Tag Archive for: Banquet

Elitism

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Armodoxy for Today

Elitism

The Great Banquet Parable (Luke 14:12-24) is the topic of this week’s Advent Journey. Jesus presents a scenario where a man invites friends and relatives to participate in a huge banquet he has organized. One-by-one the invitees come up with excuses. In response, the organizer of the dinner party goes ahead and extends to the invitation to the those who are considered “outcasts” – to the poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind. And still yet, he invites everyone from the four corners of his town to participate in the banquet.

In the time of Jesus, and still today, there was a general feeling that there are people that are “chosen” by God. This parable is a simple way of expressing a reality at the time, that Jesus, the Banquet, had come and people who were invited, that is the “chosen ones” found excuses to stay away. Instead, the banquet – the goodness the “the prize” which was assumed to be limited to a small group was accessible to everyone. The invitation was to all.

Often in religious circles, ego dominates our understanding of salvation to the point that we forget that life and the consequences of life – eternal life – are gifts from God. In the time of Jesus there were people who were certain that God and His Kingdom were accessible only to them. It’s a type of elitism that Jesus spoke against, and in fact, his outright expression might have even been the reason for his execution. This elitism could be delineated on along ethnic lines, socio-economic grounds, or even around beliefs. In other words, there are those who feel that unless you belong to a particular tribe, ethnic group, class, understanding, or even religion, you cannot access the fullness of God.

One of the tenants of Armodoxy is that we understand that God is God and we are people, that is, He is the Creator and we are the creation. If God is Father of all then we are brothers and sisters with everyone. In matters of life, whether here in earth or in heaven, the final word belongs to the Author of Life, God. For this reason, we shy away from proclamations such as “I am saved.” Salvation is the decision of God and Christ is very clear about us following, rather than setting standards and degrees of justification. To the Parable, Christ tells us those who think they are invited to the banquet, in the end, are left out with their places being taken by people they never would have assumed would be let in.

In the sight of God, there is no ethnicity, boundaries, or borders, rather we are all his children. For this reason, Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon once said, “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers…”

The Great Banquet Parable teaches us that all are invited to be part of God’s banquet and each of us can accept or reject the invite. It’s based on that acceptance or rejection that the banquet is filled. Tomorrow, we’ll look deeper into acceptance and rejection of the invite. I look forward to having you join us on this Advent Journey through Armodoxy.

Invite to the Banquet

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Armodoxy for Today
Invite to the Banquet

This week of Advent is dedicated to a parable offered by our Lord and recorded by St. Luke (chapter 14:12-24).

Suppose you wanted to celebrate your daughter’s birthday with a party on 20th of the month. You send out invites to your relatives, friends and even neighbors. “Help us celebrate our daughter’s birthday” says the invite. “On the 20th at 5PM, in our backyard, join us for a bar-b-que,” finishes off the invite. You send them off and start receiving responses: the first one says, “I’m sorry, I can’t make it on the 20th can you change the date to the 19th?” Another says, “I don’t like bar-b-que, too bad you’re not serving baked foods. I won’t be coming.” The next one complains that the outdoors, your backyard, is too cold. “I wish you had the event in a hall. I won’t be attending.”

Such a scenario would be humorous at the least, and downright rude on the courtesy scale. Jesus shares the following parable with us. His intention was not to be humorous, nor to get a rise out of us. Instead, he speaks of the lessons that is part of our Advent Journey on the road to Christmas through Armodoxy.

Jesus said, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”

This story, the Parable of the Great Banquet, has many dimensions to it. It speaks of the invitation to Christianity and Christian living in particular and talks about the call to humanity, to living in harmony with and within our world, in general. It points to the essence and the purpose of Christmas. For this reason the Armenian Church has prescribed this parable as the theme of this week in Advent.

We have heard the parable. We dive into to tomorrow, as we continue our Advent Journey. I look forward to having you join us.

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, you have invited me to our Kingdom. From the day of my baptism from the holy font until today, I have tried to follow your ways. Sometimes I wonder off the path, and I find excuses to justify my missteps. Today, I put those excuses to one side and I look to you to keep my feet on the path you have opened for me. Amen.