The Rt. Rev. Scott Mayer

2011 Annual Diocesan Convention

Midland, Texas

Bishop’s Study Incarnational Theology October 21, 2011

I want to try something new at this convention. One of the primary roles of the bishop is teaching.Often gatherings like this will do a Bible Study, but today I want to explore a particular theologicalconcept.

At the last meeting of the House of Bishops we were reminded by one bishop, Clay Matthews,about a survey of Episcopalians concerning our Anglican or Episcopalian identity. The surveyincluded clergy and laity, congregations and dioceses. It was called “Around One Table: ExploringEpiscopal Identity,” and its purpose is to explore such questions as: Who are we? What does itmean to be an Episcopalian? What are our core values? How are we differentiated from otherfaith traditions? What are our strengths and weaknesses? And so forth.

The survey results indicated that the following core values are at the top of our list: Sacramental, Book of Common Prayer, Christ is central, Scripture, Pastoral, Diverse positions, and on downthe line. Third on the list, actually, is that we are incarnational. We see ourselves as incarnational.

And what Clay Matthews reminded us in that meeting, is that the survey revealed a gap – what hecalled an identity gap – between clergy and laity on this particular value. It is very important toclergy; and less known to laity.

So I thought that today we might spend a little time on this theological understanding of ourselves– a key understanding of our identity.

What is the meaning of the Incarnation? Why is it important? Why is it particularly attractive toAnglicans?

It has been said that each of the great Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, andAnglican) tends to emphasize a particular theological understanding. To the Eastern Orthodox,Easter is most emphasized. To the Roman Catholics, the sacrifice of Christ (the Passion) is mostemphasized. To the Anglicans, the Incarnation is most emphasized.

To be clear, none of these great traditions is saying it’s just the Passion, or just the Resurrection, orjust the Incarnation which matters. We are talking about the lens through which we tend to look. Anglicans tend to be incarnational in outlook. (A great 20 century theologian, a protestant namedth

Paul Tillich, referred to our emphasis on the incarnation as the “Anglican Heresy,” and I don’t denythat I wear that badge proudly.)

Incarnational theology. What does that mean? It’s true that when we think of the Incarnation as anevent which happened once upon a time in history, we are thinking of the birth of Jesus. We arereferring to Christmas: the incarnation as the event which took place in a manger when the Wordbecame flesh.

The word has at its root, “carne,” meaning flesh – the same word used in Spanish for “meat.” Onenight 2000 years ago the Word became flesh – the Incarnation.

But while incarnational theology may start with the birth of Jesus, that event alone does not capturethe whole truth of the Incarnation without further exploration.

One can say (as I suspect most Christians say) that God was born into a sinful world one day 2000years ago in a manger, and Mary and Joseph named the child Jesus. And Jesus grew up, and 30years later got baptized, called disciples, and taught those with ears to hear, and healed people, andthen suffered betrayal, was crucified, buried, rose from the dead, and declared that he will comeagain – one can say all of that, and still not be operating out of what we mean by the term,incarnational theology.

The verse from scripture, perhaps above all, which informs incarnational theology (the scriptural lensthrough which we look) is “the Word became flesh.” Today I want to explore what that means, andmaybe see how it ties to our sense of purpose.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John’sGospel. The Word, translated from the Greek, means “the Divine Logos.”

We can say along with John, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” and again, we aretalking about the Incarnation of the Divine Logos in a specific human being, Jesus of Nazareth. The Divine Logos was made flesh, John says. Not to be overlooked, however, John also refers tothe Divine Logos as “the true light which enlightens everyone who comes into the world.” In otherwords, the Divine Logos is present in every human heart.

The Early Fathers and Mothers of the Church – in their writings – insist on claiming the presenceof the Divine in every human heart. In the second century, a great influential theologian, JustinMartyr, sees “Christ the Logos” as the “Cosmic Sower” who plants seeds – who plants “seeds oftruth” in the hearts of all human persons – without exception. To make his point, he claims that“Socrates is a Christian before Christ.”

Thomas Merton, a 20 century Roman Catholic monk, writes the following in his book “Guiltyth

Bystander”: he writes, “At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouchedby sin …, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God … . “…It is likea pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could seeit we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of the sun thatwould make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely. … I have no program for thisseeing. It is only a given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere.”

So we are created in the image of God (a fundamental starting point in Genesis) and it is our callingto grow in His likeness. Image and likeness. Created in the image of God. Deep within the heartthe Divine Spark lives. And yet it’s true, obviously, that each heart is greatly distorted by sin, andis covered with layers of fear and deception (and we could make a long list), and our calling is togrow in His likeness.

But according to Merton (his incarnational theology) there remains within us this “innermost, secret,uncontaminated chamber of the heart …where the winds of evil spirits do not blow.” And this is“the locus of God’s indwelling.”

So while it’s true that the “Word was made flesh” 2000 years ago in a manger, and it’s true thatJesus of Nazareth is the full revelation of God, and Jesus is the ultimate outward, visible sign ofGod’s grace and love, an incarnational theology insists that the Divine Logos can be found in everyhuman heart.

As the Anglican John Knox says, “Man was made in the image of God and will not be allowed tofail in the end to realize his true nature and destiny. Divinity is not merely above him and aroundhim; it is also within him – indeed, it is the very essence of his inmost self.”

So, let’s stop here a minute. And let’s see if there are any points of clarification. And then I wantto ask some questions, and let each table consider these questions, and report back. And thenI will have some concluding remarks.

3 Questions for each table –

1 – How does Incarnational Theology understand human nature and human dignity?

2 – How is Incarnational Theology different from the dominant theology of our Protestant WestTexas culture?

3 – What is attractive about this to you, and does any of it bother you?

(After discussion and reports from several tables.)

Canon Edward West, now deceased, served the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York for 41years. One of my seminary professors, Dr Bill Green, and our own Bill Nix, assembled a collectionof Canon West’s sermons in “Seasons of the Heart.” I would like to read a passage from one of hissermons, demonstrating his highly incarnational theology. [“Seasons of the Heart”; sermon preachedon the occasion of “The Baptism of our Lord”]

“The Ambrosian liturgy, which is a quite superb form, has one prayer which says about everythingthat has to be said or can be said on the whole matter. One translation of it runs this way: as thecelebrant mixes water with the wine in the chalice he’ll be saying privately this ancient prayer, ‘OGod who didst wonderfully create and still more marvelously renew the dignity of human nature,grant by the mystery shown forth in the mixing of this water and wine, that we may become partakersof the divinity of Him, who for our sakes, partook of our humanity.’

It is a superb prayer. It says everything there is to be said about the Christian religion. It means, andthis is a word which always comes to us westerners as a shock, the divinization of people. … … Godhas mixed Himself up in you.

You drop water into wine and you can never, ever recover that single drop of water. Not possibly.You can freeze out all the water content but you can’t ever recover that single drop. It ispermanently and unalterably mixed in.

When our Lord comes to his baptism there is no notion that he differs from the rest of his ownpeople. Often in our day we gaze around at the sins that are all about us, at the incredible livingconditions that exist within a few blocks of this place here. We say, ‘Well, at least we didn’t dothat.’ There is no such thing in our Lord. Our Lord doesn’t distinguish himself from his people. If his people have done this, he is part of his people. So that with all the mystery of the NewTestament, here he is, sinless, yet quite gladly going and mixing himself up with a lot of sinners tobe baptized, to be born anew, to do all the things that were required of other people. There is nosense of separation. The water has been permanently mixed with the wine. He is part and parcel ofhis people.

The Incarnation means just that to you and me. …

… God takes everything that is his, mixes himself hopelessly into it, and then pulls it constantly backinto himself. This is what the Incarnation really means. Just as this drop of water is going into thewine, the mystery shown forth is that God became man, so in turn you and I are quite literally goingto become god. That is what it means.

It doesn’t mean that you personally are going to be the whole god. There is nothing said about thatat all. I am not going to end up being like Christ; I’m not. This is nonsense. No matter how it readsin hymns or in pious books, I am not going to end up like Christ. But, on the other hand, the wholelot of us are going to. We all become one person. In becoming one person, then we are going toend up as one person, the only person, that person in whose image we are made, and that is Christ.

…. … So in this glorious season we think again as to who we are. We are the Body of Christ, thestuff out of which God makes himself to be. …”