ACCEPTING THE INVITATION TO THE TABLE OF LOVE

As we approach the Holy Nativity, this passage is offered to us as a reminder that we are to be anticipating something profound and mysterious in commemorating the birth of Jesus. We prepare our hearts with fasting, for the banquet celebrating the wedding of Divinity to humanity is about to begin. And we are invited! We, the poor, maimed, blind, and lame. We, the inhabitants of the spiritual highways and hedges, the lonely roads and hiding places of this life. We are invited!

The late Orthodox theologian, Fr. Anthony Coniaris, of blessed memory, captures the essential meaning of today’s parable.  He writes: “There are many people who consider Christianity a type of tyrannical religion. To them it is nothing but a series of commandments, You should do this. You should not do that. But Christianity is not first and foremost a “should” religion. It is first and foremost a “come” religion. The great drawing power of Christ is not in His “Thou shalt not” but in His “Come to me.” Come be filled with the Holy Spirit. Come be filled with the power of God’s presence. If we come to Him, then we shall do certain things, not because we “should” do them, but because we delight in doing them as an expression of our love for the Son of God.” Christian discipleship is, at its heart, a response to an invitation.

Fr. Anthony was echoing the words of our holy, beloved father, St. John Chrysostom who wrote these precious words, “His invitation is one of kindness. His goodness is beyond description. ‘Come to me all, ‘ not only rulers but also their subjects, not only the rich, but also the poor, not only the free but also the slaves, not only men but women, not only the young but also the old, not only those of sound body but also the maimed and those with mutilated limbs, all of you, He says, come! For such are the Master’s gifts; He knows no distinction of slave and free, nor of rich and poor, but all such inequality is cast aside. ‘Come, ‘ He says, ‘all who labor and are burdened!’  There is no discipleship without answering the summons “Come!”

Apart from the invitation that the Householder extended to his special guests, apart from the human inclination to make excuses for not responding to his “Come!”, this Lucan parable can be expanded to the centerpiece of our Orthodox faith and theology – the Eucharistic sacrifice, the Divine Liturgy.  As the center and source of our faith, the Eucharistic liturgy, of its nature, is an invitation, a call, a summons to be part of the story of our salvation. The Eucharist is a redemptive call.  It is the call to love and be loved!.

His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes, in a sermon on this Lucan passage, writes: “In the midst of the Holy Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist the extreme Love of God is expressed, Who “desires that all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth” (1 Τim. 2:4).  The special characteristic of God’s Love towards man is the offering and the sacrifice. He who loves, sacrifices everything for him whom is loved. He, who loves less, offers less. But, he who loves more, offers even more. Our Lord Jesus Christ extremely loved “His own in the world”, and for this reason He offers Himself “for the life and salvation of the world”. St. John the Evangelist speaking about the greatness of this divine love says: “Thus God loved the world, that He gave His own begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not parish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15-16).

It is through the mystery and wonder that is the Divine Liturgy, that our Tremendous Lover calls to us, reaches out in unimaginable love to us, and Himself becomes food for us. It is nothing less than the Son of God, the Bread of Angels, now made the food for men and women.  The Greek word used for “dinner” in the New Testament is ‘deipnos’ and it establishes a connection with the ‘mystikos deipnos’—the mystical supper of Christ and the Apostles. This mystical supper is celebrated every Divine Liturgy. Thus, God the Father puts on a great banquet every Sunday. Every Sunday He issues the call “Come!” Every time the sacrifice is offered on the Holy Altar, it is Christ the High Priest who invites, prompts, summons and cajoles our hungry hearts, calling us to “eat the Bread of Life and drink the cup of eternal salvation.”

Do we have an excuse for not coming to the Holy Table every week (when we can physically fill the church)?  Will we have an excuse for not being here on the Nativity or participating virtually?  Keeping busy with many things when, as Jesus said, “one thing alone is needful” allows our priorities to shift, distracts us from the care of our hearts and souls, and can leave us spiritually emaciated. If we regularly make excuses not to participate in the new Mystical Supper, eventually we spiritually starve ourselves and “turn our hearts of flesh into hearts of stone.” Likewise, we cannot use the yoke of our job, profession, or occupation as an excuse. Even our marriage, our spouse, and our children cannot become an excuse. How often do we allow one person in the family scheduling conflict to become a reason for the whole family not to attend church? How often do we attend the great banquet of the liturgy only if we have received no other invittations for Sunday morning? In the passage, Luke 14:25-35, right after today’s gospel, Jesus discusses the cost of discipleship saying, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (v.26).

Can the message be any more blunt or clear? Being an Orthodox disciple of Christ means answering the Divine invitation “Come!”  Furthermore, beyond that, it means responding to Jesus’ words on the night before He died, when he celebrated that Mystical Supper, and said: “Do this in memory of me!”  He didn’t call for a vote on it.  He didn’t say “Do this when you have time to fit me in.” He never implied that our answering the call, the invitation to Eucharist was dependent on whether or not it was convenient.

Today’s Gospel is not only a lesson in Christian discipleship, it is a teaching on the danger of making excuses to avoid the Loving God and His determination to feed our souls. In examining honestly our personal lives, we need to keep this in mind. The Holy Gifts unite Christians with Christ and their participation in the heavenly Kingdom is ensured. This is exactly what is emphasized in the prayer of the Divine Liturgy prayed by the priest before the Lord’s Prayer: “Lord,….make us worthy to partake of Your heavenly and awesome Mysteries from this holy and spiritual Table with a clear conscience; for the remission of sins, forgiveness of transgressions, communion of the Holy Spirit, and the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven….” But why ought we to respond to the Lord’s invitation every week? For one simple reason: Long before He issued the call “Come!”, He came down to us for nothing less than to save us, to convince us that death wasn’t the end, and to break open His own heart that we might see and feel what true love is all about.

“Come, for all is now ready.” The invitation goes out to all. The good news is that you don’t have to be perfect to come. Come as you are – with all of your sins and sorrows, weaknesses and failures, problems and anxieties. Come to the only One who can forgive you and heal you. Come to the only One who can make you worthy.  “Come, for all is now ready. ” Coming to Jesus is a way of life. Plumb the depths of your heart, root out any excuses that keep you from Him and from the Divine Banquet He offers you each and every week.  Remember, we don’t come to the Divine Liturgy each week because some rule of the Church requires it. We come because we have fallen in love with Him who first fell in love for us and keeps us close to His beating heart!

I pray that this loving Christ of God give you light into your hearts to see just how much He loves each of you!

Faithfully in the Lord of Life,
Fr. Dimitrios