Anyone who has had the displeasure of sitting through one of my classes will be familiar with the following theme: For some reason, every time I have to speak or give a lesson in church, the topic is something that I have a hard time with. Today’s topic, The Sacrament, is no different.
Now, I have no problem with The Sacrament. I do have problems with Sacrament meeting. Major problems. I think I can trace my problems back to when I joined the Church.
I was raised as a Southern Baptist. My grandfather and uncle were fire and brimstone preachers. The pastor at our church would stand at the pulpit and scream and yell and throw Bibles, hymnals, and various articles of clothing during most sermons. At the end of the sermon, the pastor would be half-naked and we’d be fully afraid of making the wrong choices.
As soon as I was able, I stopped going to church. I guess I was around 12 or so when I finally gave up on The Lord.
The next few years were really complicated. I was mostly on the atheist-side of agnostic. One day in Biology class, I was drawing a kidney. After that, I just couldn’t believe that it was all by chance and longer. I started looking for a Church to join.
My first attempt was back in a
In most Protestant churches, the Sacrament is totally ignored. However, Christ intended the Sacrament to be a keystone in His Church. It would be a method for his disciples to gather and remember The Lord after His crucifixion.
Christ and His closest followers gathered in an upstairs room. Christ took the bread and broke it, saying, “Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you.” Then he took a cup of wine and blessed it. As he gave it to his followers, he said: “Drink ye all of it. For this is in remembrance of my blood…, which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the remission of their sins.”
Shortly after his resurrection, Jesus also taught the ordnance to the Nephites. Then, just to be sure we’d get the point, he threw the following into D&C: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.
After a long and arduous journey, I ended up getting stuck in an LDS branch in
Sacrament meeting was always kinda boring. I hate to be the one to say it, but listening to the tiny branch squawk out a hymn was painful. At least the piano was loud. It was so small that we’d have to listen to the same people talk over and over. And most of the members there were really dry.
The biggest excitement I remember from those days was when I forgot to put water in the cups before Sacrament. We blessed those darned empty cups too. Fortunately, the visiting District president pointed out our folly. The Branch President was not amused…
I think the second time around reading the prayer really made it stick with me.
We bless the water in the memory of our Savior. So that we can remember the blood at
We bless the bread so that we can remember that Jesus had a physical body. He woke, walked, ate, spoke, and slept just as we do now. Well, maybe he spoke in some weird language, but you get the point. We bless the bread to show out commitment to be an ensign to the world. We knowingly take Jesus name on us and commit to never deny that name.
We do these with the promise that Heavenly Father will stoke our internal fires for another cold week in the world.
On most Sunday mornings at that first Branch, it was a real fight to stay awake.
One Sunday, that all changed. The Bartons moved in. All of them. Lots of them. Mostly younguns.
Suddenly, Sacrament meeting took on a whole new tune. It was now a gamble on which Barton would freak out first. And when. It was usually just as we finished the Sacrament hymn and were getting ready for the prayer. And then they’d fall like dominoes. The next hour was Sister Barton shushing the kids and Brother Barton smacking them. I’m sure the speakers during those long meeting said something important. But all I could remember hearing was the never-ceasing teeth-gnashing of the Barton clan.
Looking back now, I probably wasn’t in the best mindset to take the Sacrament back then. The Lord emphasized that we must be worthy to partake. Prior to taking the bread and water, we must have reconciled our past. Walking into Sacrament meeting with sins on our heads is a recipe for a fruitless meeting.
Furthermore, as noted in 3 Nephi, we should not partake or allow other to partake unworthily. *READ FROM PAPER*
Try and clear your thoughts during the hymn. Think about the words of the hymn. Think about the person who wrote those words. Think about what he or she went through to put those words down on paper. And think about how those words apply to you today. Think about what you did poorly yesterday. Think about how you’ll do it better tomorrow.
The Lord knows that we are not perfect. But, if we have repentance in our hearts and minds, the Sacrament can be that chance to gird our spiritual loins for the upcoming week. The chance to renew our determination to keep His commandments.
Soon, we moved and started a clan of our own. Now, Sacrament is a fight between The Lord’s will for me to hear his messages, and Satan personified in my children. Now we are the ones shushing and smacking and hoping that we can hear a sentence or two between “I want a toy” and “cereal all gone”. My son hates me so much that he rarely even lets me go into the chapel any more. As soon as he sees the double doors, his lip begins to set for the hard cry to come.
Still, I try and suffer through it all. Without the chance to come here, I’d soon forget my commitments.
Sacrament is about the commitment to take his name upon us. We commit ourselves to stand before good and evil through thick and thin and always represent Jesus name. A commitment to never be taken aback by what we’ve done when the cock crows.
Sacrament is about a commitment to remember Jesus. Remember the times he taught adults and children alike. Remember the times he healed the sick. Remember the times he spent counseling the sinners. Remember the times spent in the houses of his disciples. Remembering the way He lived. And the way He died.
We take these obligations when we are baptized. And, every time we partake of the Sacrament, we renew that obligation. Jesus laid out for us a way where we can be constantly reminded of our obligations. He promised that if we take time to do this on a regular basis, we will gain a remission of our sins.
I’m not really sure where I was going with all this. I’m not really even sure anyone out there could hear my ravings. I would like to say that we are all blessed to be able to partake of the Sacrament. We are all blessed for gathering together despite the challenges we face. In some cases, the challenges we face are the blessings. I like to think that the few moments during Sacrament that I can actually hear the speaker are those moments when I really need to hear something. The Lord does prepare a way, after all. For that, I give my eternal thanks. I leave this with you in Jesus’ name, amen.