We spent 40 days in tremendous anticipation of the coming of the Savior to the world. I have to admit that I was overcome with such tremendous encouragement, to see the climax of the anticipation come to fruition with a packed Church for the Christmas Eve Vigil Service here in our little slice of heaven. Anyone who looked on websites and social media sites on Christmas day was able to see proof that Christianity is still alive and well throughout the world, as Churches around the globe were absolutely packed full of people, who like us, were gathered together to celebrate a special kind of Joy that can only be found in the Feast of the Nativity, where Christ came to illuminate the world in the midst of a cool and damp cave in Bethlehem.
We now stand at the brink of a second feast of Joy and revelation, as we celebrate this week the Feast of Holy Theophany or the “unveiling”, when Christ descended into the waters of the Jordan, and the world saw the heavens open up with a voice coming down from the sky proclaiming: “This is my beloved Son of Whom I am well pleased!”
The joy of these two feasts comes from one striking truth, that is read multiple times in the services of Christmas and of Theophany: “God is with us.” He stands in the midst of His Creation. He isn’t just some omnipotent being in the heavens who plays with His creation like pawns on a chessboard. He is here when we are experiencing the greatest joys in our life. His arm is around us when we are shrouded in the darkness of despair. When we spend a majority of our days with our backs turned from him and towards the world…”God is With Us.” Those four words, that wonderful reality, is what unites the Feasts of Nativity and Theophany together. It is why we can all agree with Andy Williams when he sings in that beautiful baritone: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
This past week, we also celebrated the coming of the secular new year, which comes with its own unique traditions and celebrations. One of those traditions is to make various New Year resolutions, coming up with ways that we are going to change our lives for the better in 2020. I had to laugh this past week when Matushka and I were driving past the Planet Fitness in Akron on New Year’s Day, complete with a parking lot that was jam packed with cars. We both commented how regular gym goers probably spend the first two weeks of January working out at home, just biding their time until all of the new members begin cancelling their gym memberships towards the end of the first month. This is of course what happens to a lot of New Year’s resolutions. After a period of trial, the resolutions that we make, more often than not, are broken within a few weeks as we slowly start to sink back to the habits that we had been forming over the past several years.
In light of the Feasts that we are celebrating, I want to offer a resolution that we as Orthodox Christians simply cannot break this year. There is a habit that needs to be formed within us NOW, while it is fresh. One change that we can make in our lives that is guaranteed to give us the strength that is necessary to draw closer to God: Take the Joy of Christmas and Theophany with you throughout the rest of the year.
That child-like joy and innocence that we experienced during the Feast of Christmas, the tears of happiness that we saw in the eyes of those in the nursing home when we sang, that special feeling that somehow makes Christmas Day stand out from all of the rest…take it all, bottle it up like Holy Water, and sprinkle it throughout the next 365 days. All of that joy, all of those smiles, and the glorious reality that is the coming of Christ cannot cease in our hearts once the Christmas Tree has been taken down.
There are times this year where life will become rather difficult. There will be loved ones who come down with serious illnesses. There will be stress that will make us all want to pull our hair out. There are families here today who will experience the loss of a family member who has gone on to eternal life. But through it all, we have to remember and lean on those words that we sang during Compline: “God is with us!” He is here! He is present in the Church! He is present in our lives! His Holiness is found within each and every one of us!
After the Divine Liturgy this morning, in order to help us in our resolution, the Church is going to be giving us a tremendous tool…a weapon to ward off the temptations of the devil, as we endeavor to keep the joy of Christmas and Theophany in our hearts.
There is a question that often comes up every year from Non-Orthodox Christians around this feast of Theophany, when they ask: “Why do you bless water? What was wrong with it before?” The answer is always the same: We bless things to make them Holy. We bless this water, to set it apart for use by God and His Church. This once ordinary water will be used to bless the inside of this Church, and it will be “sprinkled” on each and every one of us for that same purpose: To make us all holy, to strengthen us, and to set us apart to live a life with God
So today, and every day this year, I urge you all to embrace that holiness! Don’t just let the joy of this feast pass away after you get back into your cars! Take the Holy Water with you and into your homes. Sprinkle yourselves with it every day, reminding you of your own baptisms…that day when you were consecrated and set apart for a life of holiness and life of joy with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
God is With Us and We are with Him! May that be the reality that is celebrated not just during the 12 days of Christmas, but throughout every day and every moment of our lives.