The Sacrament (Lesson 23)

There are so many avenues I can go with this topic (actually, I explored one a few months ago).  I believe I’ve mentioned it before, but I teach an Aaronic Priesthood class for brethren who have joined the Church.  The genesis of this class came after our former bishop interviewed a recently baptized brother and found him not knowing enough about the importance of the priesthood to recommend him as an Aaronic Priesthood holder.  He came to me and wanted to know if I could put some lessons together that would help the new brethren gain a better understanding of what the priesthood is.  Thankfully, I did.  The missionaries teach about the importance of priesthood authority and its importance in Christ’s restored church, but it’s more of an overview.  I developed my lessons to help new converts better understand what the priesthood is; remind them how, when and under what circumstances it was restored; and discuss the duties they are taking upon themselves as ordained priests.  One of the things I have tried to help them understand is the fact that the priesthood gives them the authority to stand in for Jesus and Father in blessing the lives of the people—priesthood holders do the things that the Savior did when He ministered among the people.

This point was nicely explained by Sister Cheryl A. Esplin when she declared: “Aaronic Priesthood holders represent the Savior when they prepare, bless, and pass the sacrament. As a priesthood holder extends his arm to offer us the sacred emblems, it is as if the Savior Himself were extending His arm of mercy, inviting each one of us to partake of the precious gifts of love made available through His atoning sacrifice—gifts of repentance, forgiveness, comfort, and hope” (Ensign, Nov. 2014, 13).  When it comes to the sacrament prayers, it is important that they are spoken clearly and precisely (with the exception of substituting the word “water” instead of “wine”).  They were revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith to assist the members of the Church in renewing sacred, personal covenants.  Each word is important.  Because of this, I want to focus on a few of the key words found in the prayers that may help make the sacrament more meaningful.

“bless” & “sanctify” – In both prayers, Father in Heaven is asked to bless and sanctify the bread and the water.  To petition Father to bless the bread and water is to ask Him to dedicate, or set them apart for holy use.  Having thus been prepared, Father is then asked to sanctify the bread and water—to purify and cause them to become holy.  At this point, they are now more than pieces of broken bread or small cups of water, they are emblems—symbols designed to represent the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.  Through this process the emblems are now prepared “to the souls of all those who partake” or “drink” of them.  Notice that the sacrament emblems are not being sanctified for the body alone or the spirit alone, but to the souls of the partakers.  The Lord has taught us that “the spirit and the body are the soul of man” (D&C 88:15).  President Thomas S. Monson reminded us that “our physical bodies are the offspring of our mortal parents” and our “spirit ... is the offspring of God” (Ensign, May 2012, 91).  Thus, both our physical and spiritual selves are edified by the partaking of the sacrament insomuch that our “soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation” (Psalms 35:9).  Is it any wonder then that President James E. Faust declared: “Partaking of the sacrament is a solemn and sacred privilege” (Ensign, May 2005, 68)?

“witness” – This word is also found in both prayers.  As such, partaking of the emblems of the sacrament stand as a testimony to our Eternal Father of our intention to recommit to the covenants we have made with Him wherever we are in our covenant process with Him.  What we are witnessing, however, has a different meaning in both prayers.

“willing” – This word appears only in the prayer on the bread.  By being prominent in the first sacramental prayer, we have suggested to us what our mindset should be as we partake of the symbol of Jesus’ flesh.  Being willing to recommit to our baptismal covenants speaks to our desire.  “Desire denotes a real longing or craving. Hence righteous desires are much more than passive preferences or fleeting feelings,” declared Elder Neal A. Maxwell. “Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity” (Ensign, Nov. 1996, 21, emphasis in original).  Being willing also speaks to our attitude.  The Lord cannot work with us unless we are “willing to submit to all things which [He] seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).  If we are willing to have a committed attitude toward our covenants and are willing to keep them to the best of our ability, then our covenants will offer us spiritual safety.  “Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind,” the Savior revealed to the church, and “all among them who ... are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me” (D&C 64:34; 97:8).

“do” – Just as the word willing only appears in the blessing on the bread, the word do appears only in the blessing on the water.  With this subtle yet significant shift in focus offered by the second sacrament prayer, the Lord directs us to change our approach in the renewal of our covenants.  The word willing is an adjective; it describes a state of mind or an attitude.  The word do, on the other hand, is an adverb; it suggests action!  James declared in his epistle that we should be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).  What should we do?  Jesus’ answer to this question came during his visit to the Book of Mormon people after His resurrection: “Ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do” (3 Nephi 27:21, emphasis added).  We do the works of Jesus when we are “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).  When we individually remember Jesus and “go and do” (1 Nephi 3:7), we transform our willingness to remember Him, take His name upon us and keep His commandments into action!  We show our Elder Brother that we want to be called His friend; for, as He said to His disciples: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14, emphasis added).  President Monson counseled: “Whatever our calling, regardless of our fears or anxieties, let us pray and then go and do, remembering the words of the Master, even the Lord Jesus  Christ, who promised, ‘I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world’ (Matthew 28:20)” (Ensign, May 2002, 51).

“have his Spirit to be with them” – After our baptism, we received the second ordinance of the gospel when hands were placed on our head and we were admonished to “receive the Holy Ghost.”  However, as Elder David A. Bednar warned, this “authoritative admonition” does not “become operative in our lives merely because hands are placed upon our heads and those four important words are spoken. As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and ongoing responsibility to desire, to seek, to work, and to so live that we indeed ‘receive the  Holy Ghost’ and its attendant spiritual gifts” (Ensign, Nov. 2010, 95, emphasis added).

The weekly renewal of baptismal covenants through partaking of the sacrament becomes a crucial part of the process of continually receiving the Holy Ghost.  Partaking the sacrament renews the covenants we have made with Father in Heaven and He with us, but the ordinance of the sacrament helps us to “have his Spirit to be with” us in another important way.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught that for us to enjoy the “continuous companionship of the Holy Ghost ..., we must keep ourselves free from sin.”  In order to be “periodically cleansed from the soil of sin.”  We must “come to the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and partake of the sacrament in compliance with its covenants.”  By so doing, “the Lord renews the cleansing effect of our baptism.  In this way we are made clean and can always have His Spirit to be with us” (Ensign, Nov. 1998, 38).

Covenants – The word covenant is not mentioned specifically in the sacrament prayers, but it is more than implied.  Usually, at this point, it would be expected that I would mention the renewal of baptismal covenants through the partaking of the sacrament, but I want to focus on something our stake president said in priesthood leadership meeting last week (I have already hinted at it in what I have stated above).  During his talk, President Skinner asked us to take the idea of covenant renewal and the sacrament beyond the usual focus of baptismal covenants.  Instead, he asked to expand the scope of our covenant renewal from just baptismal covenants to a renewal of all the covenants we have made with Heavenly Father along our personal covenant path.  Using myself as an example: if I have been baptized, I am renewing baptismal covenants; if I have been baptized and received the oath and covenant of the priesthood, I am renewing both of those covenants; if I have been baptized, received the priesthood and made covenants in the temple through the ordinance of the endowment and sealing, then I am revitalizing all of those covenants with Father.

As I have pondered this statement, I have found that it makes very good sense to me.  Initially at our baptism and with ever subsequent covenant we make along the gospel path, we renew and expand upon our pledge to to remember Jesus Christ, to take His name upon us and to keep His commandments.  It seems right, that we should consider a revitalization and invigoration of those covenants in their fullest form as we partake of the sacrament.  As then Elder Boyd K. Packer testified, "Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into [Father's] presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality" (Ensign, May 1987, 24).  Viewed in this light, I better understand how my renewal of all the covenants I have made in my lifetime will help me with this challenge.  If I will properly focus on all my covenants as I partake of the emblems of the sacrament, my experience this this special ordinance each Sunday will be enhanced.  Partaking of the sacrament is such a sacred and special privilege.  It is my hope that as I remember my Savior through partaking of the emblems of His broken flesh and spilled blood, I will reset my sights on willingly doing all that I can to honor Him and what He has accomplished for me.