Sermon for the Sunday Before Theophany

This present Sunday is called, beloved brothers and sisters, the Sunday before Illumination, or, what is the same thing, before Theophany, before the Baptism. From the Gospel today it is appointed to read from Mark, the first chapter, from the first to the ninth verse. In the Gospel are cited the prophecies, or predictions, of the Lord’s prophets Malachi and Isaiah, that before the very coming of the Lord to earth in the flesh—that is, before His first, not His second, coming—a Forerunner would be sent, who would prepare His way; in the prophet Malachi, whose memory is also celebrated today, this Forerunner is called the Angel (Mal 3:1) of God, on account of the angelic, holy, dispassionate life of John the Baptist; and in the other prophet, Isaiah, he is called the voice of one crying in the wilderness — that is, of Jordan—proclaiming: prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight (Is 40:3). The Gospel goes on to say that these prophecies were fulfilled, for indeed, just before the appearing of the Savior to the world, the great prophet and Forerunner of the Lord, John, appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the inhabitants of the land of Judea and the people of Jerusalem went out to him, and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins (Mk 1:4-5). The Gospel goes on to describe John’s manner of life, his lofty, godly character, his complete indifference to everything by which we sinners are enticed, to which we passionately cling—it is said that he wore the plainest, roughest, most austere clothing, not soft and fine, made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt about his loins, and ate locusts and wild honey—that is, whatever vegetation lay at hand, uncooked, and the honey of wild, not domesticated, bees. And this is what he preached to the people: there comes after me One mightier than I, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:7-8). Such is the whole Gospel for this present Sunday. Let us ponder it, and reflect on it for our common spiritual benefit, and turn our attention to the predictions of the two prophets concerning John the Forerunner, to what they foretold of his office in the Kingdom of Christ. He, they say, will prepare the way of the Lord, will cry aloud to the people: prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight; and so he did, and so he prepared the people to receive the Lord. These are very important words, and must be understood, explained thoroughly, so as to grasp their meaning and act upon them. Their meaning is this: I, the Forerunner of Christ, preach to all of you, great and small, people of every rank and condition, sex and age—behold, the heavenly King has come to earth, the only-begotten Son of God, Christ God, made like us in every way according to His humanity, save only sin, in which He has not the least part; He has come for the salvation of each one of us, and wishes to enter into the house of every soul, into the heart, where a throne must be prepared for Him, as our King and God; but you, O people, are not ready to receive Him, because of your own sins, because of the uncleanness of your own souls: in one, the way into the heart is blocked by ignorance or unbelief; in another, by malice, envy, pride; in this one, by love of gain, avarice, hard-heartedness toward one’s neighbors and mercilessness; in another, by voluptuousness and the uncleanness of fornication; in one, by intemperance, drunkenness, foul speech; another is hindered from believing and receiving the Lord with a sincere heart by a false learning, distorted and clouded by the passions and by prejudices—a learning of which God has said, through the prophet: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (Is 29:14); another is hindered by spectacles and games from receiving the Lord into the house of his soul, because some people have become so attached to them that there is no room left in their heart for the heavenly Visitor and Savior of our souls; in general, various passions and worldly vanities powerfully hinder us from receiving the Lord and establishing Him within us. Prepare, then, the way of the Lord: first, believe in Him with your heart; second, repent with your heart and utterly cast away your sins, your passions, your sinful habits, inclinations, evil lusts; cleanse yourselves, wash yourselves, amend yourselves, adorn your souls with virtue—with simplicity, meekness, humility, freedom from malice, self-restraint, purity, mercy, mutual sociability, friendliness, hospitality and welcome of strangers, righteousness, faithful service, honest trade, honest labor, obedience to parents, to the tsar, to authority, good instruction, diligence, good conduct. Such is the meaning of the prophetic words and of the preaching of John the Forerunner. My own duty is to address you with these same words: behold, Christ, the heavenly King, has come to us on earth, and wishes to enter into the house of the soul of each one of us. Let us prepare, then, without delay, to receive Him: let us repent sincerely, let us leave off our sins—malice, envy, pride, intemperance, drunkenness, foul speech, the uncleanness of fornication, hard-heartedness and avarice—and let us adorn our souls with faith, love, meekness, mercy, self-restraint, righteousness, obedience, mutual respect and communion—and the Lord will come to us by the way we have prepared, by straight paths, and will dwell in us, and will live and walk in us, as it is written by the apostle: I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2Cor 6:16,18; cf. Lev 26:12). Amen.