Speaker 1: Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Nunciation
Speaker 1: Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an
Speaker 1: old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles
Speaker 1: and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,
Speaker 1: let's listen to this week's homily.
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you a story this morning, story
Speaker 2: of an old farmer. And this old farmer had been
Speaker 2: blessed this year with an extraordinary harvest, and he wanted
Speaker 2: to share his good fortune with his neighbor, who was
Speaker 2: a younger man who had endured several years of poor production.
Speaker 2: So the farmer packed a wagon full of the bounty
Speaker 2: and more and covered it since the weather was a
Speaker 2: little bit off. But as he went to sinch up
Speaker 2: the canvas and cover the wagon, he realized he didn't
Speaker 2: have any rope. Undeterred, he went to that neighbor's house
Speaker 2: and he said, friend, I'd like you to come and
Speaker 2: help me in my barn tomorrow. I have something important
Speaker 2: I need your help with. If you could just bring
Speaker 2: a little rope with you, I really appreciate it. And
Speaker 2: the neighbor replied and said, I'm so sorry. I'd love
Speaker 2: to help you, but tomorrow, I've got to use my
Speaker 2: rope and tie up all my milk and the puzzle.
Speaker 2: And the farmer puzzled and looked him and said, but
Speaker 2: you can't tie up milk with a rope, And the
Speaker 2: neighbor responded, I know, but when a man doesn't want
Speaker 2: to do something, one excuse is just as good as
Speaker 2: the other. And the farmer walked away sadly, because what
Speaker 2: the neighbor didn't know was that not only had the
Speaker 2: farmer planned to give him half of his entire hard
Speaker 2: there's enough grain produced provisions to sustain his family for
Speaker 2: a year. The farmer had even prepared documents to give
Speaker 2: him half of his land because he was older and
Speaker 2: he was going to ease himself into retirement. The neighbor
Speaker 2: spent the rest of his days struggling with meager, heartless,
Speaker 2: and never knowing the blessing that he had refused. He'd
Speaker 2: been too busy protecting what little he had his time
Speaker 2: to receive the abundance that was offered to him. And
Speaker 2: as sad as that neighbor's plight was, brothers and sisters,
Speaker 2: it pales in comparison to the lass suffered by those
Speaker 2: who in today's gospel offered their own odd excuses when
Speaker 2: invited to the banquet of the householder. In today's gospel,
Speaker 2: the Lord of the household, who we understand to represent God,
Speaker 2: makes a great supper, and he invites many, And when
Speaker 2: the time is right and the banquet is ready, he
Speaker 2: sends his servant, who we understand to be Christ, to
Speaker 2: assume the form of a servant and took on our flesh.
Speaker 2: And he sends his servant to the who he is invited.
Speaker 2: And the first one declines the invitation, saying, I've bought
Speaker 2: a piece of ground. I must needs go see it.
Speaker 2: I pray THEE have me excused. And the second says,
Speaker 2: I've bought five yoke of oxen and I have to
Speaker 2: go and test them. I pray THEE have me excused.
Speaker 2: And then third one says, I've married a wife and
Speaker 2: therefore I cannot come now. Before we go further, let's
Speaker 2: ponder on these excuses, which are as flimsy as needing
Speaker 2: to tie up milk with a rope. First, on their face,
Speaker 2: they're about the same level of log if the first
Speaker 2: one claims he's bought land, but yet he's never seen it.
Speaker 2: Who does that? And the second, one buys a team
Speaker 2: of oxen without having first tested them to see if
Speaker 2: they're capable of the work that might be worsened by
Speaker 2: the land unseen. Regardless, these are things that are plainly
Speaker 2: and simply excuses. They could be done tomorrow, even if
Speaker 2: they needed to be done. They just don't want to
Speaker 2: go today. They provide a convenient excuse for those who
Speaker 2: wish to avoid the invitation of the Lord of the house,
Speaker 2: as if marrying means you can't go to an invitation
Speaker 2: for supper anymore now bless if the Awfhlack tells us
Speaker 2: that these three excuses represent three distinct types of people who,
Speaker 2: given the opportunity to accept the call and the invitation
Speaker 2: of God, choose instead to turn away. The man who
Speaker 2: bought the ground is one who remains grounded in the
Speaker 2: things of this world. He cannot accept the mystery of faith,
Speaker 2: of the incarnation of the Virgin birth, or of the
Speaker 2: mystery of the Holy Eucharist. He can only accept what
Speaker 2: his eyes behold and his mind can comprehend. And when
Speaker 2: called to something greater, something higher than the heavens, even
Speaker 2: he turns away, and he keeps his gaze fixed to
Speaker 2: the ground. Not unlike the dumb beasts in the field.
Speaker 2: The man who brought the oxen represents those who are
Speaker 2: fixated on wealth and possessions, like the rich young ruler
Speaker 2: who cannot conceive of an invitation to give up those
Speaker 2: things and follow Christ. And the man whose excuses that
Speaker 2: he's married a wife represents those who have fallen to
Speaker 2: the indulgence of the bodily pleasures. When invited to put
Speaker 2: away the passions of the flesh and to be sanctified
Speaker 2: by a life in Christ, they cling to that which satisfies,
Speaker 2: that which satisfies them in the moment, rather than that
Speaker 2: which offers them life eternal in the Kingdom. And of course,
Speaker 2: those who were bidden at the first represent as a whole,
Speaker 2: not all the people, the Jews, but particularly of the leaders,
Speaker 2: the teachers, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, those who, despite all
Speaker 2: that they'd been given, all their knowledge, all their religiosity,
Speaker 2: who despite all that, choose their own pleasures, their own wealth,
Speaker 2: their own power over their long awaited Messiah, who, at
Speaker 2: this the appointed time, when the feast was ready, has
Speaker 2: appeared before them and bade them to enter into the kingdom.
Speaker 2: Come for all, Come for now all things are ready,
Speaker 2: and they all began to make excuse. And so what
Speaker 2: happens then The Lord sens his servant out into the
Speaker 2: streets and the lanes of the city to gather up
Speaker 2: the poor, the name, the lame, the blind. The people,
Speaker 2: we are told represent not the leaders of the Jews,
Speaker 2: but those common Jews who followed Christ, who knew Him
Speaker 2: in their heart and love him, and who became because
Speaker 2: of this the first Christians in the city of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: But the banquet was still not full, and so crisis
Speaker 2: sent outside of the city, along the roads and the countryside,
Speaker 2: to bring those in who are not of the Jews,
Speaker 2: those gentiles, those Pagans who were foreign to the covenants
Speaker 2: of the Jews, pagan sinners, who, when they heard the
Speaker 2: word were converted by its very power. God himself, in
Speaker 2: the form of a man, comes to them and bids
Speaker 2: them now to the supper. The Lord said that his
Speaker 2: house will be filled. There are no limits on who
Speaker 2: he calls. As Saint John Christensen said, his invitation is
Speaker 2: one of kindness. His goodness is beyond description. Come to
Speaker 2: me all, not only rulers but also their subjects, not
Speaker 2: only the rich, but also the poor. Not only only
Speaker 2: the free, but also the slaves, not only men but women,
Speaker 2: not only young but also the old. And not only
Speaker 2: those of sound body, but those who are maimed and
Speaker 2: those who are mutilated. All of you, he says, come,
Speaker 2: for such are the Master's gifts. He knows no distinction
Speaker 2: of slave and free, nor rich or poor, but all
Speaker 2: such equality, inequalities casticide. Come, he says, all who labor
Speaker 2: and are burdened. There's no discipleship without answering the summons
Speaker 2: to come. So the question then simply is who who
Speaker 2: will accept the invitation? And what is the invitation? How
Speaker 2: do we understand it? It's nothing less than an invitation
Speaker 2: to the Kingdom of Heaven, to life eternal with the Father.
Speaker 2: So this parable is understood with little imagination, even to
Speaker 2: represent God's calling first of the Jews and then of
Speaker 2: all mankind into his kingdom. The supper represents the divine
Speaker 2: economy of our salvation. It is great because it is
Speaker 2: blessed the all flag holds. Great is the mystery of
Speaker 2: our salvation. But as we see time and again in scripture,
Speaker 2: the call of God may be heard by all, but
Speaker 2: it is not accepted by all. God desired the presence
Speaker 2: of all, but many turned away. And this understanding of
Speaker 2: the parable is important because the same invitation is given
Speaker 2: to each of us in these days. Each of us
Speaker 2: are invited. In each of us we either accept or
Speaker 2: we will make excuse. And how will we know? In
Speaker 2: the parable, the Lord of the household says, go out
Speaker 2: in the highways and the hedges, and compel them to
Speaker 2: come in that my house may be filled. Look around,
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters, what is our holy Orthodox temple other
Speaker 2: than the House of the Lord. It's in this house
Speaker 2: of the faithful. Accept the invitation the Lord to his supper,
Speaker 2: to his mystical supper, and think of that each divine liturgy,
Speaker 2: where Heaven and Earth meet, we are invited to the
Speaker 2: Lord's supper. But is the house filled? Is there still
Speaker 2: room at the table? Have all who have been bidden
Speaker 2: entered into the feast? Or have many made excuse those
Speaker 2: who are like the man who bought the ground, who
Speaker 2: cannot accept the mysteries of the faith. Look around, how
Speaker 2: many call themselves followers of Christ but reject the ever
Speaker 2: virginity of Mary, reject the eu Chris as the true
Speaker 2: body and blood, or the visible Church as the body
Speaker 2: of Christ coming. They're like the man with the oxen,
Speaker 2: who prize their possessions over their salvation, who see work
Speaker 2: and toil as preferable to attending the services and receiving
Speaker 2: the mysteries, who take God only on their own terms
Speaker 2: and only at their own convenience. It's easy to worship
Speaker 2: something that always tells you what you want to hear.
Speaker 2: It's quite another to leave your oxen to attend the
Speaker 2: supper and to put off your work to another day.
Speaker 2: And likewise the man who has married a wife. How
Speaker 2: many people today turn away from the church because it
Speaker 2: calls them to continence and sobriety. They can't put away
Speaker 2: serial relationships outside of marriage. They can't give up the
Speaker 2: club to enter the kingdom. They can't turn away from
Speaker 2: the mirror to examine their own sins. But since few
Speaker 2: people can honestly confront what their refusal is grounded in,
Speaker 2: what do we hear? Excuses? Excuses? And we must guard ourselves,
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters, from that same temptation to make excuse.
Speaker 2: For Christ him self says in the Gospel of Matthew,
Speaker 2: that he that shall endure to the end, the same
Speaker 2: shall be saved if you were to like in our
Speaker 2: acceptance of the invitation to receiving the mystery of holy baptism,
Speaker 2: we could all agree that there is much to do
Speaker 2: between accepting the invitation and showing up at the supper.
Speaker 2: You have to dress yourself, and one who thinks they
Speaker 2: do not have suitable attire they may not show up
Speaker 2: for the supper, even if they initially accepted the invitation.
Speaker 2: You have to arrange for anything necessary that needs to
Speaker 2: be done that day to be done while you're away,
Speaker 2: and those who delay in making their arrangements are unable
Speaker 2: to They might stay home and attend to their own
Speaker 2: immediate needs rather than the invitation they had accepted. And
Speaker 2: then you must travel from where you are all the
Speaker 2: way to the feast. And I think this is truly
Speaker 2: where most get lost. They might make a wrong turn,
Speaker 2: they might be stuck in traffic, they might run out gas.
Speaker 2: It might just turn around and go home. Not all
Speaker 2: who accept the invitation will necessary barely turn up at
Speaker 2: the banquet, because in each moment of busyness, of doubt,
Speaker 2: of personal struggle, of fense or weariness, there is that
Speaker 2: opportunity to make excuse to turn back to your home home,
Speaker 2: and the fathers warn us, because of the burgeoning of
Speaker 2: iniquity stemming from the deceit of Antichrist, men will become
Speaker 2: so savage that not even towards those closest to them
Speaker 2: will they preserve the milk of human kindness. But they
Speaker 2: will betray each other. But he that endures patiently until
Speaker 2: the end, steadfastly with standing, not giving into the assaults
Speaker 2: upon him, he it is who will be saved as
Speaker 2: the proven and tested soldier of Christ. My brothers and sisters,
Speaker 2: we live in a time of hurriedness and temptation. So
Speaker 2: as we depart today, let us commit ourselves to be
Speaker 2: like those pagans in the highways in the countryside, who,
Speaker 2: hearing the power of the Word, put away their idolatrous
Speaker 2: inheritance and became, along with the poor, the name, the
Speaker 2: halt and the blind, became those proven and tested soldiers
Speaker 2: of Christ, not making excuse even to the giving of
Speaker 2: their own lives, but enduring all the way from their
Speaker 2: humble abodes to the banquet room of the Lord. Because
Speaker 2: what is left unsaid in the parable is that which
Speaker 2: is otherwise revealed in the scriptures, that those who made excuse,
Speaker 2: who turned away. For whatever reason, lost more than they
Speaker 2: could have ever imagined that day, for the sake of
Speaker 2: a team of oxen. They lost the kingdom for a
Speaker 2: moment viewing the new land. They missed seeing the face
Speaker 2: of their Messiah for a few moments with their new wife.
Speaker 2: They lost eternity. May God grant each of us to
Speaker 2: endure without excuse until that day were permitted to taste
Speaker 2: of His sonn in the Kingdom the name of the
Speaker 2: Father and Son the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 1: Amen, Thanks for listening to Hill Country homilies. For more information,
Speaker 1: visit Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, TX
Speaker 1: dot com and please join us again next week.