Today the herald of the Feast of the Nativity bids us be attentive: Today is the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers of Christ—the 11th hour of Advent and so, we affirm with St. Cyril of Jerusalem when he shouts out to us from the Fourth Century: “we do not only proclaim one coming, but two, the second more glorious than the first!” Indeed, the Lord is coming!
This Sunday, the Lord calls on us to recall his earthly forefathers through whom God prepares the way for the holy Incarnation of the Word of God through whom all creation was made and through whom the whole creation will be made new, including and especially His beloved human creation, alone created in His holy image and likeness. On this day, we begin to ponder in advance of the Feast what it means that God took on human flesh and human nature and became one of His own creation, adding Himself to the genealogy of that created human order He Himself established by the proceeding of His own Word.
The list of those ancestors of Christ—the forefathers—contains a list of the “who’s who” of the Old Testament—Saints and sinners, men and women who were either sinners or foreigners, but all of whom manifested extraordinary faith, repentance, humility, willingness to be in this world but not of this world. The women among these ancestors, such as Rahab and Ruth point to the prominent place that women will play in mankind’s redemption through the Virgin Mary, the new Eve, the new model of womanhood, along with the women disciples of the Lord—the holy Myrrhbearers. Underscored here is the truth that Christ came to redeem all of humanity, human nature itself, in order to create a new race of Adam—not one based on or race or gender, but one grounded in the firm and eternal foundation that is our new and predestined identity in Christ God, a human race capable of communion, life with God springing up from humility and righteousness, conquering the passions so that we can be in the near presence of God Himself.
Already, even before He sent His disciples to preach the good news to “all nations”, Christ Himself hails, in part, from Gentile seed. The Jew of Jews, St. Paul, reminds us of this truth in today’s Epistle, saying, “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11). He also reminds us that our calling in Christ is a holy one—an identity grounded in the heavenly reality of life with Christ here and now, striving for communion with God, fighting the temporal passions that are part of this short life, so that we may inherit eternal life, becoming fellow victors with the Saints.
We who worship here today are inheritors of this promise that God made to Abraham when He declared, “in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:4). Many Jews saw this promise as given purely through the Abrahamic blood line, grounded in this world and, in turn, partaking of the fallen race of Adam.
But God had something greater in mind: the renewal and regeneration of the human race where everyone is called. No one is excluded from the calling to be renewed with Christ, the new Adam, to become a co-heir with Him. In Matthew’s genealogy Christ’s ancestors include both righteous and unrighteous, faithful kings and murderers, Jews and Gentiles, kings and peasants, men and women. The hallmark of all is cooperation with the work of God through faith, cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives just as we hear St. Paul reminding us today:
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry… anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…” (Colossians 3)
For this reason, King David is held up as one of the faithful of Christ’s ancestors, “a man after God’s own heart,” though he was a recovering adulterer and murderer and lived with the consequences of his grat sins all the rest of his earthly life. We pray Psalm 50 every morning in the prayers of the Church for this reason, that you and I may remember the necessity of our own repentance and God’s gracious love and mercy manifested in His enduring forgiveness.
So, we see that there’s a great participation here in our salvation that you and I must muster. For this reason, St. Paul admonishes, “Put off…” all the things that he just listed. God’s will is clear: to save us, but what if we don’t avail ourselves of this great gift of God’s mercy? What if we keep putting off repentance out of fear, which is, in reality, a form of pride, of over reliance on self and not on God? What if we buy into the consumerism and materialism of our present world and forget God and our calling in Him, living just for the temporal illusory existence around us? What if we begin to take God’s grace and love for granted, this greatest of gifts, which is our new life in the human nature which Christ has renewed? Today’s Gospel is an invitation but it’s also a warning not to take God’s mercy and love for granted. All are called, but not all choose to be among the chosen of God. If we refuse, others will come in our place. God’s life is never forced upon us; we can choose death, that is, apartness from God and His life.
Those who reject the fullness of the life in Christ are not worthy of that life. Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). He calls on us who thirst, to come and drink (John 7:37). And, most audaciously, Christ says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me.” How do we dare despise this invitation to share in koinonia (Communion) with the King, our Creator, our Savior who comes to be born, humble, lowly in a manger in a cave and among the beasts he created?
God loves us too much to hold back from warning us beforehand of the consequences of neglecting His life, of disavowing ourselves of communion with the Life that He alone is, as He does with this parable of the great supper in today’s Gospel.
So, brothers and sisters, now is the time for repentance. Now is the time to make confession and renew our baptism in Christ. Now is the time to prepare for His coming. Advent is meant to spur us on to make our souls ready to greet Christ when He comes, as we prepare to receive Him in the Eucharist of the Feast and as we await His glorious and Second Coming, which will happen at a time we do not know.
Now is the time for us to rouse ourselves to action—to repent in word and deed, to prayerfully beseech God daily for the things we need to lead holier, more loving, more servant-oriented lives for Christ.
We, for our part, make ready to receive the King of all, humbly born in a manger in a cave for our salvation that He may make us humble, in turn, to teach us the way of true courage, humility, dying to self that we may live for Him and with Him for all eternity. Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and each one of us, and so we live now with eternity before our eyes, participating even now in the Kingdom through His Church and the divine worship.
Christ God is here, in our midst in His Church, ready to welcome us to His supper, ready to dine with us and commune with us, to heal us, to make us whole. So, we say “YES!” to God’s gracious invitation and make ready our souls to receive the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who becomes incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary for our sake and that of the entire human race.
Fr. Robert Miclean
Holy Archangels Orthodox Church
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Sunday of the Holy Forefathers of Christ
Epistle: Colossians 3:4-11
Gospel: Luke 14:16-24
