"A New Theology for a New Age."
Fr. George Wertin
Sunday, July 13th/14th, 2002

As George Gershwin song puts it so wonderfully: “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.” It’s a time to be laid back. It’s vacation time. But it’s also a time for reflection. Today I’d like to gather up some of the basic themes that reflect the evolving theology of St. Joan of Arc and weave them together. You might call it an overview or a synthesis of the concepts that drive our worship and ministries.

Let me begin by reminding you that we live in a time of transitions. The rate of change is changing-rapidly. It’s happening in health care, technology, transportation-and also in the arena of theology. Here at St. Joan of Arc we challenge each other to develop a new theology for a new age. I want to take a tour of some of the old theological concepts that we need to let go of-that’s the easy part. But it’s more challenging to identify and name the new building blocks that give meaning and purpose to our lives as Christians.

When I was a kid I spent most of my summers at Lake Sallie with my cousins. We spent all day every day in the water or on the beach-that is, all day except for the hour after lunch when my Mother and Auntie Do insisted we couldn’t go in the water for fear we would get a cramp and drown! Much to my amazement I read a notice from the Red Cross a few years ago stating that its previous policy about not swimming after eating had been demonstrated to be wrong! Think of all the hours of pleasure I was denied! Yet the Red Cross and my Mother were doing what they thought was responsible. We have to let go when something becomes obsolete.

Let me begin. First of all, we have to let go of the obsolete ancient worldview that still pervades our thinking. It’s that tired view of a three-tiered universe that is still dominates our theological imagination. God is in his heavens. We are struggling in this vale of tears to ultimately join God up there or be condemned to hell down there. God is viewed as the all-powerful authority who intervenes in history periodically.

The new worldview views the spiritual and material and two dimensions of the same reality. God is no longer up there, but within us and all creation. As the poet says, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” In other words, everything is in God and God is in everything.

Second, we need to let go of fall/redemption theology. It’s the one we were all raised in. We human beings were all born into this world as sinners because of the sin of Adam. Therefore, we are preoccupied with sin, guilt, sacrifice and forgiveness. We become totally fixated on the hereafter and our personal salvation.

How refreshing to embrace a creation-centered spirituality. We start with original goodness, original blessing. We are co-creators with God. We yearn to celebrate life and discover God and goodness in our life experiences. Sure, we sometimes lose our perspective and succumb to ‘the powers that be.’ But we know that we have the resources to transform this world, rather than the need to escape this world.

Inevitably, we have learned that the traditional interpretation of the Genesis account of creation is obsolete. It is based on the vision of a flat earth, seven days of creation and human beings as the sole purpose of creation.

What we need is a new cosmology or understanding of the way the world works. We need a new paradigm based on a contemporary worldview. It views this world as evolving over 13 billion years. God is the divine energy that enlivens the whole process. The earth is a living organism, not just a mine pit and garbage dump for us to use for our own selfish concerns. The real original sin is our alienation or detachment from our evolving world. We have to recognize that the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth. We have to embrace an eco-spirituality: we can become whole again only by reclaiming our connections with the universe-especially our own planet earth.

Next, we have to examine our Christology-our understanding of who Jesus is for us. We have to examine whether the high Christology that starts with Jesus as God is appropriate.. According to high Christology God sent Jesus, his Son, to redeem us by the sacrifice of the cross because our sin cannot be expiated except by this supreme act of sacrifice. We achieve salvation by accepting Jesus our redeemer.

Perhaps we have to embrace a low Christology. We must begin by identifying Jesus as a human being. He proclaims the Kingdom of God and invites us to be his followers. By embracing his humanity Jesus is transformed by God’s spirit and actualizes the divine in the world. Jesus begins the transformation of this world, not through redemptive violence, but through healing, acceptance and compassion.

Finally we have to let go of the domination model of human relationship. The domination model is the dominant model in most of human history. It is based on patriarchy, hierarchy, wealth, power and control and the use of violence to achieve good ends.

It must be replaced by the partnership model. Jesus calls it the reign of God. Here at St. Joan of Arc we call it collaborative ministry. It is based on mutuality and compassion. It is reflected in the invitation to all to come and share at the same banquet table regardless of differences.

I am grateful to the people of St. Joan of Arc for being open and thinking critically about traditional concepts. You are willing to explore how Christianity has to change for a new age. You see that we have to replace the old lenses through which we interpret the world around us.

All of these are ideas that shape our thinking: letting go of the ancient three-tiered world view and replacing it with one that integrates the material and spiritual, letting go of fall/redemption theology for a creation-centered theology, giving up the Genesis account of creation for the evolutionary model presented by modern science, beginning with a low Christology instead of a high Christology, and letting go of the domination model of relating for the partnership model of relationships. These all lead to a new spirituality that is not based on rules and obedience, but on growth, wholeness and transformation of the world. But that’s the foundation for another homily...