Components of a Sacrament

In order to understand our Sacramental God, we must understand all that is necessary for something to be sacramental. I'll be honest in saying that I do not purport in portraying a comprehensive view of sacraments. And frankly, I am uncertain as to how connected my beliefs are with any let alone Anglican view of sacraments. My draw to Anglicanism has been chasing the reverberating echo I sent out signaled back to me from Anglicanism that I heard as I have tried to follow Jesus.

Some minimum requirements are needed for a sacrament to "happen." First and most important, you need God. Second, you need something created by God (something that isn't God, material or not, even a mere idea). Third, you need God's operating by means of the created thing to convey an aspect of his benevolence and, in some manner, presence/grace. From this minimal definition, literally anything can be a sacrament. In fact, I would even suggest everything is sacramental in some manner. But the purpose of each sacrament is not the same in scope and effect. All sacraments make holy something may not ordinarily be counted holy, thus making it a vehicle of God to express his divine nature and intentions toward creation and humanity.

Finally, all sacraments demand a response. Whether we are talking Newtonian physics ("for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"), or relational interactions between us with God and one another, the Sacramental God acts in ways that make it impossible to for there to be mere stasis. Creation must respond. We must confront the reality of the Living God as the Holy Spirit moves within us and outside us. God is wooing us, summoning us, seeking our greatest good and his ultimate glory, which coincide with one another again and again. Perhaps it is time for us to open up our eyes to the workings of the Heavenly Father, revealed in Jesus Christ, and still at work among us through the Holy Spirit.