Drill and Ceremonies
Originally scheduled for May 2, 2010
Veterans of the US Army will recall – probably
not nostalgically – the rigors of FM22-5, the Field Manual for Drill
and Ceremonies. The Army has a manual for everything; this one
touches every soldier. Why?
The uses of drill
Any soldier will tell you why you repeatedly
practice drill: practice gets it right. That’s important for the
individual soldier, but as drill also touches the unit it is
important to whatever unit you are in. You drill as a team, you
perform as a team. This is important to armies of all times; chaos
being a regular feature of military life. When chaos arrives you
fall back on what you have been drilled to do – even though life has
become illogical and there is no one around to tell you what to do.
More importantly, drill forms the habit of
obedience. Without that obedience, no team can function correctly.
The uses of ceremony
Ceremony has its place, too. Ceremony unites the
individuals performing it, much like the cast of a play. More than
that, ceremony instills a sense of belonging on those who
participate. If you’re marching on parade, you are part of that
unit.
Ceremony also focuses the mind on the purpose of
the ceremony. If the ceremony is to honor someone with a medal, all
those marching honor the recipient. The ceremony also declares that
honor to the world at large, those viewing the ceremony.
Communion
The church is often described as the “army of
God.” If so, Communion is its drill and ceremony.
By our repetition
of Communion, we repeat our repentance – and therefore
become proficient at repentance, a most necessary skill.
Because we take
Communion together, it unites the church. One Lord, one
faith, one birth, one holy meal – these show the oneness of
the church.
This ceremony
honors Christ’s sacrifice; we remember his death. Communion
focuses our mind on the atonement.
This ceremony
also declares that atonement to all who see it, for we
declare the Lord’s death until He returns.
Many will tell you that ritual – drill and ceremony – is empty.
But think back to the last time you heard “Taps” at a veteran’s
grave; or the last time you sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Remember the lump in your throat? Is that empty and meaningless? How
much more meaningful, therefore, must the Lord’s Supper be to all
who believe?
A
Sword Shall Pierce