Homily for the Baptism of Christ, or Theophany
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
I congratulate you all on the feast of the Theophany — the Baptism of the Lord! Today we celebrate the day when the Lord God revealed His inner nature, when the Lord appeared as the Triune Godhead! God the Father proclaimed His Son from Heaven, the Son was baptized by John in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit rested upon Christ in the form of a dove. Thus, for the first time, we experienced the mystery of the life-giving and indivisible Trinity. We know that God is one, that God is Existent, Almighty, Omniscient, Righteous, Omnipresent, upholding all things with His power, but we would never have known what His inner life is like had He not revealed it to us. As Nikolai of Serbia said: "Previously, people knew that God is one, but they were very far from Him, so they saw only some distant flame of life force, but now, through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, we are placed very close to the blazing hearth of God." And now we see that God is three Lights united as one.
Who do we believe in? We believe in a single, omnipresent God, self-existent, possessing all perfection, all wisdom, who is the mind of all intelligent beings, the life of all living beings, the strength of all who have strength, and the being of all who come into being. He is absolutely good; in Him there is no room for any darkness. God is goodness, and He is the source of all good. We believe that God has His own Word. From eternity, He bears and begets the imprint of His essence — the Son, who shines from Him as Light from Light, Life from Life. The Word is equal to the Great Mind that begot It. The Word possesses an independent existence; It is Living and is the precise expression of God the Father, His Wisdom. This Word is not soulless; It possesses an inner life emanating from the original Great Mind — God the Father. This Life, which also exists independently, this independent Divine breath, is called the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit also has a personality, a self-awareness, and thus we know that God is three "I's," three self-awarenesses, three Persons, who exist in the unity of Divine glory. The inner being of the Holy Trinity is not static. God is timeless, but within Him there exists a timeless movement. God the Father in eternity gives birth to the Son and the Holy Spirit, but both the Son and the Spirit are turned back to the Father. The Son of eternity abides with God and strives toward God, eternally moves toward God, and returns to God in the love of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit searches the depths of God, “for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10 ).
Thus, within the Divine life, there is a constant movement of love, a constant movement of individuals who share their glory and their power with one another, who remain in eternal obedience to the source of the Divine — the Father, from whom all things come. And when a person is baptized, they enter into this inner glory. Why can we pray? Because Christ prays in us through the Holy Spirit. Why can we do good works? Christ does good works in us, for the glory of His Father and so that the power of the Holy Spirit may be revealed in us. All our works take place within the Divine life; they are a manifestation in the created world of that movement that has existed eternally, independent of creation.
Why do people love God? Because the Son loves the Father. The Son's love for the Father is transmitted to us. The Son draws us in; we become sons of God, sharing in His love and sharing in the love the Father has for the Son. Today we hear the Father say, "This is my beloved Son" (Matthew 3:17).
If we live in the Trinity, we experience the Father's good pleasure, the Son's love, and the holiness and life of the Holy Spirit. This is the essence of Christianity, and the Church always emphasizes the necessity of faith in the Holy Trinity. Gregory of Sinai wrote that true Orthodoxy consists in believing in the Trinity and the Dyadic principle. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and the Dyadic principle is Christ as God and man. This is the essence of true Orthodoxy. Why does the Church so strictly demand this belief (for example, before baptism and communion)? Because the essence of Christianity is precisely engagement in this inner life. And if we do not know God, or know Him incorrectly, or do not participate in this life with our minds, then we will not participate in the future, with the other parts of our nature. For the highest part of a person is the mind, which, first of all, must be engaged in this divine life. Then come the heart, will, feelings, and body. But everything flows from the mind, transformed by divine grace, subordinated to the Creator.
Therefore, today, on the day of Theophany, we must remember that we were baptized and entered into the Trinity, grafted into the Trinitarian life. In Greek, a newly baptized person is called a neophyte (from the ancient Greek νεόφυτος – "recently planted"), which literally means a new plant – a newly grafted being. Grafted into the Church, into the Holy Trinity, into the life of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must learn, while abiding in this life, to plant it within ourselves. People often say they lack the strength, the senses, the knowledge. But what's the problem? Ask and you shall receive!
The Lord said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). The life of God has already entered us, and it simply needs to be used correctly, according to the will of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If most people were asked to speak in detail about Christ, the Holy Trinity, and the Holy Spirit, it turns out they know nothing. And then they are surprised by their lack of good deeds and fulfillment of God's commandments. The result is that most people reduce Christianity to external morality.
I may say this harshly, but Christianity is amoral; it contains not a single commandment that is separate from life in the Trinity. Why can't we get drunk? Because drunkenness separates a person from the life of the Holy Trinity. Why can't we fight? Because anger separates a person from life in the Holy Trinity. Without this, all commandments become meaningless words. We must always remember that the most important thing is life in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and our goal is union with Him, participation in His divine life. It was for this purpose that we were conceived by God the Father, even before the creation of the world, created by the Son, and perfected by the Holy Spirit, so that we could enter into this life. If we don't understand this, we will remain in outer, utter darkness — this is the darkness outside the Holy Trinity. And a person who does not want to connect with the life of the Trinity, for which he is destined and attuned by the fact of creation, will perish in darkness.
Therefore, let us learn to use what we have been given. When we say the prayer "Lord, have mercy!", we simultaneously address all three Persons of God. When we say the prayer, "Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!", we must truly glorify the Holy Trinity. Glorify Him with knowledge, because a Christian who does not know the mystery of the Holy Trinity commits a shameful, disgraceful act.
The Apostle Paul says: “I say to your shame, some of you do not know God” (1 Cor. 15:34 ), and our people are not ashamed of this, although it is a shame not to know God.
We must ask the Holy Trinity to open our eyes, our senses, our spiritual strength, and His will, and that the Holy Trinity completely subjugate us, so that we glorify Him in words and, most importantly, in deeds. When God speaks, we must do so not because we feel obligated to do so, but because by doing so according to the will of the Holy Trinity, we will enter into His inner life. These are not theoretical matters, but practical ones. All those who have repented have truly felt the forgiveness of their sins; those who pray correctly with both mind and heart always feel a sense of lightness and sweetness after prayer; those who have asked God have certainly felt His help! This is the life of the Trinity, which is at work within us (sometimes even among the unbaptized — as a faint echo). The life of the Holy Trinity is reflected in all the creations He has created.
Our goal is not, as most Christians think, to earn our salvation and be content. No! Our goal is to forget ourselves and glorify the Holy Trinity! We must become so perfect that we forget ourselves for the sake of our beloved Father, our beloved Son, and our beloved Holy Spirit! Let us strive for this, let us run toward this, and may God's mercy be with you! May the Father without beginning, the Son begotten from eternity, the Life-giving Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son, enlightening us, protect you!
Holy Trinity, glory to You! Save, Lord!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
