Luke
14:16-24
Even before the internet and cell phones, people
struggled to remain focused on what was truly important. Now we must contend not only with constant
messages, images, and other forms of electronic distraction, but also with passions
that tempt us to be mindful about just about anything other than preparing to welcome
Christ into our lives and world at His Nativity. All the more is that the case when worrying
about everything from the persistent problems of the world and of our families
to meeting the challenges of paying for presents, travel, and other seasonal
expenses threatens to convince us that there are matters more important than accepting
the Savior’s gracious invitation to enter fully into the joy of the banquet of
the Kingdom of Heaven. He calls us to
embrace our true vocation not only during divine services or in the
eschatological future, but in every moment of our lives, regardless of the
circumstances in which we live.
The
people in today’s gospel reading had made themselves blind to the urgency of
their calling, for they rejected the invitation to enter into the joy of the great
banquet that represents the Kingdom of God. They did so for the most mundane reasons: One
owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married. They somehow convinced themselves that the
commonplace circumstance of having regular responsibilities justified their refusal. After the invited guests refused to attend, the
master commanded his servant to “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” Because there was still room, the master
ordered him to go out even further to “the highways and hedges, and compel
people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Even as God wants all to be saved, the
master in the parable wanted as many people as possible to share in the
blessings of the festival.
There may be deeper
spiritual significance to the symbolism of the yoke of five oxen in the parable,
for there are five books of law in the Old Testament. Having a field of land may represent those
who wanted the Messiah to set up a nationalistic religious kingdom in the Holy
Land. Marriage may represent the belief
that God’s blessings were only for their particular family line or ethnic group. Many rejected our Lord because He interpreted
the law in a way that challenged the authority of the Pharisees, repudiated the
temptation to become an earthly king of the Jews, and extended the blessing of
His Reign even to those considered foreigners and enemies.
In the
historical setting of the passage, “the poor and maimed
and blind and lame” brought in from the streets to the great banquet
represent the Gentiles, who were not the descendants of Abraham and did not know
the law and prophets of the Old Testament. Especially as we prepare for Christmas, we
must remember that we are those with no ancestral claim to the blessings of the
Messiah. Our hope for entering into
heavenly joy has nothing to do with having the right ethnic heritage or mastering
a set of religious laws. Apart from the
mercy of the Savior, we would have no part in the great spiritual heritage of
those who foreshadowed and foretold the coming of the Christ across the
centuries before His birth. We must never, then, fall into the idolatry of
thinking that serving the false gods of nationality, ethnicity, or political
ideology has anything at all to do with entering into life eternal. If anything, they easily become obstacles to
our salvation in light of our passionate attachment to seeing ourselves and
other people light of the categories of the fallen world.
The Hebrews who
looked forward in faith for God’s fulfillment of the promises to Abraham did
not do so simply on the basis of their observance of the law, which came later through
Moses. The law was necessary for sinful
people as a tutor in preparation for the coming of Christ. The ancestors of the Lord longed not merely
for a great teacher, but for liberation from slavery to sin and death, which
the law lacked the power to accomplish. The forefathers of the Savior trusted
God that their hope would not be in vain.
Though often overlooked at the time, the original promise to Abraham
extended to the Gentiles, for God told him, “In you all the nations of the
world will be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) Now
all who are in Christ “are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise.” (Gal. 3:29) Jew or Gentile, “those who are of faith are blessed
with believing Abraham.” (Gal. 3:9) The Savior is born to bring all who bear
the divine image and likeness into the joy of the heavenly banquet. Nationality,
ethnicity, and political affiliation do not limit God’s gracious purposes for
us in any way.
The Hebrews of
the Old Testament who prepared for the Messiah’s coming through faith did so of
their own free will in response to their calling as the children of
Abraham. That is true also for the
Theotokos, who is the highest offering of the Jewish people and became the God-Man’s
living temple in a unique way as His virgin mother. She was chosen for this astounding vocation
and responded in freedom to the message of the Archangel Gabriel. No one forced her at all, but she chose to
remain focused on hearing and obeying the Word of God. Likewise, no one forces us. Despite our personal brokenness, we all have
the ability to respond to Christ with the obedience of humble faith.
Unfortunately, those
in the parable who had convinced themselves that the normal cares of life excluded
them from entering into the joy of the heavenly kingdom responded very
differently. As the master said in the
parable, ‘”For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my
banquet.’ For many are called, but few
are chosen.” Those who are chosen are
those who follow the Theotokos’ example of making receptivity to Christ the top
priority of their lives. Like her, we
must use our freedom as those who bear the image of God to seek first His
Kingdom. Otherwise, we will bring
judgment upon ourselves as those who refused to orient our lives toward “the
one thing needful” of hearing and obeying the Word of God.
Contrary to some
of our favorite excuses, the conventional responsibilities of life are in no
way incompatible with uniting ourselves to Christ, for they provide
opportunities to reorient the desires of our hearts to God as we love and serve
Him in our neighbors. Nothing but our
own lack of mindfulness keeps us from making our daily responsibilities points
of entrance into eternal joy. What St.
Porphyrios taught about the spiritual possibilities of our daily work applies
to the rest of life in this and at all other times of the year: "At your work,
whatever it may be, you can become saints—through meekness, patience and love. Make a new start every day, with new resolution,
with enthusiasm and love, prayer and silence—not with anxiety so that you get a
pain in the chest.[1] Let your soul
devote itself to the prayer 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me' in all your
worries, for everything and everyone.
Don’t look at what’s happening to you, look at the light, at Christ,
just as a child looks to its mother when something happens to it. See
everything without anxiety, without depression, without strain and without
stress."[2]
We make the
choice every moment of our lives whether we are going to offer our blessings
and struggles to the Lord as opportunities for finding the healing of our souls
or whether we are going to use them as excuses to become further enslaved to
our passions. The path we take will shape
us decisively, leading us either into the joy of the heavenly kingdom or into the
despair of those who have wasted their lives on what can never truly satisfy the
living icons of God. If we remain so
enslaved to our passions that we refuse to welcome Christ into our hearts and
lives with integrity on a daily basis, then we will exclude ourselves from the
joy that He is born to bring to the world.
Before His holy glory, we are all “the poor and maimed and blind and
lame” who must open our hearts to receive Him through prayer, fasting,
generosity to our needy neighbors, and confession and repentance of our
sins. That is how we may accept His gracious invitation
to dine at the Heavenly Banquet. Let us
use the remainder of the Nativity Fast to do precisely that.
