Epistle to St. Titus
2:11-14, 3:4-7
Gospel According
to St. Matthew 3:13-17
Today is the Feast of Epiphany, when
we celebrate our Lord’s baptism in the river Jordan by St. John the
Forerunner. Another name for the feast
is Theophany, for it is shown—it is revealed at Jesus Christ’s baptism—that He
is the Son of God. Indeed, the Holy
Trinity is revealed at His baptism, for the Father says, “This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the
form of a dove.
The meaning of the Feast of Christmas
is fulfilled at Theophany, for now it is made clear that the One born in
Bethlehem is truly God, come to restore our fallen nature and to renew the
entire creation by uniting humanity with divinity in Himself. And even as the Son of God entered our world
at His birth, He now enters the flowing water of a river in order to make it
holy, in order to bring His blessing and fulfillment upon the world that He
created. For the entire creation was
subjected to futility because of the rebellion of our first parents. As St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “the whole
creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” for it also
“will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. “
The good news of the gospel is that
the Creator has become part of the creation in order to make it a new heaven
and a new earth. We see at Theophany
that nothing is intrinsically profane or cut off from the blessing and holiness
of God. All things, physical and
spiritual, visible and invisible, are called to participate in the divine glory
that our Lord has brought to the world, to become part of the new heaven and
earth of God’s kingdom. Christ’s
baptism demonstrates that we, too, are saved along with the rest of the creation,
for it is through the water that we share in His life. “As many of you as have been baptized into
Christ, have put on Christ.” In baptism,
we receive the garment of light that Adam and Eve lost when they distorted
themselves and the entire creation with sin and death. The incarnate Son of God sanctified our flesh
and blood at His birth, and at His baptism He sanctifies the water through which
our vocation as those created in the divine image and likeness is fulfilled.
I know that sometimes we are tempted to forget
that human beings are also part of the creation, that we also are dependent
upon the light of the sun, the fruits of the earth, and the air that we
breathe. God created Adam from the dust
of the earth; yes, our bodies are made of the same stuff as all life forms on
our planet. That’s a humbling reminder
that God sustains our life together with that of all His other creatures, but
it shouldn’t surprise us. Have you ever noticed how God uses the basic physical
substances life, such as water, wine, bread, and oil to bring us into His
life? Whether it’s the smell of incense,
the beauty of icons, or the very existence of a church building, we are
surrounded by created blessings that enable us to worship the Lord. That shouldn’t be surprising, for He is the
source of all things, including our hearts, souls, and minds. If we forget that we are His creatures in the
midst of His good creation, we won’t be able to worship or serve Him at all.
Unfortunately, it’s a common human
temptation to forget what it means to worship God. It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking
that the world revolves around us and that the limitations and problems
experienced by others somehow do not—or at least, should not-- apply to
us. But then reality slaps us in the
face: the loss of a loved one, sickness,
unemployment, a broken relationship, or even bad weather remind us quickly that
we are subject to the difficulties that inevitably accompany life in our
corrupt world.
At the Feast of Epiphany, we are
reminded, however, that these challenges do not separate us from God, for they
do not remove us from His blessed creation or destroy our ability to share in
His life. Jesus Christ entered fully
into the world as know it. He made holy
every dimension of our life, including suffering and pain, from the womb to the
tomb. No part of the creation, and no
dimension of our existence, can separate us from His presence, from His
blessing, from His steadfast love. He
has conquered even death on our behalf.
But for us to receive this good news
requires a kind of death on our part also.
For we must die to the illusion that we are somehow not part of the
creation—in other words, to the illusion that we are God. We must die to the idolatry of self that
leads us to worship false idols such as pride, greed, and lust. That’s the same selfish idolatry that leads
us to pollute and destroy natural resources as though they belonged to us and
not ultimately to the Lord. We must die
to our tendency to be a curse, not a blessing, to the rest of God’s good
creation, including our fellow humans and the natural world. Unfortunately, we rarely recognize the
sacredness of the creation, of other people, or even of ourselves. Instead of offering our blessings to the
Lord, we often just want to be left alone to go on with life on our terms. So we
don’t want to be inconvenienced by meeting the needs of the poor and lonely, or
forgiving those who have offended us, or even taking the time to reduce the
amount of pollution that we produce by simple steps like recycling or
composting.
But we are reminded at Theophany
that life on our own terms isn’t really life at all. For when we are baptized into Christ, we are
baptized into His death. We die with
Christ to sin and all its corruptions so that we will rise with Him in newness
of life, so that we will be clothed in a garment of light and participate fully
in His victory over sin and death. For
the blessed life that our Lord has brought to the world is not just the
continuation of what’s become comfortable and familiar to us. Instead, it’s a life that requires a decisive
break from the corruption that has become a second nature to us.
Perhaps that’s why St. John the
Baptist prepared the way for Jesus Christ and then baptized Him. St. John was the last of the Old Testament
prophets and a fiery preacher who boldly called people to repent, to prepare
the way of the Lord in their lives by making His paths straight. He lived in the desert, ate bugs and honey,
and looked like a wild man. Like the
other true prophets, he wasn’t concerned with pleasing people, but with telling
them the truth in no uncertain terms. If
they were to be ready for the Messiah, they had to stop sinning and start
living lives pleasing to God.
I hope that you get the point. To be baptized into Christ is to die from all
that separates us from God. It is to
share in the blessing that our Lord has brought to the entire world; it is to
see all of the creation as holy, as participating in the transformation and
healing of the Kingdom. Every dimension
of our lives must become an epiphany, a showing or manifestation, of God’s
salvation. We are to offer every aspect
of our life, and every bit of the world with which we come in contact, to the
Lord as a sacrament, as a participation in the Holy Mystery of God. For nothing is outside the scope of His love;
nothing is separate from His will for a new heaven and new earth. He wants the entire creation—yes, the whole
universe-- to shine brightly with the glory of the His divinity, and that
includes us.
Today
is the Feast of Theophany. It’s time to
prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight. For He comes to renew all creation and to
bring us into the glory of His kingdom.
He comes to make all reality an icon of His holiness. Let’s not stand in the way; let’s not refuse
His blessing, but instead live as those who, having died to sin, truly wear a
garment of light.
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