Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fr. David Andersen, a Byzantine Catholic priest, tells of a Russian tradition of hanging an icon of the Archangel Gabriel over the doorway leading from the narthex into the nave. The icon depicts the Archangel writing on a scroll. Of course, one might wonder just what it is he’s recording. The tradition says he’s writing down the names of all those who come late to the services of God’s House. Coming late and/or leaving early is frowned upon in Holy Orthodoxy and is seen as disrespectful to God and to the grace He gladly bestows. In today’s Holy Gospel, the situation is even far worse when those invited to the feasting table of the “’certain man’” blow off his gracious invitation for various and sundry reasons, thus offending and insulting his magnanimous generosity. It’s bad enough to come late or to leave early before the conclusion of the post-Communion prayers. But, to not come at all? That’s a slap against God, and against our brothers and sisters who have gathered at the command of God!
Every year during Advent, we hear this divine summons in this parable. It’s intended by our Lord to get our attention and its lesson is to be applied, not just during the Nativity Fast in preparation for the Holy One of God Who comes to us in the Manger, but year-round. Our Lord speaks this parable in response to one who had been sitting at table with Him in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. It was during that meal that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and so the question of whether or not it was right to heal on the Sabbath arose as well as the impropriety of self-importance and the treatment of those not as advantaged. It was then that someone at that meal called out, “’Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God,’” to which our Lord responds with today’s parable of warning and exhortation (Lk. 14:1-15). “’Many are called, but few are chosen.’”
Inasmuch as that anonymous voice was correct, “’Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God,’” nevertheless, it is not a given, it is not a status we can simply assume will be ours because we have been invited. It is for good reason, therefore, that this parable is given to us in this season of holy invitation to come to Bethlehem, that is, to come to the divine “House of Bread” wherein the Living Bread come down from Heaven might be found – in the manger of the Altar. However, we are prophetically warned, especially if we are inclined to assume certain things about our status and our standing: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cr. 10:12). We all know what happens when we assume things. There has no doubt been more than one occasion of embarrassment and humiliation which we have experienced because we assumed certain things which could have been avoided had we been more humble and unassuming. The worst-case scenario is that of those originally invited to the great supper of the magnanimous man whose kindness, mercy, generosity, and benevolence is scorned and mocked by the lackadaisicalness shown by those invited and who feel no compulsion whatsoever to attend the feast given precisely for them! “’For I say unto you,’” declares the offended banquet master, “’that none of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper.’” This terrifying declaration stands on par with that of our Lord to some others, who, in like fashion had been utterly and grossly negligent, “’Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Mt. 25:41). There is no reversing that which is irreversible! What shall we do, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hb. 2:3).
On one level, our parable today is about those of Israel who spurned the Covenant of God enfleshed in the Servant-Son of God: those priests and chief priests, scribes and Pharisees, lawyers and Sadducees, and all those with them who opposed Jesus in His earthly days of Ministry. These were the first to receive the divine summons to believe what God was doing, that the promised Kingdom of God was indeed at hand, but they willingly turned aside, claiming a plethora of excuses for not believing, not following, not obeying, salving their consciences with such notions that they know better because of their lineage or because of their college entrance scores or simply because of their spiritually dead souls. This kind of stuff happens when the living faith – the Faith of our fathers and mothers – is not renewed in our souls and made our own each and every day but is rather assumed by birthright or social status or becomes purely an academic, intellectual exercise. And so, God turned to the Apostles and others with them: those deemed to be unworthy and sinful, unclean and impure – beyond the scope of mercy and beneath the dignity of the grace of God. And, when there was still room, He summoned those outside the covenantal people of divine promise, those believed to be in darkness – the Gentiles. But, lo and behold, upon these, too, the Light of God has dawned, finding a place at the Kingdom’s Table (Is. 42:7; Mt. 4:16; Lk. 2:32).
On another level, this parable is about us – the Church’s baptized faithful – those who have been invited. Like those in the parable, we, too, can be prone to take things for granted, to assume certain rights and privileges just because we’ve been baptized, because we’re Orthodox (in contradistinction to the non-Orthodox). We, too, can become full of ourselves, haughty, proud, vainglorious. We, too, can become complacent, distracted by being attracted like Magpies to all that appears to be shiny and dazzling “in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” just like our mother, Eve (Gn. 3:6; 1 Jn. 2:15-17). And so, the glory of the Kingdom of God may become lesser in our sight because we esteem the pleasures and riches of this world to be shinier and brighter and more pleasant when compared to the Cross of our Lord (Pp. 3:8; Hb. 11:24-26).
Every time the Church comes together for prayer, especially for the Holy Eucharist, the Kingdom of God is present. God issues His invitation to sit at His Table and to partake of His gifts: the divine and most holy Flesh and Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, by Whom and through Whom we partake of the divine nature (2 Pe. 1:4). Can there be any greater thing than that – our theosis – and yet what excuses do we make to forego the Feast, to side-step the divine command to remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy (Decalogue)? What do we believe to be more important than our salvation and sanctification? For that matter, how do we go about making the decision to ignore the divine summons? I’ve always been curious and have often wondered just how persons decide on which divine services they will attend and for what reasons. Why this one and not that one? Is it based on convenience? Ot, there’s nothing better to do? Or, there’s nothing more pressing on the calendar? What makes one day better than the other, one Sunday better than another Sunday, when all Sundays are the Lord’s Day, set aside by the Church and Sacred Scripture to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (1 Ch. 16:29; 2 Ch. 20:21; Ps. 28 [29]:2; 95 [96]:9)? If we miss a divine service, especially if we willingly choose to ignore it, does our conscience prick us, convict us, or do we find ourselves not really thinking about it because, well, you know, God understands. Will that be sufficient in the Day when we must stand before Him and give an accounting? Not if we believe the parable.
Again and again, the Holy Gospel challenges us to
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus [our] Lord, . . ., and count them as rubbish, that [we] may gain Christ and be found in Him, . . ., if, by any means, [we] may attain to the resurrection from the dead (Pp. 3:8-11).
In other words, we are to allow nothing – our passions included (Co. 3:4-11) – to stand between us and the Kingdom of God and to take the Kingdom by force, as necessary (Mt. 11:12; Lk. 16:16).
Indeed, this is a true and trustworthy saying of God, “’Blessed are those who are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!’” (Rv. 19:9). Indeed, “’Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God’” (Lk. 14:15). But, first, we’ll have to be found at the Table, along with all who have “obedience to the Faith” (Rm. 1:5; 16:26).
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
PROPERS:
Co. 3:4-11
Lk. 14:16-24