Two Sundays Before Christmas 2025

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and the

Holy Spirit. Amen. It's often said that Christmas

is about family. And that's true. And it's a

good thing in general. Families do gather. Some

go off to visit. Our dear altar server James

is going to Chicago. Some of you are going elsewhere.

We will miss you at our celebration. But you'll

be with your family. As we're preparing for Christmas,

Church tells us, yes, family for sure. But it

says, look at the bigger picture. Let's look

at the family of the Messiah. Let's look at the

family of Jesus Christ. So this week, we're commemorating.

Now that's a fancy word, commemorating. It simply

means to remember. to memorialize, to recognize,

to observe, to honor. So we're honoring, commemorating

the family of Christ, the ancestors, the forefathers.

I have some names here because I couldn't remember

them all. And this isn't even all of them, obviously.

You have to read the Old Testament to find them.

And there are many, many. Adam, Eve, Abel, Seth.

Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Abraham the father of faith,

right? Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Joseph,

Job, Moses, Samuel, Joshua, Barak, Gideon, Judith,

Esther, David, Manasseh, Elijah, Elisha, the

three youths in the furnace, Daniel the prophet,

and on and on. And next week the theme continues.

The family gathers again. The church family is

gathering for the feast to celebrate with us.

And the week after Christmas, again, it's the

family of Jesus. David, the ancestor of Christ.

David, the prophet and king. James, the stepbrother.

And Joseph, the stepfather. Today, in relation

to that, And that's important that we remember

that. We connect this with this parable we heard

today, a parable about a supper in which a man,

a certain man, let's understand, that certain

man is God the Father. A certain man, God the

Father, gave a great supper, a feast, a magnificent

gathering, and he sends out his servant. Well,

there were many servants, and that's this list

of forefathers and ancestors that we commemorate.

They were there to call the guests to the supper.

This is salvation history. This is the way God

has interacted with his creation, these people,

to call them. to something magnificent and wonderful.

This is the way God has acted upon the earth.

It's not a private relationship with me and God.

How would you know? No, we have entered into

this relationship with God and therefore with

Christ, the Savior of the world, who is all and

is in all, we heard. St. Paul say. We enter in

through the family, the congregation of Israel,

which is the church, the gathering today. That's

how we enter. That's how we know God. We come

to God through Jesus Christ. And we come to Jesus

Christ through all these other people, these

righteous people, many of them very failed people,

broken people, even Abraham, even Solomon. Even

David. And those ancestors are calling the guests

to the supper. All things are ready, says the

certain man. And standing at the vigil last night,

I had the very clear sense of this host of ancestors.

We heard so many names sung and read. And they

all have their stories, and they stand here with

us today, here and now. to bear witness that

when Jesus says in the parable that a certain

man gave a great supper and invited many, he

sent his servant to say, who is that servant?

Ultimately, the final and the greatest, that's

Jesus Christ, the express image of the Father.

Come, all things are ready. His servant tells

us what the Father is calling us to. This servant

Jesus who came to us. This is the means by which

God saves his creation and no other. No other.

And let us give thanks to God for that because

he has taken the initiative. And that means that

this parable, which was originally spoken to

a group of very pious Jewish men. very devout,

excessively religious, and excessively proud,

had rejected Jesus entirely. They had no to his

invitation. And now the parable, it's not about

them. They're not around. It's directed to you

and to me. It's for today. It's immediate. We

are part of that story if we want to be. We might

be in the same condition as those proud, very

religious people and say no repeatedly. I've

been a priest now since 1997. I've been here

the entire time. So unlike other priests, I can't

say an example. Well, in one of my former parishes,

I had this situation with a parishioner, etc.,

etc. No, because you all know each other. Just

let me say, in those years, I have seen those

who have lost the kingdom of God for the very

reasons that Christ lists in that parable. Property,

work, and family. I have seen people who have

lost the kingdom because they did not know that

Christ loves them first. I have seen people that

lost the kingdom because they invested their

life in their jobs, or in the world, or in some

moral issue of sinfulness which they took a stand

and could not be moved. The invitation to the

banquet, to the supper, is inconvenient. Of course

it is. Christ didn't come. He came in the fullness

of time, not in the convenience of time for me

and you. It's inconvenient if our lives are already

filled up, if we don't see the need, if we say,

I can't give this invitation any serious priority

in my life. I'm busy with many other things.

In the parable, the certain man is embarrassed.

He is hurt. The empty banquet hall. So the man,

God, does exactly what Jesus has told his listeners

in the verses before this parable, when Jesus

was at a banquet. Jesus says, when you give a

feast, when you have a dinner, you invite all

those people that are going to invite you back.

Then you will be seen. You will be honored. No,

he says, when you have a feast, invite the poor,

the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And you

will be blessed because they cannot repay you.

They're not going to invite you to anything because

they cannot. For you shall be repaid at the resurrection

of the just. This is a hard saying for us, something

we don't really... Probably can't grasp. But

this is exactly what God has done for the poor,

the neglected, the blind, the lonely, those searching,

those thirsting after righteousness, the spiritually

wounded. This is an invitation to paradise. That's

what it is. Compared with the banquet that Christ

calls us to, my dear friends, everything else

finds its place. All may enter the kingdom of

God, not because we're good, we're good people,

or nice, or perfect, or sinless. No, just as

St. Paul said in the epistle which the deacon

read so beautifully and powerfully, when Christ,

who is our life, appears. then you also will

appear with him in glory. Let's make that a question,

not a statement. When Christ, who is our life,

appears, then will you also appear with him in

glory? Therefore put to death your members which

are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion,

evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry.

When he appears, not just at Christmas, but at

the end, when he comes in glory. See, this Sunday

is saying, yes, Christ, we're going to celebrate

Christmas, but I want you to think about the

coming in glory at the end, the consummation

of the age. All of us have received an invitation

to the feast. There is no one incapable of hearing

the invitation. Human beings. Are created. They're

wired. To hear that invitation. And I don't mean.

The Christmas letter I sent out this week. No.

This invitation is from God. To the heart. Speaking

to the human heart. Which only God can do. Come

and see. We started the fast. With the feast

of St. Philip. Come and see. Christ says, the

Lord refuses entry to no one, absolutely no one.

The terrifying truth is that there is one thing,

one thing only that can possibly keep us from

entering into the unending joy of the kingdom

of God, the liturgy of heaven. And one thing

only, that is our unwillingness to go in. Our

own free choice to do something else which God

respects. and continues to love us, let us not

fall into that trap. The book of Revelation describes

this great and magnificent event, which is like

Pascha. When you think about Pascha, here's what

the book of Revelation says, and I'm going to

shorten it a little bit. And a voice came out

of the throne, that is the throne of God, saying,

Praise our God, all ye his servants, and all

ye that fear him, both small, And great, for

the marriage of the Lamb, that's Jesus Christ,

is come, and his wife, that's the church, and

his wife hath made herself ready. Be ready! To

her was granted that she should be arrayed in

fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen

is the righteousness of saints. And he saith

to me, Write, blessed are they which are called

to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith

unto me, These are the true sayings of God. He

that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make

all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for

these words are true and faithful. And he said

unto me, It is done. It is done. The man says,

My supper is ready. All things are prepared.

The church is this great supper. Christ is the

Lamb. The fathers, the forefathers, the righteous

men, the prophets, the prophetesses have all

gathered together with us today to lead us to

the Lord. Each liturgy is a taste of this kingdom

of God, brothers and sisters. Let us make ourselves

ready, especially for that liturgy on Christmas

Day when the Lord has invited to cleanse our

heart and make it the dwelling place of the kingdom

to him be glory now and ever to ages of ages

amen