Sermon: Different Way of Being

 Lectionary: Proper 11(A)

Text: Romans 8:12-25

The brain is a fascinating organ. A Scientific American article on the topic of thinking explains,

The brain continuously slurps up huge amounts of energy for an organ of its size, regardless of whether we are tackling integral calculus or clicking through the week's top 10 LOLcats…

Although the average adult human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, only 2 percent of total body weight, it demands 20 percent of our resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the total amount of energy our bodies expend in one very lazy day of no activity.[1]

We might assume then that if thinking consumes energy, more thinking will consume more energy, but the article continues to explain that experiments in this area have shown mixed results.

But I’m sure we all experience those times when we have been concentrating on some kind of complex task for an extended period, and at the end we feel exhausted and fatigued. So, what is a potential explanation for this phenomenon? The article suggests several possibilities. First, concentrating on a task that does not bring pleasure causes more experiential fatigue than concentrating on a similarly complex task, but in which we find pleasure. Second, merely thinking that a task will be difficult or an ordeal can cause more mental exhaustion. And finally, unpleasant and complex tasks can lead to greater stress with corresponding physiological effects such as increased cortisol production, which in turn can manifest as actual physical effects.

The article concludes with one of the interviewees saying, “My general hypothesis is that the brain is a lazy bum… The brain has a hard time staying focused on just one thing for too long. It's possible that sustained concentration creates some changes in the brain that promote avoidance of that state. It could be like a timer that says, 'Okay you're done now.' Maybe the brain just doesn't like to work so hard for so long.”[2]

An application of this hypothesis to our individual experiences is regarding habits. Why is it so difficult to break an old habit and why is it so difficult to establish a new one? Because these take willful, concentrated, mental effort. And the lazy brain would rather keep running on easy, well-worn pathways that can be traversed with much less effort.

At this point you might be wondering what this has to do with any of today’s readings. I think the science of the brain has quite a bit to do with Romans chapters 7 and 8.

In the latter third of chapter 7, Paul describes an inner conflict experienced by those who have joined with Christ. The conflict is between the desire and intention to live a righteous life versus the reality of falling into deeds that are evil. Paul writes, “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”[3]

However, in the opening paragraphs of chapter 8, Paul describes the solution to this conflict. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death… 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.”[4]

But old habits do not die easily. It returns, and in Paul’s words, it is like a debt that we feel obligated to pay. The old way of living offers security, certainty, and comfort. The old ways are ingrained in our minds and require little effort. Even though living by the Spirit brings true life and peace, it feels easier to return to the old ways.

In response, Paul writes, “So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live… For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”[5]

A key to interpreting and understanding Paul’s response is the phrase, “Slavery… back into fear.” This is the definition of sin that Paul has in mind throughout his letter to the church in Rome. Fear is what drives humans to seek certainty and stability in the things of the world: power, wealth, acclaim, position and influence. These in turn lead to actions that abuse other humans and the environment. The flesh seeks self-preservation above all else. The desire for more and the fear that what we have is still not enough leads to dehumanization, wars, and destruction of the environment.

To live by the Spirit requires intentional choice and effort. It requires going against the habits and priorities of the world and how that has trained our minds and preferences. It will require us to change our ideas regarding security and stability and where we will find that anchor.

When we live by the Spirit, our focus changes from self-preservation to selfless giving. It seeks to redeem and preserve all life—not just fellow humans but all the creation. This is the life Jesus Christ exemplified, and which resulted in the powers of the world turning against him. It is what caused them to murder him. It revealed sin—the need for self-preservation that underlies all worldly powers and structures.

When we choose to intentionally live this way, we will suffer. We will suffer inner conflict as we seek to retrain the habits that the world has trained us to follow. We will suffer externally as we walk and fight against the accepted ways of the world that prioritize the powerful and their wants over the powerless. When we reject the fear of worldly insecurity and want, the world ceases to have power over us. And when they no longer have power over us, they become frustrated and angry.

But we do not live this way alone. Paul wrote, “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you… If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”[6]

Those of us who are redeemed and being redeemed will live in such a way as to extend the hope of redemption and restoration to all the creation. We will strive toward ways of living that bring more harmony and peace among not just fellow humans, but humans with all the environment without which we cannot survive. It is with these thoughts that we re-read chapter 8, verses 18-25,

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.[7]

In the name of God, the Creator of all the creation,

In the name of God, the Redeemer of all the creation,

And in the name of God who guides us in our suffering for all the creation, Amen.

References

Jabr, F. (2012, July 18). Does Thinking Really Hard Burn More Calories? Retrieved from Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/

 

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[1] (Jabr, 2012)

[2] Messier, Claude in (Jabr, 2012)

[3] Romans 7:20-23. NRSVue

[4] Romans 8:2, 5-6. NRSVue

[5] Romans 8:12-13, 15-17. NRSVue

[6] Romans 8:9a, 11. NRSVue

[7] Romans 8:18-25. NRSVue