CALLED TO THE LAMB’S SUPPER: A SERMON FOR THE 20TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY (OCT. 13TH)

A Classic Western Icon of the Triumph of the Lamb and the Coming of the Kingdom of God, the Ghent Altarpiece, Where Right-Believing Christians Will be United with Christ, the Saints, and Angels, for All Eternity in the Blessed Consummation of God’s Holy Plan for His Creation

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West) 

Introduction

Welcome to St. Alopen’s Church! We are delighted to have you all with us this morning as we love and praise our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Today we will examine our Scripture readings and talk about the final destination of the Christian life: the final perfection, the “telos”, for which all of us strive, which is not some staid and boring holiness, as we play harps on our clouds and no longer have personal identities or friendships. No! Today, we will talk about the intense and wonderful joy that we expect upon being reunited with all of our friends and loved ones, the angels and saints, the martyrs and Apostles, and Jesus Christ Himself - our ultimate Lover and Friend! 

I will say these things to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Readings

- Old Testament (Isaiah 45:1-7) – God speaks to Cyrus, His anointed.

- Psalm (Psalm 96:1-9, 10-13) – "Sing unto the Lord, all the earth... Let the heavens rejoice."

- Epistle (Ephesians 5:15-21) – "Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise."

- Gospel (St. Matthew 22:1-14) – The parable of the wedding feast.

Sermon: Called to Supper 

The theme of today’s readings calls us to hear God’s call to His people—the call to fidelity, to wisdom, to readiness for His kingdom, and ultimately to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which is both a present mystery and a future hope. This icon of marriage, of joy, of peace, of contentment with one’s whole family gathered round in celebration is one of the most hopeful and beautiful moments that we as humans can ever experience. It is holy and full of truth - the ages spin by around the human axis of such a sacred feast. As we hear in the parable from St. Matthew, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son, but the invited guests would not come. Therein lies one of the most poignant mysteries of Scripture: God calls everyone, but many refuse. As in the days of Cyrus, whom God anointed to fulfill His purposes, God’s sovereign plan proceeds, even through those who do not know Him. This truth has echoed through the centuries as we are continually called into deeper communion with God, yet so often, we delay or dismiss that call.

All Secular Authority Accountable to God

Prophet Isaiah, in the Old Testament reading, speaks of God’s anointing of Cyrus, a pagan king, as His instrument for the liberation of His people. Here we see a profound theological paradox: the God of Israel, who alone is sovereign, uses even those outside His covenant to accomplish His purposes. He is free to move and influence everyone, including those outside of His Church! In fact, in doing so, God Himself builds His Church of stones hewn by His own hand! St. Augustine remarked on this paradox when he wrote, "God sometimes works through His enemies to chastise His friends, and through His friends to glorify His enemies," highlighting that God's providence is inscrutable yet perfectly wise, a profound mystery that “Calvinism” or “Arminianism” can barely communicate, let alone scratch the surface of God’s deep and holy darkness. In Cyrus, we are reminded that God’s ways are not our ways, and His choice of instruments often surprises and humbles us.

King Cyrus, who did not know the Lord, was nonetheless called by name and girded with power to open gates and subdue nations. This act foreshadows the greater opening of the gates to the Gentiles in the New Covenant, a theme echoed in today’s Gospel. In the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus tells us that those who were first invited - the Jews, represented by the religious leaders of His day - rejected the invitation. The King then opened the invitation to all, gathering both the good and the bad from the highways, so that the wedding hall would be filled. This is a direct fulfillment of the prophecy that God's salvation would extend to the ends of the earth, as declared in the Psalm: "Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people" (Psalm 96:3).

The Wedding Garments of the Heart 

St. Gregory the Great, in his homily on this passage, points out that the wedding garment represents the interior disposition of the heart—our purity of soul and readiness to meet the Bridegroom. "The garment of the heart," says St. Gregory, "is woven by love and charity, and only those clothed in such virtues can partake of the feast." This garment is not mere external piety but the righteousness that comes from true repentance, love, and faith. The man cast out of the feast is a warning to us all that mere outward participation in the life of the Church without inward transformation is perilous.

An AI Rendering of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as an Infinite Celebration in the Heavenly Courts, Surrounding the Throne of Christ! 

Walking through the Valleys with a Song of Praise

The Lord’s call to us, therefore, is a call to live in readiness. St. Paul, in the epistle to the Ephesians, exhorts us to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” We are called to understand the will of the Lord, to live by the Spirit, to sing psalms and hymns, making melody in our hearts to the Lord. There is something profoundly Eucharistic in this command, for as we partake of the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, we are filled with the Spirit and drawn into that eternal song of praise.

I can remember vividly when I was talking to a mystic priest in the East, a man of great prayer and humility, as we drank tea together before he was made a bishop. He described his life of askesis and loneliness as a particular calling, a vision that God had given, climbing a mountain and singing to the Lord. He wept as he remembered how this had sustained him in his difficult missionary calling in a far-flung place, on the “backside of the desert.” The joy of the journey is found in anticipation, in praise, in singing, as we march up the mountains and down the valleys, towards the glorious consummation of all things - in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! 

St. Ephrem the Syrian once wrote, "The Church is the harp of the Spirit; when she sings, she lifts the world to God." As we sing, “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 96:9), we are drawn into this cosmic liturgy, where heaven and earth are united in worship. Our worship is not merely a ritual but a participation in the divine reality - a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

In reflecting on the marriage feast, we are reminded of that great banquet spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah: "The Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine" (Isaiah 25:6). This eschatological banquet is the culmination of history, when Christ, the Bridegroom, returns for His Bride, the Church. And yet, the banquet is also a present reality in the Eucharist, where we taste the firstfruits of that coming kingdom.

Pushing Past the Clamor That Keeps Us From Entering the Wedding Supper 

The invitation to the feast is freely given, but the response requires preparation. T.S. Eliot, in his poem "Choruses from 'The Rock'," speaks of the tragedy of modern man, who is distracted and deafened by the noise of the world, unable to hear the call of God: 

"The endless cycle of idea and action, 

Endless invention, endless experiment, 

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; 

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence; 

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word." 

Like those in the parable who were too busy with their farms and merchandise, we are often caught up in the distractions of life and miss the still, small voice of God.

But for those who hear and respond, the promise is unspeakable joy. St. John Chrysostom, reflecting on the joy of the marriage feast, says, "When the Bridegroom comes, He brings not only the wedding garment but a crown of righteousness for those who love Him." We are called not only to the feast but to reign with Christ, for we are made heirs of His kingdom, co-heirs with Him through baptism and the Spirit.

Putting on the Wedding Garment and Entering the Wedding Feast 

As we prepare to approach the altar today, let us examine our hearts. Are we clothed in the wedding garment of love, faith, and repentance? Are we redeeming the time, living wisely in these evil days, filled with the Spirit, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord? Or are we distracted, caught up in the cares of the world, unready for the King’s return?

Let us, as St. Paul exhorts, "submit ourselves one to another in the fear of God," and in humility receive the grace to follow the invitation to the marriage feast. May we, like the psalmist, declare His glory among the nations, for the Lord is coming to judge the earth, and He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with His truth.

In the words of that sublime Caroline poet, Fr. George Herbert:

"Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: 

Such a Way, as gives us breath: 

Such a Truth, as ends all strife: 

And such a Life, as killeth death."

May the Lord, who has called us to this feast, grant us the grace to wear the garment of righteousness, to sing the new song of salvation, and to dwell in His courts forever. Amen.

COLLECT

Almighty and merciful God, we thank Thee for Thy abundant grace and the invitation Thou hast extended to us to partake in Thy heavenly feast. Help us, we beseech Thee, to walk in wisdom and in the fear of the Lord, that our hearts may be prepared to meet Thee. Clothe us in the wedding garment of righteousness, that we may stand blameless before Thee on the day of Thy coming. Through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

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