4th Sunday After Pentecost-- St. Paul's Reflections on Servitude to God

Slaves of righteousness

Brothers and sisters in Christ—

Today, in the Epistle reading, the Holy Apostle Paul uses the terms “slaves of righteousness” and “slaves of impurity and sin.” These terms, for Paul, refer to the state of those to whom he is speaking after they came to Christ, and before they came to Christ.  According to Paul, acceptance of Christ has converted “slaves of impurity and sin” into “slaves of righteousness.”

Slaves and slavery vs. the ideal of freedom

     The words “slave” and “slavery” are difficult words for us, who believe that we live as free men.  In Western culture, the ideal of freedom has always been exalted from time immemorial.  The Greeks and Romans considered themselves to be “free men” in contrast to the barbarian peoples, who lived all around them, who were ruled by tyrants, without the benefit of the protection of written law that was applied to all equally.  The Greeks, specifically the Athenians, invented the concept of dimokratía (democracy—the system in which the people [dimos]  rule themselves), and the Romans invented the similar, but less cumbersome idea of the res publica (the Republic—the people’s common concern or endeavour—in which the elected magistrates ruled in the people’s name and by their authority).  On account of their possession of these concepts, the Greeks and Romans felt that even the lowest of citizens outranked the tyrant-kings, who ruled the barbarian lands, because every citizen had the benefit of the rights guaranteed to him by law, whereas the barbarians were ruled by the whims of their tyrants.  This contrast has been shown very dramatically many, many times in the history of the West. For example, in 138 B.C., the simple citizen Lucius Cornelius Sulla was sent by the Republic to negotiate the peace treaty between King Mithridates of Pontus and King Tiridates of Armenia.  During the negotiations, the kings were bejeweled in costly gold crowns and robes.  They carried and scepters and sat on expensive cushions.  But the Roman citizen, wearing only the plain, white tunic, overlaid with the white toga (the symbol of his citizenship) was seated on a dais above the kings, presiding over them with authority. In a similar way, we also have the account of the Roman commanders in Gaul, under Julius Caesar, Sabinus and Cotta, who refused to negotiate peace with an armed enemy.  The enemy had to lay down their arms, first; then terms of peace could be discussed, but to negotiate peace before the enemy laid down their arms was beneath the dignity of free people. 

     Among the barbarians, even the tyrants lived in fear of their lives, fearing even the members of their own families, because, finally and ultimately, they had no more rights or protections than their people had, but only a strength that gave them temporary power, which eventually waned.  All of this fear was the result of the fact that the barbarian societies were without the benefit of law, and their inhabitants suffered without the protections it afforded. 

What is essential to freedom? Choice—freedom to make choices

      The point of all of this is that freedom is very important for us in Western culture, a freedom that is based in law applied equally to all the members of society.  Thus, we believe that as free people we are entitled to make our own choices and determinations regarding the direction and conduct of our life.  What is essential to freedom is choice, and the degree of freedom is measured by the extent to which this essential element is exercised.    

A different kind of freedom: Freedom from choice—the ability to live according to our Original Nature

     At the same time, however, we are also aware that as religious people we mean something quite different when we say “freedom.”  Consequently, we also mean something different when we say “slavery.”  The goal of our political, social and even economic life is to maximize our freedom by exerting our right to choose this over that.  The emphasis is constantly on “freedom of choice,” because making a choice is the essence of self-determination. Yet, in our Christian life, freedom of choice is not our aim at all.  What we seek as the foremost good is “freedom from choice.” After all, we believe that God is the fullness of Good.  Once we possess Him in Heaven, there will be no choices.  How could it make sense to choose one good over another when we are in possession of the Ultimate Good? Of course, it makes no sense at all.  In Heaven, we will love God voluntarily (that is, with our wills), but not freely.  If God were to reveal Himself to us openly and clearly (simply appear in the sky, perhaps), we would have no choice but to love Him.  No, God has to conceal Himself from us in order to preserve our freedom.  We have to know Him by faith first, so that we can choose to freely love Him, before we know Him by experience. 

     It is the greatest theologian of our Church, St. Maximus the Confessor, who gives us the insight that our continued need to make choices is evidence of our imperfection, for the greater the perfection of a person, the more he or she acts naturally according to the Will of God.  Only the imperfect are subject to deliberation (should I choose this or that?).  Thus, in a religious sense, slavery to impurity and sin is slavery to deliberation.  Slavery to righteousness is the extinction of deliberation.  It is the state in which we naturally and lovingly act according to the Will of God. 

     How do we get from here to there? How do we move from slavery to deliberation to the freedom of constantly and infallibly following the Will of God?  By following Christ.  We will make this transition naturally if we conduct ourselves after the manner that He lived. The first step to following Christ is to voluntarily limit our choices by means of self-denial.  This is what Christ refers to, when He says: “Come follow me, all you who are heavy-laden and I will refresh you.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The “rest” which he refers to is not from self-indulgence, but self-denial.  In this, the Lord is building on human nature, as He always does.  He never contradicts the nature that He Himself created.  Simply from a natural point of view, we know that satiety makes us nasty, proud, and self-righteous.  Want, which is freely embraced, makes us generous, loving and compassionate. 

    In Paul’s terms, a “slave of righteousness” is one who is truly free, but not free to choose.  No, such a person is free from choice, so that he or she acts naturally according to his or her God-given nature.  Freedom from choice is built in us through our determination to follow Christ, to act as He did, and freely limit our choices in self-denial. “He Who would follow me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow in My footsteps.”