Great Supper

My dear children in Christ. Not too young to

say that. So you're my beloved in the Lord. This

is a busy time, isn't it? Busy time of year,

getting ready for Christmas, family, and so forth.

And in fact, the church celebrates, knowing that

this is the case, celebrates this Sunday of...

All the ancestors of Christ for this week and

next week. It's as if they're gathering to come

to the celebration. To join us. To be with us.

To celebrate. There's lots to do. Right up to

the great day itself. The day of the celebration

of the birth of Christ. And the family church

follows the celebration here in the temple. First

we gather in the temple. Lots of services. We

need them to prepare ourselves. We can't just

step into Christmas, right? That's why we have

a 40 -day period. Even the world knows that.

They start during Halloween, but, you know, that's

not quite reasonable. And after the celebration

in the temple, we gather in our homes and with

our friends, I hope, and some with the poor.

But there's lots to do. So we hear our Savior

tell a parable to help us prepare. I think it's

always interesting to ask ourselves, where is

Jesus when he speaks this parable? And who is

he talking to? I think we can assume, when we

read chapter 14 of Luke, that Jesus is at a banquet.

And he tells this short little, some advice.

He says, when you are invited to the banquet,

don't go up and get the choice seats. You know,

nowadays you go to a reception and you look at

the board outside and it tells you what table

you're at. So you're at table number 40, really

far away. This is Jesus saying, don't switch

with somebody up higher because a more important

person will come and then you'll have to go.

back down to number 40. Jesus isn't telling us

etiquette for our next trip to an event, a reception.

This is not about that. Jesus speaks about the

kingdom of God almost exclusively. And he's there

at a banquet with other rabbis and Pharisees.

religious teachers and he's telling them about

humility that the first will be last and the

last will be first and if you think you're already

in the kingdom think again so he's talking to

them about this and a man says to him blessed

is he who eats bread in the kingdom of heaven

And Jesus, the man's on the right track. And

then Jesus gives his parable. Now again, who

is he speaking to? The Pharisees. The religious

authorities. But who else is he speaking to?

Us. Why bother reading it if he's not speaking

to us? He's telling us. We take this story seriously,

too. So he tells a parable about a man who invites

guests to this feast in St. Matthew. It's the

feast of his son, the wedding feast. These days,

we learn that a friend or relative is engaged,

going to get married because we get one of those

save -the -date cards in the mail. Those are

nice. That's not how it worked in the old days.

Or in this parable. The invitation went out saying,

you're invited to the feast. My son is getting

married or whatever it might be. The invitation

went out. No date would be specified. So much

to do. And then the day comes and the servants

go out and says, all is ready. Come to the feast

now. We're ready. Come now. And this is a great

honor. This is an incredible honor. All things

are ready. Come now. The feast is today. What

is this feast we're talking about today? What's

the feast that Jesus talks about in this parable?

It's the participation in the kingdom of God,

in the life of God, in communion with God, with

joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. In love and

knowledge. It's deification. It's our transformation.

St. Paul in Colossians, you heard the deacon

read, put away, put to death all those things

that are in the way. Put to death those things.

We're created for this banquet. That's why we

exist. To be deified, to be with God, to be made

like him, to become children of the Most High.

That's our life. So when Christ, who is our life,

appears, says St. Paul, then we shall be with

him how? Sitting around on the cloud, playing

some kind of silly harp? We shall be with him

in glory. When Christ, who is our life, appears,

says St. Paul, we shall appear also with him

in glory. This invitation to the banquet. You

heard what happened. Come, all things are ready.

This invitation is universal for all people.

It's generous. Everyone, everyone, beginning

with the Lord's own chosen people. They're the

first to be invited. He's telling this parable

especially to the Pharisees who already think

that they have it made. They don't need to do

anything else. God knows that the banquet is

the perfect thing for us to be invited to. Why?

Because we human beings are hungry creatures.

We can be very lonely creatures. He invites us

to fellowship with him, to joy, to be fed by

him. He sends out an invitation. You've received

it. It's like a little box of this invitation.

A little box comes with it of hors d 'oeuvres.

Think of that. You get a taste of what the banquet's

going to be. So when the invitation arrives,

there's going to be a taste of what the meal's

going to be like. That's the liturgy. That's

the liturgy. Communion with God and each other

in fellowship without us sick, tired, or dead.

We will rejoice. It's an invitation. It's not

a threat. The Lord knows we need something sweet

to be brought to him. And this banquet was expensive.

Exorbitantly expensive. A feast to prepare costing

beyond anything you can imagine. A very heavy

price was paid. Paid on the cross. Picture now,

Jesus knowing what would come. He tells this

story. These people are listening to him. Picture

him later, standing on the Mount of Olives, gazing

out over the city of David. and hear his words,

which St. Luke records. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

the one who kills the prophets and stones those

who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather

your children together as a hen gathers her chicks

under her wings, but you were not willing. You

hear the pain of the Lord, his heartbreak. that

his chosen people would reject this invitation.

The Lord gives us the freedom to reject anything.

He doesn't give us freedom so that we can make

bad choices, which is what we end up doing so

often. That's not the purpose of freedom. And

bad choices don't validate freedom. Those who

refuse, refuse consciously. Not accidentally.

The Lord knows the heart of each and every person.

Nobody, please listen carefully, no one departs

from God by accident. And God will not force

anyone. Compared with the banquet, my dear friends,

beloved in the Lord, everything else is trivial.

If we don't have that first. All endeavors. All

the distractions. Look at today's excuses. Look

at them. One priest called this the parable of

excuses. I purchased a field. I have to go look

at it. Caught up in property. Caught up in possessions.

Caught up in work. Caught up in anxiety and in

relationships. Unlike some priests that I know,

I can't say, well, in my former parish, let me

tell you about a situation. I can't do that here

because you know each other. All I can say, brothers

and sisters, is that the invitation to the banquet

is inconvenient. It's inconvenient if you put

your field first, your oxen or your car or your

tractor or your marriage first. Just let me say,

I've seen marriages in which someone lost the

kingdom for the sake of a marriage. The one who

hears it says, I cannot give this invitation

serious priority. I am busy. All can come. All

can come. The house is huge. All are invited.

The doors are open. All can come, not because

we are good, not because we have done anything.

The first guest turned down the invitation, and

the father withdraws it, which is what it means

when it says he is wroth and angry. And who comes

to the banquet? Who comes? The poor, the maimed,

the lame. and the blind, the homeless, on the

highways and the hedges. That's us, the Gentiles,

with darkened mind and futility of life, says

St. Paul. And we enter the church in the biggest

mess that we are, and we begin to live differently.

And we're reborn from above. by the cross and

by water and baptism with the Spirit. And we're

transformed. How grateful we must be now as we're

preparing for Christmas Day for the great love

that God has shown us. We, who had nothing to

do with God, did not know God. Gentiles, the

law in Sinai was not given to us. It was given

to a chosen group. We now belong to him also.

We are his dear children also. We can dine with

him at every divine liturgy, have a taste of

the kingdom of that great festival that will

occur when the Lord appears in glory. This is

all the Christmas story, brothers and sisters.

Joy in the birth of Jesus. joy in being invited

to the house of God, the church, joy in partaking

of the banquet of the Messiah, the Holy Eucharist,

joy in the Christmas dinner too at home. Don't

delay. Put nothing in the way. No excuses. They're

not worth it. When the king of all, the one who

made us, invites us to something, come with your

whole heart, your whole mind. all your strength,

and you will have that great gift. To our Lord

be glory now and ever, to ages of ages. Glory

to Jesus Christ.