 | Dear Gramps, Hello. This is BenJoe Again, Thanks for your answer to my last question. While in splits with the missionaries this week our investigator asked us, "is it true that you have to take the sacrament with only your right hand?" This is not the first time that I have heard of this. In fact once I took the sacrament tray and took it with bread with my left hand and someone told me that I took it wrong. Isn't taking the sacrament taking the sacrament? I don't think there is a special way to take it. I just thought I would ask you Gramps! BenJoe, St. George, UT. |
Dear BenJoe,
The sacrament is one of the most sacred ordinances in which we can participate. The sacramental prayers were given by revelation, and are recorded in both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Since they are prayers revealed by the Lord, they must be given as they were received, word for word. As you are aware, the bread and water taken by the congregation are symbolic of the body and the blood of the Savior, and as they are taken they are reminders to us of the infinite suffering of the Lord as he assumed the responsibility to satisfy the demands of justice in payment for all of the sins that have been committed by all of mankind.
The effectiveness of that sacrifice in the payment for sin, however, is conditional on repentance by the individual and on the fulfillment of covenants made in the waters of baptism. It is appropriate during the taking of the sacrament to remember and renew the covenants we made when we were baptized. The baptismal covenant may be considered to have three parts: 1) we promise by covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ; 2) we promise to obey his commandments; and 3) we promise to remain true and faithful all the days of our life.
It is well to be reminded each week of that sacred obligation, so that we may keep it in the forefront of our minds to help us to be worthy of the guidance of His Holy Spirit to keep us unspotted from the sins of the world.
This sacred ordinance needs to be conducted with the utmost reverence, and those who administer the sacrament and who pass it to the congregation should do nothing that would detract from the sacred nature of the ordinance. It would be appropriate for them to be clean and to wear clean clothing, with hair well groomed and neatly combed. The priesthood members who officiate at the sacrament desk and who pass the sacrament to the congregation are encouraged to wear white shirts and ties, and to comport themselves in a reverent manner.
Now there is nothing in the scriptures that dictates the manner of dress or the specifics of deportment. So the way we dress is a matter of personal taste. Some young men may not possess a white shirt, and wearing one of color in those circumstances is perfectly acceptable. These norms have developed as acceptable customs appropriate to the sacredness of the ordinance. However, they are customs, not rules.
So it is with those who take the sacrament. It is customary to take the sacrament with the right hand; but this is a custom and not a rule. It is not the outward appearance but the mental process that gives meaning to the sacrament.
Gramps