Romans 8:6-11
March 29 MMXX
I.
“To set the mind on the flesh is death,” Paul writes. “But to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” There are, then, two ways to go, two directions upon which we may set our minds. The way of the flesh or the way of the Spirit. We may go one way, or we may go the other way, but we cannot go both ways at once, because they are opposite directions.
One direction is called “flesh.” That is, it is concerned with the desires, cravings, demands, health, longevity, and needs of the physical and temporal aspect of our human nature. It is not that this part of who we are is evil or bad. The human body is part of God’s good creation, as is all matter, from which it is made. The problem is when we “set our mind on” it in such a way that what we physically need and want becomes primary, or even everything to us.
For our mortal nature, of course, is just one dimension of who we are. And when we become so focused on this dimension of our being that everything else is secondary or even disregarded, we have a problem. That attitude, and the practices resulting from it, leads to death. For our mortal body does not last forever. Eventually it, like everything else in creation, stops working and gets reduced to its elements to be recycled, reconstituted, and renewed. And if we have not become conscious of and shaped by the other larger, deeper, higher, more inclusive dimension of our being, what Paul calls the Spirit, then when our bodies give out, we cease to exist.
Unfortunately, this view, that we are identical with and limited to our material bodies, is the way we usually think about ourselves. “To set the mind on the flesh” is just normal. It is the whole basis for our thinking and acting from our birth. Indeed, any other way of thinking about who we are is almost inconceivable. Our ego keeps telling us to think this way, and that this is the only way to think.
Paul goes on to say that “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.” That’s because if we have dedicated our existence to getting what we want for ourselves, and for ours, we have shoved God out of the center of creation and placed ourselves there. We think and act according to our own self-interest, rather than what God intends.
This is indeed the whole basis for what we call civilization or Empire, and it is the foundation of our economy. Paul is writing to the gathering of Christians in Rome itself, and they would have been acutely aware of living at the epicenter of imperial evil, the very heart of the beast, the apex of egocentricity manifest in the corruption, injustice, and violence of the Emperor and his minions.
Of all people, they would have understood that “setting the mind on the flesh” is the basis for the whole regime. They know the the economic injustice that infects the whole Empire. They know that the Empire demanded loyalty to the Emperor, who was the corrupt, narcissistic nihilist at the center of the whole system. They know that setting the mind on the flesh is what the Empire is all about, how it stays in business. If people stopped doing that, the whole regime would collapse.
II.
And that is precisely what Paul says they have to do, and indeed are already doing, having placed their trust in the Lord Jesus, and gathering with other followers of Jesus in a gospel community. They are setting their minds on the Spirit. They are living together in a different direction.
Setting our minds on the Spirit is the opposite of setting our minds on the flesh, not because it is to set our minds on some other thing, but it is to set our minds on everything. For the Spirit is God and God is the Creator of all things, and all things bear God’s voiceprint and signature. “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, the world and all those who dwell therein.”
To set our minds on the Spirit is to think and act in terms of the wholeness of life, rather than on our individual “flesh,” which is small, temporary, and limited, and therefore puts me, my family, my nation, my race, my agenda first. Instead of seeing everything through the distorted lens of our own egocentric fear and craving, thinking and doing only what is in our own self-interest, in the Spirit we come to see from God’s perspective what is good for everyone.
Setting our minds on the Spirit means getting ourselves out of the way and radically broadening our vision. And it starts in this inclusive, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic community of Jesus’ followers. What binds them together is their trust in the Jewish Messiah whom Rome crucified for sedition, but whom God raised from the dead, thereby negating Rome’s destructive power, and who now lives with and in the community by his Spirit.
The Greek word translated as “Spirit” also means “breath,” and I find it instructive to imagine how the same breath with which God speaks the world into being, God’s very Spirit, infusing creation, animates all of us — plants, animals, and humans — unifying and giving life to all.
The followers of Jesus also know this breath of creation as “the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead,” God’s liberating, redeeming power at work in the world for justice. The new community of Jesus’ followers knows, through him, the essential unity and oneness of the whole creation. They know that the Spirit or breath that dwells in us is not our private, personal possession, only given to us and our particular institution or religion. Rather, the Spirit connects us to all and gives life to all.
It is this Spirit — his Spirit — upon whom the disciples set their minds, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus that Paul says dwells within them. This Spirit gives them new life as experienced in the way they live together according to God’s inclusive, forgiving, restorative justice. The Spirit then gives them power and energy to share that new kind of life with all.
III.
Of course, these days we are more acutely aware than ever that we are all connected, breathing the same air, and therefore exchanging the microbes that the air is carrying, including the deadly virus to which we are now subject. Never before has the whole global population been made so profoundly conscious of our connectedness, as we unwittingly share this virus from person-to-person around the planet. It is our connectedness which appears to be killing many of us, and threatening all of our health.
We find ourselves reflexively panicking, setting our minds on the flesh, in particular monitoring our own bodies for signs of infection, and keeping our distance from other bodies. We have become literally toxic to each other.
Indeed, this crisis has given some the excuse they need to compound the toxicity, weaponizing our technological connectedness by spewing into the atmosphere a torrent of mindless and hateful conspiracy theories, pathetic screeds of paranoia and xenophobia, empty wishful-thinking, and just plain mis-information. It has spawned hoarding and profiteering, as well as a crisis of leadership. This was the week we even heard some politicians express a willingness to let people die for the economy. It is hard to imagine someone’s mind more set on the flesh, on mammon or money, than that.
But can we move in the other direction that Paul talks about, setting our minds instead on the Spirit of God? Can we transform this staggering new awareness of our global connectedness into something beautiful and life-giving? Can we suggest that, if we can communicate disease to each other so easily, maybe we can also communicate blessing, peace, justice, forgiveness, and acceptance? Can we communicate life and love? Can we be agents of healing and comfort in an age of polarization and mistrust?
If a virulent virus can rage around the world in a few months, why can’t the good news of God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ flow around the world as well? Why can’t generosity, compassion, forgiveness, humility, and non-violence spread just as quickly?
Our Presbyterian saint, Fred Rogers, when disturbed by scenes of civil crisis, remembers how his mother would advise him to “look for the helpers.” If we did that now we would see thousands who are putting their lives at risk, sometimes with inadequate protection, for the sake of others. In addition to doctors, nurses, and EMTs, ordinary people are sewing masks, distributing food, comforting the lonely, donating blood, sharing good information, supporting those whose lives are disrupted, and encouraging other helpers.
This is what setting the mind on the Spirit looks like. To set our minds on the Spirit means getting to work embodying our shared humanity in service to those in need. It means recognizing that we all share in the same Spirit, we all breathe the same air, we are all together in this life. And the fact that this is the Spirit of Jesus’ resurrection means we need not fear even death. Some are indeed showing that greatest love, which is to give one’s life for one’s friends.
IV.
That is what Paul’s final words in this passage tell us. He says: “[The God] who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” The Spirit of God is the Spirit of all life. This life extends far beyond the liabilities of our mortal nature. It reaches beyond even our death, delivering us to a place of comprehensive oneness, where not even death can touch us.
To know the Spirit and to set our minds on the Spirit is to be conscious of the truth that we are all connected in God’s life which can never be defeated. That Spirit enlivens even our mortal bodies. Which is why we need to put our mortal bodies to work in the power of that Spirit to follow Jesus Christ in lives of service, healing, forgiveness, and love.
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