One word that I found difficult to understand when I studied Orthodoxy is the word “mystery”. In particular, the Orthodox Church refers to “The Mysteries” often in terms of the Seven Sacraments. One page puts it well.
Unlike some other Christian denominations, which may view sacraments primarily as symbolic rituals, Orthodox Christians believe that the sacraments are tangible manifestations of God’s grace. They are the means by which believers participate in the divine life, as the Church is seen as the Body of Christ, and through these sacred rites, the faithful are united with Christ Himself.
Sacraments are considered “mysteries” because they transcend human understanding. The mystery lies in the invisible grace imparted through visible signs. For example, in baptism, water is the visible element, but the mystery is that through it, the believer is cleansed of sin and born anew in Christ. The sacraments are a blend of the physical and the spiritual, a perfect reflection of the incarnational theology that is at the heart of Orthodox belief.
Understanding Holy Mysteries in Eastern Orthodoxy
Protestant Views of the Sacraments
Like any other doctrine, Protestants have a wide variety of understanding of these things. Some Protestant churches call them sacraments and others call them ordinances still others call them memorials. At the most extreme, some like the Society of Friends (Conservative Friends sect) don’t even have an external (physical) element at all and reduce these things to a spiritual/inner element alone. (Society of Friends: Conservative Friends).
While diversity of views doesn’t mean all Protestant churches are wrong, it does show that they can’t all be correct. In fact, the vast majority of them have to be wrong because their views are mutually exclusive to each other. And logically, it is possible that they are all wrong or wrong in different ways.
My Experiences with the Sacraments
I was Baptized as an infant in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). By the time I was Confirmed I was an atheist. My parents made me attend the Lutheran Church until I was confirmed and that was the last time I attended one. I was an altar boy a few times in the Lutheran Church and saw the practice of disposing left over elements down a special sink drain that went to earth outside, And the little cups were glass and were washed and reused. The first and only time I took communion in the Lutheran Church was when I was confirmed since it was a part of the Conformation ceremony and I certainly didn’t receive communion “worthily” since I didn’t believe the Gospel at all – and my teachers and the pastor all knew that. I was a body to be counted in the membership list. When I later asked to be removed from the membership list, they said they would not remove my name, but would put it on “inactive” status. LCMS practice limits communion to people who have been confirmed and hold to Lutheran Confessions (Theology and Practice of The LORD’S SUPPER). There were attempts to lower the age of communion to fifth grade, but less than 20% of the churches have adopted this practice (FAQs about Doctrine). I have a baptismal certificate in my baby book and may need this when I get received into the Church (see more later on in this post in that process) My Confirmation picture. If I look happy it was because I no longer needed to attend after Confirmation. Too many years of being hauled out of the church and beat for being a regular noisy kid left me not wanting more.
After six years or so of being an Atheist, I became an Evangelical Christian. And there I was taught that my baptism as an infant didn’t “count” so I was baptized in the ocean by Calvary Chapel. I am in the middle of this picture in a yellow bathing suit. The line for Pastor Chuck Smith was long since most people wanted to be baptized by the celebrity pastor. I went in the short line since I figured that it was the baptism that mattered, not the person doing it.
As to communion, Calvary Chapel practiced open communion. Trays of broken [unleavened] Maza crackers and little disposable plastic glasses of grape juice were passed down the aisles and everyone received communion at the same time as the pastor read the words of Institution “This is my body” and “This is my blood”. No real attempt was given to guard communion or even warn people of the Scriptural injunction against receiving communion unworthily.
1Co 11:27-30 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
I cringe today when I think of the damage that was caused to people in this practice, if indeed it was at all legitimate. The belief there was that it wasn’t the body of Christ, but that it was a symbol or representation of the body of Christ. There was no sense of mystery (in the sacramental sense) but just a memorial. I was asked to picture in my mind Christ suffering on the cross as he carried my sins. Repentance from sins is a good thing regardless.
Over the years I was a part of various Protestant churches where they were more or less the same. A very low view of grace being given in the sacrament but more something that is done in obedience to the command – as in an ordinance.
At a point years later, I was an Associate Pastor in an Evangelical Covenant Church. The Senior Pastor was basically a Baptist in theology since the Covenant Church has a big tent. He had not attended Seminary at NorthPark, the only seminary in the denomination. At the seminary there was a professor of worship, John Weborg who had icons in his office. All students were required to take his worship class and he taught a higher view of Communion than the average Evangelical. He’s spent many decades reflecting on Scripture and the Sacraments of the Church. But the Senior Pastor I was under had not benefited from his wisdom and continued in the Baptist way he learned elsewhere.
Remember the Covenant Church has a big tent and even when it comes to things like the sacraments has a very wide range of teachings and practices. The Covenant Church has both infant and adult baptism, but the general practice is adult baptism. Being a Baptist pastor he definitely never baptized any infants.
As part of my duties as an Associate Pastor, I was assigned to teach baptism class and do a small message every month (they served communion monthly only). And I took my duties seriously. At first, I taught these things in conformance to my own Evangelical background which also melded well with the Senior Pastor. However, things quickly went downhill.
I had recently learned that rebaptism is to be avoided since there is only one baptism. I was teaching a baptism class when a woman asked if she needed to be rebaptized. I said that it wasn’t necessary since she had already been baptized as a [Catholic] infant but if she came to faith recently she was welcome to reaffirm that faith in some manner – we had no service for that, just baptism. She chose, based on this to not be baptized. This set the Senior Pastor at odds with me because he believed infant baptism is illegitimate, particularly Catholic Baptism. I think the Covenant Church would go either way with the question, but in good conscience with how I read the Scriptures I advised her not to be rebaptized.
I also started to read and mediate on the Scriptures about communion. I found them all over the place, and not just in the words of the institution. Although the Scripture describes them as a “memorial” I learned that even the words “memorial” and “remembrance” have a participation in the thing being remembered. And my messages changed and deepened as I saw Communion was much more than what I had thought.
I deepened my understanding of communion when I went to NorthPark Seminary and took Worship classes from John Weborg there. He’s the closest person I knew to an Orthodox view of the Sacraments from my decades in Protestantism. He also spent the most time meditating on the subject and understanding the history of worship in the church. We called him Saint John for good reason.
When I became a Pastor of a small church I didn’t change the practice of the church I was pastoring. They continued a monthly observance, but my preaching was certainly deepened by my previous experiences.
I was orthodox before I was Orthodox
After being fired from being a pastor in the Covenant Church (I will write about how broken Congregationalist polity is at some point in the future), I started regularly attending the Orthodox Church and although I could not partake in the Eucharist (Greek word for communion which means giving of thanks – and a lot more), I saw that there was a lot more to it than what my Protestant practice was. I don’t think I ever took Communion in a Protestant Evangelical church after that so I’ve gone 20 years without any communion. I just passed along the tray of leavened crackers or unleavened Maza bread) to the next person. I concluded what the Evangelicals had was fake and didn’t want to participate in anything that I didn’t believe was authentic even if people would look at me funny.
As a Catechumen (a minimum 1-year long process – used to be 3-years) in the Orthodox Church, I am learning the Orthodox faith and preparing myself for receiving communion when I get received into the Church. I know I can never be worthy or understand even anything beyond a small amount about what the Eucharist is but I’m taking the steps that will lead to my first communion. I now understand the Eucharist in the terms of the quote at the top of this post and it’s so much more than just those two paragraphs. It is truly a participation in the life of God. I look forward to receiving it and hunger and thirst for it – not as much as I should – but noticeably. Those who are part of the Church and prepared for the Eucharist are given it and they are named in the presentation to them. The part of the Liturgy, prior to the start of the Liturgy, is done by the Priest behind the inconostasis. People get on their knees as the blessed bread is mixed with the wine and warm water. It’s warm to be like the body of Jesus was warm when He died.
Since I haven’t yet been received into the Church, I go forward to the priest and receive a blessing. I’m considered to be in the Church, but not yet in the Church and so I am not referred to be the Priest by name. Being inches away from the cup is so difficult but it’s part of the cross I pick up in order to gain access someday (hopefully soon) to the Eucharist.
My baptism is a complicated matter where the Orthodox Church has various rules and changes about whether or not they will accept one of my prior two baptisms. The proper practice in the church is for either adults or children to be received by triple immersion and in the name of the Holy Trinity. I was sprinkled as a Lutheran child in the LCMS church. But many of the Protestant churches have changed their practices and no longer retain the Trinitarian baptism formula. The sprinking part is not best practice, but in the past that part was overlooked by the Orthodox Church where they do a rite called Chrismation which is at least in part to cover what was lacking in my heterodox baprism(s). When I was baptized in the ocean it was a full immersion, but not a triple immersion. And I don’t believe it was done “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” but rather “in the name of Jesus”. That would make it heterodox.
My priest is new since it’s his first parish as a solo priest and tells me that some things are above his pay grade and he has to ask our bishop for direction. I am glad to be in The Church where there is authority that guards right doctrine and practice and isn’t a guy that just hangs a shingle up on a strip mall front. I am impatient and this can lead to slow answers, but I trust a slower process rather than a quick answer. Personally, I’m fine either way. I don’t consider any of them to be The One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I haven’t even touched on the other sacraments of the Orthodox Church. For example, Confession, while Scriptural, isn’t found in any of the Evangelical churches that I’ve attended. It’s worth noting that while the Orthodox view the sacraments as seven in number, this isn’t seen as dogmatic. Anything that is a communication of grace from God to man is a sacrament. These are just the most obvious ones practiced in/by the Church. Contemplating an icon and venerating it can be sacramental because we see God there
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