A Sermon Preached June 26, 2011 at Crissey Farm

by the Rev. Frances A. Hills, Rector
Proper 8 A 2011 - Romans 6:12-23

When Paul wrote this letter in the mid 50s CE, a strong Christian community was already established at Rome, but not by Paul. So he writes this letter from Corinth because he’s hoping to visit Rome on his way to an important mission in Spain. Although he’s never met them, Paul acknowledges the faithfulness of the Roman Christians, “You have become obedient from the heart…and have become slaves of righteousness.” So his words to them, which explain his theology, are not so much meant to teach or correct, as other letters did, as to help them see they’re all on the same page. As allies in Christ, Paul wants their prayers and support for his upcoming mission trip to Spain.

Now part of their common faith in Jesus is the fact that they live in constant spiritual peril. Although they’ve been baptized into Christ (Both his death: They’re dead to sin and his resurrection: They’re alive in Christ) it is still possible for sin to reign in their lives (And in our lives). Although by baptism we have indeed been transferred from the powers of the world to the lordship of Christ, we still have the spiritual limitations and selfish desires and behaviors that all human beings have. Paul says we must resist these, and he says we have a choice: We can present ourselves to Sin, or we can present ourselves to God.

He gives us courage when he says the power of sin will have no dominion over us because we are under grace not law! So as Christians our way of life purely relies upon the Grace of God. That’s it!

Frederick Buechner says about Grace,

          “It is something you can never get but only be given. . . There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: Here’s your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love You . . . There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it. . . (Buechner muses) Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

Paul says because we’re under grace, not law, the power of sin will have no dominion over us. But I wonder how is it really possible for us that sin would not have dominion, because there are certainly daily instances of sin making inroads into our lives…Just read the Bible, or the lives of the saints, or think of our own daily lives. We all sin! Yet Paul says we ultimately share the destiny of the resurrected Christ. We can rely on it! Paul promises sin will not be Lord. The Law will not be Lord. Christ is Lord, and the one who is in Christ is “under grace”. So we’ve been transferred from the old era of sin and death into the new era of righteousness and life. At the same time, we’re still beset by the power of the old age. Somehow we actually belong to Christ and his resurrected destiny, but we also live in the old world of sin and death, which is still present. And the old world still thwarts our life of righteousness. Paul says the old world must be overcome.

Those who have died through baptism are no longer under the power of sin, for they are under grace and share the destiny of the risen Christ. So if we’re baptized, we cannot be slaves to sin, because we have become slaves to righteousness…and we seek to please God. So when we use ourselves— our souls and bodies—for righteousness, when we live out our baptismal covenants—remaining faithful in worship, renouncing evil, proclaiming the Good News, loving our neighbors, striving for justice and peace, and respecting the dignity of all others—when we do this, we become sanctified. We become holy.

But does that mean we ourselves become pure and spotless? (Don’t know about you, but I personally have not gotten to that point!)  If not pure and spotless, then what does it mean that we are “set free from sin” and “sanctified”? It seems Paul is saying if we are “set free” then we’re no longer under sin’s power, so we don’t have to fall into it without defense. And if we’re out from under its power, we can fight against it.

Paul reminds us we are “slaves” to whatever we obey…We have a choice: We can obey sin, which leads to death or we can obey God, which leads to righteousness and sanctification. So the struggle against sin must go on. Paul urges us to persevere in faith and obedience. We can do this because the Spirit empowers us, because we are under Grace, and because we ultimately share in Christ’s resurrected destiny.

One way to think about this comes from 12-step Recovery Programs. We human beings have a great capacity to become addicted to almost anything: Drugs, work, sex, porn, abusive relationships, money, status, gambling, electronics, you name it. But because we are baptized and under Grace and freed from sin, we are not compelled to be enslaved to our addictive passions. We have a choice, but frequently we enslave ourselves anyway. Sometimes we remain enslaved— even when we know how to resist, where to get help, and how to break free.  It’s a terrible thing to be in that place. And how many times we have gone there or seen someone we love go there? We will hang on to our addictions, be their slaves, for what?

So we don’t have to become God’s slaves? So we don’t have to admit we are powerless and that our lives are unmanageable? So we don’t have to say we need God’s grace? So we don’t have to come to believe that God and God alone can restore us to sanity? So we don’t have to admit, “I can’t. God can.”? So we don’t have to decide to give our will and lives over to God’s care?

But why would we not want to give ourselves to God? Are we afraid of how powerful God’s Grace can be? Why wouldn’t we want just to reach out and take Grace by the hand? Remember we’re enslaved to anything we obey, including our addictions, and the end of enslavement to anyone or anything but God is death. The end of enslavement to God is freedom, sanctification, and eternal life.

“Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be ours only if we’ll reach out and take it…Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

(Paraphrase of Buechner)

O God, give us the gift to choose the grace that’s already ours, so we can share in your resurrection destiny both now and always. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Parts of this sermon came from:

Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary by Arland J. Hultgren. Erdmans 2011.

Wishful Thinking, A Theological ABC by Frederick Buechner, as quoted in Synthesis, June 26, 2011.

Some of the thoughts on addiction from “Promise and Rewards are Gifts: Wages are Earnings” a sermon by the Rev. Marc Lawrence Britt, June 26, 2011.