January 1, 2010 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Numbers 6: 22-27 + Psalm 67 + Galatians 4: 4-7 + Luke 2: 16-21
It is the year 431. The Bishop of Constantinople has been preaching about Christ saying that “a baby of two or three months old ought not be called God.” He is not the first to think this, but he is the most credible and as Bishop of Constantinople, the most important person to say it. He is on good terms with the Emperor and feels safe. There are objections to his opinion about this matter, and before long word gets to Celestine who is Bishop of Rome that the divinity of the Christ is being challenged by the Bishop of Constantinople, and so there is trouble coming.
Not far away is Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria who hears of this teaching and begins to respond and correct this challenge to the expression of faith that has been tradition since a Council in Nicea a hundred years earlier formulated a Creed which said: “The Word became Flesh”. Celestine in Rome and Cyril in Alexandria united in their efforts to correct this man named, Nestorius who was the Bishop of Constantinople. At their urging the Emperor ordered a Council of all Bishops to convene probably thinking that they would work it out and it would be a safe way for Nestorius to be heard with the protection of his favor. I doubt personally that the Emperor had much interest in such theological issues. He just did not want the Christian Churches fighting one another. No unity. No peace.
The history of this Council makes interesting reading from the point of view of human behavior, power politics, manipulation, and passion. Why they met at Ephesus is a good question except that it was “neutral ground” fairly accessible by land or by sea, and there was room in a great basilica. Now remember it was the year 431 so there was no convention center with grand hotels. Travel from any of the great centers of faith and civilization was a matter of months, not days. They were to convene after the celebrations of Easter and Pentecost, so it was summer time, late June to be exact, and Ephesus is in southern Turkey. Think hot! Think dry! Think formal ecclesiastic garments, add in great passion and determination, and then think: “Get me out of here.”
Cyril came with 50 other Bishops. Nestorius came with 16. The Bishop of Rome stayed home probably because it wasn’t safe to travel but sent delegates. Since he was not present, Cyril presided so Nestorius was mad and would not attend. He had a number of important supporters like the Bishop of Antioch, but they stayed away and kept sending messages asking to delay the start of the Council till they could get there; but those who were there, hot and miserable got tired of waiting. Cyril drafted a letter to Nestorius outlining his errors and asking him to clear things up and stay in unity. Nestorius refused. The Bishop of Rome joined in the persuasion, and Nestorius still refused forcing the Council to declare him a heretic and out of communion. The real and important consequence of all this is what we celebrate today: an affirmation of the unique divinity of Christ that preserved the human nature totally, entirely, from the moment of conception.
I tell you this story and share this history today partly because we’ve had a long two weeks of celebrations and festivities around Christmas and New Years, and partly because a lot of people mistakenly think this is a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While in English it may use her name, this is really the first feast of Christ the Son of God. It is a day for us to profess our faith in common, and affirm that Christ is God, and that the Word is made flesh.
Every age has struggled in one way or another with distortions and exaggerations or even outright error when it comes to naming and relating to Jesus Christ. In our time, it is the opposite of Nestorianism. Instead of exaggerating the human at the cost of the divine, we seem to toy around with the other side exaggerating the divine at the cost of the very real and very human man, Jesus Christ. We distance ourselves from him. We use his divinity as an excuse for not imitating him or believing that we can do what he asked of us.
It is the Incarnation that we celebrate today and in doing so we affirm that our God has come among us and shared every experience, every moment, every joy, and every pain of human life from conception to death. We are chosen by God in this way to share in Divine life just as God chose to share in human life. This is redemption! It is a new creation! It must leave us with hope in the face of every challenge and tragedy: hope that God is with us, and in His Son, he shows us how to live through every human experience. There is no human experience that Jesus Christ did not face and resolve with his experience and his teaching from the death of a child to a run away greedy son; from betrayal by closest friends to misunderstanding and slander; from being used by friends for their own advancement to the injustice of a death sentence; from the death of friends like Lazarus to the jealousy of his peers. He did it all and so can we is what God says to us in Christ because God is with us, God is for us, and God is within us. Calling Mary, the “Mother of God” is an affirmation of the nature of Jesus as “Son of God.” While it names her and honors her role, this day is about Jesus Christ, and this day is about us and how we shall live in the year 2010 as God’s chosen people. It is reason enough to believe, to hope, and to wish each other a Happy New Year.