Rev. George Miller
June 2, 2019
Romans 6:1-14
Bestselling author Martha Beck has written about an interesting concept called “Divine Decadence.”
Martha has worked with adults who’ve lived through traumatic experiences that have caused them to either hoard items or deprive themselves of the things they truly enjoy.
She says her favorite remedy for this is what she calls “Divine Decadence.”
Step One- think of something you really like; like really, really like.
Step Two- by an oversupply of it. Don’t just get a lot of it, but buy 2x as much, 5x as much, as you think you really want.
Martha herself maintains a permanent supply of gourmet boxed chocolates.
Step Three- Enjoy the heck out of it. And yes, for Martha that meant eating nothing but chocolate for about 3 days.
Why does she recommend this?
She states that as long as we define ourselves by scarcity, deprive ourselves, or see something as forbidden, it will have a hold upon us, making us feel compulsive and greedy.
But eventually, by allowing ourselves to experience Divine Decadence, and flooding ourselves with goodness, the psychological grip of that item loosens, and our worrying about running out decreases, and we begin to let go.
Which leads to Step Four- give away.
Once we have collected and enjoyed as much of our favorite thing, we are ready to give some of it away to others, knowing that we will be Ok and there will always be more.
Divine Decadence.
What a great word and wonderful idea; though not exactly sure how Paul would feel about this concept. Perhaps he would agree with Martha when it comes to God and the giving of grace.
Grace is one of today’s themes. While reading Romans you get the idea that God is in the business of grace.
As Paul paints it, grace is an unlimited resource that God loves to give.
Grace is not something God hoards; it is not something God secrets away under a floorboard, or behind the bookcase, or inside a coffee canister.
Grace is something God has in abundant supply, and God loves to give away because there is always, always, ALWAYS more, more, more.
But what is grace?
Is grace when a figure skater glides upon the ice in perfect presentation?
Is grace what you heard at the family table during Thanksgiving when you were a child sitting upon a phonebook?
Is Grace the best friend of Will and the wife of George Burns?
Grace is a marvelous, abstract term that is, at least for me, something you more feel here (in your heart) than you understand here (in your head).
Some would say that grace is a type of amnesty we receive from all of our old sins, an official pardon, meaning that whatever happened before is over and done with and counts no more.
So grace is like a judge saying “Case dismissed, you are free to go.”
Another way of describing grace is that you have won the race and earned a prize, even if you ran it poorly, or took longer than expected, or cheated, or showed up late.
Grace is like a prized blue ribbon that says “Bravo!” and “1st Place!”
The good, great news is that God has an unlimited amount of these 1st place ribbons, and thanks to Jesus Christ, everyone gets one.
For those who have never won anything, or spent their whole life feeling they were not good enough, the idea of winning 1st place sounds great.
But for those who think they can only win if someone else loses, this concept of grace can seem a bit….unfair.
Some would say “If God’s grace is unlimited, and everyone, through Christ now has access to God’s grace, who cares? Why bother?”
Then, there are others who think another way: if everyone receives grace, then let’s go ahead and be really decadent, like uber decadent, like, let’s do whatever we want, whenever we want, to whoever we want, ethics be damned…
…It’s always interesting to see how as humans we love to find a loophole, and we have this uncanny ability to take something beautiful meant for joy and turn it into something that can be a real, real detriment to ourselves and others.
That’s part of what Paul is addressing in today’s letter.
As we recall, Paul is in his mid-50s, most likely living in Corinth, writing to the Roman churches.
Paul is trying to circumvent a possible kink in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It turns out that some of the church members in Corinth have found a loop-hole in the Good News.
They’ve embraced the idea that thanks to Jesus Christ, God really loves giving them grace. And since God really loves to give them grace…well they are going to sin, sin, sin and sin some more so God can give them as much grace as God wants!
They’ve figured out “Hey! We can actually help God out by purposely sinning, and trespassing and indulging and forsaking and debting and neglecting and being rotten horrible, unethical people because the more we do that, then the more God gets to give grace.”
In other words- there are those within Corinth who think the more they sin, the more they win because they are aiding God in bestowing amnesty.
It sounds ludicrous, but that’s the way some of the Christians are thinking, and so Paul is writing to the churches hoping that he can circumvent this newest craze and help them understand that the response to grace is not more sin, but it is more gratitude.
Paul is aware that yes, in Christ we are given new freedom, and yes, we are free to do what we want, but is that really what we desire, deep down?
In the words of my Theology professor, “You could get drunk every single night and wake up each morning in the gutter…but would you really want to?”
In other words (and speaking in extremes), yes- you could go around killing people left and right; but would you really want to?
Yes- you could go around robbing banks every day and night; but would you really want to?
Yes- you could be the biggest bully in the world; creating harsh nick names for each and every person you despise; but would you really want to?
…You could hold onto every grudge; but would you really want to?
…You could be angry for the rest of eternity; but would you really want to?
…You could never, ever, not once more, praise God’s name; but would you really not want to?
You could even hate yourself every second you are alive; but would you really want to???
…Paul is writing to the Roman churches about grace, hoping they don’t neglect it, but also hoping they don’t abuse it to their own detriment.
Because not only is grace a type of amnesty, or a kind of prize, but grace is also a space, a place of consciousness.
Grace, in many ways is an emotional, psychological sphere of being.
Grace is a sanctuary of is-ness, of I-amness; of authenticity.
Grace is in many ways the Kingdom of God, in which a person knows they are welcome, they are loved, and they are cared for by the very God who created them.
Yes, thanks to grace, you can do what you want, say what you want, but that would also involve a lot of fear, a lot of looking back, a lot of hurting others.
But grace, when truly embraced, means that you do what you were meant to do, say what you were meant to say, and be who you were meant to be.
Grace, as a space you live in, is about achieving a sense of peace, a lot of looking ahead, and a lot of loving others.
Thanks to Christ, grace is a place in which we can build relationships, create communities, and humbly trust that no matter what, we will be sitting on the cosmic porch with God, enjoying a cool glass of lemonade, knowing that we will be called “Friend.”
Grace is what sets us free to best be you, and to best be me.
Amen and amen.
A UCC Pastor's walk through the spiritual waters of Scripture, pop culture and life.
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