A Call for a More Robust Word in Word and Sacrament

The historic balance of word and sacrament in the Reformed tradition is affirmed in the identification of the marks of the church. John Calvin took the early Reformation language of the Augsburg Confession of 1530 and offered his definitive statement in Book IV of the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion. ¹ Calvin maintained that a church of God exists where “we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered, according to Christ’s institution.” ² For Calvin, word and sacrament are inseparable when it comes to the essence of the visible church. But the balance is more than relationality. Calvin postulated that the sacraments and the word of God hold the same office. ³ Confessionally, the Reformed tradition affirms that the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. ⁴ In her book Jesus Christ in the Preaching of Calvin and Schleiermacher, Dawn DeVries explores Calvin’s understanding of both preaching and the sacraments and how in sharing the same purpose, they both serve as instruments of divine grace that present the person and work of Christ. ⁵ A theological equilibrium of preaching and the sacraments should, therefore have liturgical and practical implications in a congregation’s worship life.

Yet, older Presbyterians in pews in many churches in the United States can remember celebrating the Lord’s Supper two or four times a year. Celebrations of baptisms, often celebrated early in the service to accommodate nervous families caring for an infant, had little connection to the liturgy or the sermon’s content. Most Sundays the sermon was the longest and most emphasized part of the service coming at the end, just before a final hymn and benediction. The liturgical dominance of preaching in early American Presbyterian worship remained a part of church life until recent decades. Some would have even described attending worship on the Lord’s Day as “going to preaching.” Such an expression clearly predates the fourfold movement of the service for the Lord’s Day developed in late 20th-century denominational liturgical materials. ⁶ The fourfold movement of gathering in God’s name, proclaiming God’s Word, responding to the Word, and going out in God’s name reflects an effort to reduce the emphasis on preaching and bring more liturgical balance to the entire service.

In his book Presbyterian Worship in the Twentieth Century, Arlo Duba extensively tracks the various forces and movements whose influence on the Book of Common Worship (1993) is difficult to overstate. Both the passion for an ecumenical movement toward unity in the world church and the liturgical renewal movement among scholars and practitioners of worship moved the Presbyterian Church (USA) toward fuller expressions of its sacramental life. Duba’s work suggests that the fourfold movement of worship on the Lord’s Day was about more than discovering balance. It was the tool to allow for an enriched and increased focus on baptism and Eucharist in the denomination’s weekly worship life. With both a celebration and a critique of the acceptance and use of the Book of Common Worship (1993), Duba is clear in the push for more frequent sacramental practice. “The joyful vision of the mountain top in the publication of the BCS93 should not blind us to the need in the valley where Christian’s hunger and thirst for the water, bread, and wine of full worship, of Baptism, Word, and Meal.” ⁷

The decades long desire for resetting the balance of preaching and the sacraments in the Presbyterian Church (USA) came much closer to being fulfilled with the publication of a revised edition of The Book of Common Worship in 2018. ⁸ The revisions contained in the 2018 edition are subtle yet very significant in terms of suggested sacramental practice. The opening commentary on the Lord’s Day service identifies each service as one of “Word and Sacrament.” ⁹ For generations, worship resources added liturgical material for baptism or the Lord’s Supper with a disclaimer such as “if the eucharist is celebrated.” The assumption or default position of The Book of Common Worship (2018) is that the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated each Lord’s Day. In fact, pastoral rites included in the collection of liturgies also provide for the celebration of the Eucharist. In addition, the fourfold movement of Sunday worship has shifted as well. The movement of worship in the current material clearly provides for both sacraments each Lord’s Day: gathering, word (including baptism and/or baptismal reaffirmation), Eucharist, and sending.

With the clear suggestion in The Book of Common Worship (2018) that congregations not celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday are the exception not the rule, the pendulum has sung away from the historic dominance of preaching in the order of the service. Of course, whether the assumptions inherent in this newest edition match most common congregational practice is up for debate. For liturgical scholars and editorial committees committed to the decades-long effort to encourage more vibrant sacramental practice, the 2018 Book of Common Worship may yet be understood as aspirational.

More Robust Liturgical Practice

Regardless of whether theology and practice go hand in hand when it comes to the current balance of word and sacrament in the Reformed tradition, it is abundantly clear that the church’s sacramental life has become more robust in recent decades. A significant question exists as to whether or not preachers and teachers of preaching have been paying enough attention. Not much homiletical literature is available that relates to preaching in the context of the baptism and Eucharist. There are a few exceptions. The Embodied Word: Preaching as Art and Liturgy ¹⁰ by the Episcopal preaching scholar Charles Rice and Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination ¹¹ by Roman Catholic scholar Mary Catherine Hilkert. Both volumes are more than twenty years old. For the most part, however, preachers who rise each Sunday and preach between the font and the table have not received much assistance in exploring the compelling hermeneutical and theological material that is available when the congregation collectively dips, pours, eats, and drinks in worship.

Pastors and students of preaching can easily gather the anecdotal evidence that shows the disconnect goes beyond the literature and into the pulpit. Hindsight for a preacher is a key method of self-critique. All preachers should look back at a season of their preaching on a regular basis. It is a helpful tool to see if baptism or the Lord’s Supper were even mentioned when one or the other was celebrated in worship. Far too many times the sacrament experienced that hour in worship is not even mentioned in the sermon. Or perhaps when the Lord’s Supper is being celebrated the preacher refers to the table at the very end of the sermon almost like an afterthought. One other common practice takes the form of a theological reductionism; sermons before communion come back over and over again to remembrance. On the occasion of baptism the repeat theme is often washing and forgiveness.

Support for the observations above and the overall lack of attention to the sacraments can be found in the classroom. In a course entitled “Preaching and the Sacraments: Preaching on the Occasion of Baptism and Communion,” students were asked to go in search of sermons that had substantial sacramental references. Students no longer need depend on material published in print. With websites, social media, and traditional print media, sermon availability is much more expansive than in the past. The original intent and method of the assignment was to gather really good examples from diverse voices and in diverse media. The student search would also eliminate the bias of instructor only selection. The unexpected pedagogical benefit was that every time the course was offered, students reported back on how difficult it was even to find examples of sacramental sermons.

The late twentieth century and early twenty-first century move toward increased sacramental practice and the apparent lack of homiletical engagement with the sacraments creates a challenging, and perhaps ironic dilemma when pondering the balance of word and sacrament in the church’s life. Historically, traditions with the highest theological view of the sacraments have not been viewed as having the strongest view or experience with preaching. If the sacramental/homiletical disconnect continues, is there a possibility that the liturgical balance will tip toward sacrament at the expense of diminishment of the word?

Finding More Homiletical Potential

The intent in this essay is not to choose sides or create tension between word and sacrament when it comes to practice. Rather, the effort here is to provide homiletical tools to nurture a vibrant sacramental preaching life. The ideas come in two forms. The first is what James F. Kay often labeled in his lectures as the theological fenceposts to sacramental understanding in the Reformed tradition. It is important to broaden the theological categories that preachers bring to sacramental preaching beyond that of remembrance and washing of sins. The second is to encourage preachers to explore the vast sacramental imagery in all the typical places illustrations and examples for sermons are typically found: literature, film, music, daily life, and others.

In 1982 the World Council of Churches published a seminal document entitled Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. ¹² The importance and lasting impact of the work is reflected in the fact that it has had more the forty printings now over forty years. The same interest and passion for the ecumenical movement and the world church that issued the decades-long call for a more robust sacramental life described earlier were the same factors at work in and through the World Council of Churches. The work, often referred to informally as “the Lima text,” was first approved and recommended at an ecumenical conference of theologians representing a rich diversity of traditions held in Lima, Peru. Aspects most relevant to this discussion are the sections that succinctly present the theological fenceposts of the meaning of baptism and Eucharist. The lists of theological categories or meanings for the sacraments is not surprising and is consistent with the perspective of the Reformed tradition. The theological fencepost and the scriptural imagery related to the sacraments “are many but the reality is one.” ¹³

The Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry paper includes five categories in baptism’s web of meaning:

Participation in Christ’s Death and Resurrection

Conversion, Pardoning, and Cleansing

The Gift of the Spirit

Incorporation into the Body of Christ

The Sign of the Kingdom ¹⁴

While each of these fenceposts cannot be fully addressed here, for the preacher, each of these areas can serve as a kind of lens when pondering text and sermon when a baptism is scheduled. The understanding of baptism as sharing in Christ’s death and life might too often be left to traditions that practice full immersion: plunging the waters in death and rising to new life in Christ. One can imagine an Easter morning baptism with a sermon that celebrates the mark of baptism as a resurrection proclamation. Every time we remember our own baptism and rejoice we proclaim again that “Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!” A biblical text about forgiveness like the gospel account or the paralyzed man being lowered through the roof (Matt 9:1–8) could lead to a baptismal sermon on the celebration of our once and future forgiveness in Christ. The baptism itself could be followed by the hymn “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven” with the collective affirmation of “ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.” Or a preacher may pair one of the Hebrew prophets and the celebration of baptism as a sign of the kingdom. The action of baptism both points to and reminds us of the world that God intends. Baptism itself serves as sending out into the world on behalf of Christ to serve and work toward the very kingdom of God.

Not surprisingly, “the Lima text” provides similar categories for the Lord’s Supper. The ecumenical document affirms that the “eucharist is essentially the sacrament of the gift which God makes to us in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁵ While describing the communion meal as one complete act, the theological categories are presented as aspects of meaning:

The Eucharist as Thanksgiving

The Eucharist as Anamnesis or Memorial of Christ

The Eucharist as Invocation of the Spirit

The Eucharist as Communion of the Faithful

The Eucharist as Meal of the Kingdom ¹⁶

Once again, the goal for the preacher is a broadening of the available theological themes for sermon content as the Lord’s Supper is about to be shared. Remembering all that Christ has done and the dominant image of a meal shared around a table are likely the most commonly selected. Less common would be a preacher choosing to select a psalm text to preach on the morning of a communion celebration. A psalm of praise would offer a compelling biblical engagement that affirms for the listener that participation in the Eucharist is itself an act of thanksgiving. Such a sermon can provide sacramental education as well as lifting the common language found in the eucharistic Great Prayer of Thanksgiving in the Reformed tradition: “Accept, O God, this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.” Perhaps a preacher drawn to the notion of the communion celebration calling upon the Holy Spirit would affirm the Spirit’s presence not just in the bread and wine but in every aspect of the meal itself. The Holy Spirit is as present in the gathering, the singing, the sharing of elements, the eating, and the drinking as the Spirit is present when the pastor breaks the bread and pours the cup. The collective experience of the communion meal is Spirit-laden in every way and participants can be exhorted to sense that Spirit in multiple ways. Even the aroma of fresh bread coming from a freshly set communion table can point to the presence of the Holy Spirit as the worshipper enters the sanctuary before worship.

The theological conviction that the Eucharist is a meal of the kingdom provides the pastor an avenue for proclaiming the ethical and social justice implications of sharing the bread and lifting the cup. Before offering the concluding prayer at the table, some pastors ask the question “Has everyone been fed?” It is a practical question meant to find out if everyone received the communion elements. But imagine a preacher who had just concluded a sermon that included an exhortation to serve the poor and feed the hungry. Standing then at the table rather than the pulpit, the preacher might linger over the question in a way that transforms it from a practical one to a rhetorical one laden with ethical meaning: “Has everyone been fed?” The question then serves as a kind of homiletical exclamation point that emphasizes Christ’s call to the church to serve the least of these.

In Search of Sacramental Illustrations

Most preachers are always on the look out for sermon material amid the daily routines of life. The use of illustration, image, and example can support the attempt to craft sermons that resonate with sacramental celebration. The 1984 award-winning film Places in the Heart ¹⁷ concludes with a scene of a small country church communion celebration that at first seems so familiar to pastors and worshippers alike. The elements are being passed pew to pew, person to person. A hymn is being sung by a warbling choir. The camera focuses on the trays and the hands passing one to another. But as the scene unfolds it becomes clear to the viewer that the familiar communion scene is actually an extraordinary glimpse of the feast in the kingdom of heaven. All who have died in the film are alive again and sharing in the meal. White characters and African American characters in the film are sitting side by side in a way that was impossible in the film’s setting as they partake of the body and blood of Christ. The scene offers a profound witness to the Eucharist as a sign of God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

A small collection of short stories by Michael Lindvall portrays a young Presbyterian pastor who serves a small congregation in northern Minnesota. One of the chapters in Good News from North Haven is entitled “Christmas Baptism.” ¹⁸ A teenage single mother is presenting her child for baptism and stands before the staid congregation on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. As the pastor plods through the baptism liturgy it comes time to invite the family to stand and offer their support of mother and child in the journey of Christian faith. The only other family member present is the baby’s grandmother. Noting how alone and tiny the three appeared before him, the pastor lowers his gaze back to his worship book as he senses a bit of a commotion in the congregation. He looks out to see the crankiest elder in the congregation rise to stand with tears in his eyes. Eventually, the entire congregation stands in support and commitment to the young, vulnerable mother and her child. The reader is treated to an unexpected and moving proclamation of baptism as incorporation into the Body of Christ that embodies the fullest expression of what the community of faith is called to be.

Sara Miles offers a powerful testimony to the promised presence of Christ both in the sacrament and in the ordinary places of our lives. Her memoir, Take This Bread, ¹⁹ tells of her coming to faith through her experience of the Eucharist and her calling to launch a food pantry to serve the hungry. Late in the book she tells of caring for a dying friend and trying to get her to eat some bread and drink some water. As she took the bread and started to prepare it, the words of the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving came to her mind along with the overwhelming sense that she wasn’t alone. Christ was present with her at her dying friends bedside:

I wasn’t alone. This wasn’t the end. . . . “Millie,” I said, “this is for you.”

She took the sacrament, chewing and swallowing carefully, her dark eyes huge on me.

We didn’t say anything. She breathed, quieted. Nothing else happened. In half an hour, I would tuck her in, and set out a glass of water, and drive home across the bridge, stunned and blinking and saying aloud to myself, “Oh my God, it’s real.” ²⁰

What is real, of course, is the presence of Christ. In such a compelling way the author unites the eucharistic presence of Christ with the presence of Christ in all of life. Finding illustrations like Take This Bread enables the preacher to help listeners ponder the sacramental parts of their lives where the ordinary becomes incredibly sacred.

One last example from the literary giant Flannery O’Conner. One letter in a collection of O’Conner letters entitled “The Habit of Being” ²¹ has lasting sacramental sermon potential. She tells of a long dinner party with a notable collection of writers in New York City:

Well, toward morning the conversation turned on the Eucharist, which I, being the Catholic, was obviously supposed to defend. [Mary McCarthy] said when she was a child and received the Host, she thought of it as the Holy Ghost, He being the “most portable” person of the Trinity; now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, “Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.” That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable. ²²

Flannery O’Conner’s biting response in defense of the Eucharist goes far beyond the use of the term “symbol.” Rather than drawing the line in the sand of theological debate about eucharistic theology, her reference is to her experience of the mystery, power, and real presence of Christ in the meal. For preachers, Protestant and Catholic alike, the example can bear fruit in the homiletical attempt to enhance the listener’s sacramental understanding and experience and the movement of the Holy Spirit every time “we eat this bread and drink this cup.”

Word and Sacrament and the Preaching Life

The experience of word and sacrament for people of faith ultimately comes within the context of congregational life. Any balance between word and sacrament for the Christian is not found in ecumenical movements, discussions among liturgical scholars, or in worship books full of liturgies. The foundational relationship of word and sacrament is established each week in Lord’s Day worship led by local pastors. There is, then, an opportunity and a responsibility that comes with the pastoral office. It is the privilege of attending to both word and sacrament in the lives of the faithful one is called to serve. With stronger attention to the sacraments in a homiletical way, preachers may play the most important role in attaining a meaningful, sustaining liturgical balance and the experience of the unique promise of the gospel Christ offers through word and sacrament.