Church of the
Annunciation

7580 Clinton Street
Elma, New York 14059

716.683.5254

October 11, 2020

28th Sunday Ordinary

Can we imagine someone hosting a feast on a mountain? We can if God is the host! We must remember in the Bible “the mountain” is the place where we encounter God. Isaiah uses the image of an earthly banquet to speak of God spreading a table of rich food and choice wines at the end time for all who accept his invitation to gather on the holy mountain. God “will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations.” God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the reproach of his people. All who receive such an invitation should “rejoice and be glad that he has saved us.” But not all do!

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus takes up these verses of Isaiah by telling a parable, a darker tale, of a king inviting the people of his realm to come to the wedding feast of his son. For different reasons, they excuse themselves. Some even become hostile and harm the servants of the king. He is outraged and sends his troops to punish the murderers and burn their city. He then sends out servants to invite anyone they find on the streets to make sure the banquet hall is full. Jesus tells the parable to the chief priests and elders who are not receptive to his message and mission. St. Matthew, the evangelist, retells the parable of Jesus for his own community (both Jew and Gentile) to emphasize the urgency for them to accept Jesus as the Messiah and his invitation to dine at God the Father’s heavenly banquet.  

St. Paul is one such person who accepts the invitation to discover God’s salvation in Christ. At first, he does not. He rejects it. He is a faithful Jew who sees “followers of the way” as a betrayal of their Jewish faith. He persecutes the early believing communities until, on the way to Damascus, he falls, blinded by a light and hears a mysterious voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” It is the voice of Jesus crucified and raised. From then on, the two are inseparable. Paul no longer lives but Christ, who loves him personally and gave his life for him, now lives in him. Jesus is not an imaginary friend, a ghost like form of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Christ. Paul writes to the Church at Philippi to thank them for their kind assistance while in prison but he explains that he has learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in humble circumstances or with abundance. “I can do all things in him [Christ] who strengthens me.”

We do not have to wait for the heavenly banquet promised by Isaiah at the end time for we gather for Eucharist now, the taste of God’s Kingdom to come. As St. Paul assures the Church at Philippi: “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen.”

 

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