The Sacrament and the Gospel

While the sacrament is being administered to us, I generally whisper to one of my children (whichever is closest to me at the time) to ask them about the meaning of the sacrament and explain as necessary.  It makes for a lot of repetition, but I really want them to understand the importance and meaning of the covenant.  They know that when they're eight years old they'll be baptized, and then they'll start taking the sacrament each week also.  (Right now they don't; I don't want them to be taking the bread and water out of habit only, but rather to meaningfully renew covenants as they eat and drink.)

On another topic:

When we used to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ as missionaries, and as I've taught and been taught many times since, some central ideas about the Atonement of Jesus Christ are that He overcame two major obstacles for us: physical death ("the grave") and spiritual death("hell").  Because of the Fall we are mortal and subject to physical death, at which time our spirits will lose the marvelous bodies that God has given us.  Also, with our moral agency we are free to choose our actions, and we all will make choices that separate us from God (and thus causing spiritual death).  Jesus suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, suffering such pain that He bled from the pores of His skin.  He then died and was later resurrected.

Perhaps the connection is already obvious in stating this much.  In any case, here's what my whispered conversation with my kids tends to sound like:

Daddy: "Why do we take the sacrament?"

Child: (waits)

Daddy: "We take the sacrament to renew our covenants.  We make promises to Heavenly Father when we're baptized.  We covenant to be like Jesus, to take His name upon us, and to obey the commandments.  What does the bread remind us of?"

Child: "Jesus' body."

Daddy: "Yes.  Because Jesus died, and his body went in a tomb for three days.  What happened then?"

Child: "He was resurrected."

Daddy: "That's right, and because He was resurrected, we all will be, too."

As the water is being administered:

Daddy: "What does the water remind us of?"

Child: "Jesus' blood."

Daddy: "Yes, because Jesus paid for our sins and it hurt Him so much that he bled.  Because He paid for our sins, we can all repent and live with our Heavenly Father again."

I don't think I've ever heard anyone teach that the sacrament is directly related to Jesus' resurrection and His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it makes sense to me that way.

Last thoughts for now:
I want my kids to be ready for baptism.  I want them to have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Just as elements of teachings in the temple are symbolic, the bread and water definitely are also.  Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life, He died and was resurrected so that we will be too, and He atoned for our sins so that we can repent and be forgiven.  All of us.

Exact Words

Some members of the Church have a certain tradition or habit that really isn't necessary, and that I consequently avoid.  When blessing a baby and giving him or her a name, I often hear the wording like this: "and to give him a name by which he will be known on the records of the Church."  It's simply not dictated by any Church book of instructions.  It doesn't hurt, but I don't want to confuse things that are necessary and things that aren't, so I never use those words.  And I hope that people notice it and realize that they don't need to use them either.  That way we can focus on the traditions and elements of ordinances which are truly important and necessary.

Much of the time, priesthood ordinances do not use exact wording.  Any holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, when reading the instructions for ordinances, will find key elements but rarely exact words.

But sometimes exact wording is important.  Temple ordinances, for example, use exact wording.  One thing I wonder is, other than the fact that the words have been prescribed for us, are the exact words absolutely necessary?  Perhaps not, and we know that temple ordinances have changed at times, but there are good reasons for using specific words.  A major reason is that there is much to learn from what is said during those ordinances.

Outside of the temple, I can think of two occasions when exact wording is dictated by scripture (in Doctrine and Covenants Section 20 and also in the book of Moroni): during a baptism, and when we renew our baptismal covenants with the sacrament.  Why do we use exact words then?  Is it because those exact words are necessary for the ordinance?  It seems clear that such is not the case when we review the wording used by Alma as he baptized Helam and others: "Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world."

I think along with the advantage of learning from specific wording comes the advantage of not having to think through it on the spot--we don't have to figure out what to say every week during the sacrament.  What seems to be the most important reason to me, however, is that by using the same words every time we don't distract ourselves from the ordinance itself.  Too often during regular prayers, the speaker turns to flowery and profuse speech.  If the person performing the baptism or blessing the sacrament wanted to "make it good", they could easily get lost in language that didn't really add to the ordinance at all.  Some people would even be tempted to praise the speaker, again being distracted from the ordinance itself.  The exact wording provides simplicity and focus when that is exactly what is needed as we make and renew covenants with God.

Last thoughts for now:
Making and keeping covenants with our Heavenly Father will bring us back to live with Him.  Sometimes, exactness and precision is required so that we can be most fully blessed.  I want to be precise when such precision is warranted, to keep learning throughout my life, and to stay focused on the simplicity of essential ordinances and covenants.