The Free Gift for All

Romans 5:12-19New International Version (NIV)

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Griffin may be upset with me by the story I am about to tell you but I am sure it won’t be the last time.  On our way home from our childcare provider, the kids and I went through our typical banter.  I ask them how their day was... they all say “good”.  Then, in their own individual way, they tell me the things they are going to do when they get home.  I usually spend the rest of the trip home trying to get them to ask instead of simply stating what they are going to do.  These “wants” are any number of things... playing outside, screen time, riding up the street to see if friends are outside, going for a walk and so on.  Griffin often thinks it’s 70 degrees outside if it’s over 40 degrees and the sun is out.  That day it was cold and windy but they had deemed it warm enough to play outside.  That was their first want.  I shut it down saying it was too cold and windy.  Of course, this upset them.  Then Cora and Griffin told me they were going to play on the iPad, again without asking.  I shot this down as well.  This is when Griffin’s attitude hit a switch and went into a higher gear.  He started to get very upset and very argumentative.  He went on with his list of demands.  I felt like a hostage negotiator.  By the time we hit old highway 5, he was in tears and telling me I was mean.  Not an everyday occurrence but something that happens on the regular.  Then something happened that hasn’t happened before.  Through the tears, he tells me that I was mean (again) and said that people had already been mean to him today.  He basically said that he had a bad day and I was only adding to it.  This caught my attention.  

Whatever had happened really upset him.  After a couple minutes of coaxing, I finally got him to tell me what had happened.  He told me that someone said something that wasn’t true and other kids believed the rumor and started making fun of him.  I never got out of him who said it, which isn’t important but I did get him to tell me what was said.  As an adult, it seems so silly.  The rumor was that someone said that he had gotten in trouble.  The other children believed it and started giving him a hard time about it.  It was the first time that I felt this true sense of a broken heart for my children.  I did my best to comfort him and I asked him how this made him feel.  The answer to that question was obvious but I asked him in the hopes that it helped him to better understand how rumors make others feel.  I know he was on this side of rumor but I wanted him to understand how it makes others feel when we spread rumors about them.  The tears continued for several minutes after we got home and we explained to his mom what was going on.  It was painful for him.  And it was painful for his mother and I to see him like that.  Fairly quickly, he got over it and I haven’t heard anything about it since.  

I tell you that story because of how it made me feel.  That feeling of a broken heart for what Griffin went through is a tough one to shake.  In today’s world, we pretty much have lost a sense connectivity to one another that is described in our scripture for this morning.  In the time of Paul, family extended beyond bloodlines.  People identified themselves beyond their last name.  The Jewish people identified with one of the twelve tribes of Israel more than their last name.  And then they identified at a Jewish community as a whole.  That is how Paul is able to draw them all together in this scripture.  They understood the connectedness to Adam in a way that is pretty well lost on us today.  In Paul’s writings that serve as our scripture for this morning, Paul sees Adam, not as an individual.  Rather, he was one of mankind and because he was one of mankind, his sin was the sin of all people.  That sense of connectedness is not something we feel on the regular.  As a country, 9/11 is the closest we felt that way in my lifetime.  It usually takes a large event like 9/11 to make us feel that way but for the Jewish community, this is an everyday feeling.  It kind of stinks but that sin links us to each other.

This link stretches across all humanity.  Sin causes humanity to be in a broken relationship with God and with one another.  So many things in today’s world want to take God out of our thinking.  And we are falling into the trap.  We minimize God’s role in our lives and at this point, we do it without even thinking about it.  I look at two epidemics that cause me to come to that conclusion.  I look at the human trafficking epidemic and the refugee crisis.  To me, these two instances tell me that we are minimizing God’s role in this world.  There are others you may like to add to the list but these two hit me the hardest.  If we were truly connected to God and one another, we would see the injustice of human trafficking and it ought to hit us like a train.  When it comes to refugees, I am all for keeping my family safe and a vetting process ought to take place but to completely reject them is not what we are called to do.  Keeping my family safe is number one but I cannot help to feel a similar feeling of a broken heart for those who forced out of their homes and countries by war.  Humanity is broken and we do not see it that way in today’s world, mostly because we choose to wear blinders.

I do not say that to make us feel guilty but I cannot help but to think that we are at least a part of the problem if we don’t do anything to fix it.  Half of Paul’s writings for this morning help us to understand how we are connected through sin but the other half is more important.  The freely given gift of God’s grace through Christ can defeat what ails us.  If Christ’s actions save us from death, it can save us from any worldly problems we face.  I know it seems like a longshot, nearly impossible.  Death is the end-all-be-all and Christ defeated that so this gives me reason to think that any worldly issue could also be solved through Christ.  In order for that to happen, we have to find our way back to God.  This goes for you and I.  We may be here, gathered in worship but what matters out there is actually more important.  The NASCAR season kicked off last weekend so this is where I draw the comparison.  We spend a short amount of time gathered in worship together.  Similar to a pit stop.  Coming to church is like the pit stop.  We spend a short amount of time here to get refueled, to get a new grip, and to make small adjustments that may help us win the race.  The time spent in the pits is considerably shorter than the time spent on the track but the decisions made on pit road can alter the course of the race.  The decisions and adjustments made on pit road can help you win the race but they could also cause you to not win the race.  The time we spend in here is minimal compared to the time we spend out there and yet the two are extremely connected.  A well run race by the driver can be altered by a bad pit stop and a pit stop with the proper adjustments could allow the driver to win the race.  Doing nothing in the face of all the issues around us is like coming down pit road and not getting fuel, grip or adjustments.  It’s like pulling into your pit box and just sitting there.  

Verse 19 “ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”  Here is the hope to the error of our ways.  Christ  is the connection that draws us back to a sense of togetherness and community with God and one another.  Christ is the answer.  And that answer connects us to each other.  Sin may connect us in our worldly lives but Christ connects us through eternity.  Sin does not get reborn.  We do because of the love of God.  Sin exists and it exists beyond what we are able to chalk up to as experience.  Sin is a part of humanity and it is our job to make sure that grace is as well.  I hope Griffin learned from his experience.  I hope that when the situation arises and he is on the other end that he recalls how much that hurt as to not make someone else feel that way.  Christ threw out “an eye for an eye” and turned it to “turn the other cheek.”  “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”