Sacramentalism & Evangelicals

The Incarnation is sacramental instance par excellence. What a beautiful phrase (and reality).

The sacraments, like the Incarnation, point to the fact that our physical bodies are as much a part of the Divine and Eternal plan as are our souls. We aren't spirits trapped in bodies, nor are we simply biochemical machines. We are compounded of body and spirit, matter and form.

Not to be pedantic, but why is it the two ancient traditions? What about Oriental Orthodoxy -- the Copts, Armenians (first Christian nation), Ethiopians, Syriacs, etc.? They reject the Greek formula of the Chalcedon, although they do hold that Christ is both truly man and truly God.

I always wonder why the OO's never get considered or discussed at all in these discussions involving Catholicism and (Greek/Russian/Arab) Orthodoxy.

But what does it mean, to talk about sacramental reality and sacramental vision?

A sacrament, in the Catholic Church, is an outward sign instituted by Christ to confer grace. It is composed of matter, the physical part of the sacrament, and form, the words of ritual which complete the sign and make of it a new and transcendent reality. Water plus "Ego te baptizo," etc. creates a washing which penetrates to the very soul, removing the stain of original sin and leaving an indelible mark which reveals that the newly-baptized soul is now a vessel of grace, for example.

When we speak of a sacramental view of the world, then, we are seeing in smaller ways this same drama unfolding. Food is just food, a table is just furniture, a family is composed of individuals who are not always one in mind or spirit; but bring them together for the evening meal, heads bowed in humble gratitude to God for each other and the meal they are about to share, and you've transformed mere eating into an ancient and powerful ritual of unity and fellowship.

The thing about cultivating a sacramental vision, though, is that it's not just true, it's dangerously true. It's not possible to view the world this way and to create blessing rituals for cohabitating couples, for instance; to do so is to pretend that it's possible to bless sin, and that would be a lie. It's not possible to believe in sacramental realities and simultaneously believe that the morality of torture depends entirely on whether or not we're the one's doing it, (for good and noble reasons, of course); because that would make man's dignity less than absolute, and man, who himself is a sacramental unity of matter and spirit, has dignity inherent to himself, which may not be violated. It's not possible to seek a sacramental understanding of the world and believe that abortion is morally permissible either, because the child is the reality that transcends his parents, springing into being before they even know he is there; it is irrelevant whether they 'want' him; they are bound to love him, by their own nature and by his. It's not possible to view the created world as a reflection of the sacramental truths of our existence and believe, at the same time, that we may plunder the earth, deplete its resources, engage in cruelty to the animals upon which we feed, tamper with the seeds and disrespect the soil with impunity; we do this at our peril, even if it is our descendants who will curse us for our shortsighted disrespect of the natural gifts that grace our home.

It isn't possible, in other words, to accept this vision of truth in less than its fullness--but its fullness is radical and reformative, changing everything it touches, and challenging us continually to embrace it despite its costs.

I joined a trulty sacramental church (Lutheran) a long time ago. But I'm excited to see something like the book Liturgical Theology coming from a Pentecostal theologian, Simon Chan. Good changes may be in the wind.

Friends, thanks for comments -- and Rod, thanks for the post.

Betty, I realize that Baptists take the act of Baptism seriously, as well as other evangelicals, but it still seems to be a "mere symbol", an ordinance, not a sacrament proper. Calvinistic Baptists might have a sacramental view, I suppose.

Simon, you raise a good question. I suppose for me it's because I consider Chalcedon decisive (although I did visit a Monophysite service some years ago -- it was beautiful). In general, I suppose it's because Catholicism and 7-council Orthodoxy are so much larger and thus visible in our culture.

OTOH, speaking as a Catholic, the "sacramental" view of life can also foster dependence on rituals and on the institutions that provide them, rather than foster an intelligent, individual faith...and, in the long run, individual faith is all we have as Christians.

Yes, relationships are tremendously important. But loved ones die. Institutions change (or become more corrupt). People move from one place to another, thereby being forced to change the nature of their relationships.

God said that he wants us to worship "in spirit and in truth." How does one do that? Only by seeing everyday life and the decisions we make as acts of worship. That's not to encourage an impossible perfectionism but to try to "run the race with Jesus as our goal," to paraphrase St. Paul. It means trying to live as God would want us to live. Such an attitude transcends discussions about "sacramentalism" vs. "evangelicalism".