Incantation or Incarnation?

1. “Christ is the population of the world,” Rumi says, “and every object as well. There is no room for hypocrisy. Why use bitter soup for healing when sweet water is everywhere?” Christians are in a heap of trouble, and we can only blame ourselves. We have created a Christian empire that stretches across the country, over oceans and tiny islands, and onto continents. More often than not, mainstream Christianity is colored by Western assumptions and cultural contexts and beliefs, not to mention nationalistic pride. What would happen if Christians lived as if Christ is the population of the world, as if Christ is in all, as if Christ is the very dirt we walk on?

In Isaiah 7, God urges King Ahaz of Judah, who was on the verge of war, to ask of God a sign, a big sign, any sign, a sign as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. But Ahaz refused to test God, and God, perhaps a bit disappointed, gave him a sign anyway. God didn’t want to waste his good idea. God had Isaiah say, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”

“What kind of sign is that? How will a baby save us?” I can hear Ahaz asking. Immanuel: God is with us. An amazing understated sign for a troubled nation. Indeed, Isaiah 9 seems to indicate that the people soon celebrated the child’s birth. Later, Christians incorporated this Hebrew story: the young woman, the virgin, became Mary, and the child became Jesus the Messiah, God’s anointed one.

2. Immanuel, God with us. This is incarnation: the endowment with a human body. Hinduism has a similar concept. Vishnu incarnates himself many times over and through many things to save the universe. Even animals are filled with his presence. In Buddhism, boddhisattvas refrain from entering Nirvana, choosing instead to remain in the temporal world in order to spread enlightenment to all sentient beings, a task not unlike Christ’s. I bring these up not to diminish the Christian message but to bring perspective to it. When we set Christianity in a continuum and realize that there are similar concepts in other religions, hopefully we can see our ancient beliefs in new ways.

Incarnational theology is not what is driving current, mainstream, Western, nationalistic, pietist (place your own adjective here) Christianity. This theology, this incantational ¹ theology, is opposed to incarnational theology at several points. Incantational theology is based on the individual below and God above. Dial your phone and hope God answers. Incarnational theology is based on the community of Christ all around us. It sees the Light in all and seeks to nurture relationships that will brighten the Light. Incantational theology hinges on the right prayers, phrases, songs, or sentences to make the right things happen. Incarnational theology, on the other hand, is based on prayerful action. Our witness is to be the incarnated Christ at work among us. For John, and then later Jesus, salvation was a physical reality. John the Baptist said to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). He urged his followers to not rely on tradition for salvation ² . Incantational theology is upward looking, waiting for the Lord’s return. Incarnational theology says, “The Lord is here among us. Let’s live that way!” Human flesh is valued. Lastly, incantational theology seems to be based on fear, while incarnational theology is based on freedom, God’s answer to fear. ³

3. God’s answer to fear: “Surely God is my salvation;/I will trust, and will not be afraid,/for the LORD God is my strength and/my might;/he has become my salvation.” We, through Jesus, are set free to be little incarnations, to be sons and daughters of God (like Jesus), to serve as John suggests, to do as Jesus did.

Think on this: Jesus said, “That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you.” (Thomas, saying 70).

1. I base Incantational theology on the definition of incantation: the chanting of magical words or formulas that are supposed to cast a spell or perform other magic.
   
2. This, indeed, was a very common theme among the Hebrew prophets: see Isaiah 58 and Amos 5:18-27.
   
3. The whole book of Revelation, which is used, paradoxically, by many Christians to put the fear of God into one’s heart is, in actuality, a comfort letter from John to the persecuted church during Nero’s reign. It is realized eschatology: God is among you, God has won, have no fear.