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In this video, Fr. Barnabas reflects on the universal human desire for community and communion, drawing parallels to the tradition of sharing meals across cultures. Discover the invitation extended by God to a banquet that transcends backgrounds, offering the transformative feast of the Spirit. Fr. Barnabas challenges us to say ‘yes’ to this divine invitation, leading us to a life that satisfies our deepest hunger and quenches our truest thirst. Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. Follow his homilies on YouTube at Faith Encouraged TV. This sermon was delivered on March 11th, 2022.
Watch the full video here.
Fr. Barnabas Powell:
It was a big Christmas dinner and I was inviting a bunch of friends over and there was probably about 15-20 people. And I was just as proud as I could be. I was just amazed until I remembered that I didn’t make the potatoes. I completely forgot. We just smiled and went on anyway and we had a great time and it was a wonderful time, but it’s amazing how much thought and how much preparation goes into something like that. So, imagine where that desire comes from. I want you to think with me for a moment: where does that desire and we humans come from to set up something so beautiful and so elaborate and invite all of our friends?
Why do we do that? Well, brothers and sisters, let me tell you why. Because each of us are created in the image of God to become by grace what Christ is by nature. We are hardwired for community and communion. We’re hard wired for it. We hunger for it more than we hunger for anything, hence the reason why today in our modern society, if folks don’t feel like they’re a part of a group, they make a new group and they’ll form groups based on
all kinds of proclivities and desires and ideations.
It’s the reason why the Apostle Paul says in our Epistle lesson today that ‘now there can neither be Jew nor Greek’, even though we have these desires to tribalize our society, the reality is: we were all created in the image of God to be one Humanity, together. We were meant for communion, we were meant for relationships with different people, people that are different than us, we were meant to be one Humanity. We were meant for that and so it’s hardwired into us to create situations… I mean goodness gracious life it’s funny in every culture, no matter what.
I grew up in the American South and then when I became Greek Orthodox I found out the Greeks were exactly like the southerners. If we want to have everybody together what do we do?
We cook food and it’s so much fun… I saw a meme on Facebook that showed this huge table with about enough food to feed 15 armies and Yaya (Grandma) was saying: ‘I hope I’ve made enough…’
That’s what we do that’s what we do and it’s common in every culture, it’s common in every tribal situation when we create a meal we invite our friends in, we’re hardwired for this folks!
This is what it means to be human and now God has opened up the invitation to his banquet to every human being on the planet, to every person regardless of their tribal background, regardless of where they’re from or what their education level is or how much money they have. God has invited each of us to come to this banquet and the question that we are asked today by the faith: will you give your free ‘yes’ to the invitation from God to come to his banquet? What is the food that he’s serving? Well, the food he’s not serving is exactly
what the Apostle Paul was talking about: ‘put away from yourself anger and wrath and bitterness and division and strife and arguing… put away that… put away promiscuity and foolish, selfish living…’ The food that is offered at this banquet is the fruit of the Spirit: peace and love and joy and
longsuffering and patience and endurance and focus and attentiveness. This banquet that we are being invited to invites us to be become different people, to truly become by grace what Christ is by nature. This morning, this invitation is extended to you and to me, you’re invited to come to a banquet that God has spent eternity preparing on your behalf, so that you might eat true food and drink true drink that satisfies your true hunger and quenches your true thirst. First, a meal that is meant to give you perpetual life and the joy of being in God’s presence forever finally being who you were created to be in the first place.
Amen!
Thank you so much for watching. I pray this was a blessing to you. If it is a blessing to you please don’t forget to like and subscribe and share these videos. It really does help help us a great deal. Speaking of helping us, if you’d like to support this media outreach go to our patreon site at Faith encouraged on patreon.com. You can also visit us at our website at faithencouraged.org and write me at frBarnabas@faithencouraged.org. I look forward to seeing you next time, don’t forget to like and subscribe. God bless you!
