I wonder, what makes a sacrament?
The Book of Confessions tells me that a sacrament is: "a holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his Church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto those that are within the covenant of grace, the benefits of his mediation; to strengthen and increase their faith and all other graces; to oblige them to obedience; to testify and cherish their love and communion with one another, and to distinguish them from those that are without." (7.22)
That is a very technical answer and one that I was trained to understand and teach. But what about this... Is this story sacramental?
Yesterday, I went to see a friend who had surgery. He was at home doing well and his recovery was progressing smoothly. Before I left my home I gathered my Book of Worship and the home communion set that Oak Ridge gave me when I was ordained.
I set it on the counter in their kitchen and we began to visit. About five minutes into our conversation, to my shock and dismay, I looked over at my communion box and I realized something was missing. I had forgotten the bread and the juice.
It is not very easy to have communion without the elements!
My mind raced. Could I message Emma or Jennifer and have them run some over to me? What was I going to do?
My friend just laughed. He had bread, he told me. The juice... well, that would be trickier. I would have my choice. We could use OJ or tea. I laughed and said that whatever worked for them would work for me.
So after our visit we gathered around their kitchen table with bread and OJ. I read the prayer from my Book of Worship. Then I said the words of Institution, and broke some bread, and passed our little cups of OJ, and then we prayed.
It felt very sacramental to me. . . To be welcomed into my friend's home. To pray with him and his wife and to share communion--even if it was not as neat and tidy as I would have liked it to be. But isn't that how Jesus meets up sometimes? Just where we are. . . OJ and all?
