Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 14:16-24

             If you are like me, you know how easy it is to come up with excuses for not focusing on what is most important when you would rather be doing something else.  When that happens, the problem is not so much with the circumstances of our lives as with ourselves, for we have chosen not to keep our priorities in order and to become distracted from putting first things first.    

            The people in today’s gospel reading did precisely that when they rejected the invitation to enter into the joy of the great banquet that represents the Kingdom of God.  They made excuses based on the blessings that they had received:  One owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married.  These commonplace conditions are certainly not evil or even temptations in and of themselves.  They preclude no one from seeking first the Kingdom of God.  They provide opportunities for offering all the good things of this life to the Lord for the fulfillment of His gracious purposes for the salvation of the world.  Nonetheless, all the invited guests in the parable used them as excuses to refuse the invitation to the feast.  That is when 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.”  

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 legalism of the Pharisees, repudiated the temptation to become a military or political leader, and extended the blessings 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” and those brought in “from the highways and hedges” represent us as Gentiles who are not the descendants of Abraham and have no ancestral connection to the law and prophets of the Old Testament.  Especially as we prepare for Christmas, we must remember that we have no claim to the blessings of the Messiah on the basis of nationality. Apart from the mercy of the Savior, which extends to foreigners and outcasts like us, 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. To see ourselves and our neighbors in light of the divisions of our fallen world is simply to make yet another excuse for not embracing the gracious healing that He offers even to unlikely people like us.  As St. Paul wrote, “Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.”

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.

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, but she chose to remain focused on hearing and obeying the Word of God.  Likewise, no one forces us.  No matter what excuses we have made so far in our lives, we all have the ability to respond to Christ with the obedience of humble faith. Doing so means that we will obey the Apostle’s teaching: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

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 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.  Doing so requires that we obey the Apostle’s teaching: “But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”

Contrary to what we like to tell ourselves, the conventional responsibilities of life are invitations to love and serve Christ in our neighbors each day of our lives.  Nothing but our own lack of mindfulness can keep 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 also: 

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 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 fuel our passions.  The path we take will lead 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.  Before His holy glory, we are all “the poor and maimed and blind and lame” from “the highways and hedges” who must open our hearts for healing through prayer, fasting, generosity to our needy neighbors, and confession and repentance of our sins.   That is how even unlikely people like us may accept His gracious invitation to dine at the Heavenly Banquet with those who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah with faith across the ages.    Let us use the remainder of the Nativity Fast to do precisely that.

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[1] St. Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, 144.

[2] St. Porphyrios, 145.