In the name of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
As we continue to work our way through Romans this summer, today we enter the eighth chapter, which is the crescendo of Paul’s argument in the letter. This chapter is so crucial that the lectionary has divided it into three parts; so for today and the next two Sundays we’ll be reading our way through chapter 8 of Romans.
You’ll recall that thus far in Romans, we’ve heard about how Paul sees the power of Sin as preventing us from being able to perfectly follow the Law. In last week’s sermon on the final portion of chapter 7, I mentioned that Christ has won for us the victory over Sin and Death. Recalling the great hymn of Easter: “The strife is o’er, the battle done. The victory of life has is won; the song of triumph has begun.” We are able to proclaim the words to this hymn because by his Death and Resurrection, Jesus has liberated us from our enslavement to Sin.
But, perhaps you’ve noticed: the world isn’t free of Sin. The fate of the war is assured: in the end, the love of God wins. Until that day comes fully though, we still have to contend with the foot soldiers of Sin such as evil, greed, selfishness, and division. Sin is engaged in a losing battle against the love of God, but Sin is going down kicking and screaming. And if we’re not careful, we can easily get caught up in these struggles with Sin.
Sensing that we might ask “Even if some day Sin is completely vanquished, how can we take part in that victory of Christ today?” Paul responds to that question in Romans 8. He writes “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” So the question is: do you set your mind on flesh or the Spirit?
We don’t have cable at home, so I don’t see a lot of commercials. But every morning when I’m on the treadmill there is a whole row of televisions in front of me. And I’ve noticed that nearly every single commercial is about the flesh – the vast majority of commercials are for weight loss pills, various medications, clothes, cosmetics, shampoo, or food to nourish our flesh. In our culture, our minds are fixated on the flesh. By “flesh,” Paul though means much more than our physical bodies, he’s also referring to the larger material world. So possessions, cars, homes, and money fall into the category. To quote Madonna: “Everybody’s living in a material world. And I am a material girl. You know that we are living in a material world.” Though he might be surprised by it, St. Paul and Madonna are on the same page.
And all of these material things lead to death. To focus on the flesh is to be engaged in idolatry, a Sin we’re all guilty of. Idolatry happens when we place something above God – whether it’s something obvious like career or wealth, or something less obvious like not inviting someone to church because you’ve given into fear and are uncomfortable doing so, we all struggle with putting God first in our lives. Living by the flesh is to be closed off to others and new possibilities. The flesh says “I got mine, let them get their own,” it says “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (which, by the way, the answer to is “yes”). In doing so, in focusing on our own needs and security, we end up distancing ourselves from others.
As we know from science, a closed system leads to only to death. Take an aquarium and seal it up so that no air or food can get it and soon the fish will all die, or put a plant a sealed bottle and it’s only going to live so long without water and air coming in from the outside. This is how life is, if we focus on the flesh, closing ourselves off, we too will only find death. Using the metaphor from Matthew, focusing on the flesh is like planting the seeds of faith in shallow soil, thorns, or rocky soil.
In contrast to the flesh, there is the Spirit. The Spirit is good soil in which to plant faith. To set our minds on the Spirit is to be open to new possibilities that God has for us. Openness to the Spirit is seen in Jesus’ prayer “not my will, but thy will be done.” This openness to the Spirit is something that I’m heartened to see at St. Luke’s. We had two funerals this past week and you all showed tremendous care for the families of the bereaved. I heard from someone in town who isn’t a religious person and isn’t interested in joining a church say about St. Luke’s that this is such a wonderful community where we truly care about each other and are a force for good in our city. This person said that no other community of faith comes close to this and if they ever wanted to attend a church, St. Luke’s would be the only one they’d consider. I say this not to inflate our ego or to seem superior to any other congregation in town, but as an example of what’s possible when we live in the Spirit.
I see it in our youth. I’ve been so impressed with the teenagers of this parish who have great ideas for ministry and accomplish them. Sometimes when adults sit around and discuss an idea, it’s easy to come up with all of the reasons why an idea might not work or might not be the best idea. But the youth of this parish don’t waste their time with such negativity or hesitation. This is setting our mind on the Spirit.
So you might say “Well, I want to set my mind on the Spirit, that sounds a whole lot better.” And that does seem like a good idea. But there’s a crucial aspect of this passage from Romans that we must understand if we are to have our minds set on the Spirit. Paul writes “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” One of the downfalls to the individualization of faith is that we’ve come to see ourselves at the center of our faith, as the agents of our faith.
But Paul makes it clear, the Spirit of God dwells in us. We don’t choose to have the Spirit in us or not, it’s already there. God is the subject of our faith, not the object. God is the one who acts on us, who nurtures in us the good things that we do: worship, charity, community, love. At the end of today’s reading from Romans, Paul notes that the Spirit dwells within us, and this is the same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead. Think on that for a moment – the same power, the same love that raised Jesus from the dead is in you! It’s an incredible claim. How often though do we think we’re capable of being vessels of that sort of power? No often enough.
By setting our minds on flesh, on things like fear, or scarcity, or ego, or doubt, or the “material world,” we end up diminishing this power that is in us. But Paul is here to remind us that through the Spirit which dwells in you, you can do the impossible. Because of the Spirit, the love which raised Jesus from the dead can be manifest in your life. And again, you don’t have to earn this Spirit or deserve it, as God has already put this Spirit in you.
What we can do is to nurture this Spirit, we can remain as open as possible to God so that the seeds planted within us can grow into the fruits of Kingdom. So we can practice generosity – opening ourselves to the needs of others. Generosity is so important because it liberates us from being a slave to money. I’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating – if you want to know if you have control over your money, give it away. If you can’t generously give money to this church and other charities, then it might be a sign that your money actually controls you. Generosity is a spiritual discipline which opens us more fully to God and others.
Prayer is another practice to set our mind on the Spirit, as it’s stewardship of our time and also roots us in God. Prayer is helpful because it gives us a chance to slow down and pay attention to that Spirit that resides deep within us. Regular church attendance is vital, because coming together as a community to pray together and receive Communion together feeds our souls in a special way. There’s a reason why as much as the world has changed in 2,000 years, that Sunday worship and Communion are still so important. On occasion, examining your life and coming for Confession is an important way to remedy ourselves when our minds have become set on the flesh. Visiting the sick, serving those in need, and enjoying the fellowship of parish life events are all things that we can do to keep ourselves open to God and our minds set on the Spirit.
Running with the metaphor of the seed – God has planted the Spirit in us, God will provide the sun, the rain, and the growth. What we can do is to do the occasional pruning and weeding that is necessary, we can keep ourselves open so the grace of God’s light and life-giving water can enter into our lives. Day by day, we can grow more fully in holiness and into the love of God. The fruits of the Spirit will grow in us and they will transform us, and by extension the world will be transformed.
God’s Spirit, the very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, has been planted in you. For this indescribable gift, we give God thanks. This week, how might you further open yourself to the growth of God’s Spirit in you?
