Set Your Minds on the Spirit

Based on Romans 8:6-11
First delivered Mar. 29, 2020
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr 

            “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” These words of Paul are part of his argument that I don’t want to get much in to. Paul is making an extended argument about how Gentiles are included among God’s chosen people through the action of Jesus Christ. It’s not about being born a Jew, it’s about trusting in God. Paul uses words like “flesh” and “spirit” and “mind” as symbols to make this argument. As I have reflected on this passage throughout the week, the question kept coming to me. “So what?” The argument that Paul is making in Romans, it seems to me, doesn’t really matter right now. For all of us this shared experience of living through the coronavirus pandemic is impacting every aspect of our life, including what I should be saying in these messages. So, to dig in to Paul’s argument about Gentiles and Jews all being brought together as children of God seems to miss the point of the times in which we live.

            But I don’t want to let this text go. There is something Paul is saying about where we put our minds that resonates with me concerning these times that we are living through. What we think about, where we put our focus, does have an impact on the quality of our life. If we think about the flesh as a metaphor for our mortality or our own bodily needs, then setting our minds on the flesh does lead to death, a kind of spiritual death. But if we set our minds on the Spirit, the spirit of God, the spirit of life, the spirit of love, the spirit of creativity, then setting our minds on the spirit does lead to life and peace. I want to take a few minutes to talk about some observations I have had over the past few weeks of people setting their minds on the Spirit.

            Kim and I are big fans of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. We watch them all faithfully. Of course, not when they air. DVRs are a great invention. Usually on the weekend we catch up and watch the previous week’s episodes. The show is produced in New York City. Obviously, production was shut down a few weeks ago. But instead of just playing reruns, Jimmy Fallon has still been putting out his show from his home. His wife, Nancy, is the camera operator. The camera is her IPhone. His two girls play the role of musicians, graphic designers, and just general cuteness. Jimmy still does his opening monologue. He then does a zoom call with a celebrity who promotes a non-profit organization. Perhaps later in the show he shows a musician who sent Jimmy a video of themselves performing from their home. Jimmy also films short bits around his home, joking around with his girls. One time, he and his wife filmed themselves taking a walk. Jimmy asked her questions about herself sent in by fans. These are not professionally polished productions. But they are so creative. And the viewers get to know Jimmy’s family and what his house is like. These shows have brought his viewers closer into his life, even though they, and we, are somewhat confined to our homes. The shows are intimate and authentic. I have to say that watching the Tonight Show: At Home Edition has been life giving. When we get through all of this and production of the show starts up again, I think I’m going to miss these at home editions. I sort of hope that Jimmy keeps doing some bits from home going forward. Rather than relying on reruns, Jimmy Fallon set his mind on continuing to produce something that is creative, uplifting, funny, and relevant to the moment we are in. He set his mind not on the flesh, but on the Spirit.

            Jimmy Fallon is not the only person who has been producing shows from home. Probably like most of you I spend a good share of my time watching the news. I like to watch Squawk on the Street on CNBC in the morning to see where the stock market is going to go that day. I watch the local news. And for the past week or so the people on these news shows have not all been in the studio together. Again, most of the news people are working at their homes. Take the local news program for an example. You have one anchor in the studio. But their partner anchor will be at their home. The weather reporter does their weather report from their home. The sports reporter, who doesn’t really have a lot of sports news to report on, are giving their report from home. These news programs are putting into practice the social separation that we are encouraged to do. Instead of having one person in the studio trying to deliver all the news by themselves, the team keeps performing their roles in a different way. It is a creative way to continue to deliver the news. And, again, it opens up a bit of intimacy as the viewers get a glimpse into what these homes of these newscasters live in look like. Far from the glare of the stage lights and the sterile set of a news studio, we get to watch our news anchors and weather reporters in less than ideal lighting and with the occasional lag that those of us who have been on zoom meetings lately can relate to. The news continues to be delivered in a creative way that is shaped by this health crisis we are in. Their minds are not on the flesh, but on the Spirit.

            I was talking to a church member recently, just checking in to see how she was doing. She made a great observation. She expressed her gratitude that this general quarantine is happening in the spring and not in the dead of winter. So, at least you can get out of the house and get some fresh air rather than stay cooped up. So true. Last Sunday, Kim and I took our puppy Oliver for a walk. It was a bright, sunny day. There were so many people out for a walk. Of course, everyone was maintaining appropriate social distancing from other groups. But it was so great to see everyone out walking around instead of sitting at home watching sports or whatever else. Tuesday evening, I was sitting in my backyard enjoying the comfortable temperature and reading a book. I heard a number of my neighbors out, greeting each other, kids laughing and carrying on, dogs barking. The neighborhood was alive with people out of their homes and connecting with each other. It was such a sweet sound. I look out the window and see the first dandelions coming up in my front yard. I have some neighbors who mowed their lawns the past few days. Daffodils and crocuses are popping up. Trees are starting to bud out. Robins are poking around in the yard. We as a community are contending with this deadly virus but that doesn’t stop the signs of spring from bursting forth all around us, oblivious to the health crisis we are in. It’s reassuring that even the coronavirus cannot stop spring from coming. As we look around us and see new life all around us, our minds are not on the flesh, but on the Spirit.

            Then there are all the ways churches, like ours, have been trying to come up with ways to stay connected when we can’t be together in one room. So many zoom meetings. Kim asked me a few days ago, half joking, if we should be investing in zoom stock. Kim has been doing virtual yoga through zoom. One time she was attending a virtual yoga session in which the teacher wasn’t even in Ohio. Back to Jimmy Fallon, he had a zoom interview with a popular songwriter who was in his apartment in London. Another time he interviewed a celebrity from his home in Columbia. Geography is irrelevant in these zoom meetings. Plus, there is a reduction in carbon emissions of course because you can have a zoom meeting with someone in London instead of having that person fly to New York. You can have a zoom meeting with your colleagues rather than have ten people drive to a central location to meet. It’s actually better for the environment by having all these zoom meetings. They take some getting used to. If you don’t have a great internet connection the video can get pretty choppy and sometimes everything freezes up. But, still, people can at least see each other and talk through things. Extended families or groups of friends are having zoom meetings in the evening to talk. A few days ago, I “Facetimed” my sister instead of talking to her on the phone, just to see her. She got Covid-19 by the way. The virus circulated through her church choir before they started cancelling everything and several of her fellow choir members got sick. She had a rough few days, but she is much better now. But as I think about all these zoom meetings that are happening, making geographic separation irrelevant and dramatically reducing carbon emissions by not driving or flying anywhere to get to a meeting, it makes me wonder if when this crisis is over we may decide that zoom meetings are more environmentally responsible. I wonder if that is the spiritually minded and life-giving thing to do.

            Dr. Amy Acton, the state public health director, has been a rock the past few weeks. She and our governor and lieutenant governor have provided steady and responsive leadership that I think for many of us has been quite reassuring. A few times, Dr. Acton has talked about the many innovations that are being developed right now to respond to this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. We have seen tele-health be expanded dramatically which is extending health care to folks. Factories are being retrofitted to build ventilators. Distilleries are halting production of spirits in order to make hand sanitizer. Battele has developed a method to sanitize surgical masks to extend their usage. In so many ways, industries and businesses are responding to this crisis in new and innovative ways. Like the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. What innovations will emerge that will stay with us when the crisis passes? How will we reconsider our manufacturing sector so that we are less dependent on other nations to produce critical resources in our own country? Look at the recent stimulus package passed by congress making it possible for independent contractors, 1099 workers, Uber drivers and the like, to apply for unemployment. In what ways will our social safety net be evaluated and strengthened as this crisis brings to light the disparity of resources and support structures? If our minds are set not on the flesh, but on the Spirit, how might we come out of this crisis as a society more healthy and strong and secure? Who would have thought, in a year that many, including myself, thought would be a year of great division driven by our partisan politics and the presidential election, instead find ourselves pulling together to respond to a virus that cannot be bullied or tweeted down into submission. Instead of setting our minds on the flesh of partisanship and acrimony we find ourselves setting our minds on the Spirit of collaboration and solidarity.

            We have a challenging road ahead. If the projections are reasonable, the next few months will be a test to our health systems and governmental systems, infrastructure, and who else knows what. We don’t know how long this struggle will last, or if the spread will ease up during the summer only to ramp up again in the fall. In the face of these challenging and uncertain times, we can make the choice to set our minds on the Spirit, on life, on peace, on creativity. By setting our minds on the Spirit, I am confident that we as a society will come out of this stronger than we were before we entered into this. As we journey through this valley of the shadow of death, our minds set firmly on Jesus, we will come through on the other side as the Spirit, that dwells in us, gives life to our mortal bodies also.