I helped Ethan prepare this talk for Sacrament meeting today, and he did a wonderful job giving it and got many, many compliments both on his delivery and on the content. I hope I can remember these things that we learned together every week when I see those boys preparing the sacrament.
Ethan's Talk:
Hello Brothers and Sisters, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ethan Kenworthy. The topic I was given today was: “How our service in preparing the sacrament helps all of us cherish the gift of repentance and forgiveness by turning to Christ through this sacred ordinance”
A lot of times, preparing the sacrament is just something that is part of my Sunday routine. It’s my duty, and so I do it, and it doesn’t always feel like a big act of service. But receiving this topic gave me a good opportunity to really reflect on what it means for our ward when the teachers prepare the sacrament.
Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 says, “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and pay thy devotions unto the most high.”
In his talk titled “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,” Elder Oaks said:
“This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will ‘always have his spirit to be with us.’ That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the father and the son, brings all things unto our remembrance, and leads us into truth. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, ‘is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man.’”
President Oaks continues:
The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the Church. It is the only Sabbath meeting the entire family can attend together. Its content in addition to the sacrament should always be planned and presented to focus our attention on the Atonement and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That quote made me ask myself how preparing the sacrament each week could point all of us to the Savior. To start, the symbols of the sacrament and how we prepare them are all designed to remind us of Christ’s Atonement.
The very first thing we do when we arrive is to wash our hands. We do this in order to be clean before we handle the sacrament. In a similar way, every one of us is supposed to come to the sacrament with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (Psalm 24:3-4) We are able to become clean from our sins when we repent, and then we can renew our baptismal covenant by taking the sacrament.
The next thing we do is to prepare the bread and water. We know that the bread symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ, which He sacrificed for us. The water symbolizes Jesus’ blood, which He shed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. In a 2017 General Conference talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “The bread and water represent the flesh and blood of HIm who is the Bread of Life and the LIving Water, poignantly reminding us of the price He paid to redeem us. As the bread is broken, we remember the Savior’s torn flesh. As we drink the water, we think of the blood He shed in Gethsemane and on the cross and its sanctifying power.”
During the sacrament, we pass the sacrament tray to each other down the rows. We serve each other when we pass the trays down the rows, and we all need each other as we partake of the sacrament. Jesus Christ set the example for us by serving everyone he could, like how we serve each other in this way. In the scriptures, we are told to obtain a remission of our sins we need to love, serve, and forgive each other.
We cover the trays with a cloth, which represents Jesus’ body, just as He was covered with a cloth in the tomb. It reminds us of how Jesus died for all of us so we could be forgiven of our sins. He was then resurrected and the cloth was removed, just like we take off the cloth during the sacrament. This reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection, and that we can also be born again and have new life through His atonement.
In short, every part of the sacrament is about Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. He came here to pay for our sins. In order to do that He had to live a perfect life. In Elder Christofferon’s talk, he said: “As we partake of the sacramental bread and water each week, we would do well to consider how fully and completely we must incorporate His character and the pattern of His sinless life into our life and being. Jesus could not have atoned for the sins of others unless He Himself was sinless.” Taking the sacrament each week can give us power to overcome our sins and become more like Jesus Christ.
In Luke 22: 14-20, it says:
“And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: … And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
This shows how Jesus Himself was the first one to institute the sacrament and told his disciples: “This do in remembrance of me.” So since the beginning of the sacrament the purpose was to help us remember and cherish Jesus Christ’s Atonement. When we prepare and partake of the sacrament every week, we are following his example.
I’m thankful for the ability that we have to repent and renew our covenants every week with the sacrament. I know that the sacrament can help us feel closer to Jesus.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
