Administering Sacraments: You aren't the boss of me

[First off, a disclaimer. I am by birth a person who likes order. My dad was in the Navy and I always liked chain of command, rank, and clarity. I attributed it to my German blood, although in truth Irish & Polish are just as prevalent. I grew up in the Roman church and while sometimes chafing under authorities exercising their power I generally agreed with the idea of authority. In the campus unrest and riots on my tv screen as a  middle schooler, I tended to think the police were the good guys.

Having said that, I have made an effort to seek truth rather than my preferences and I try to be honest about sharing my opinions by laying out my assumptions and inclinations at the front end. With that in mnd I want to conclude this week long reflection on sacramentality begun last week in response to the Sunday readings.]

The fundamental point I have tried to make all week is this. Signs and symbols are real and they are at the core of reality. Spirit at work in and through Matter is an ever-present phenomena. This is best seen in human beings where the outward body is an expression of an inward soul. God, too, is present among us, in and through people, things and actions/events. The presence is mediated and real. The First Sacrament of God is Jesus. His humanity is the means in & through which God is active in our world. After the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus He gave us (the church) His Holy Spirit (see John's Gospel  20:22; also perhaps 19:30). While Jesus is gone we are His ongoing presence in the world. So the church is The Sacrament of Jesus, and each one of us, baptized into Christ, are sacraments. The primary sacraments, I would argue, are human beings in faithful apostolic mission. This is missional sacraments. There are other sacraments, which I (tentatively) call pastoral sacraments. These are sacraments administered in the church for the faithful (but they have a missional component, so I think the difference may be nominal). These are the Seven (or Two) called sacraments in/by the church and what most of my readers would think of if the word 'sacrament' is used.

One problem of church sacraments is the question of order. In simplest terms, when is it "real"? Are two kids playing with water and a hamster baptizing the hamster when they imitate their pastor? If a deranged priest invokes the words of institution in front of a bakery, is there now dozens of loaves which become the Body of Christ? If two people on a lark in Las Vegas say, "hey, let's get married!" is that a sacramental marriage?

Now there is a whole sub-class of human beings who are inclined to say, "Who cares?" They think such concerns are silly and misguided. However, there is another sub-class, of which I am a card carrying member, who think such issues, while at times imponderable, are worth thinking about. It does matter to people such as me.

Current debates in the church include questions about who can preside at eucharist? What is needed for a valid baptism or eucharist? What is "the right way" to do such things? Is there a right rite? Some inclined in low church directions would probably say anyone with faith can and there are no rules. Such folks are not inclined to have ecclesial authorities clamping down on the Holy Spirit working in the church. They would also remind that God is in charge not Man. Freedom is a value for them. They are also following the prophetic warning about a focus on outward expression (with concerns about rubrics and rules) without concurrent inner integrity. Others critique this by reminding the "freedom fighters" that chaos is not a work of the Holy Spirit and every unfettered human act is not necessarilly the work of The Holy Spirit (there are, after all, bad spirits).

Culturally, "You aren't the boss of me" is probably the prefered option. It underlies much of the Progressive agenda and the fascination with tolerance and diversity, and the "freedom to be me". Ironically, it is also the catalyst for Conservative counter attacks, usually in the form of freedom from government tyranny and the imposition of all these high sounding efforts to construct a tolerant accepting society (with the restrictions and sanctions needed to insure that every one is expressing themselves exactly in the tolerant way that they  have determined).

The Roman church, very much shaped by the Roman Empire and its approach to Law and Order, has a strongly held understanding of the who and how of sacraments. As I said before, I like it that way. The Epsicopal Church, my current home, is an odd mix of highly centralized and free-for-all. However, currently, there does exist a sacramental priesthood (which some folks actually believe in, and others, both Progressive and Conservative, do not, but for widely different reasons). As one moves from the Orthodox/Roman to Episcopal and continue through the less hierarchically structured churches one continues until you find all manner of free expression. From my vantage point, that is not good. But last weeks Gospel is a reminder that my thoughts are not always His thoughts.

In Mark 9:38 there is a short story. The apostle John says to the Lord, "Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop because he does not follow us." Now, first of all, this is but one of many such examples which Mark has strung together. Jesus keeps telling the fellas He is going to die, and the Clueless Crew make one bonehead misplay after another. Jesus says, "I will die, I will lay down my life." Then they, argue about who is greatest, chase off kids looking for a blessing, debate who will sit at Jesus' right and left hand. You know, standard ego-centric churchmanship! However, this particular case raises issues about monitoring mission work.

All of us are sacraments so each of us is empowered and under orders to do the works of Christ. Likewise, we are doing this in tandem, "inside" the church (there can be no Christian ministry "outside" the church). But Jesus' response, "Let him alone, no one can do miracles in my name and then speak bad of me. Whoever is not against us is with us." is certainly food for thought in understanding the Christian ministry. This is especially true in ecumenical times where The Church has been blown up and dispersed into so many denominations, indpendent congregations and assorted self-directed para-church ministries. Face it, most folks may be Roman, but not all are. And the rest are frequently independent agencies and agents with a host of different beliefs.

So who can administer a sacrament? It depends where you live. Are all sacraments valid? Nope. Can God work in and through invalid sacraments? Yes. Does being valid not matter then, if God can work anyway? Yes, it matters because God's work is made more effective when everything is done right. There is such a thing as "the fullness" of efficacy. A partial glass of water is still water, but a full glass is better, especially to a thirsty person.

On the other hand, we need to think long and hard about our rules and regulations. While I still think the historic faith of the church was clear from an early time about who presides at eucharist and standardized how those prayers were said (following the Jewish liturgical practices we inherited) I also know that there was wide diversity and many were less than enthusiastic about the structure. However, if everyone is doing their own thing in Jesus' name you have other problems. It is true that we follow Jesus, not the bishops. But when one gets rid of Bishops there is no certitude that it is always Jesus you follow. You may, unaware of it, be following yourself. And so we have ten hundred thousand self appointed bishops deciding what Jesus wants and claiming the Holy Spirit is the instigator. And like I said earlier, many times the spirit behind our personal choices is demonic. The sacraments matter a great deal. They are connected to eternal life and teh presence of Jesus. Important things should be treated with great care and respect. We do well to ponder what is the God-preferred way of doing things. Structure is not bad. However, loving structure for its own sake can be bad. And Jesus is about saving folks first and making ecclessial structures fit the mission. We cannot all agree on sacraments, but we can agree to listen to each other. And we can affirm that anyone in league with Jesus who is not against us is for us!
I will not write again until Wednesday October 17th. Perhaps I will continue this train, but who knows. I welcome questions and points of contention about all this. Maybe that can generate more helpful discussion.