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