Feast of the Annunciation

I shall always recognise you
By the dreadful sword you hold,
As the earth, with searching vision,
You survey, with spirit bold.
'Twas the Greeks of old whose dying
Brought to birth our spirit free.
Now, with ancient valour rising,
Let us hail you, oh Liberty!

(http://www.nationalanthems.info/gr.htm)

The Orthodox Church celebrates today the feast of the Annunciation, the event in which the Archangel Gabriel announces to the ever-virgin Mary that she would bear a son who would save his people and in which by the grace of the Holy Spirit the Lord was conceived in human flesh. The Greek nation also celebrates its declaration of independence, the beginning of the revolution against its Turkish overlords. I read to you the first verse of the Greek national anthem, taken from a poem written by Dionysios Solomos titled “Hymn to Liberty (or Freedom).” 

I am always touched by the verse that says, "Ap' ta kokkala vgalmeni ton Ellinon ta iera,", loosely translated as, “'Twas the Greeks of old whose dying brought to birth our spirit free.” Freedom for Greece, as well as freedom for the United States or any other nation, always comes at a price. We have slogans to express this, such as “Freedom is never free,” or “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” (Thomas Jefferson), but I think that we often forget. And so when I hear, "Ap' ta kokkala vgalmeni ton Ellinon ta iera," it vividly reminds me of the price paid by others for my freedom.

Christianity has a core belief that people were created to be free. The Lord once said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). St. Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1), and again, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free” (Galatians 5:13). St. Irenaeus, a 2nd century bishop, wrote, “God made man… free from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God” (Against Heresies, Book IV, Chapter XXXVII). St. John Chrysostom said, “Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumbling of others by force…we are considering it as necessary to make a man better not by force but by persuasion” (On the Priesthood, II.2).

We believe in the principle of freedom, but the reality is always complicated. The freedom of Greece, which we so joyously celebrate today, where is it? Is it not limited by the precarious financial situation that has overtaken the country? Christianity also acknowledges this complexity. When St. Paul penned the words, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery,” he was cautioning the Christian community to not let it be subjected to Jewish Law. But Christianity has always recognized a greater danger, a more vicious enslavement, which is bondage to sin.

Galatians 5:13 says, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” St. John’s gospel (8:31-34) includes the following: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’”

A few months ago I heard a clergyman with a weight problem say, “I like me the way I am. Do not go out and buy me a gym membership.” On a certain level I understand this. We are commanded to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, meaning that we have to love ourselves and respect ourselves. But on the other hand, is this attitude, “Don’t ask me to change,” not a form of slavery to sin? We could list all the addictions- drugs, alcohol, Internet porn, etc. - and obviously we see them as forms of slavery to sin. But are we not also slaves to sin when we hold grudges, waste time on useless matters, or neglect to do good?

Ultimately Christian freedom is really limited to our ability to choose between good and evil, between holy and unholy, between love and indifference. One of my favorite quotes comes to us from St. Gregory of Nyssa: “Human life is on the border of good and evil” (Catechetical Oration, v. 10, quoted in St. Gregory of Nyssa: On the Human Soul, John Cavarnos, p. 85). I infer from this that every day we have the opportunity to make choices. We live on the border of good and evil; we choose one way or the other.

Today we honor the feast of the Annunciation. The Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her this incredible story of how she would bear a child who would not be Joseph’s and who would save his people. Remember that she was already engaged to be married. Our tradition holds that her parents were now deceased, so the people immediately charged with her care were no longer living. She needed Joseph’s protection, financial support, and home. She might have said, “This sounds good, but can’t you find someone else?” But instead she said, “I am the Lord’s servant; let it be as you have said.” She freely accepted God’s will for her. In doing so she becomes the example for all humanity of sacred obedience.  

“Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves” (1 Peter 2:16). The late Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos, who served this area in the 1970’s, used to say that Christian freedom was really the choice to choose who your master will be (meaning God or the devil).

And so today, whether we sing as the Americans do, “Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring,” or whether we hymn freedom in the words of the Greeks,

'Twas the Greeks of old whose dying
Brought to birth our spirit free.
Now, with ancient valour rising,
Let us hail you, oh Liberty!

We owe it to ourselves to devote our liberty to serving God, so that we may live into eternity in His Kingdom.