September 18, 2016 "What is a sacrament?"

For the past few weeks the Back of the Bulletin has discussed the two sacraments observed by most Protestant denominations, Holy Communion and Holy Baptism. But what is a sacrament? The Book Of Common Prayer defines sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means for receiving God's grace.” The Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments, adding confirmation, penance (confession), extreme unction (anointing of the sick), holy orders (ordination) and matrimony (marriage) to the list. The Eastern Orthodox Church claims that classifying an action as a sacrament is a Western concept. They state that anything the Church does as “the Church” is sacramental and that further classification is impossible.

So why do most Protestant churches hold with only two sacraments? We recognize the two sacraments in which Christ himself participated. This is not to say that we do not value the other five sacraments recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. United Methodists confirm young believers in their faith, anoint the sick, ordain our clergy, celebrate marriage, and confess our sins.

But before you schedule a time with me to sit behind a screen and say, “Forgive me pastor for I have sinned. It has been four months since my last confession. …,” we should acknowledge that our view of these “means of grace” differ from that of our Catholic brothers and sisters. We do not require that believers meet with the pastor to confess every sin that they can recall (and I cannot express to you my gratitude that this is not required!!! ☺). We do encourage believers to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16 CEB). Our communion liturgy contains a Prayer of Confession. And while we confess our sins directly to God, through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, many Christians have found strength in being held accountable through confession to a trusted fellow believer.

One of my good friends adds foot-washing to the list of sacraments, claiming that Christ participated in this practice as described in John 13. Although Jesus ate the bread and drank the wine of Holy Communion and was himself baptized by John in the Jordan River, he did not have his feet washed in this account. Rather, he washed the feet of his disciples.

So while we acknowledge many “means of grace,” United Methodists acknowledge only two sacraments: Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.