Sunday Before Theophany-- Preparing the Way of the Lord through Penance

Prepare the way of the Lord

Today we hear the gospel reading concerning the beginning of the preaching of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord.  The Baptist’s main theme is “Prepare the way of the Lord—make straight His paths.” The Baptist further elaborates this theme by showing to us the only way to prepare such a path, i.e. repentance.  For us sinners, acceptance of the gospel of Christ and of His promises has to start always from the same place.  It has to start with repentance for our sins and failings—a recognition that we have done wrong in the sight of God, and a desire, with God’s help, to change our hearts and turn to Him in Whom we recognize our deepest aspirations.  Without repentance we can be most anything in the world (religiously or otherwise). If we merely recognize that we need some sort of “spiritual” peace within our hearts then we can be Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, perhaps we can practice feng-shui, yoga or tai chi. Without the spirit of repentance we can be most anything in the world, but we cannot be anything in Heaven. We cannot be Christians without repentance—that recognition that there is something deeply wrong with us, but absolutely nothing wrong with our God for Whom we long with all our hearts. 

“John was clothed in camel’s hair”

     John the Prophet and Forerunner didn’t just preach repentance. He was the zenith and perfection of the life that he called others to emulate.  He lived his entire life in the desert, just as generations of monks would do in imitation of him.  He clothed himself in camel’s hair.  This detail is especially significant.  It is not an accident that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us what John’s clothing was made of.  No, on the contrary, the camel hair of St. John the Forerunner stands at the beginning of a penitential tradition that continues even to this day.  John clothed himself in camel’s hair, because that hair continually irritated his skin. It made him itch.  In the same way, up to this very day, it is the ascetical tradition of the Church that, very often, the undergarments of monks and nuns are made of haircloth for exactly the same reason.  It irritates the skin.  It makes the wearer itch.  So what is the point of that? It is a powerful corporeal, physical, penitential symbol.  It constantly reminds the wearer that he is to be dissatisfied, irritated, with the things of this world, so that he directs the attention and aspiration of his heart to Christ and to His Kingdom.  We must constantly chafe under the yoke of this world with longing and love for the things that are to come.

     Thus, we can see that the gospel of Christ means much more to us than simply “being good people,” or “being spiritual.” The gospel of Christ begins with our sincere confession that we are not good people.  We are sinful people, who, left to ourselves, can do nothing but displease God.  We must itch and chafe under our sinful condition, and long for the liberty of the Kingdom of Christ. 

“Be vigilant, labour in all things”

      Saint Paul, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, tells his disciple Timothy to be vigilant and to “labour in all things.”  A life that is centered in repentance includes vigilance and labour.  Vigilance has two meanings for us.  One refers to persistence in prayer, keeping vigil before God in worship.  The other meaning refers to keeping watch for the attacks of the Enemy, for the approach of temptations, so that they can be speedily repulsed. St. Paul intends St. Timothy to understand both of these meanings when he tells him to be vigilant.  Indeed, the two meanings are very much related, since the surest defense against demonic attack is the frequent, if not constant, presence of prayer within the soul. This is the reason that the chotki in Old Slavonic monastic literature is often called “a sword of the Spirit,” since its discipline of constant prayer serves as a weapon against the attacks of the Evil One.  The cross at the bottom of the chotki, in this same kind of literature is often compared to the hilt and pommel of a sword, with the long loop of knots above this Cross representing the fighting blade. 

     The Holy Apostle’s exhortation to “labour in all things” is less complex.  When he says to “labour in all things,” he is telling St. Timothy to make all his daily activities, even the most mundane, his care, to do nothing carelessly, just like the advice of the old proverb “if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” It must be our constant care to do nothing carelessly, but to do the best we can do in the context of all of our daily activities.  Very often, the discipline of “labouring in all things” will, itself, be a penance for us, since there are always a great many things that we must do, although given a choice, we would rather not.

     We need to “prepare the way of the Lord,” in our hearts through adopting a spirit of penance.  The spirit of penance will recognize with dissatisfaction our sins and shortcomings, as well as the shortcomings of the things of this world.  From the spirit of penance, we will learn, as did St. John the Forerunner, to chafe under the yoke of this world and long for the things of the world to come. We will also learn to be persistent in prayer, showing due vigilance against the attacks that the Evil One throws at us.  Lastly, at the heart of our penance, we will “labour in all things,” doing our daily activities with the attention and care that is due to the service of God.