Firbush Retreats Firbush retreats are organized and led by Robert T. Walker. Firbush retreats are designed to make the best theology accessible to as many people as possible and especially those not trained in theology and often not familiar with routine technical terms. They combine times of worship and prayer with reflection on a theme related to Torrance theology. For more information see https://tftorrance.org/firbush. ----------- Firbush Retreat Fall 2016 Robert T. Walker, "The Centrality of the Sacraments in T. F. Torrance" https://tftorrance.org/firbushF2016 The audio recording for this presentation is available on the Firbush Retreat section of the website for the Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship. The following AI transcript is too rough to rely upon, but perhaps useful for word searches and time-stamps. It is unretouched; if anyone wishes to listen to it and clean it up we will be happy to post an improved version (contact the webmasters). We invite speakers to send us slides for their talks, which we will post alongside the audios and transcripts. If any speaker wishes to have their talk removed from the website, just let us know and we'll take down both the audio and the transcript. ------------ 00:00-00:11 Yes, the centrality of the sacraments in T.F. Torrance, there's a huge amount that I can't 00:11-00:18 say, there's no time to, and this is purely concentrating on why the sacraments are so 00:18-00:28 central in T.F. Torrance and also to try to understand them. Many people find it difficult 00:28-00:34 to understand exactly what the sacraments are, what they mean and why they should be 00:34-00:53 so central. During his time on the ecumenical faith and order commission in the 1950s Torrance 00:53-01:00 wrote extensively on the sacraments and they remain a vital part of his theology that comes 01:00-01:06 out in incarnation and atonement. The aim of this paper is to think out and think through 01:06-01:16 Torrance's view of the sacraments and why he regards them so highly. This paper uses 01:16-01:22 much of his language and his ways of putting things. It also uses key aspects of his thought 01:22-01:31 in general and applies them to the sacraments. So he doesn't say what I'm going to say exactly, 01:31-01:38 but I'm using his theology. On the basis of his theology this paper attempts to think 01:38-01:46 out and recover an understanding of the sacraments which holds word and sacrament properly together 01:46-01:53 while recognising and giving each their full place. Recognising their central importance 01:53-02:03 and place can then lead us on to rediscover the pastoral and theological riches of baptism 02:03-02:12 and the Eucharist. Much of the way this paper puts things may not be Torrance's but I would 02:12-02:19 argue it is faithful to him and it is a faithful application of his thought. The centrality 02:19-02:26 of the sacraments. At first sight it may seem surprising that the sacraments are so central 02:26-02:35 in Tf and that he has such a high view of them. He could so easily be Anglican or Catholic. 02:35-02:44 The Bishop of Bristol once asked him to preach in a church in Bristol and the following week 02:44-02:49 somebody said to the Bishop, "Who is that Anglo-Catholic you had preaching for us last 02:49-03:03 week?" But in fact he would regard himself as very much reformed and Catholic in the 03:03-03:09 sense of the ancient Catholic faith of the great church fathers. The reason for such 03:09-03:16 a high view of the sacraments stems directly from seeing Christ as their living centre. 03:16-03:22 The sacraments are not add-ons, extras to the faith or useful ceremonies but in a real 03:22-03:30 sense they are part of Christ himself and he is their very substance, the absolute heart 03:30-03:39 and meaning of the sacraments. In that true sense we cannot have Christ without his sacraments 03:39-03:48 or his sacraments without him and we can only best know and understand them together one 03:48-03:56 through the other. Christ himself, the living sacraments. There have been several definitions 03:56-04:02 of sacraments. One is well known as Augustine's sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible 04:02-04:18 grace which isn't good in some ways. The one that T.F. thinks is best is mystery and seal 04:18-04:28 essentially Christ is himself the living sacrament. He is what a sacrament is or ought to be. 04:28-04:37 He is the one who becoming man for us was baptised for us in the Jordan whose whole 04:37-04:44 life was a baptism completed for us on the cross. In Luke he says "I have a baptism with 04:44-04:51 which I am being baptised and how am I constrained, hemmed in until it is accomplished." He clearly 04:51-05:02 looked on his baptism as being not completed until the cross. His whole life was a baptism 05:02-05:09 completed for us on the cross. Christ who in his flesh offered up to God for us in living 05:09-05:19 atonement and raised from death, that Christ is our new living life who feeds us with himself. 05:19-05:31 As our new living humanity the eternal word become eternal human life. He is the one who 05:31-05:40 by incarnation, baptism, life, death and resurrection became the one true sacrament done in the 05:40-05:50 flesh. So in the true sense his whole life in what he is and what he did he is the sacrament. 05:50-05:58 Now as our living sacrament he joins us to himself in his baptism and renews us by feeding 05:58-06:06 us with himself in holy communion through the spirit. The sacramental actions we perform 06:06-06:16 on earth in obedience to Christ are patterned on the sacramental patterns which one he embedded 06:16-06:24 in himself in the course of his life and the sacramental patterns which two he himself 06:24-06:31 instituted as the means of our participation in him and the sacramental patterns in which 06:31-06:41 three he himself remains the real agent through the ministry of word and sacrament. In the 06:41-06:50 sacraments Christ joins us to himself incorporating us into his body and then continually feeding 06:50-07:00 us with himself with the love, joy and strength of his risen life. In the incarnation Christ 07:00-07:09 joined himself to our flesh and joined our flesh, our humanity to himself in an unbreakable 07:09-07:21 bond and in baptism he joins us to that bond which is already there in him, he joins us 07:21-07:30 to himself. So if the incarnation we can think of it as Christ joining himself to us forever 07:30-07:36 and then baptism as the counter movement unfolding the meaning of that which is joining us to 07:36-07:44 himself. The sacraments are sacraments of Christ, the word made flesh, the word become 07:44-07:53 tangible and visible and done and sealed and in the real sense they are Christ. A breakdown 07:53-07:59 of the reasons for the central place of the sacraments, there are several overlapping 07:59-08:04 reasons for centrality of the sacraments but in order to see just how important and central 08:04-08:10 they should be it's worth trying to single out all the reasons and spell each one out 08:10-08:18 in more detail by itself in spite of any overlap. Together they illustrate powerfully what should 08:18-08:25 be the place and significance of the sacraments in our churches so to some extent these separate 08:25-08:35 divisions are artificial but they each still emphasize a key point and putting them all 08:35-08:43 together they reinforce why they should be so central. One, the centrality of Christ 08:43-08:51 in his person means the centrality of the sacraments. If Christ is the word made flesh 08:51-08:58 and the sacraments are the sacraments of the word made flesh they should automatically 08:58-09:07 be central with Christ for it is in the sacraments that the word we hear in them, the incarnate 09:07-09:17 word can visibly and tangibly touch us. It is here that Christ, the word become flesh 09:17-09:26 who gives himself to us in the sacraments can most visibly, tangibly and regularly become 09:26-09:32 flesh in us. The regular lay may only be once a month in the church of Scotland or even 09:32-09:42 later but it should be a lot more regular. Two, the centrality of Christ means the centrality 09:42-09:52 of the whole Christ in his person and work. A very important point. As through the Incarnation 09:52-10:06 Christ is God and man in one indivisible person so his person and work are equally indivisible. 10:06-10:14 Just as the Incarnation cannot be undone and never will be undone or the God/man/person 10:14-10:21 of Christ divided so Christ's work, everything that he did on earth has become part of his 10:21-10:35 person, part of one whole Christ. Christ in his wholeness is God and man, person and work. 10:35-10:47 In his person, word, deed, gospel in one indivisible whole. When we know Christ we know him, to 10:47-10:53 use Calvin's famous phrase, clothed with his gospel. We never know naked Christ but only 10:53-11:01 Christ clothed with his gospel and when we know his gospel we know Christ himself in 11:01-11:11 his gospel. For in making himself known Christ always makes his very self known, one whole 11:11-11:22 Christ, one whole gospel. This point about God always making himself known is stressed 11:22-11:33 very much by Carbar and throughout by T.F. Torrance. We don't just know about God but 11:33-11:37 when God makes himself known he doesn't just give us truths about himself but he makes 11:37-11:47 his very self known and if we don't know God in his very self then we're not knowing God. 11:47-12:02 The sacraments were not just things that Christ instituted as a kind of ongoing but here are 12:02-12:13 a couple of things you can use to remind yourself of me. The sacraments are to be seen as things 12:13-12:21 that he embodied in himself in the course of his work, he took them into himself and 12:21-12:28 so they're part of him. As part of his work, in a slightly different sense of course but 12:28-12:36 they are embodied in Christ, as part of his work Jesus enters into, takes on himself and 12:36-12:46 transforms both. One, the baptism of sinners into repentance and two, the Passover conflated 12:46-12:55 with his atoning self offering on the cross. One, in his lifelong baptism completed on 12:55-13:07 the cross Jesus fulfills and reconstructs in himself the baptism of John, the baptism 13:07-13:15 of water into repentance. He, the sinless one had no need to be baptized into repentance 13:15-13:28 but he steps into the shoes of sinners taking their baptism onto and into himself in order 13:28-13:37 to fulfil all righteousness and throughout his life offered up to God for us the radical 13:37-13:47 change of mind that we are unable to offer. Repentance, the Greek word means metanoia, 13:47-13:54 change of mind, radical change of mind that we are not capable of, simply not capable 13:54-14:04 of in even a fraction of its depth. That was the great change of mind that he lived out 14:04-14:10 throughout his life, that constituted the great turning point in the history of the 14:10-14:18 human race, the turning of the human mind back to God in the mind of Jesus. So Jesus 14:18-14:28 who is no sin, who did not need to be baptized, why on earth is he being baptized? It's 14:28-14:42 because he is beginning publicly to show that this is taking on himself our sins and performing 14:42-14:48 in himself and for us in a substitutionary representative way the repentance that we 14:48-15:00 are totally unable to offer. John baptized in water, born by the spirit, Jesus at his 15:00-15:10 baptism received the spirit for his healing, redemptive work as Messiah. Then in his ascension 15:10-15:17 having completed atonement he received the spirit for us in heaven. That's a very important 15:17-15:25 verse in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. He received the spirit for us in heaven that 15:25-15:34 he might pour him out on us all, baptising us into his own baptism and incorporating 15:34-15:40 us into himself that through the spirit we might be cleansed not just with water but 15:40-15:54 in mind and heart through the spirit in sharing in Christ's own baptism and purity. Two, 15:54-16:02 in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper we are fed with the bread of his risen life. In becoming 16:02-16:12 man Christ took on himself our sinful flesh and died our death under the judgment of God 16:12-16:19 taking our sinful flesh down into the grave that it might be no more. But at the same 16:19-16:28 time and all through his life Jesus lived out a holy life in our flesh offering up his 16:28-16:35 perfect life in atonement on the cross. Because of his sinlessness death could not hold him 16:35-16:45 and so he rose triumphant. The new man, his risen humanity the bread of our eternal life. 16:45-16:51 In the upper room Jesus drank of the fruit of the vine which he said he would never drink 16:51-16:57 again with his disciples until he drank it in the kingdom. In the upper room in the Reformed 16:57-17:03 understanding the Lord's Supper is not just the last supper but the reconstructed messianic 17:03-17:11 Passover celebrated afresh with the risen Christ in the kingdom. So I put the stress 17:11-17:18 there on the fact that in the Lord's Supper we are fed with the bread of his risen life 17:18-17:23 but I have already emphasised we are fed with the whole Christ. So we are not just fed with 17:23-17:28 the bread of his risen life we are fed with his death. We remember his death that our 17:28-17:37 salvation has only been accomplished in the agony of the cross in the mystery of atonement 17:37-17:46 and it's the death of Christ that puts to death our old self, our old man, the old man 17:46-18:00 and we are raised up with Christ. So we are fed both with the death and with the resurrection 18:00-18:10 both together. Four, Christ's direct and personal institution of the sacraments. In the Great 18:10-18:17 Commission of Matthew 28 and in Paul's account of the Lord's Supper 1 Corinthians 11 we have 18:17-18:25 Christ's personal command in the institution of baptism and Eucharistic supper. The one 18:25-18:32 is a solemn injunction to make disciples of all nations, baptising them etc and promising 18:32-18:41 to be with them to the end and the other is a solemn injunction to celebrate till he comes 18:41-18:48 again. There's always a forward looking aspect in it. The new covenant established in his 18:48-18:56 death and resurrection. The one is a sign and seal of once and for all incorporation 18:56-19:04 of us into himself. The other of his continual renewal and messianic feeding of us with living 19:04-19:21 bread and in both we have his presence. Five, the point that was very important for Torrance. 19:21-19:30 All centrality is reinforced by the long interlude of the Ascension. In his resurrection, Ascension 19:30-19:39 and reception of the Spirit for us, the Kingdom has come. Jesus has been made both Lord and 19:39-19:46 Messiah as Peter preached and his heavenly priestly reign through word and spirit has 19:46-19:53 begun. But the ascension also means that the visible presence of the Kingdom in Jesus has 19:53-20:02 been veiled, distanced from sight and a long interlude established before the full manifestation 20:02-20:09 of the Kingdom that Jesus is coming again. Torrance emphasises that we have to see the 20:09-20:18 sacraments here as specifically given to us. On the one hand as tangible signs of the new 20:18-20:27 creation already here but on the other hand for our support and nourishment in the interlude 20:27-20:34 till its full realisation and manifestation. For Torrance, the sacraments are the special 20:34-20:43 miraculous signs given by Christ for our comfort, nourishment and healing to accompany the Holy 20:43-20:51 Scriptures till he comes. And it is their character as Christ's own special provision 20:51-20:58 for us during the period of his visible and tangible absence which so powerfully enhances 20:58-21:08 their importance for us. I always remember the analogy that James B. Torrance used to 21:08-21:16 use. He said, 'Picture somebody who lives in an old fashioned house with beautiful wooden 21:16-21:25 shutters and at night they close the shutters and go to bed and wake up in the morning and 21:25-21:32 it's dark so they go back to sleep again and then they wake up again and say, 'Still dark', 21:32-21:38 and go back to sleep and then they wake up again, 'Oh, it must be light already, no, 21:38-21:45 oh gosh' and they're just about to go to sleep and you see a tiny sliver of light coming 21:45-21:52 in and they realise, 'Gosh, the day has dawned'. So they leap out of bed, rush to the window 21:52-21:57 and the sun comes flooding in and they realise for hours they've been sleeping thinking 21:57-22:03 it's dark and the day had already dawned. He said, 'That's what's happened, the Kingdom 22:03-22:12 has come but it seems to us that the Kingdom hasn't yet, the world is so full of darkness'. 22:12-22:18 I always thought that was a very good analogy, that the Kingdom has actually come. Christ 22:18-22:23 is now reigning, he has achieved the victory over sin and death and the new creation has 22:23-22:30 already begun, he is the new man in the Kingdom but we are still here on earth and in the 22:30-22:34 sacraments, well in our Christian lives we have one fruit on the earth and one fruit 22:34-22:42 in heaven and the sacraments are meant to help to hold those two together. In point 22:42-22:50 6, Christ remains the real officiating minister of the sacraments. If there's one key point, 22:50-22:56 one single factor which transforms the whole way we see the sacraments and revolutionises 22:56-23:04 our understanding of them, it is the personal presence of Jesus Christ. At every sacrament, 23:04-23:10 it's the officiating priest or minister who baptises with water, breaks the bread and 23:10-23:19 gives the cup but it is Christ himself who is the real agent, personally presiding, personally 23:19-23:26 present and active through the spirit. In every celebration of the sacraments, baptism 23:26-23:34 or Lord's Supper, it is Christ himself who is present and touches us. In the one, Christ 23:34-23:45 seals his incorporation of our humanity into himself at Bethlehem by incorporating us into 23:45-23:52 his risen body through the spirit and in the other, Christ feeds us with himself with the 23:52-23:59 bread of his word and risen life. The one is the sacraments of justification as T.F. 23:59-24:07 Lawrence calls it and the other is the sanctification. One once and for all, the other continual 24:07-24:16 renewal but in both, it is Christ our Lord and Master who cements us to himself and nourishes 24:16-24:23 us with the power of his risen life. It is Christ at the centre of each sacrament who 24:23-24:30 makes the sacrament a sacrament and it is remembering his presence at each and every 24:30-24:39 celebration which transforms them for us. Seven, it's especially in Word and Sacrament 24:39-24:47 together that Christ can give himself to us, incorporating us into his body and feeding 24:47-24:57 us with himself in the power of his word and risen life. Whenever the word is faithfully 24:57-25:04 communicated to us through the spirit in preaching, in reading or in any other way, it is Christ 25:04-25:13 himself making himself known to us but it is so often in the combination of word and 25:13-25:21 sacrament when the word preached is not only heard but visibly and tangibly applied to 25:21-25:30 us that Christ really comes home to us. The word of Christ in preaching can be and very 25:30-25:37 often is an immensely powerful and personal encounter with the risen Christ but the word 25:37-25:44 preached and backed up by the sacraments can so often be even more so, sealing it on the 25:44-25:53 heart and mind of the recipient in their physical existence. The mystery of Christ and of the 25:53-26:03 sacraments, it is the mystery of Christ which is the mystery of the sacraments. It is the 26:03-26:10 mystery of Christ of the Word made flesh, very God become very man, God and man in one 26:10-26:18 person, Immanuel, God with us, which is the same mystery in the sacraments, God in our 26:18-26:24 midst, Christ in our midst, very God yet very man who makes the very face of the Father 26:24-26:34 known to us in his own face and who in his humanity presents us to the Father, who feeds 26:34-26:42 us in our broken decaying humanity with the bread of his eternal risen life, who though 26:42-26:51 in heaven is yet most certainly intimately present to us on earth through the Spirit, 26:51-27:01 such is the mystery of Christ in the sacraments. And then the second main section is trying 27:01-27:11 to understand the sacraments. One, the sacraments are essentially Christ himself in his officiating 27:11-27:19 presence giving himself to us. The first step, the absolute prerequisite for understanding 27:19-27:28 the sacraments is to begin with the active presence of Christ in the sacraments. Absolutely 27:28-27:36 everything in our understanding of them is totally transformed the minute we rediscover 27:36-27:45 or remember the personal presence of Christ in them. Christ himself is the real sacrament. 27:45-27:50 He is the officiating priest and minister and in the sacraments he offers his very self 27:50-27:59 to us, incorporating us into his baptism and feeding us with the bread of his risen life. 27:59-28:05 Sacraments are both inseparable from the active presence of Christ and can only be understood 28:05-28:17 in his light. The next crucial step is the inseparability of word and sacrament. It is 28:17-28:26 the word which makes a sacrament what it is, for it was the word which became flesh and 28:26-28:35 if there is no word there is nothing to become flesh, nothing real, true, substantial, intelligible 28:35-28:43 and illuminating to become flesh and healing for our flesh. A sacrament without the word 28:43-28:52 heard preached, heard, understood is nothing. At the same time without sacraments the word 28:52-29:00 is not nothing, it can be very powerful but it is not fulfilled, not fully fulfilled having 29:00-29:08 not reached its end of becoming flesh in us. Now just to reinforce the point, what happens 29:08-29:17 when word and sacraments are separated? Three, separate word and sacrament and it can all 29:17-29:28 begin to go wrong. The word can be intellectualized, enfeebled and depersonalized. The sacraments 29:28-29:36 can be magicalized and denuded of their depth of meaning. When word and sacrament are torn 29:36-29:44 apart each is diminished and impoverished. Preaching can become overly abstract or intellectual, 29:44-29:51 lacking personal application and impact. While sacraments can be treated more as events in 29:51-30:02 themselves as though they could have power simply by virtue of being performed. When 30:02-30:09 the two are separated it can be very difficult not to overemphasize one to the neglect of 30:09-30:16 the other, for example to the neglect of the Eucharist in the Church of Scotland or to 30:16-30:26 the neglect of the sermon in the Church of England. Very hard to keep them both together. 30:26-30:36 Four, to try to find ways of thinking and holding them both together and understanding 30:36-30:45 them in their meaning. The sacraments are essentially word spoken with power, enacted 30:45-30:52 by the word. When held essentially together the sacraments become a reinforcing of the 30:52-31:03 word, a confirmation of it in visible, tangible language. A repetition in action of the very 31:03-31:14 same word, no longer simply heard but done in symbolic language. But the fact that it 31:14-31:20 has been symbolically done, performed and acted as it were does not mean it has ceased 31:20-31:30 to become word and become a purely realized event. It has to be understood as remaining 31:30-31:40 word even in the form of enacted word. So just trying to understand what happens because 31:40-31:46 it is very easy to concentrate on the elements and what they are and to think of them as 31:46-31:52 having power in themselves. But there is nothing without the word, without the word heard and 31:52-32:07 understood. And when the sacrament confirms to us in action and deed, tangible in such 32:07-32:20 a personal way, the word is saying to us. But the mere fact that they have been done, 32:20-32:27 I think we shouldn't think that by the very fact that they are done they are automatically 32:27-32:32 done and dusted as it were. We should think of them, that doing it still kind of remains 32:32-32:43 a word, a living word. So we should not separate them even when they have been done. Five, 32:43-32:51 the sacraments are nothing without the word and cannot be understood as bare events. They 32:51-32:58 are nothing without the word and so even performed following the word, sacraments cannot be understood 32:58-33:06 as leaving the word behind and now becoming pure self-sufficient event as if in baptism 33:06-33:13 for example the pure doing of the act, ipso facto, automatically means the co-operation 33:13-33:26 into Christ. Six, the incarnate word is fulfilled in the sacraments as he becomes flesh in his 33:26-33:34 people. In the incarnation the word of God given to Israel in the law as the foundation 33:34-33:45 of our life as the people of God himself became flesh that in our flesh he might do the word 33:45-34:00 Israel had failed to allow to become flesh in their minds and hearts. I can visibly remember 34:00-34:09 seeing or hearing T.F. Torrance in his lectures commenting on John 1.14 the word became flesh 34:09-34:23 and dwelt among us and pointing out how it's a conscious reference back to the tabernacle 34:23-34:31 of Moses that when the tabernacle was set up it was a sign that God was now literally 34:31-34:36 in the midst of Israel and the camp of Israel and when it was set up the cloud came down, 34:36-34:44 the glory of God as a sign of the presence of God and so the word that was lodged in 34:44-34:48 the holy of holies, the ten words, the ten commandments, the word behind the whole life 34:48-34:56 of Israel that Moses said they were meant to do in their hearts, the word that was lodged 34:56-35:05 in the heart of the temple but failed to become flesh has now himself become flesh and so 35:05-35:11 we've been seen dwelling in the midst of us, as camped among us, the same word, tabernacled 35:11-35:17 amongst us and we've seen his glory. So this is the fulfilment of the Old Testament concept 35:17-35:25 of the word of God in the heart of Israel's life and of course all the Old Testament word 35:25-35:33 is Christ himself ultimately beginning to make himself known. The whole life of Jesus 35:33-35:42 here is to be seen as the eternal word becoming flesh in our midst that he might not just 35:42-35:51 be the word but do the word for us and not just do the word for us but be himself the 35:51-36:02 word done for us and so his whole life is not just the making of a way for us to God 36:02-36:12 but a making of the way in which he himself in the course of his life is the way. His 36:12-36:20 living risen person, the whole Christ is himself the way realised, the truth realised and the 36:20-36:28 life realised for us. When we make a road then we walk along the road but the life of 36:28-36:37 Christ is the making of the road in itself and he is the road and he is the truth become 36:37-36:47 flesh and the life of God in our humanity and so having ascended in triumph and received 36:47-36:54 the spirit for us Jesus pours out the spirit that the new humanity realised in him might 36:54-37:01 become flesh in us and that lifted up to him by the spirit we might participate in his 37:01-37:10 realised way, truth and resurrected life. So in that simultaneous two-way process of 37:10-37:21 the enfleshed word attaining its end of becoming enfleshed in us the sacraments in their corporeality 37:21-37:31 are the chosen primary means by which the word reaches us and is realised in us visibly, 37:31-37:40 tangibly and in actual life as it fleshes itself out in our everyday lives. Seven, the 37:40-37:48 sacraments are essentially pregnant expectant word waiting for ears to hear him, hands to 37:48-37:55 receive him and persons to ingest him and lift him out in their lives. In the sacraments 37:55-38:01 actions are performed, things are done, water used for sprinkling or immersion, bread broken 38:01-38:07 and eaten, wine poured and drunk. These are the physical actions we know so well but separate 38:07-38:14 them from the word from understanding of the word which is behind and in them undergirding 38:14-38:21 them and the meaning of the sacraments becomes opaque, no longer living with translucent 38:21-38:31 meaning but ritual action necessary but which we can struggle to properly understand. The 38:31-38:38 sacraments are indeed action but we should not look on them as normal action as completed 38:38-38:49 events but as word, word action, actions which though actions are to be understood as word 38:49-38:57 and as retaining the character of spoken word, words once uttered alive, hanging in the air 38:57-39:06 as it were yet ringing and alive, word that does not go out empty but accomplishes that 39:06-39:16 which it wills. The sacraments are word, Jesus Christ himself in his word become flesh and 39:16-39:23 lived out for us, risen from the dead, word of forgiveness and personal and eternal life 39:23-39:30 spoken to us in word and action in the sacraments visibly, tangibly and personally, personal 39:30-39:39 word summoning us and awaiting our response. The analogy of the healing of the paralytic 39:39-39:50 and the words of forgiveness and of the word rise up, take up your bed and walk, a story 39:50-39:54 that T.F. used quite a lot. The story in Mark 2 of the paralytic led down through the roof 39:54-40:03 is instructive here, Jesus says to the man your sins are forgiven, when Jesus said that 40:03-40:11 the man's sins were forgiven from that moment, the word of Jesus was an authoritative done 40:11-40:18 word but it was followed up with but that you may know that it has been done I say to 40:18-40:26 you rise, take up your bed and walk and the man took up his bed and walked. In somewhat 40:26-40:35 similar fashion the word preached in the sacrament has real power and effect in itself but its 40:35-40:42 end in purpose is that we hear, understand and receive it and the sacraments are uniquely 40:42-40:51 designed to aid that. In the word and action of the sacraments Christ seals us to himself 40:51-41:00 and nourishes us with his life inviting us to respond and receive him in joyful Amen. 41:00-41:08 Final point, a rightly ordered Eucharist for T.F. is the perfect example of word and sacrament 41:08-41:16 of church becoming church. There are many many aspects of the rich theology of both 41:16-41:21 sacraments, baptism and Eucharist which remain to be explored. The focus here has been on 41:21-41:26 their centrality, inseparability of Christ and how best to understand and hold Christ 41:26-41:35 word and sacrament together. In royal priesthood Torrance argues that it is in the Eucharist 41:35-41:42 or Lord's Supper rightly ordered that the church most becomes church. When the word 41:42-41:48 is rightly preached and the Eucharist or Lord's Supper rightly and appropriately ordered according 41:48-41:58 to the word then the preached word of forgiveness and reconciliation is lived out in the church. 41:58-42:05 In Christ we are all reconciled to God and reconciled to each other, all equally part 42:05-42:14 of the body and members of one another. So in mutually forgiving each other at communion 42:14-42:23 and we can't take communion without being willing to be reconciled to our brother or 42:23-42:31 sister. In mutually forgiving each other at communion and in mutually deaconing the bread 42:31-42:38 and wine to each other in love we pass the cup, the bread to our neighbour and receive 42:38-42:46 it from them. The church really becomes the church, living out the reconciliation we have 42:46-42:54 in Christ. As we receive the bread and wine so we receive Christ himself with all his 42:54-43:02 benefits and in receiving him we receive in love and fellowship all those for whom Christ 43:02-43:11 also died and rose. In communion, Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, wherever you call it, we 43:11-43:18 have a koinonia in which the fellowship in which we were received in baptism is wonderfully 43:18-43:28 and continually renewed. The word made flesh is enfleshed in us and we are sent out to 43:28-43:41 love and serve the Lord in mission and the deaconia of love.