2024/01/07 Osaka Church
Christ is born!
The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary. The angel told her, “Rejoice, blessed woman,” and that she would become the mother of the Son of God. But the angel did not come to command Mary’s obedience to God’s will, nor did he come to “announce” a “decision” that God had already made. This event is commonly referred to as the “Annunciation,” but in reality, God was “proposing” her to give her “consent” to the blessed and joyful news. Therefore, the Orthodox Church in Japan avoids using the word “announcement” and calls this event the “Gospel for the Theotokos.” God asked the human being which he had created for consent! That’s astonishing! The angel Gabriel left her only after confirming Mary’s response: “Let it be to me according to your word.” We must not forget this.
God waited. Meanwhile, she was “thinking about it” and wondering, “Why, when I don’t have a husband yet.” The angel left it up to Mary’s “freedom” to accept God’s offer. God is prepared for the fact that he may be rejected.
This consent of Mary made her the Theotokos, the Mother of God, and welcomed the Savior into the world. This is the nod of agreement that started this world’s salvation.
What this signifies is that we are all treated as free by God, and like Mary, we are all called to consent to God’s will. God does not demand obedience from us. He also does not manipulate us to do what He wants, much less He does not predetermine our thoughts and actions and program them to be a particular way. Because He loves each of us as unique individuals. He respects each of us and always makes offers. Despite all that we actually do in this world, God does not strike us or punish us. God will not threaten you with penalties. Knowing that He might be disobeyed, God, who is supposed to be “almighty,” gave up His “omnipotence” out of love for us. The Byzantine theologian St Cabasilas calls this the “mania of God’s love.”
We celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to honor the “mania” of His love which continues to call us to His love by setting us free… It’s not an exaggeration to say so.
Cabasilas describes the mania like this: “God has expressed His love to us, but He is rejected and waiting at the door. What He is waiting for and demanding in return for all the good works He has done for us is only love.”
Humans are truly pitiful beings, but there are some who are far more worthy of pity than humans. A Christian is someone who knows this. That merciful being is God, who stands at the door of people’s hearts and continues to beg for love. The holy Apostle John heard God’s sentiment as follows.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them.”(Rev 3:20) We Christians have finally opened the door and let God into us. The joy of Christ, God, who shares himself with us as the food of Life in the “meal” of our Divine Liturgy, is our joy, and that joy is the joy of our salvation.
Christ is born!