"Cheap Grace"

A sermon preached by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based on Genesis 21:8-21 and Romans 6:1-13.

Richard Lovelace was right when he wrote in his book, Dynamics of Spiritual Life, that there are three diversions from the biblical teaching on justification - there is cheap grace, then there is legalism and then there is moralism. These three philosophies dominate the church today, as well as Christian thinking. Those who follow the school of “cheap grace” are people who give little or no thought to sin. “Cheap grace,” which is the term coined by the German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, refers to the sad attitude, displayed in various degrees of openness, which says, in effect, “I’ve been forgiven and I will go on being forgiven, so then I can do whatever I want.” The “moralists” are those who feel that “sin” - if they use that term, is a human problem with human solutions, and the “legalists” are those who try to conquer sin through legislation - these folks attempt to live as if they are justified through disciplines, and rules, and regulations. You see, Paul teaches that sin is to be handled through a relationship to Christ.
It appears that Paul is addressing this idea of “cheap grace” in our Scripture Lesson this morning. It was the Irish playwright, novelist and poet, Oscar Wilde who once said, “Life is perfectly arranged: I love to sin and God loves to forgive.” Apparently there were those in the church at Rome who felt the same way. They felt that if God delighted in forgiving sinners, then why not keep on giving God the pleasure that produces such delight? After all, the more we sin, the more God has the opportunity to exercise that attribute that is the most godly, which is grace, and the more grace we receive.
But we see through Paul’s letter to the Romans that he quickly puts that reasoning to rest by affirming that it is inexcusably blasphemous to use God’s mercy as an excuse to sin. And furthermore, when one becomes a Christian, he or she no longer looks for loopholes that might provide an opportunity to sin. In dramatic terms, Paul says that we are “dead to sin.” Now, friends, that is to say, that sin no longer is a problem for the Christian.
Paul reminds us, in his letter to the Romans, that when we place our faith and trust in Christ we are set free from sin’s power and dominion. But yet, when we hear those words we raise our eyebrows because we know that sin is anything but dead in our lives. Sin is still very much alive in our lives. In fact, it is something we deal with, and battle with and wrestle with on a daily basis. So how can Paul say that we have been set free that we have died to sin? Now, we must realize that Paul wasn’t implying that Christians don’t sin, rather he was affirming a very important truth. And that is, we have died to sin’s penalty. When we have placed our faith and trust in Christ we are receiving what he has done for us. “God made him, who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is, after all, the meaning of justification!
There is a touching story that is told of a Vietnamese orphanage that was hit by mortar fire and in the process a young Vietnamese girl was critically wounded, without a blood transfusion, she would die. An American doctor and nurse tried, as best they could in limited Vietnamese, to ask if any of the other children at the orphanage would be willing to give her blood. After a moment, a small hand slowly and hesitantly raised. The doctors began the transfusion, and the young Vietnamese donor, began to sob. He told the doctor that he was not in pain, yet he continued to cry. With the language limitations, the Americans could not figure out what was wrong with this boy. Finally, a Vietnamese nurse arrived and spoke to the diestressed child. She listened to his reply and then spoke to him in a soothing voice. Finally, a great look of relief spread over his face. The nurse explained to the Americans that the boy thought he was going to die - that he would have to give all of his blood so that the girl could live. “But why would he be willing to do that?” the Americans asked. The nurse repeated the question to the boy, who answered simply; “Because she is my friend and I love her.” And friends, this is what Christ has done for us!
In our First Reading from the Book of Genesis we hear of Sarah’s bitterness toward Hagar and Ishmael. And this bitterness, greatly distresses Abraham - he is caught in the middle of this feud and he doesn’t know what to do. He knows he cannot abandon Hagar and Ishmael, that they are his responsibility. You may remember, that while Abraham and Sarah were growing impatient in waiting on God. God had promised them a son and God had not delivered, and so, they decided to take matters into their own hands - perhaps God had forgotten about them. And so, Sarah told Abraham to have a child with her Egyptian servant, Hagar who gave to him Ishamel. But finally, God came through on God’s promise and gave to Abraham and Sarah a son - Isaac! But what about Hagar and Ishmael. What was Abraham to do? But we see that God intervenes. God instructs Abraham to allow Sarah’s demand because God has chosen Isaac as the son of blessing. God repeats that a great nation will come from Ishmael. However, Abraham must trust Ishmael and Hagar into God’s care and safekeeping.
I find it interesting that the drama of this story and Abraham’s two sons still echoes in the violent Middle East conflict today between Arabs and Jews. Arabs trace their ancestry to Ishmael and Jews to Isaac.
However, we learn through this story that Hagar and Ishmael, we were once excluded, abandoned, doomed to death. Then God intervened through Christ. Those who trust God become adopted by grace and are made joint heirs through the Son of blessing.
This is baptism’s reminder! We rise from the waters, washed clean. A new creation - a child of God, adopted into God’s family. I love Peter Morgan, a 20th century Disciples, writes; “We rise from the water to manifest the presence of Christ. We are the laos - the people of God born from the water of baptism into a sacramental ministry, manifesting the presence of Christ to the world.”
Paul encourages us to “walk by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” It sort of coincides with what meditation teaches. The act of exhaling negative energy and inhaling positive energy. But in this case, we should seek to inhale and exhale the very positive energy of the ruarch - the Spirit, breath and energy of God! Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10; “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.”
Paul also teaches us of the importance of confession. Through confession we free ourselves and our minds from the domination of sin and we are forgiven and receive absolution. Now, we Protestants aren’t too fond of this practice. We could certainly learn a thing or two from our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters. Somehow, we have gotten the idea that we are too good for confession - that, perhaps, we have nothing to confess. But confession draws us closer to a Holy God, and humbles us in the process. There a story that C. William Nichols tells of an old country preacher who was trying to express the difficult concept of the contest between good and evil that is constantly being waged within us. He said, “There are two dogs inside me - a good dog and a bad dog, and they are always snarling at each other and threatening each other. Each one wants to win, and each one expects to win.” A hearer asked him, “And which dogs wins, preacher?” The preacher replied, “Whichever one I say ‘sic-em’ to.”
Try as we might, we are not perfect people. I think we can all relate to Paul. Paul wrote; “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” He further emphasized this point when he added; “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Yes, we have died to sin, but sin still sometimes gets the better of us. John Wesley recognized this. Wesley use to ask; “Are you going on to perfection?” He never asked if his listeners if they were perfect, because he knew the answer. But Wesley wanted to know if they were making progress in that direction. Are you living a better life today than you were at this time last year, or last week or yesterday? Do you strive to be Christ-like? You see, friends, when we start seeing our lives as an opportunity to be a blessing - a blessing both to God and to others, it is then that we will start living this way. And thank God, that when we do fall short - grace is there to pick us up. This is what it means to be a Christian - to seek to draw ever closer to the God of grace and through that grace be strengthened to live in the light of Christ’s presence.