Today we have a lot going on.  Before the Liturgy, we celebrated the Baptism into Christ of his servant, Ronn; then he was mysteriously sealed with the Holy Spirit through the Church’s sacrament of Chrismation; thus marking his formal entry into Holy Orthodoxy. 

Now we are in the midst of our Divine Liturgy, when Ronn will partake of his first Communion as an Orthodox Christian, joining us in the sacramental act that stands at the very center of every Orthodox believer’s life.  Communion is when we who have “put on Christ” through Holy Baptism, who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit through Chrismation, who have confessed our faith in the Holy Trinity and in salvation through the death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, accept His transforming power not just into our hearts and minds, but into our very bodies through eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood.  For as the God-man Himself said (St. John 55-56); “for my body is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”  All of our prayer life, our relationships with God and with one another, all of our hopes and dreams are strengthened and enabled by this healing and sanctifying mystery.  This act is so important that our bishops encourage us to prepare and receive it at every opportunity; and that the Canons of the Church point out that those who refuse to partake for more than three weeks have excommunicated themselves and should return through the sacrament of repentance. 

But just as the Divine Liturgy and taking Communion has become a part of every event within our lives, so has it become enmeshed within the regular events of the Church.  So it is that the pattern of every Sunday’s Divine Liturgy; the primary purpose of which is to celebrate and participate in the Lord’s Resurrection; is shaped by other events in the Liturgical calendar.  For example, last week the Lord’s Resurrection was celebrated within the Liturgical context of the Nativity.  Today, the Lord’s Resurrection is celebrated within the Liturgical context of Theophany; so whereas last week we combined the themes of Christ’s birth, the visit of the wise men, and the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt with that of Christ’s death and Resurrection; this week we join the events surrounding Christ’s baptism with those of His death and Resurrection.  And you must admit that this is a very powerful combination: through immersion in water, we join Christ in his death; through immersion in water, the sins of the “old man” are washed away; and through being brought up again out of the water, we are symbolically brought out of the death of sin and into a new life in His Resurrection.  Baptism is such a beautiful celebration.

We are reminded of the importance of baptism every time we enter this temple.  Look at the South wall to your left.  That huge iconic mural of Christ’s baptism (the Tehopany) was put there for a reason.  But now look across at the North wall to your right: the matching iconic mural of the baptism of Rus’-Ukraine was not put there for just for the sake of artistic symmetry, or even to remind us of the role baptism played in the development of the Ukrainian Church and culture.  And while I think it is useful to think of yourself as one of those being baptized into Christ there in the Dnepro River, you are not getting the full effect if you stop there, either. 

Notice that we did not put the icons of Baptism at the front of the Church, we put them on each side: they are not the goal of our worship, but milestones along the way to other things.  First, they encourage us as we move towards participation in what the icon that is placed at the front of the Church demonstrates: the icon of the Mystical Supper which stands atop the Royal Doors draws us toward our own participation in the Holy Eucharist.  But if we stop there, I think we are still missing an important point.  Having come forward and partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ and accepted His deifying grace in our lives, as we are on our way out of the Church and back into the world, the baptismal icons are there to remind us of something else: the final words Christ gave to His Disciples as He was ascending into glory; ”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This is called the Great Commission, and fulfilling it is at the core of our identity as a Christians, as a parish, and as a Church.  May today’s delicious fruit - the entry into Orthodoxy of God’s servant Ronn, be the first of bountiful and unending harvest here.