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.