On the Great Feast of the Theophany
For the grace of God which bringeth salvation appeared to all men, instructing us that, after we deny impiety and worldly lusts, we should live in the present age soberly and righteously and piously, waiting for the happy hope and appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us, in order that He might ransom us for Himself from all lawlessness and might purify to Himself a people for a private possession, zealous of good works.
-The Epistle of St. Paul to Titus, 2: 11-14
Dear Friends and Brethren,
These words of St. Paul, which we read on the Great Feast of the Theophany, teach us what we received when Christ was born and baptized, and what we can receive today, as we celebrate the Great Feasts of the Nativity of Christ and of His Baptism, the Theophany or “Illumination.”
Theophany is called the “ Illumination” not because Jesus was illumined at His Baptism; He needed no enlightenment, being both True God and the New Adam, perfect in His Divinity and sinless in His Humanity. Rather, at the Baptism of Christ, the uncreated light of the All-Holy Trinity illumined all of creation, not in a poetic or metaphorical sense, but in fact. We sing about this in the dismissal troparion (apolytikion) of the Theophany:
“When Thou wast baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest, for the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee, calling Thee the beloved Son, and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the certainty of the word. O Christ, our God, who hast appeared and hast enlightened the world, glory be to Thee!”
When we sing, “the worship of the Trinity was made manifest,” we do not mean that specific psalms or hymns were composed at that time, that a system of worship was elaborated, but rather that the uncreated energies of the Godhead illumined the entire creation - both the rational (angels and men) and non-rational (nature) with the knowledge of the reality of the true God, the Holy Trinity. This knowledge is not a set of ideas (for non-rational creation could not receive ideas, nor can men be saved by ideas), but living communion with, actual reception of, the uncreated energies of the Trinity, bringing with it the capacity to worship God as He requires to be worshipped, according to the abilities and station of each rank: angels, men, beasts, plants, and the entire cosmos of animate and inanimate creatures.
Since all of creation rejoices in the Birth and Epiphany of Jesus, why do we often feel left out, empty, desolate, joyless? How can we, who received this power of God in our own Baptism, activate it in our own souls? This requires two steps: First, we must, in St. Paul’s words, put away all impiety and worldly lusts. If we live primarily for this world, if we keep indulging our passions and desires, we cannot know God or receive His presence - there are no ifs, ands, or buts about this, regardless of what the world says. And after this first step of renouncing our sins and passions, and dedicating ourselves to our salvation, we must then apply ourselves to the mental and spiritual task of becoming holy, through examination of conscience, receiving the Holy Mysteries, and the daily and ongoing cleansing of heart and forgiveness of sins which is received through the constant repetition of the Name of Jesus, the Name above every other Name. Let us turn to St. Paul again, this time in the reading we will hear on the Lord’s Nativity (Galatians 4:4-7) -
...when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive what is our due, the adoption as sons. But because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,“ Abba, Father.” So that no longer art thou a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.”
Christians, then, must first begin to serve God by putting away all sins and lusts, but must then rise to a higher level, at which we actually cling to God continually with the spontaneous feeling with which a child clings fiercely to his own parents. This is not accomplished through emotional “conversion experiences,” or “getting a high” from manipulating our psyches as do the various feel-good Protestant sects who employ primitive rock music and clever media and preaching techniques to engineer delusive psychological states. Rather, it requires the quiet, genuine, and hidden transformation at the core of our being which is accomplished through
- Daily examination of the conscience and constant repentance for sins whether great or small.
- Ever-increasing physical and mental efforts - i.e., fasting, prayer, and acts of charity -to prepare for and to receive the Awesome Mystery of Divine Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ.
- The daily application of our tongues and minds to the difficult task of both formal prayer at set times and as-continuous-as-possible repetition of tne Name of Jesus at all times: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
WITHOUT these, there is no salvation, regardless of how “good” a nominal, world-loving Christian thinks himself to be, or how “saved” a so-called “born-again” or “Bible” Christian imagines himself to be. WITH these, there is born in our heart the constantly growing certainty of the presence of Christ, the unique and unmistakable other-worldly calmness of true hope in our salvation, and the invincible ability to overcome all sins and obstacles each day for the rest of our lives.
We have already received the greatest Christmas present of all, the Incarnate God. Let us return to Him the gold, frankincense, and myrrh of the daily labors of our entire being to unite with Him in spirit and in truth.
On behalf of our entire parish, I greet you with the joy of the Holy Nativity and Divine Theophany. May the year of Our Lord 2004 bring you every earthly and spiritual blessing!