently in my church. I remind my confirmands regularly about the promises made by their parents on their behalf and those made by the congregation.
To What extent can we speak of a confirmation of faith through the sacraments? This is a question that most people of the faith struggle with. But you have given very good and clear answers. “For first, the Lord teaches and instructs us by his Word. The scriptures teaches us to understand about sacraments. Secondly, he confirms it by the sacraments. In doing the act, we are truly experiencing it. Without the Holy Spirit all we do will be in vain. Finally, he illumines our minds by the light of his Holy Spirit and opens our hearts for the Word and sacraments to enter in, which would otherwise only strike our ears and appear before our eyes, but not at all affect us within.”
ReplyDeleteThank you.
To What extent can we speak of a confirmation of faith through the sacraments? This is a question that most people of the faith struggle with. But you have given very good and clear answers. “For first, the Lord teaches and instructs us by his Word. The scriptures teaches us to understand about sacraments. Secondly, he confirms it by the sacraments. In doing the act, we are truly experiencing it. Without the Holy Spirit all we do will be in vain. Finally, he illumines our minds by the light of his Holy Spirit and opens our hearts for the Word and sacraments to enter in, which would otherwise only strike our ears and appear before our eyes, but not at all affect us within.”
ReplyDeleteThank you.