Sacrament
As we approach the semiannual communion service in the Christian Science branch churches, we may well consider the deep meaning of sacrament, and be grateful for that higher understanding of Truth which is received through the study of Christian Science, and which enables us to drop the material symbols so long associated with this observance.
A Christian Scientist recalled his childhood experience of attending, with his parents, the communion service. He also recalled how his parents, gaining in understanding, later joined the Christian Science church, and were willing thereafter to leave the material emblems for the spiritual communion. Many others, turning to Christian Science, as did those devout church members, have interpreted a line from the much-loved hymn by Horatius Bonar, "And as we rise, the symbols disappear," perhaps in a larger sense than the author intended. As we rise into the realm of holy communion with God, outward memorials are left behind.
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In so-called orthodox churches it is considered very essential that those who are to partake of the material emblems of the sacrament should do so only after careful preparation. While Christian Scientists do not use bread and wine in a communion service, they may well consider the value of a proper preparation of thought for entering into the true spirit of the occasion known as the communion service. What better preparation can the Scientist make than by the daily study, during the preceding week, of the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly on "Sacrament," made up as it is of selections from our textbooks, the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, which together get at the very heart of the subject? And helpful to the same end will be attendance upon, and prayerful participation in, the Wednesday evening meeting, where gratitude is abundantly poured forth for the Christ, Truth, proved to be practically helpful through the healing ministry of Christian Science.
In Science and Health the wonderful opening chapter on Prayer is significantly followed by the chapter entitled "Atonement and Eucharist." The opening chapter shows what true prayer is and how to pray, while the following chapter shows clearly the pathway which every mortal must tread in making the journey from sense to Soul, the pathway of "practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables man to do the will of wisdom" (Science and Health, p. 19). In the chapter on Atonement and Eucharist it is clearly shown that a right concept of the doctrine of atonement is not sufficient, but that atonement must be exemplified, or demonstrated, and that this is our lifework. Throughout the chapter our Leader continually points to Christ Jesus as our great Exemplar—our Way-shower—and to the final victory which all who follow in his steps will attain.
True observance of the sacrament consists in pledging anew the heart's devotion to the truth as taught by Jesus, who said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." True commemoration is leaving all for Christ. No other commemoration or observance will avail. Every page of the chapter "Atonement and Eucharist" is of practical help, but perhaps no passage more fully sets forth the deep meaning of sacrament than the following (Science and Health, p. 35): "Our bread, 'which cometh down from heaven,' is Truth. Our cup is the cross. Our wine the inspiration of Love, the draught our Master drank and commended to his followers."
Mortals must first partake of the life-giving bread of Truth, which Jesus brought to men. Having gained spiritual life by partaking of this bread, they must also partake of the cup or the cross, which signifies the complete surrender of the human will for the divine. This is not a sad, but a joyful experience. It is leaving the old for the new; it is leaving the false for the true.
We may well ask ourselves if we are ready to drink of Jesus' cup. It is recorded that James and John once came to Jesus with a request, which the narrative indicates was tinged with selfishness. "But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?" The ready reply was, "We can." But the admonition given by Jesus reveals clearly that, at that time, the two disciples did not themselves yet really know what it meant to drink of Jesus' cup. Later, however, they learned the nature of this cup, and drank of it.
We should not turn away from the drinking of Jesus' cup, since only by drinking of it can we gain "the inspiration of Love." Only to mortal sense is the way of Truth the way of the cross. Mrs. Eddy has written in her Message to The Mother Church for 1902 (p. 19), "You will find divine Science glorifies the cross and crowns the association with our Saviour in his life of love."
Through the door of true sacrament we enter a higher sense of fellowship and communion with our Father-Mother God. The Revelator records the message of "the faithful and true witness, . . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
