Deeper understandings Sacraments
Holy, divine promises joined to physical elements of water, food Bodies are present, real; bodies
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Lisa E. Dahill and Christian Scharen
Christian Scharen: Sonja and I have been married for 20 years. When I look at the wedding band on my left hand, or fiddle with it absent- mindedly, I in fact receive again the promise she made to me on our wed- ding day. We Lutherans don’t hold mar-
riage as a sacrament, but something of the same logic is present in bap-
tism and communion. In a sacrament we receive this combination of a promise along with a physical sign that helps us hold on to it. And the promise in baptism and communion is made not by another human— whose words and love are fallible, even with our best intentions—but by God. We receive a holy and divine promise of love that can never be broken, joined to the physical ele- ments of water and food. So when I hear God’s promise of forgiveness and new life, I also feel the water washing that comes with the prom- ise; I taste the bread and wine that speak to my eyes, mouth and nose, the same promise that words say to my ears. Within baptism and communion we can know the deep truth that God works in and through the goodness of creation, working to heal and make whole the relationships broken apart by sin.
Dahill Scharen
Dahill is associate professor of worship and Christian spirituality at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Scharen is assistant professor of worship and co-director, Learning Pastoral Imagination Project, at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
Lisa Dahill: I love how sensory it is: all that tasting and touching and hearing, God’s outpouring of love coming to our bodies as well as our hearts and minds and souls. In pondering baptism in his Large Catechism, Martin Luther writes: “The body has water poured over it, because all it can receive is the water; and in addition the Word is spoken so that the soul may receive it. Because the water and the Word together constitute one baptism, both body and soul shall be saved and live forever.”
God comes to us not just in con- cepts and high-functioning verbal rationality but deep in the flesh.
18 The Lutheran •
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are traumatized and vulnerable, ach- ingly mortal; bodies are profoundly personal. This is where God meets us—indeed, comes to “pitch a tent” (John 1:14) in the very cells and marrow of our flesh itself—to be received with our skin and our hands and our mouths, to be ingested, inhaled, incarnated.
For those who are mentally dis-
abled, for those who are depressed or afraid, for all of us in our embod- ied lives, this is a great consola- tion: I receive the entire fullness of the Word of God—our Lord Jesus himself—in my hands, in my body, washed over me.
Scharen: Because of this very human, bodily, sensory aspect, we experience a powerful connection between these sacraments and daily living.
When we wash, we may remem- ber and practice our baptism, claim- ing anew the Spirit’s work within us. Thinking of this daily reminder, Luther wrote in the Large Cate- chism: “In baptism, therefore, every Christian has enough to study and practice all his or her life.” Similarly, when we eat, we may remember and practice communion, giving thanks for the grace we have received that is at work in us. Such daily practice presses us to ask about how our daily lives embody recon- ciliation with our neighbor and with the earth itself. My family daily shares meals and prays together, a visible connection to the eucharistic table. As we sing, “God bless to us our bread. Give food to those who are hungry, and
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