One of my early morning seminary students posted this last week. It's notes from a talk I gave over 20 years ago, just after the 12 published "The Living Christ." Thanks, Jocelyn.
1. Preparation needs to begin before we ever enter the
building.
As in the Old Testament, where priests had to keep themselves ritually clean in order to officiate in the sacrifice of the lamb, so the Priesthood today must prepare by staying clean - including in their activities with friends on Friday and Saturday night. As we members arrive at Church, we can take time for a parking lot interview- as if entering the Temple- and ask ourselves: ' Am I worthy today to partake? Can I enter the Lord’s house and be comfortable renewing my covenants alongside these ward members?' If necessary, pray, make peace with others in the foyer or a classroom or over the phone. But as you are judging your worthiness, Neal A. Maxwell said, “If you now feel or have ever felt the desire to partake of the Sacrament, to thank God for His goodness or remember Christ’s atonement then you should.”
Arrive early enough to watch the teachers prepare the
Sacrament table, and consider: that they are laying out the Body and Blood of
Christ which they cover with a clean shroud of linen. When the linen is
removed, new life is offered to all.
2. Prayer- For Priests, saying the Sacrament prayer is a time to be perfect - just like Christ. Priests stand in for Jesus whose words they speak. They represent Christ as He pleads formercy from the Father- our Father and His- in our behalf and in His name. If possible, a priest should have thought about the word he is speaking and try to say them as if he means them : to make the words his own. We as members participate in the prayer not only through our AMEN, but also by offering heartfelt silent prayers of our own as we worship.
3. We all - member and priesthood officiators - participate by either feeding or feasting. In blessing and passing the sacrament, the priesthood presents an interesting paradox : the greatest becomes the servant of all in a powerful contrast to our worldly culture. God’s plan has MEN standing, preparing, and serving food to seated women and children while waiting to eat LAST, just the opposite of mealtime in most cultures. One most memorable Sacrament occasion for me was at a family reunion in Zion’s Canyon. Grandpa presided and all serving were our sons or nephews. You have probably had a similar experience encircling a hospital bed, on a battlefield, or in a quiet hotel room far from home.
There is no power in merely OBSERVING the passing of the Sacrament anymore than the unclean woman was healed by WATCHING Jesus walk by: she had to reach out her hand and lay hold on the healing body of Christ. During the passing of the sacrament, we as members should be feasting, not just on the soft bread and cool water but also on the words of Christ. I love to watch young families helping children remember Jesus by looking at pictures of Christ. Reading scriptures or sacramental hymns can help us as adults
“Remember Him” for at least the first 10 minutes of our new
life with Christ.
Choose today to take the Sacrament.
2- Pay attention to the ordinance. “Our outward involvement
in spiritual things can also be illusive. One can be present at Sacrament
meeting but not really worship; the physical body can be there, while the mind
and heart are elsewhere. One can accept a calling but still not magnify it,
ending up by simply serving time. One can pay fast offerings unaccompanied by
any personal service to needy neighbors or to the poor. We can open our
checkbooks in the same way as some open their scriptures- more in mechanical than
spiritual compliance. In Church, we can join in singing the hymns while being
without a song in our hearts. We can take the sacrament with hand and mouth yet
not be taken in mind, at least sometimes, to Gethsemane and Calvary. We can
play artful doctrinal ping-pong in various Church classes but with minds and
hearts that are less stretched than the ping-pong net.... (p. 56) Not everyone
will be like Cain or Judas. Equally tragic are able men like Pilate and Agrippa
who see themselves as sophisticated neutrals.” (Maxwell, p. 55)
3- Make the covenant today and keep it: “Already too many
Church members have broken hearts and broken homes because of broken covenants
and broken promises. Society’s increasing slide towards pleasure-seeking brings
our so-called civilization comparatively closer to Sodom then to Eden.” (Maxwell,
p.67) “If you sense that one day every
knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord,
why not do so now? For in the coming of that collective confession, it will
mean much less to kneel down when it is not longer possible to stand up!” (Maxwell,
p. 173)
4- Consecrate the rest of your life. “Consecration is the
only surrender that is also a victory. It brings release from raucous,
overpopulated cell block of selfishness and emancipation from the dark prison
of pride.” (Maxwell, p. 62)
Choose today to live a life of holiness- may we stand as
lights and guides to others around us, too. Only those who are different can
make a difference in a darkening world.
[all quotations are taken from the Neal A. Maxwell Quote
Book]
“He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. “ The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles, (2000)
