Sunday after Theophany 2023

the illumination, the showing forth of the Father,

Son, Holy Spirit, the sanctification of the waters.

Such a time of joy for us in the church, for

the message that is given to us is to encourage

us. I'm really also very happy that the weather,

it is sunny, and the weather... cleared for today,

because if it was like last night, it would be

too treacherous to drive on the way to church.

So many of you are here today, and I'm so happy

to see you. This gospel takes, that you heard,

this takes place, St. Matthew describes what

happened after Jesus was baptized. So, it wasn't

so long ago we celebrated Christmas. Twelve days

later, we have the Feast of Theophany. Fresco's

right up there. Jesus comes to the Jordan where

John is baptizing. And Jesus is baptized and

he hears the voice of the Father saying, this

is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And the Spirit alights upon him. And then Jesus

goes out into the wilderness and he is tempted.

You know the story of the temptations of Christ.

And angels minister to him. There's a lesson

there for us, too. When we're tempted, we call

upon the name of God. We don't negotiate with

the devil. Christ could speak to Satan, who was

quoting scripture to him, by the way. But Christ

didn't give in to any of that. And when we're

tempted, we also call upon the name of the Lord.

And angels, yes, angels minister to us. trouble.

And then Jesus comes, it says in Matthew, to

the land of Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee of the

Gentiles, those who were in darkness. They didn't

have the message of the Jewish law. They were

pagans. They were idol worshippers. And Jesus

goes there, to that place. St. Matthew quotes

the Old Testament, that Jesus came to the place

of darkness and death and a light has sprung

up. Since Christmas, think about it. We hear

over and over again illumination, God's light,

God's understanding imparted to us. Thy nativity,

O Christ our God, has shown to the world the

light of wisdom, shown to the world. And one

of the prayers at the baptism says, God illumines

every single person that comes into the world.

The light shines on that person. Not all people

open their eyes. And some of us are stuck in

sin. So our gaze is down in the mud. And then

the Feast of Theophany. Thou hast come, O light

unapproachable. Thy light has shone upon us.

How do we, brothers and sisters, then, how do

we understand this? We seem so troubled all the

time. We need to turn our gaze to the light.

And that means to do what Jesus has said. Which

is very simple. He says, as soon as he comes

to this land of darkness, he says, what's his

first words? What's his first sermon? Concise,

brief, to the point. No extra. Like what I do.

He says, repent. Turn. Go a different direction.

Follow me. Repent. For the kingdom of heaven

is at hand. He's the kingdom of heaven. Jesus

is the kingdom of heaven. He's there. Repent

of what? For us, repenting of believing that

the kingdom of heaven is not at hand. Repenting

of thinking that, well, that was then. You hear

this gospel today because it's for us that when

the gospel comes out of the altar, This is Christ

for us. He's speaking to you personally, to me

personally, here and now. Repent, for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand. So I have a few things

I want to share with you today about how to repent.

It's not the usual thing, like I usually say.

Do this, do that, and do the other thing. No,

I want you to think about the baptism we just

had. And in particular, I want you to think about

three things in the baptism and one thing that

we heard in the epistle. The first thing, when

someone sees the light of Christ, even dimly,

what they also see... Is that the darkness around

them has started to disperse. But that there

is darkness and they were in it. St. Paul says

sometimes you were in darkness but now you're

in light. So live as children of the light. But

the darkness is there and we cannot forget it.

Because God loves this world to save it from

that. He sends his light to every single person.

So what happens with the catechumens? They stand

at the door and they face the west, the place

where the sun goes down. Spiritual darkness,

that's the symbol. And they're asked two questions,

but three times each. Do you renounce Satan,

all his works, all his angels, all his service,

and all his pride? And they say, I renounce him.

And we say it three times because this is something

that we continually say as we go on our way to

renounce the darkness and to affirm the light.

We cannot fight the darkness. Only God can because

he brings the light into the dark room and what

happens? Darkness goes. And then the catechumens

turn around after they spit upon the devil. They

spit. After saying, I renounce the devil. They

don't say, you, oh devil. I renounce the devil.

They speak because they're not going to talk

to him. And then they turn their back on him

to show that only Christ can fight this evil.

And then they're asked this question. Do you

unite yourself to Christ? And they say, I unite

myself to Christ. Again, three times. This is

to show us, brothers and sisters, that it doesn't

matter if you were baptized as an infant, as

I was, or you were baptized today, as these two

wonderful, blessed people were. We continually

remember this act, that the world is not the

paradise that God has intended it to be yet.

But he will come. He shall not tarry. And then

the next thing, to give us... strength to give

us understanding about the light coming. We come

into the church and we begin to bless the water.

And we say these amazing words, which you heard

for the water blessing the other day and you

heard today. Bringing to our mind God's mighty

works, his love for us, his care for us. Great

art thou, Lord. and marvelous are thy works,

and there is no word which suffices to him thy

wonders. Thank you. Do we say it once? No, of

course not. Have you ever seen the bumper sticker?

If you're Orthodox, honk 40 times. We say it

three times. Great art thou, O Lord, and marvelous

are thy works, and there is no word which suffices

to him thy wonders. We then go on. to speak about

how God has formed the world, how the sun and

the moon worship him. They call out to him. The

psalm itself says, Thy words have gone forth

into all the earth and the words to the ends

of the universe. This is the stars and the sun,

the moon, the universe, singing God's praises,

manifesting that he is the creator. And he doesn't

have to fight anyone for the creation. It's his.

And we remind ourselves and then we remind the

devil too that he has no power even over pigs.

That's pretty low. So we don't give him that

power. And then to remember again, it's about

illumination. That we are to live in the light

of God. To rejoice in the light of God. To yearn

for more of it so that the darkness in us is

dispersed. And by the way, let me go back a minute.

When we say we renounce the devil, all his works,

all his angels, all his service, and all his

pride, we don't also say, and I also renounce

all these other people and this political party

and these people I don't like and the people

that kind of humiliated me. No, that's not the

enemy. The evil one is the one searching for

destruction of us because God loves us so much.

The other people, the Lord himself says, not

only do unto others as you would have them do

unto you, but he says a couple of verses later,

love your enemy. We can only love our enemy because

they are not our enemy, even if they make us

theirs. Because they also have the image of God

in them. It's a very tough lesson. So, back to

the Enlightenment. We say this prayer. O Master,

be pleased that the light of thy face may shine

in their hearts forever. Do we feel that way

very much? Keep the shield of their faith unbroken

by enemies. Preserve for them the garment that

they have put on, this white garment, which tells

us that they are now equal to the martyrs who

are on the throne of God, which we read about

in the book of Revelation. Preserve that garment

of incorruption, pure and undefiled. Brothers

and sisters, we have this great grace of baptism,

which is not a reminder. But it's a power within

us of the Holy Spirit to live forever in the

light of Christ. Yes, we renounce the darkness.

Yes, we renounce the works of the demons and

the angels and their service and their pride.

And finally, if we're actually going to live

in the light of God. Remember the chaparion of

Christmas, thy nativity, O Christ our God, has

shone upon the world, the light of wisdom. If

we're going to live in that light, then we do

what St. Paul said to do. He reminds us today

in that epistle from Ephesians, every person

that has been baptized and chrismated has received

grace, that is, the Holy Spirit, according to

the measure of the gift of Christ. What does

that mean? It means how much we make ourselves

open to receive that gift of Christ. How much

we prepare ourselves to be carriers of that gift,

that grace of the gift of Christ. That's what

it means. Because in the church, the Lord has

given us everything we need. Brothers and sisters,

I greet you again on these bright days, these

days of illumination. and understanding of God's

glory and wish and pray that the light of God

shines in your hearts forevermore too. Amen.