Monday, February 20, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading 
Romans 5:12–19

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (NRSV)

Reflection

What does the world look like when grace reigns, as this brief passage of Paul says that it does? How do we account for good and bad, winners and losers? What accounting can we make of merit and personal responsibility and consequences in an economy of grace, where the more wrongdoing and bad there is, the more justification and grace there is?

When I start to wonder about this I think about homelessness. A recent essay in the Atlantic argues convincingly that trying to explain homelessness with reference to peoples’ bad choices and bad habits is insufficient. “Homelessness,” the author argues, “is best understood as a ‘flow’ problem, not a ‘stock’ problem. The crisis [and it is a crisis] is driven by a constant flow of people losing their housing.”

In other words, the “sin” of homelessness lies more in the absence of affordable, secure housing than it does in the choices, habits, and circumstances of those who find themselves experiencing homelessness.

How does grace reign in such a crisis? One way is through a housing-first approach to homelessness, like the approach of Facing Forward to End Homelessness here in Chicago (full disclosure: I serve on this organization’s Associate Board). Facing Forward’s mission is to provide stable housing to people experiencing homelessness first (the “flow”) and to concern itself with a person’s issues (“the stock”) second. In the same way that our Chicago Lights Social Service Center strives to meet peoples’ needs for clothing and food first, Facing Forward provides housing as a “free gift” first, trusting that the impact of the gift will redound to the benefit of the receiver as well as everyone in the receiver’s orbit (which is all of us).

There is no lack of evidence today for the sin Romans 5 describes. Its logic of grace should spur us to wonder more about the flow of sin than the stock. As I heard Father Greg Boyle say once, “We need to stand more in awe at what people have to carry than in judgment at how they carry it.”

Prayer
Gracious God, cause your grace to us to abound in our lives, especially where our lives are tangled up in sin, both ours and that of the world we live in. Help us to proceed from grace, so that the people we interact with would find welcome and understanding and a resolve to help. Through Christ our Savior. Amen.

Written by Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor for Youth and Worship

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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