At the Church of the Incarnation, we live in the continual Presence of Jesus Christ.
Our Church is sacramental. All our ministry either leads us to, or sends us into the world and away from, the Presence of Christ. We believe Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." Like the early disciples, we know him in "the breaking of bread." This is the manner in which He ordained that He would come to us. Holy Communion is the original altar call. In Holy Communion, each week we confess our sins to God, and come forward to the altar to receive Jesus anew. Filled with His Presence, we leave with the Power and Presence of Christ to impact our world.
There are other sacraments as well. A sacrament is a holy mystery. This does not mean that it cannot be understood. It means however that God acts through material means we would otherwise consider to be normal and commonplace, things like oil, water, bread, wine, a man and a woman, and the laying on of hands.
How do the common things of material life bestow grace upon us? It is all through Jesus Christ. He took upon Himself our humanity and made holy these common things for our sake and for our salvation. Matter is not evil. It is good. And because of Jesus, at the words He commanded us to say in using these created things, the Holy Spirit makes them useful for us for salvation.
And this all comes to pass through the humble actions of a priest, in union with a bishop -- a bishop who stands in the long line of succession back to the Apostles, back to Jesus. It is Jesus who offers Himself to us in the Eucharist through the priest. It is Jesus who baptizes us. It is Jesus who confirms us, absolves us of our sins, marries us, and heals us of our infirmities. The sacrament of Holy Orders -- of bishop, priest and deacon -- is not about fallible men. It is about Jesus working in and through these men. How? Through the laying on of hands.
This is what it means to be a sacramental church -- living in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit as He communicates to us the very life of Christ in all we say and do.
|
|