Maturing Views of the Sacrament
By Elise Eggett Johnson on Jan 20, 2007
Our Orange County Mormon Studies Group got together on Wednesday and discussed our views and experiences about the sacrament. We talked a bit about doctrines and read 1 Corinthians 11:24-34. We also talked about the culture of the LDS sacrament. Kids who are so loud that their parents (and pew neighbors) miss the entire event; priests who define the ordinance by the sincerity and weight they put into the prayer; parents who slap left hands when they reach for the bread or water; mothers who instill a sense of fear in their children about taking the sacrament unworthily; and members who have realized the importance of this ordinance in their own lives only after having the privilege of partaking removed.
As a child and young teenager, the sacrament was a time for me to make a mental list of all of my wrong-doings and then ask for forgiveness and think about the atonement’s power to erase my sins as I consumed the small piece of white bread and sip of water. I always promised I’d be perfect the next week; I never succeeded.
As an adult, the sacrament has become more complex. I find myself reflecting less often on Christ’s death, focusing more on his life and his profound teachings. I think about the spiritual union I achieve with God through Christ and how a partnership with the divine causes me a greater desire for goodness, improvement, love, kindness, and care. I don’t try to be perfect anymore – just a little better and a little more aware.
How has the practice and meaning of the sacrament changed for you through time and experience?
Elise, when I read this post, saw that you were from Orange County, I thought immediately of a sacrament meeting in the Long Beach Third Ward in April 1989. It was Russian Easter Sunday and my wife and I were hosts to two young women, Marina and Lena, fresh from Moscow on their first visit out of their country. (This was before the fall of the USSR, but well into their non violent revolutionary period of glasnost. Since both women were Russian Orthodox and Easter is their most important holiday, I had attended nearby Russian Orthodox services with them early that morning.
Later on that same Russian Easter Sunday, out of interest and curiosity, both Marina and Lena came with my family and me to experience a typical Mormon sacrament meeting. As the bread tray was being passed along to those sitting on that hard wood pew, Marina (on my right) leaned over to me and whispered, “Is it permitted? We are not members of your church.” She was clearly absorbed in the service and hanging on every word. Without thinking, I replied spontaneously, “Of course, we are all Christians and believers here.” With that explanation, the three of us took the bread together.
Shortly after that moment I began to realize that I had just taken the sacrament for the first time in a way different than I’d ever taken it before. Now, together with these two eager, enthusiastic and sincere believers, albeit from an old, alien and ailing culture, we took the sacrament as fellow believers! All distinctions between us disappeared. And in some mysteriously new and wonderful way, I experienced that ordinance of eating that broken bread together as something more transcendent than at any time previous. With our Russian friends, I realized that I was more than a member of the Mormon Church.
Here is the poem I wrote about that event:
Russian Easter
“Is it permitted?”
inquire our Moscow guests
on a Long Beach bench
as sacred emblems pass our way
“We are not members
of your church.”
“Yes,” I whisper,
“all are Christians
and believers here.”
Then we three as one
with tear-stained smiles
and Slavic souls communing
thus took the broken loaf
and through the Ancient date
the Mystery rose to fuse
the Awful Fission.
Long Beach
30 Apr 89
Comment # 1 by Eugene Kovalenko | Jan 21, 2007 | Reply
As a kid I was rather fuzzy about what required for one to be “worthy,” and I was pretty freaked out by those scriptures about drinking damnation to one’s soul. Though I have less angst about that now, I’m still rather conflicted–if I’m in a horrible mood, for example, is it better to take it, church being a refuge for sinners and all, or to respect the seriousness of it by declining? I’ve gone back and forth on that one. But lately I’ve been trying to think of the sacrament as kind of a tangible reminder of the presence of grace in the world, and in my life, and to use the time to think about my relationship with God (though my thoughts tend to wander to all kinds of random places).
Eugune Kovalenko, that’s a beautiful story–thanks for sharing it.
Comment # 2 by Lynnette | Jan 21, 2007 | Reply
Eugene - what a beautiful story and poem. I love the idea of taking the sacrament as a community of believers. One of the articles I read in preparing for the discussion group was in the 1986 Ensign, when John S. Tanner discusses in depth the communal nature of the sacrament. He said that it is “a great force for unity,” and that “we all equally need the Lord’s Spirit and pardon.” It seems like the perfect symbol for bringing believers of all different denominations and backgrounds together as one.
Lynnette - that was my experience as a kid, too. I was aware that my mom sometimes didn’t take the sacrament and that it was because she felt “unworthy”. And she had pointed me toward the same scripture you mention to explain why. I think by the time I was baptized I was worrying about “drinking damnation to my soul” if I had called my sister a name that week or been mean at school. This way of thinking has pretty much evaporated for me now, although I have passed on the sacrament as an adult simply because I just don’t feel moved to take it. It seems like if I am desiring the sacrament, whatever wrong I have done in the week, I can still take it to express the desire to remember God/Jesus again.
Comment # 3 by Elise | Jan 22, 2007 | Reply
One of the neat expansions for me concerning the sacrament came as a result of reading Kathleen Flake’s July 1993 Sunstone article, “Supping at the Lord’s Table.” (The link is to a PDF file of a down-and-dirty scan of the article. We’re working on creating really elegant PDF versions of older pieces, but haven’t had the human or financial resources to pursue it super aggressively.)
Flake engages several interesting angles on the sacrament, but the main one that led to a shift for me was her pointing out the additions that the Joseph Smith Translation make to Mark 14:22-25. The JST verses are Mark 14:20-25, in which Smith adds in verses 21 and 24 “for as oft as ye do this ye will remember this hour that I was with you” and “ye will remember me in this hour that I was with you and drank with you of this cup, even the last time in my ministry.” Whereas in the NT, the focus is entirely on the body and blood that is about to be shed, the JST enlarges it to when Christ was present among us and points us toward a kind of association with him that is symbolized in table fellowship.
Flake writes: “This is how we believe he asks to be remembered by all who would be his disciples: sharing a meal and sharing a life. “ And a bit later, “We remember the full range of his redemptive acts—past, present, and future, and ask to be a part of that history.”
The sacrament as both dinner invitation and a call to be a part of redeeming the world. . . . Makes me want to accept.
Thanks for posting, Elise! Great to have your voice in our conversations here!
Comment # 4 by Dan | Jan 22, 2007 | Reply
I just this afternoon returned from a long weekend at an Episcopal retreat/conference center where I participated in a spiritual based program that attracts people from from a variety of denominations, from Catholics to Quakers. Each day the Eucharist was celebrated by an Episcopal priest. The contrast between Eucharist and Mormon Sacrament was interesting and extreme, at least in outward aspects of the ritual. Given that the LDS Sacramental prayer is so loaded with commitment I was struck with two things that transpired. One, when the Priest, who happened to be the Dean of Grace Cathedral in S.F., said, “If you feel unprepared to participate, you are in the right place.” And later when I talked with one of my fellow participants (and an ordained minister) and ask what commitment are you making when you partake of communion, she answered, “I don’t see it so much as the commitment I am making, but the commitment that is being made to me.” I was moved by a man who sat beside me as tears streamed down his face as he participated in the service, something I have never before experienced or witnessed.
Parker
Comment # 5 by Parker | Jan 22, 2007 | Reply
One of the more powerful experiences that I’ve had with the sacrament occurred at an Episcopal service about a year ago. When I went to the front to receive communion (with prior sanction from the priest who said it was okay for a Mormon to do so), I was completely moved by the prayer that the priest offered over me as he administered the wafer. It was an intimacy like that I have experienced in the temple and wholly unlike the Mormon way of administering a similar ordinance.
Comment # 6 by Jana | Jan 22, 2007 | Reply
Dan - it’s great to be here! Thanks for the warm welcome, and for the link to Kathleen’s article. I love the way she describes the LDS sacrament as unique because it incorporates Christ’s life and ressurection - “…we do not remember Jesus Christ exclusively as sacrificial lamb on the world’s alter, but rather in the broader context of all his saving deeds.” I’ve never specifically considered this while taking the sacrament, but as one who has always been more comfortable with Christ’s life and return to life than with his brutal death, I appreciate that insight.
Parker - we talked quite a bit about the worthiness of taking the sacrament issue in our discussion on Wednesday. I really dislike the practice of an authoritative person (i.e. priesthood leader) being able to tell someone they shouldn’t take the sacrament. I feel like taking the sacrament is probably the most important and most beneficial during the repentance phase, not just after it’s over. But another person recounted a time in her life when she had not been allowed to take the sacrament for a period of time. She had never felt as much desire and appreciation for the sacrament until the right was taken away, and it gave her a much deeper understanding of the ordinance. Some of the churches I’ve attended only do sacrament/communion once a month, which i think serves a similar purpose - people don’t take it for granted as much.
Jana - thanks for sharing that again. I loved hearing the story in person last week.
Comment # 7 by Elise | Jan 24, 2007 | Reply