Centering (5 minutes)

This is a time to make the transition from the busy world to the group experience. A member of the group may read these words from Unitarian Universalist minister Ken Patton:

As a child, be glad for the freshness of the world and the newness of questions and answers.
Gather into yourself all of the world.
Lie on the earth, and feast on the sky.
Record upon your inner ear the sounds of water and wind, leaves and birds, voices and songs of people.
Gather the stars into your mind, and the knowledge of huge spaces, and the length of time.
And be rich with friends and companions.

You who are nature, be all of nature:
For nothing can be strange to you,
And never in the heavens and earth can you be homeless.

Check-in (10 to 25 minutes)

Each person in the group has the opportunity to share something about his or her life. What significant events have taken place recently in your life? Have you accomplished something meaningful to you? Have you experienced any losses or setbacks? Have you had any insights or new ideas?

Group Discussion (45 to 70 minutes)

Our spiritual theme for this month is Grace. A second chance. Generosity. Forgiveness. A warm welcome. A gift. Extra time. Being alive. Self-acceptance. Something undeserved and unearned. These are some examples of what we mean when we speak of grace, which is our spiritual theme for December. How have we experienced grace in our lives? What does it mean to be a gracious person? If all of us were perfect, we would have no use for grace. But since none of us are perfect, we can either focus on our shortcomings, or we can graciously accept ourselves as we are and get on with our lives as best we can.

For group discussion, please consider the questions associated with one or more of the following numbered sections. You need not address all of these sections, and you need not address them in this order.

1. Can you think of a time in your life when you received something worthwhile that was undeserved and unearned, such as a second chance, or a generous gift, or a warm welcome, or forgiveness? Is simply being alive something undeserved and unearned that you have received?
2. Can love be earned? If you work hard, will you be more worthy of love than someone who did not work hard?
3. Can love be deserved? Do you deserve love? Does anyone deserve love more than you do?
4. In what ways is the Christmas story a story about grace? Is the birth of any baby an instance of grace?
5. Traditional Christian theology relies on Ephesians 2:8, which says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest anyone should boast.”

How might this be meaningful for Unitarian Universalists? Would you say that we have an understanding of grace that is both related to and different from traditional Christian theology? Has any denomination been more grace-affirming than the Universalists, whose theology proclaimed the unconditional salvation of all people?

6. Someone has offered this quick series of definitions:

Justice: When you get what you deserve.

Mercy: When you don’t get what you deserve.

Grace: When you get what you don’t deserve.

These definitions are helpful but also confusing because they use the word “deserve” in two opposite ways: for Mercy, the implication is that one deserves something bad, whereas for Grace, the implication is that one does not deserve something good. For Justice, the implication about what one deserves is ambiguous: it could be that one deserves something good, or it could be that one deserves something bad.

Below are two tables. One focuses on rewards, while the other focuses on punishments. Both tables consider whether a reward or a punishment was received or not, and whether a reward was earned (or whether a punishment was deserved) or not. The four possible outcomes are then called Justice, Injustice, Grace, or Mercy.

Consider the outcome labeled “Grace” in Table 1. Is this an accurate label? Is receiving an unearned reward always an instance of grace? Can you think of instances where receiving an unearned reward might instead be the result of unjust privilege? Alternatively, can you think of instances where receiving an unearned reward might be the result of thievery or fraud? What is the difference between unjust privilege and thievery or fraud?

Similarly, consider the outcome labeled “Mercy” in Table 2. Is this an accurate label? Is receiving a reprieve from punishment always an instance of mercy?

7. Consider the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 11:11-32).

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe – the best one – and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

According to Table 2 above, the attitude of the son who left and returned may be classified as one of Justice: he believed he deserved a punishment and he was ready to receive it. According to Table 1 above, the attitude of the son who stayed behind may be classified as one of Injustice: he had earned a reward, but he was not receiving it, even though his brother had not earned a reward, but was receiving it nevertheless. What was the attitude of the father? Was it Grace and Mercy as in Tables 1 and 2? Or was it Injustice, as perceived by the son who had stayed behind? Or was it something else entirely?

7. The song “Amazing Grace” was published in 1779 by John Newton, a slave trader who had experienced a religious conversion and subsequently distanced himself from the slave trade.

Did John Newton deserve a second chance?

9. The play “Amazing Grace” by Michael Cristofer tells the story of Selena Goodall, who has been convicted of murdering eight people. (“Her motto seems to be, don’t get mad, get rat poison,” in the words of one reviewer.) In prison, she undergoes a religious conversion and subsequently develops a gift for bringing healing to other inmates.

Does Selena deserve to be executed? Or does she deserve a second chance?

The root word of “penitentiary” is “penitent” and the root word of “reformatory” is “reform.”

In prison, Selena became penitent and she was reformed. Should prisons have “penitence” and “reform” as part of their mission? Or is the function of prison simply to provide punishment? Or is the function of prison to provide safety for people outside prison? Or is the function of prison to provide convenience for people outside prison?

Conclusion (5 to 10 minutes)

What will you take away from this discussion? What would have made this time together more meaningful or satisfying to you? What did you enjoy? A group member may read these words from Unitarian Universalist minister Richard Fewkes:

For the sun and the dawn which we did not create,

For the moon and the evening which we did not make;

For the food which we plant but cannot grow;

For friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy;

For this gathered company, which welcomes us as we are, from wherever we have come;

For all our free churches that keep us human and encourage us in our quest for beauty, truth, and love;

For all things which come to us as gifts of being from sources beyond ourselves;

Gifts of life and love and friendship

We lift up our hearts in thanks this day.