Sermons & Homilies
Of all the feasts of the church year, Theophany is one of the most ancient and important. In the early church, Theophany and Nativity were celebrated together on January 6. And they are both still intimately connected, as we can see in the similarity of the structure of the two services today. These two feasts are connected because both feasts call to mind the manifestation of Jesus Christ as the the Incarnate Son of God. At Nativity we behold Christ as a new born babe, lying in a manager, helpless and weak, yet still the Incarnate Word of God and Creator of all things.
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Today we celebrate the Circumcision of the Lord. It might seem strange to us to commemorate this event; after all, the old covenant has been abrogated, and St. Paul and the New Testament Church took great pains to eradicate the belief that circumcision was required of Christian people of the new covenant. If anything, we might think that the significance of this feast is essentially the fulfillment by Jesus Christ of the Old Testament law. And of course, this is true. But it is all too easy to lapse into the unspoken idea that once something has been fulfilled, it is therefore meaningless. This is a grievous error. Every single moment, every word and every act of our Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly life was absolutely filled with meaning, purpose and significance. And this particular act was so great and contained so much meaning that today’s feast is accounted among the great feasts of the Church.
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There is a quote by Elder Aimilianos that I think is so appropriate for this Feast of the Nativity. The quote is this:
“That which we lack is precisely faith, not in the existence of God, but in the fact that He can do anything and does indeed do everything!”
This quote strikes right at the heart of our modern post Christian society and raises all sorts of questions:
Is God really involved in our daily lives? Can God really heal diseases? Does God care about my sufferings? Can God reverse the elements of nature?
The Apostles stand gazing into heaven upon the ascending Christ until He is no longer visible to the physical eyes; but the mind and heart of the Apostles is fully transfixed in an immaterial vision upon Him as He ascends beyond the earth, beyond the whole physical universe, and beyond all the ranks of heavenly angels, sitting down upon His divine throne with our human nature.
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Today is the triumphant entry of God our King into His rightful city, Jerusalem; today, is the prelude of that great hymn which will burst forth from the empty tomb of the Lord on Pascha night, filling all creation with light, glory and joy!
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