Fr.Djuro's Sermon Delivered on Sunday before Theophany, January 17th, 2010:

Today we are short time from the celebration of Christ's baptism in the River Jordan. Today we are on the Sunday before of the Feast of Theophany, the celebration of the Holy Trinity made manifest. Manifest means it was made clear and real to us. Each Theophany (a time when God appeared in the flesh as Christ), we celebrate the newness of creation. In the Gospel we hear: "Today the Creator of heaven and earth approaches the River Jordan in the flesh; the Sinless One asks for baptism, that He may cleanse the world of the falsehood of the enemy."

Today is not just a reminder that some water will be blessed in our church this week, but it is the clarity and reality that Christ was born and that he came to lead us to salvation.

The Gospel tells of St. John a righteous follower and believer living in the wilderness away from the evil and temptations of the godless cities and people where if he were living there he would be persecuted, rather he chose the wilderness, where others who wanted to be righteous would make the effort to come to the wilderness to see him.

For some people the church or this church appears to them as the wilderness. Those pursuing righteousness come to this special place on Sunday, it doesn't matter how far it is for them. Others think it is the wilderness and the effort is too great to make it there regularly, because making the effort to go to something that is remote in distance or remote in how one lives their life day to day, it doesn't fit in the regular rhythm of their lives. These are the lives that try to fit it in rather than living life around the righteous wilderness, the place that takes effort to get to. For some, it is too much effort. For some it is too much struggle and the threshold for struggle is at a place before one gets to where it is a struggle.

That is too bad, because without that struggle to be righteous we will not be following the path that Christ walked before us. God sees our struggles as the highway to salvation….and we take the highway when we want to get somewhere faster than if we took simple roads.

Seeking to be righteous is a decision that needs to be made by each individual for one's self. Parents try to raise their children to be righteous, but it really ends up to be their decision, not the decision of the parents. We are saved by the struggle and the grace of God. We are told that the Lord will help us if we struggle to make the path straight. The Lord's path is straight. Ours path is crooked. The parts that are crooked are sins. To make our paths straight we must live as He lived. Follow the way of the Lord and make the path straight.

Some people look at Orthodoxy and the righteous and say, there are so many rules, so many things you are not supposed to do, so many things you need to do. And this is because they don't see the point of becoming righteous as being filled with the Holy Spirit, which means you will be blessed with joy, peace in your heart and much more. This is only possible through baptism, when we become baptized and start anew, that begins our path of continually preparing the way of the Lord through grace and our abilities for struggling to be righteous.

St. John said I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness: Prepare for the way of the Lord. He also said that he was not even worthy to loosen the shoe of the One that comes after him who is Christ.

Christ comes to teach humility. Bishop Nikolaj added to that, that he who has no humility and obedience has no wisdom or love and those who do not have this….do not have God….and if you don't have God, you don't have yourself. Some will say then that Christ is too high of an example…which is just an excuse for the lack of humility.

The coming blessing of the holy Waters brings with it the idea that baptism is a beginning at any age.

This is a time to place faith and Sunday worship first on our list for every week possible. This is a time to have daily life fit around this day and time God created for worship and fellowship and your time for personal peace. First, does not mean to be on a list with many other things important in life, but rather, in a place like no other, in a place first and above all.

Don't let Sunday, this church or any liturgy become something that seems way out in the wilderness and that it takes too much effort and time to be squeezed into our full and wonderful daily lives. This is like no other time in the week. This is your time for God and to be reminded of His words and teachings.

Make this be a special time for you. This is a time for the righteous to come to the wilderness seeking the Holy Spirit and God's grace. May God help you through the struggles it takes to find your path to this day and time each week.

May God bless you with his grace and the Holy Spirit now and always.

For other sermons click here.

Click here to return to home page.