Housekeeping first - next week (March 9) we will not meet for Bible study, but we will meet at 6:00 for a light supper followed by Ash Wednesday service at 6:45. Join us for either or both. We will resume our meetings on the 16th at 5:30.
This week we began a new study on the sacraments. OK, I knew that baptism and communion are the only sacraments we celebrate in the United Methodist Church, but exactly what does sacrament mean? Do you know what it means? This study will focus on what we believe as United Methodists, so we focused on Wesley's definition of a sacrament as the outward sign of an inward grace. That generated a whole new round of questions. What is grace? Why do we need it? How do we receive it? What does it mean for me? I'll do my best to summarize our discussion and where we landed, and invite my cohorts to correct me when needed. (So be sure to read the comments to see what I got wrong!)
Grace is the unmerited favor of God, or as Brueggeman said, "Grace is grace precisely because it cannot be earned." As Methodists we believe there are three kinds of grace - Prevenient (the grace that comes before everything); Justifying (the grace that allows us to realize our need for grace and internalize that need); Sanctifying (the process and journey of salvation, or as Wesley said "...going on to perfection..."). We need grace because of original sin, because we are all separated from God, because we have free will and God wants us to choose God. But we cannot choose God without an invitation (prevenient grace). When we choose God (justifying grace) we respond to God's invitation and begin the journey (sanctifying grace) to salvation. Kind of a linear progression, but we did spend some time discussing the fact that none of our journeys are linear. There are always setbacks, jumps forward. It's life, and life is messy, but the good news is that it is part of the journey. It is OK to feel like you are apart from God, even when you know in your heart that you are not. Isn't that what happened to Jesus in the Garden?
There are means of grace. These are things that we CAN do to participate with the act of grace in our lives. What are they? Prayer, repentance, worship, Bible study (individual or group), fasting (that is from Wesley and clearly something I have never done), being in community with other believers, the sacraments. So this isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card, we are required to participate.
The sacraments are visible reminders for us of the action of God in our lives. Some denominations celebrate ordinances instead of sacraments, because in their traditions it is the people doing the action. A sacrament requires the belief that God is the actor, apart from anything we do, by grace not by works. Baptism is the work of God and offering of grace to that individual. Communion is the ongoing offering of grace and invitation from God to be in relationship with each one of us - partaking is our response and acceptance.
I don't know about you, but I confess to not having a complete understanding of the sacraments and just going through the motions. I attend service and participate in communion every month, but it has become rote, routine, regurgitation of the memorization. When we have baptism, it is kind of the same thing, only since they are less frequent I do pay a little more attention. I think this study will be good for me, to renew and deepen my understanding of the sacraments will take me a little farther forward on the path I am on, which I really hope is sanctifying grace. But I'm still figuring that one out. Why don't you join us?
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