Church unbound: Setting our minds on the things of the Spirit - Reflecting on Romans 8: 1-11

 The first step to follow in reopening the church building for worship, post lockdown according to the Church guidance is to think missionally, where we are encouraged to engage creatively and responsibly in the context of our church’s mission plan. In that missional reflection, the key point is to discern the hand of God in our plans, allowing the Spirit of God to lead and guide us, for our calling is to be a church unbound, where the interests of ‘others’ take priority than our own self-interests. Paul in writing to the church in Rome, particularly from the prescribed text in our lectionary this Sunday, Romans 8:1-11, was explaining a contrast between flesh and spirit, inviting the early Christians to set their minds on the things of the Spirit of God, invoking them to think missionally in their being and becoming as a church.

 

The book of Romans was written by Paul to the early Christians living in an urban context of Rome, who were gathering as a house church. In contrast to the rest of the letter Paul had written, this letter to Romans was written to a church that Paul has not founded or visited, yet he writes some strong theological foundations of Christian faith in the context of Jewish traditions. The two main missional aims of Paul in writing this letter to Romans was firstly to convince and inspire the Christians in Rome to contribute towards the poor people in Jerusalem, and secondly to help in to spread the gospel to Spain (Romans 15:22-29).  With such aims in his mind, Paul in Romans 8:1-11 was appealing his fellow followers of Christ in Rome to set their mind not on the things of flesh but on spirit, so that they belong to Christ. He also encourages them that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (1v).  

 

To set the mind on the things of the Spirit according to Paul can be done by those who are living according to the Spirit of God (5v). Secondly it is life and peace (6v). Thirdly, it is friendship with God, submitting to God’s word and ultimately it is pleasing God (7v). Fourthly, it is belonging to Christ, as it is to have the Spirit of Christ in them. Fifthly, to set the mind on the things of the Spirit means to experience the indwelling of Christ and Spirit (8-9v). Sixthly, it is to be assured to have a new life experience in Christ (11v).  Paul presents all these aspects of setting mind on the things of the Spirit over against setting mind on the things of the flesh. Herewith I tabulate the contrasts that Paul explains:

 

Setting the mind on the things of the Spirit	Setting the mind on the things of the flesh
People who live according to the spirit	People who live according to the flesh
Life and peace	Death
Friendship with God	Hostile to God
Submission to God’s Law	Cannot not submit to God’s law
Pleasing God	Cannot please God
Indwelling of the Spirit of God	No indwelling of the Spirit of God
Belonging to Christ	Does not belong to Christ
The spirit is life because of righteousness	Life denying

 

Setting the mind on the things of the Spirit is a way of Paul’s call to the Christians in Rome towards new creation in Christ, where quality of life is affirmed and lived out. It also meant not to be limited by the written rules, rituals and regulations of the Law, but to be creative in the mission of God, for the Spirit of God is unbound and so should the Christian ethos and discipleship be.

 

Setting the mind on the things of the Spirit today is primarily about giving up our old ways of doing things and engaging in doing new and creative things, which are lifegiving, lifesaving and life promoting. For the Christians living in Rome, they were on the one hand bound by the traditions and rituals of Jewish law, and on the other hand were bound by the Roman empire. In such a context Paul was inspiring the Christians in Rome, not to be bound by law and flesh, but to set the mind on the things of the Spirit, for there is freedom, there is inclusion, there is creativity and there is meaning to life in the Spirit. The relevance of this text for us today is to set our mind on the things of the Spirit, which is allowing the Spirit of God to break open the bindings in which we are fixed and to wide open the boundaries that we have drawn.

 

“These are the things that have always worked,” “These are the things that have not worked,” “This is how things should be,” are some of the words that I keep hearing from people around us. But when we turn and set our minds on the things of the Spirit, we are allowing the Spirit of God firstly helping us to understand that “yes, they have worked previously, but there are other ways, different from what we have always known that will work,” so be open to them and take on it. The Spirit of God grants us courage to do things differently than what it was in the law, she grants us strength to do new things other than those that are in the law, and she grants us openness in (ad)venturing creative things other than that are in the law. To set our minds on the things of the flesh is allowing ourselves to be bound by law, ritual and to things that we have always known and have always done. We are called to be a church unbound, setting our minds on the things of the Spirit.

 

Last night’s Agape meal service was where I personally found meaning in the understanding of being united as Christians. Though we are living in isolation, each of us sitting in our own homes, yet we are all united by the grace of God. This is not what we have done previously, but the circumstances of lock down have called us to participate in such acts, where we can experience the Spirit of God, by joining in eating a cake/bread and drinking juice/wine in remembrance of the Jesus meal with his disciples, and by reflecting on the needs of the communities we live in. I also understand that the experience of the Spirit of God is different and diverse, for each of us experience it in ways which might be totally different to some others. We are therefore called to recognise that the Spirit of God works diversely, distinctly, dynamically and differentially.

 

This Sunday, the 12^th of July 2020, we observe it as Action for Children Sunday, and the theme for this year has been “Choose Childhood,” which is an invitation again for the people of God to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, in this case acting on the needs of children. When holiday hunger is so real in our contexts, when child poverty has been on the rise, when childhood hurts for so many children due to neglect, abuse, poor mental health, is not joining to support these children a small act in setting our minds on the things of the Spirit today?

 

As Christians, we have a spiritual responsibility in sharing our love of Christ with people in need today, particularly with those on the margins and those that are vulnerable. Let us prayerfully try to do church differently, by which I mean to say functionally and methodologically different, and perhaps this post lockdown scenario is an opportune time for us to do church differently. This Sunday kindly reflect on what are the things of the Spirit of God for us as churches today? Where do we see the hand of God in our activities? It is time we give up things of the flesh, things of the law, things of the ritual, things of the routine and set our minds on the things of the Spirit of God. This is an opportune time for the birth of a new church, grounded on the things of the Spirit and witnessing for the things of the Spirit of God. In our journey towards a church unbound, there might be messiness and clumsiness, take strength, for in Christ there is no condemnation, for we are always embraced by the love of Christ.

 

May the Spirit of Christ in whom we have no condemnation be with each of us, so that we can do the things as Christ is doing and belong to Christ in this our time and space. May we as a church baptise ourselves as a ‘church unbound’ participating in the acts of the Spirit of God here and now. Amen.

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta

10^th July 2020