A Reflection on Romans 8:5-11

For many of us life looks different today than it did a month ago. For those that work, and are still working, the environment has changed. No more large meetings in person, which for many of us is probably a good thing, no catching up with co-workers around the water cooler, workspaces have been moved further apart, physical distancing has introduced foreign concepts and movements that we find different. Many workers have transitioned from the office environment to a virtual workspace where people connect through video conferencing and online workspaces, trying to manage working from home, while being home with kids or spouses or dogs and cats.

Our social lives have also changed significantly. We cannot go to that friend’s house and chat, or meet up for lunch, we are not allowed to go to Disneyland or the beach or even the mountains, but instead we are instructed that we are safer at home, and that we can only go out for essential items. Even our churches have shuttered the doors, and we encourage our congregations to listen to the advice of our health professional and stay home.

So much of what we LIVE FOR has been taken away, if even for a little bit, and it makes us question what is life if I can’t do these things that I love to do? We miss our friends, we miss going out of our homes, we miss the mountains, we miss the ocean, we miss Disneyland, we miss worshipping together in-person, we miss what life was like before CoViD-19.

One thing remains, God is present with us, and reminds us what we need to keep our minds focused upon Him, not just now, when we are cooped up inside our homes, but at all times. What does God desire of you? Our minds, our bodies must always be focused upon who God is in the world, and the person God desires each of us to be in the midst of His Creation.

The apostle Paul reminds us how we are supposed to maintain the mindset that there are things of the flesh as well as things set upon the SPIRIT, and that flesh fails and falls away, but SPIRIT endures no matter what happens in the world around us. Let us look at the words of Paul as we examine and choose how we are going to live and think.

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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

Right away Paul reminds us that how we think, establishes our priorities and our focus. Therefore we must set aside our thoughts to focus upon that which is life-giving and eternal instead of those things that seem completely natural at this time. When we are focused upon the God that is always in control of our lives, we do not need to worry about whether we have enough, because God provides for us at all times.

Living According to the Flesh

If we think about selfish things, we will act selfishly, but if we think about serving God, we will act as God’s servants. Selfishness, like viruses, is contagious. Unfortunately, because of our sinful nature, we “naturally” act out in what we think is our own self interest. This mentality leads people to hoard in times of crisis, to elbow our neighbor out of the way when we are trying to get the last package of toilet paper from the shelf. It also causes us to think only about our own personal joy and happiness instead of the health and wellness of our neighbors.

Because of this, we should not be surprised that people have been flocking to the beach, parks, and trails even if they are being told to stay at home. Most people think that they are going to be affected by CoViD-19, and therefore they don’t need to change their routines, even if their actions may adversely affect those that they come in contact with, the selfish thought wins and they do what they want to do.

While it may be easy to look at people that aren’t following the rules and say we aren’t like that, we must understand that we are still sinners and because of our sin, our “natural” thinking will also lead us to the nature of serving ourselves instead of serving God. We think about the things we are missing out on, and we want to scream and shout at people that are not acting as they ought. Some of us engage in less than polite conversation on social media or in conversations with our loved ones. We get frustrated by those that we are stuck in the house with, and we are not the most loving people to those that are closest to us. These thoughts and actions are the outcome of the fact that we still are affected by our sinful nature.

Paul tells us that living according to the flesh leads to death. Some project that an outcome of the “Safer At Home” Order is going to be an increase in the domestic violence reports and the divorce rate. Projections like this are evidence that we indeed will see a lot of these “deaths” because of the sin that is pervasive in our life. While we may not be party to this overt violence in our homes, our anger, our thoughts, and our frustrations show us that we too have undealt with sin in our lives.

The law was established by God to keep our sinful nature in check, to be able to give humanity an ability to get right with God, to understand that our sin had a cost. The cost of that sin was sacrificing life, giving up the life of an animal so that we could be made right with God. Ultimately, humanity even perverted that system of sin and death through corruption, greed, and trying to use God’s law as a weapon against people. Therefore, God had to redeem us through His Son Christ Jesus to protect and save humanity from the virus that sin had become in the world. 

Our relationship with Christ is how we move from death in sin to a life in the Spirit, for the Spirit reveals to us the path to peace with God, and true living. We must, however, be willing to cast off the life of sin that leads to death and destruction, and move into life, because even with all our might we cannot please God by living in our own power, but rather we must be obedient to the Spirit that empowered Christ to shun sin, and make a path to forgiveness and life.

Living According to the Spirit

This new living according to the Spirit is available to us when we are willing to give up our sinful lifestyle, and submit our lives completely to God. When we allow the work of the Holy Spirit to instruct us how to live, and allow God’s Righteousness to wash over us so that we no longer seek to dwell in our sin, but rather step forward into living fully obedient to God’s instruction and law, and becoming people that bring peace, hope, and love to the world.

This type of living does not think of self, but rather moves through all the aspects of our life and transforms us into the people we need to be in order to proclaim the change Christ has made in us. We are called to bring hope to the hopeless. We have all spoken to someone that has lost sight of hope in the midst of this global pandemic. For those that read the newspaper or watch the news there are repeated stories that project gloom upon the world. Those that use social media there are people panicking and arguing on all fronts. Our world needs hope, our world needs the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit that LIVES in you to bring lasting HOPE. It is this HOPE that proclaims that the Almighty God is in control and that we need to yield to God at this time.

Who do you know that is worried right now? Give them a call. Who do you know that is in need right now? Go help fill that need. Who do you know that is panicking and full of anxiety? Bring them the PEACE of God. Living according to the Spirit is listening to the world with one ear and God’s prompting with the other and allowing the Spirit of God to move you into places that you are needed to help bring forth God’s Kingdom to a world that needs a major dose of PEACE.

Just as Christ brought peace between us and God, so too are we called to bring peace to the world. Even in chaos, God provides peace to those that are struggling. The beauty of God’s Kingdom, is that He allows us to be a part of that peace making. In times of wars between nations, peace and restoration spark an end to the fighting and destruction, and similarly God’s PEACE seeks to end our hostility with God, and bring a fullness and wholeness to all of humanity through Christ’s saving power. No longer is there a need to bring one another down in a Twitter or Facebook argument, no longer are we to spread lies and misinformation, no longer are we to split and divide people, but rather we are to seek restoration and unity, wholeness and strength.

With this understanding of our role in spreading Christ’s life-giving peace in this world, may we think about the words we use with one another. The enemy gets a foothold when God’s people are divided and weak, but when we focus upon Christ, and upon the miraculous work that the SPIRIT of LIFE worked in raising Christ from the dead, we no longer dwell in the darkness and despair, but rather we remember that God is ALIVE, and brings us a PEACE that surpasses all understanding. 

Any scan of the situation we are in right now, we see a world that needs to understand that fear, panic, selfishness, anger, and hatred are not bringing any of us life. These are all paths that lead us to division, destruction, and death, because they all build upon each other and cause us to think that we are in charge of our own ability to live. This is a stark contrast to the understanding that Christ is the source of life, and not each of us. Christ brings us LIFE, and the way to this life comes through Righteousness and Hope and Peace and Love. These things should define the way we live, because that is truly living. 

The danger is when we start to think that life requires hoarding, acting out of our own self-interest, disobeying the law because it interferes with my happiness, and setting everyone straight. This is dangerous and leads to death. Not just death from any illness, but death from the worst type of illness, SIN. Sin doesn’t bring life, but rather it leads to separation from God.

Fortunately, Christ is the cure to this illness, Christ, through the power of the Spirit, conquers death to bring us LIFE, true LIFE. Living is checking on the elderly, giving to the needy, being a peacemaker in the midst of the arguing going on around us, giving hope to the hopeless, providing grace to those that have hurt you, and listening to the Holy Spirit to bring God’s Kingdom to the Earth. 

May this LIFE move through us, not only today, or in this time of pandemic, but all of our days that we may lean on the power of Christ and the SPIRIT of LIFE whenever we are in need of peace, hope, and God’s enduring love.