THE FIRE SHALL NEVER GO OUT

The Famous Byzantine Icon, "Christ in the Chalice"

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

INTRODUCTION

On this day, beloved in Christ, the Church keeps the Feast of the Holy Mandylion, the “Icon Not Made by Hands”, which is the first miraculous image of our Saviour’s holy face, imprinted not by painter’s brush nor human art, but by the very light of God shining in the Incarnate Word. When King Abgar of Edessa, sick and longing for healing, received this cloth bearing Christ’s countenance, he received not only health of body but also the seed of eternal life, for through this sign of the Lord’s presence, the Gospel first took root in his city, the first Christian kingdom in history.

The Mandylion reveals to us the heart of today’s Scriptures. For the fire upon the altar that Moses commanded never to be extinguished (Lev. 6) is the same fire of divine love that shines forth in the face of Christ, never quenched, even by sin, betrayal, or death. The Eucharistic Bread and Cup, which St. Paul warns us to receive with fear and discernment (1 Cor. 11), are the same saving presence offered to us in Christ’s image: God made visible, God given to us, God meeting us in flesh and blood. The parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15) shows the Father running to embrace His lost child, and in the Mandylion we see that embrace made visible: the face of mercy that shines upon the repentant.

As St. Paul declared, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). So the Mandylion is not only a relic of ancient memory, but a prophecy of our destiny. For just as Christ impressed His image upon that linen cloth, so He seeks to impress His likeness upon our hearts. And when we come to His altar, as prodigals made sons, we come not only to receive His Body and Blood, but to behold His countenance, and to be transformed into the very image of the Son.

It is with this mystery in view, which is the unquenchable fire, the living Eucharist, the prodigal’s return, and the Holy Face of Christ, that we turn now to our Scriptures.

SCRIPTURE

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: LEVITICUS 6:8–23

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar. And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord. And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night. In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the Lord. And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burnt.

NEW TESTAMENT LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 11:17–34

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the Church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the Church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my Body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new Testament in my Blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

BRETHREN: I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

GOSPEL: St. Luke 15:11-32

AT that time: JESUS said: A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

SERMON

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Beloved in Christ, our Scriptures today draw us into the holy mystery of God’s altar and His mercy. We have heard first from the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded Aaron and his sons that “the fire upon the altar shall never go out” (Lev. 6:13). We have heard from the Apostle Paul, who warns us to discern rightly the Body and Blood of Christ, lest our coming to the Lord’s Table become our condemnation (1 Cor. 11). We have heard the example of Israel in the wilderness, baptized into Moses and fed with manna and water from the Rock which was Christ, and yet falling into sin (1 Cor. 10). And finally, we have heard the parable of our Lord concerning the prodigal son, the Father of mercies, and the elder brother whose heart was hardened (Lk. 15).

What is the Spirit saying to the Churches in these words?

At the heart of it all is the altar fire: the flame that must never be extinguished. For Israel, this was the perpetual burnt offering, the sign that God had accepted sacrifice, and that a way of communion was open between heaven and earth. It was fed by priestly service, by the morning and evening offering, by the flour mingled with oil and the smoke of incense. But this altar, like the cloud and the sea, like the manna and the water from the Rock, was but a figure pointing to Christ, who is Himself the one true Altar, the one true Sacrifice, the one true High Priest. The fire upon His altar is the burning of His love, never quenched, even by betrayal, denial, scourging, or the Cross.

And so, when Paul speaks to the Corinthians, he tells them: “the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). He reminds them that as Israel in the desert was baptized into Moses, so we are baptized into Christ; as they ate spiritual meat and drink, so we eat and drink the true Bread and true Cup of the New Covenant. But he warns them that, just as many in Israel were struck down for idolatry and lust, so too Christians can receive the Body and Blood to their harm if they come in pride, division, or without repentance.

This is why he says with such trembling clarity: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body” (1 Cor. 11:29). The Holy Eucharist is not common bread and drink, to be taken casually or in selfishness; it is the feast of the Father’s house, the fatted calf killed, the robe and ring given, the joy of the angels over one sinner that repenteth. To approach it unrepentant, to despise our brethren, or to turn it into a feast of pride rather than communion: this is to do as Israel did in the desert, grumbling against the Lord who feeds them.

But thanks be to God, the Gospel shows us His heart. The prodigal, filthy from the swine, starving and unworthy, turns his face homeward. He confesses his sin, not asking for sonship, but only to be a servant. And before he even reaches the gate, the Father runs to meet him. Here is the true meaning of the altar fire that never goes out: the fire is the burning charity of the Father’s heart, always ready to consume sin, to purify, to welcome, to restore. It is the same fire that descends upon the bread and wine when they are lifted up in thanksgiving, making them to be for us the Body and Blood of Christ.

But what of the elder brother? He represents the one who has remained near the altar outwardly, but whose heart is cold. He will not join the feast of mercy because he resents the mercy shown to another. He does not recognize that all the Father’s house is his already. He would rather cling to his own righteousness than rejoice at the return of his brother.

So we are left with a choice. Shall we come to the Eucharist as prodigals, confessing our sin and finding the Father’s embrace? Or shall we come as elder brothers, outwardly obedient yet inwardly bitter, blind to the mercy which is for all?

The Fathers tell us that the Eucharist is at once pharmakon athanasias (the medicine of immortality) and a fire that burns away all impurity. St. John Chrysostom warns: “The table which is before us is filled with spiritual fire; the Lamb is sacrificed and made ready, and the priest stands to perform the sacred rites. Angels surround the altar, archangels cry aloud, and the Son of God Himself is present. Let us not then approach lightly, nor with uncleanness.”

Beloved, the fire on the altar has not gone out. It still burns in Christ’s sacrifice, once offered, ever pleaded. It still burns upon this very altar when bread and wine are set forth with thanksgiving. It still burns in the mercy of the Father who waits for each sinner to come home. Let us then examine ourselves. Let us repent, confess, forgive, and be reconciled. Let us come hungry for righteousness, not for self. Let us come as sons and daughters returning home, not as strangers. And then shall the feast be truly ours, a foretaste of the eternal banquet in the Kingdom of God.

COLLECT

O Lord, who never ceasest to kindle the fire of thy love upon the altar of thy Church: Grant us grace so to draw nigh unto thy heavenly mysteries with true repentance and lively faith, that, being fed with the Body and Blood of thy dear Son, we may ever abide in thy mercy, rejoice in thy forgiveness, and be made partakers of the feast prepared for thy children in thy Kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.