Last week we looked at the definition of Means of Grace: Means of Grace are those "routes" by which we encounter the grace of God and by which the grace of God encounters us. In addition we noted that grace was not a commodity that could be packaged and dispensed by human beings. Grace is the mysterious and wondrous love of God which is made real in our lives; forgiving and freeing us to become the persons God has designed us to be. One of God's gifts is that we have been given opportunities to participate in activities which position us to experience and be enriched by that grace. The primary Means of Grace within the church have always been the sacraments; baptism and communion.
Baptism is the sacrament which initiates our relationship with the community of faith. It is our mark of entry. For those of us who practice infant baptism there could be no greater demonstration of the grace of God. A child who cannot speak for him or herself is brought before God. This child is then covered with the waters of baptism and declared to be one of God's children and a member of the universal church. All of this is done without the child being able to earn it or deserve it. Just like birth itself the child is the recipient of the actions of others, including God. This is a free gift given by God as the child is adopted into a new and loving family which freely promises to watch over and care for them. We see grace poured out in these actions.
The temptation that comes with believers' baptism (though it is a wonderful thing and we Presbyterians also practice it) is that those who are baptized as adults might see baptism as something that they have earned because they have chosen Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. On the other hand when adults see baptism as the undeserved, grace of God in Jesus Christ being poured out upon them, bringing forgiveness and new life, then it becomes a powerful means of grace. Those who are baptized understand themselves as profoundly changed by God's free gift of love and salvation.
The second sacrament is the Lord's Supper. This sacrament is the family meal in and through which we remember the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. As most of you are aware Jesus initiated this meal on the night before he was betrayed, arrested and crucified. In this meal Jesus took the Passover feast and re-centered it away from the Exodus under Moses to the Crucifixion which Jesus was about to undergo. None-the-less this meal was still seen as signifying our liberation from slavery to the powers and principalities of this world and into a new life with God. The presence of grace first becomes apparent when we realize that none of us deserved what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. The Apostle Paul tells us "that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." In other words, God's desire to forgive and reconcile us was so great that God was willing to sacrifice God's own Son for our sake. Thus the supper itself points us to God's amazing grace.
Grace continues to appear in that we are invited to partake in this meal of remembrance even though we ourselves continue to sin; to wander far from God as our Five Part Story tells us. In the Presbyterian past there was something called "fencing the table." In this practice the communion table was literally fenced off and before anyone could come and partake they had to demonstrate that they were worthy; that they had been upstanding Christians. Then they were given a "token" by which they were admitted to the table. This practice tended to remove grace from the equation. People earned their way to the table. Our practice is that all who have been baptized are invited to partake. We believe that we are all sinners in need of God's grace, which is what the table is all about; feeding and forgiving in order that all might be renewed for their journeys of faith. At the table we feed on God's gracious love for us which was first made known to us at baptism.
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