The Sacred Still Speaks: Sacramental Life in Christ

🕇 The 7^th Sunday after Trinity – 1928 BCP – August 3^rd, 2025

Preached at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Bellville, TX

Fr. Mike Keppler, Rector

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable to thee, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer, and Lord, give us here today, eyes to see and ears to hear so we can learn your word together as a family. We offer you all the praise, honor, and Glory for it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Good morning, my fellow encouragers! Today, we participated in the First Office of Instruction, which serves as a reminder of the catechetical foundation of our faith. It’s a teaching that grounds us in the ancient truths passed down through generations and helps us understand our life in Christ through the sacred gifts He has given to His Church.

In a world constantly seeking the new and innovative, our hearts often yearn for something deeper, for something that connects us to the communion of saints across time and space. This yearning is the soul's recognition that the sacred still speaks, that ancient faith offers real love in our present moment.

The Office of Instruction reminds us that at the heart of Anglican worship lies a sacramental theology. Our catechism defines a sacrament as 'an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.'

This definition connects us directly to the early Church. The term 'sacrament' comes from the Latin 'sacramentum,' which in ancient Rome referred to an oath of allegiance taken by soldiers. The early Christians adopted this term to describe these sacred mysteries through which we pledge our allegiance to Christ and receive His grace.

Our Anglican understanding of the sacraments represents a distinctive 'via media' or middle way. We recognize two Gospel Sacraments – Baptism and the Lord's Supper – as 'generally necessary to salvation,' because Christ Himself explicitly ordained them.

When Archbishop Thomas Cranmer crafted our first Prayer Book, he preserved the sacramental richness of the ancient church and ensured that the practices were grounded in Scripture. This balance between Scripture, tradition, and reason remains a hallmark of Anglican theology.

Understanding this history is important because it shows that when we take part in the sacraments at St. Barnabas, we join many faithful Christians from the past twenty centuries who have met the living Christ through these sacred acts.

Last Sunday, we explored St. Paul's teaching in Romans 6, where he reminds us that in baptism, we have died to sin and risen to new life in Christ. 'Know ye not,' Paul writes, 'that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'

Baptism is more than just a thing we do to become a Christian. It’s the beginning of a lifelong journey of transformation. The Office of Instruction teaches us that in baptism, we are 'made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.'

It’s a threefold identity that shapes everything about who we are and how we live. To be a ' member of Christ' means we are incorporated into His mystical Body, the Church. The word 'member' here doesn't mean that the church simply adds us to a list of names. It means we are as connected to Christ as a hand is to the arm, drawing our very life from Him.

To be a 'child of God' means we have been adopted into God's family through Christ. The Spirit of adoption dwells within us, enabling us to cry 'Abba, Father.' And to be an 'inheritor of the kingdom of heaven' means we have been given a share in Christ's eternal inheritance.

But baptism is not solely about identity; it is about transformation. The Prayer Book reminds us that in baptism, we promise to 'renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world... and the sinful desires of the flesh.' We promise to 'obediently keep God's holy will and commandments.'

The grace of baptism continues to work in us, enabling us to die daily to sin and rise to righteousness. Each time we witness a baptism, each time we recite the Creed, each time we renew our baptismal vows, we are reconnecting with this foundational sacrament and allowing its grace to flow anew in our lives.

If baptism initiates us into Christ's Body, the Holy Eucharist sustains us on our journey. The Office of Instruction teaches us that the 'inward part, or thing signified' in the Lord's Supper is 'the Body and Blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.'

This language reflects our Anglican understanding that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, though we do not attempt to define precisely how this mystery occurs. Queen Elizabeth the 1^st put it this way: 'Twas God the Word that spake it, He took the Bread and brake it; And what the Word did make it; That I believe, and take it.

The Eucharist connects us to the Last Supper, to the Cross, to the Resurrection, and to Pentecost. It connects us to one another, for as St. Paul reminds us, 'we, being many, are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.' When we gather around the altar, we are the Body of Christ, united to our Head and to one another through this sacred meal.

The Eucharist also connects us to the heavenly banquet. In the Preface to the Sanctus, we join our voices “with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven” in praising God. The thin veil that separates us from heaven and earth grows ever so transparent as we participate in this foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Finally, each celebration of the Eucharist is both a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice and an anticipation of His glorious return.

What does it mean to live a sacramental life in the 21st century, and how do these ancient practices speak to our modern condition?

First, sacramental living means recognizing that the material world matters to God. We live in an age increasingly dominated by the virtual and digital. Yet, the sacraments remind us that God works through physical reality to reach us spiritually. Water, bread, wine, oil, and the laying on of hands are physical signs of an outward and spiritual grace.

Second, sacramental living means embracing bodily practices in our spiritual lives. Many young people today are rediscovering the value of embodied worship – kneeling in prayer, making the sign of the cross, processing with palms on Palm Sunday, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. These practices engage our whole selves – body, mind, and spirit – in the worship of God.

In a culture where so much of life happens through screens, the sacraments call us back to presence – to being fully present to God and to one another in worship. The hunger for this kind of immersive experience explains in part why many young families are drawn to traditional liturgical worship.

Third, sacramental living means recognizing that we ourselves are called to be sacraments. When we leave this place, having been nourished by Word and Sacrament, we are sent into the world to be Christ's hands and feet to be living sacraments that make His love visible and tangible to others.

This is why our identity at St. Barnabas – 'The Sacred Still Speaks. Ancient Faith. Real Love.' – is not just a catchy tagline. It’s a description of our vocation.

The Office of Instruction asks: 'What is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper?' The answer given is deeply and personally reflective: 'To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and be in charity with all men.'

This encapsulates the Christian life – repentance, faith, gratitude, and love. These are the ongoing fruits of sacramental grace in our lives.

And so, the sacraments are not something we do to put on a show, nor are they magic rituals that work automatically. They require our faithful response. They are mysteries that the human mind struggles to comprehend, and so their value doesn’t depend on our complete understanding. They are mysteries in which Christ Himself is the principal actor, offering His grace to all who receive Him in faith.

The sacred still speaks. Through water and word, through bread and wine, through the gathered community, Christ continues to make Himself known. May we have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to respond.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.