I know school has been out for a few weeks, but our scripture lessons today feel to me like something of a final exam.  A life or death final exam!  This final exam has one question on it:  is the Spirit of Christ living within us?  Paul wrote to the Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”  (Romans 8:11) We know the Spirit by his gifts, such as hospitality, administration, healing, teaching.  We know the Spirit by his fruits– love, joy , peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.  And we know the Spirit by his motives.  He is always working for abundant life for all of God’s beloved creation.  Is that Spirit alive and well in us?  OR do we have within us a spirit that is negative, grumpy, stingy, controlling, proud, and the like?

This isn’t just a question for us to consider as a congregation, but it also applies to us as individuals.  Do I have the Spirit of Christ within me—or a spirit coming from someone or someplace else?  Paul wrote, “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”  (Romans 8:9b) See what I mean about the final exam?  This is the ultimate test for each of us who call ourselves Christians.  We claim to be, literally, “little Christs.”  And so we must ask, do we have the Spirit of Christ in us?  Are we allowing the Spirit of Christ to have a leading role in our life?

Last week our key verse was from Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”  An undivided heart.  That may be the best way to sum up the Spirit of Christ, who gave his whole life in obedience to God and service to humankind.  The Spirit of Christ is 100% committed to serving and following God.

The Spirit of Christ is all about everlasting and abundant life.  The Spirit of Christ saves us from our mortality!  Paul wrote, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1) Good news, right?  The best news!  But the tricky thing is, the Spirit of Christ also saves other people whose views don’t always coincide with mine.  Paul was writing to the Romans who were experiencing a lot of conflict between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.  Should Christians have to obey all the Old Testament rules?  This was a big debate!  There were passionate views on both sides which led not only to division but also to devastation.  In the midst of all this disagreement, Paul encouraged them to do everything they could to build each other up and live as one.

There were also factions at work in Corinth.  The Christians there did not agree on what standards should apply in areas like sexuality, taking the Lord’s Supper, lawsuits, marital difficulties, and use of spiritual gifts.  Again, Paul pleaded for unity within the body of believers.  If we have the Spirit of Christ within us, we won’t be saying things like “I follow Apollos” and “I follow Paul”, but rather, “I follow Christ.”  If we can stay focused on our common belief in Christ, we will not lack any spiritual gift as we wait for Christ to return again. (1 Corinthians 1:7)

So here again, this is a matter of life and death.  Individually, it is the Spirit of Christ who sets us free from our mortality and gives us life forever.  And as a church, it is the Spirit of Christ who gives the Church every spiritual gift we need to fulfill our mission.  Without the Spirit of Christ, we can’t fulfill our three general rules of 1) doing no harm, 2) doing all the good we can, and 3) staying in love with God.  Learning how to welcome the Spirit of Christ seems to me to be an important discipleship skill.

Unfortunately, I do not have any easy answers on having the Spirit of Christ.  But based on our scriptures today, and from verses we’ve read earlier this year, we can sum up very quickly what doesn’t help!  One word:  judgment.  The Spirit of Christ is NOT the spirit of condemnation.  Most of us have memorized John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  But how many of us have memorized John 3:17?  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  If Jesus himself did not come to condemn the world but to love it and heal it and bless it, who are we to condemn?

This gets tricky because we do of course have a responsibility to set limits around bad behavior, and to protect ourselves and others from people with bad motives.  We don’t want foxes in our hen house!  Jesus spoke about this very passionately.

But he spoke frequently, and biblical writers who followed him echoed this, that it is not our job to judge.  My sister has a friend whose priest gave a sermon once about swearing.  He said the absolute worst swear word you can use is “God damn it”.  Saying God damn it means you are asking God to condemn someone or something to hell.  Many Christians use this phrase without much thought, but this priest says, if we condemn something, we are really condemning ourselves, because Jesus said, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” The standard we use on others will be the standard that gets used on us. (Matthew 7:1-2)  So don’t judge!  It’s a matter of life and death!

And, amazingly, we don’t ever have to say our judgmental or condemning thoughts out loud in order for them to have power.  Just thinking them causes harm.  A little over a year ago, I went to a workshop in Chicago put on by Dr. Alan Zimmerman, who is a corporate consultant and motivational speaker.  One of his favorite things to talk about is attitude.  Our thoughts are powerful and have a huge impact on our own lives and the success of our organizations.  Even if we never say anything out loud, the attitude we bring to each day has a direct impact on ourselves and others.

To demonstrate his point, Dr. Zimmerman asked for a volunteer from among the 50 or so people in the room.  A young, very fit looking man came forward.  Dr. Zimmerman asked him to hold out his arms away from his body, and to resist as Dr. Zimmerman tried to push his arms back down to his sides.  The volunteer was strong—it was no surprise that Dr. Zimmerman couldn’t make his arms move.

Then Dr. Zimmerman asked for another random volunteer, who didn’t know the man who was already up front.  An older woman came forward, and she received surprising instructions. She was to stand about three feet away from the first volunteer, look him in the eye, and silently think terrible thoughts about him for 30 seconds.  “You’re lazy.  You’re unreliable.  No one likes you.  You’re a quitter.  You’re small minded.  You’re greedy.  You’re selfish.  You’re impatient and rude.”  Whatever mean things she could think about this person—actually pretend about him because she didn’t know him at all—she was to think negative thoughts silently about him for 30 seconds.

After the thirty seconds, Dr. Zimmerman asked the man to hold out his arms once again and was told to resist with all his might as Dr. Zimmerman tried to push his arms back down to his sides.  But guess what happened!  This time, the volunteer had almost no strength in his arms.  Dr. Zimmerman very easily pushed the man’s arms back to his sides, and the whole room of people was amazed.

When I got home, I went online and found video of Dr. Zimmerman doing this same demonstration in other places.  What I saw was not just a one-time fluke, but a pattern Dr. Zimmerman could demonstrate over and over again.

 

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Isn’t that amazing?  Our thoughts have POWER!  The spirit within us has the power to either strengthen those around us—or weaken them.  The spirit within us has the power to either help bring out the best in people—or sap them of their strengths and gifts!  This is why Paul pleaded for the early Christians to have within them the Spirit of Christ!  There is no way the Church was going to live into the future unless the believers were committed to wanting the best for each other.  The spirit of condemnation that was at work amongst them was literally killing their life together.

The Spirit of Christ is NOT the spirit of condemnation.  The Spirit of Christ is NOT the spirit of judgment.  The Spirit of Christ is committed to life, and life abundant!  Yes, we must set limits around bad behavior.  Yes, there must be consequences for people who consistently show they are not interested in being respectful of others.  We do not have the words, “All Welcome” on our sign at Lima.  This is not an appropriate church home for everyone.

But even as we enforce boundaries, we are always called to have the Spirit of Christ in us.  The Spirit that is always at work for shalom, peace, well-being, and blessing.  The Spirit of Christ is always at work, equally valuing both justice and mercy.  The Spirit of Christ is pleased to dwell not only within us—but within every other believer in Jesus, regardless of denominational differences, political disagreements, or personality clashes!  Our attitudes about other people are powerful.  They can sentence us to death—or they can help promote life.

Growing up, my mom used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  That’s a great goal!  I’m still working on that.  But it turns out, as it often does, that Jesus is asking us to go a step further.  If you can’t THINK something nice about someone, be careful!  Your thoughts are likely being controlled by someone other than the Spirit of Christ.  If you can’t think something nice about someone, think about Jesus.  Think about the fact that Jesus came into the world not to condemn anyone — including, thankfully, you and me! Think about how Jesus instead focused on helping people find a new way of living.  A way that blesses, not curses.  A way that supports and strengthens.  A way that stands up to what is wrong.  But also, a way that accepts people who have been told there’s something wrong with them!

Do we have within us the Spirit of Christ?  This is the only question on our final exam, and it’s a matter of life and death.  All I can do is pray yet again, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”  Give us the Spirit of Christ, O Lord—undivided hearts–so we can do no harm, do amazing good, and stay in love with you.  Amen.