Trinity II
A Sermon by The Most Rev. Mark Haverland, Archbishop & Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church


St. Luke chapter xiv, verse 16 - A certain man made a great supper, and bade many....
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

This Sunday’s gospel lesson is the parable of the Great Supper.  In this parable a man prepares a great dinner party.  He first invites the most obvious guests, who, however, all make excuses not to come.  If we understand the social customs of the day, the guests appear in a particularly rude light.  The guests were invited early on.  Later, just before the time of the dinner, the host sends a servant to escort those invited to the dinner.  The servant probably carries a torch to light the way.  It is only at this point, at the last moment, when the escort has already come to accompany them to the dinner, that the guests make their excuses. 
 
Because of this particularly rude behavior, the host now has a dinner ready and no guests.  So he invites two further groups.  First, he sends his servant to bring in a much less socially desirable set of guests.  We might call these guests the urban poor:  they come from ‘the street and lanes of the city’ and include ‘the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind’.  But there still is room for more guests, so the servant is sent out again, this time to go further afield.  He goes beyond the city gates to bring in guests from the ‘highways and hedges’ – that is, from the country lanes and the hedges that bordered the vineyards. 
 
The basic meaning of this parable is clear in St. Luke’s gospel and is spelled out even more clearly in St. Matthew’s version.  The Great Supper is the feast of salvation, the banquet of the Messiah, the victory celebration of God.  The city is Israel.  The first, obvious guests are the leaders of Israel:  the priests and scribes, the rulers and merchants, the devout and prosperous people of the temple and synagogues.  These are Christ’s critics and opponents.  He almost always addresses such parables against such people.  They are God’s chosen people and the ones first invited to the feast of salvation, yet they refuse to come.  They have long been invited:  the Law and the Prophets were addressed to them to prepare them for this feast.  But when the escort comes to bring them at the chosen hour to the banquet, they make excuses.  Their refusal is a profound failure.
 
The second group of guests also comes from within the walls of the city.  These people, therefore, like the first group, are Jews.  But they are the common people of Israel:  the simple people, the poor, the unremarkable folk rather than the leaders.  These people respond more positively to Christ.  The third group comes from outside the walls of the city entirely, whose invitation to a party in town is utterly unlooked for.  These people are the Gentiles, whose invitation and inclusion marks the missionary pattern of the early Church.  The parable, then, points to the actual situation of Jesus and his first followers.  Since Christ was rejected by the leaders of Israel, the earliest Christians were mostly Jews of the poorer sort.  Then in the next stage the gospel was preached to Gentiles and to the wider world, beyond the city gates of Judaism.
 
Now it is almost irresistible for clergymen to turn this parable into a message about church-attendance.  And I suppose this is a part of its meaning for us now, but more fundamentally it goes far beyond that matter.  So, what does it mean?
 
We should note that the excuses made by the first group of guests are all good.  Two of the men have made major purchases that require their attention; one has married.  These are not trivial matters, nor are they at all bad.  The problem is not that the excuses concern bad things, but rather that they reveal bad priorities.  The host of salvation’s supper is, of course, God.  God should come first, and other things should be arranged so as to let God stay first.  Naturally clergymen will relate this to church attendance.  But I will not harangue you about that.
 
Alternative meanings, however, are even less comfortable.  Let us say that the basic meaning of the parable is about our priorities in general, and not just when it comes to attending church or doing other things of a Sunday morning.  Church attendance is something fairly simple and discrete, so that if the parable were just about that, our duty would be easily stated and easily fulfilled.  But in fact the main meaning is far wider, our duty is much greater, and the demand made upon us by our Lord’s teaching is more encompassing.
 
The real question of the parable is this:  Is God the first thing in my life, or do I put other good things ahead of him?  The parable mentions a piece of land, yokes of oxen, and marriage as things that might skew our priorities.  Consider the three.  The piece of land represents property and possessions:  the equivalents in our day might be land, money, investments, houses – the things into which we sink our wealth.  The five yoke of oxen represent a way of making a living, namely by farming:  the equivalent of this in our day is our job – the way we obtain our income and support ourselves.  The new wife does not require modern translation:  the demands of marriage and family are not all that different today from what they have always been. 
 
So in the parable we have four rival concerns.  The first is the supper of salvation.  The other three we might call our family life, our wealth and possessions, and our job.  These are such important things; things that go to the heart of what and who most of us are.  And these are good things, or at least can and should be good things.  But it is precisely these good and important things that can turn us away from God and his salvation and his feast.  It is so easy to turn good things into idols, which take God’s place in our hearts and in our scale of priorities.  What we do with our time on Sunday morning is one aspect of this all, but only a small aspect.  Far more important is what we do with the rest of our time; and what we do with our talents and our treasure. 
 
Of course if we turn away from God, he will find other guests for his dinner.  This parable, and almost all such parables in the gospels, are primarily spoken by Christ against his enemies, to point up their failure in responding to him.  But if the most obvious people fail, God will invite the less obvious.  If the good people turn away, God will call the bad people.  If the cradle Christians are indifferent, then God will convert the atheists.  We need to apply the criticism implicit in this parable to ourselves. How am I evading God’s call?  What kind of excuses do I make for doing what I want, as opposed to what God demands?  What do I put ahead of God in my life?  How many ways can I invent to say “no” to God?  Whom will God call to fulfill the tasks I have refused?  These questions, and the parables that put them in such a pointed fashion, enraged the chief priests and Pharisees.  They certainly are not comfortable questions to ask ourselves.  But there they are.

The good news is that we are invited to the Great Supper of salvation.  The great danger is that some who are invited shall not taste of his supper.  God’s table is regularly set before us in the Sacrament of the Altar.  To taste of this banquet is a start.  To feed on Christ in our hearts and to obey him in our daily lives is the finish, to which, pray God, we may all attain. 
 
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee
Please click here to donate

SERVICES & EVENTS

This Sunday, 9:00 AM and 11:15 AM services, Bishop Johnson visitation with confirmation & reception of new members, for online participation go to
https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Nursery during both services

Sunday School, on recess for the summer, returns in September

This Sunday afternoon, 2:30 PM, Celebrating St. Margaret of Scotland and Flag Day Recital with Organ and Trumpet  in the sanctuary, with Church organist John C. Wulff and Chuck Seipp on trumpet

Wednesday at Noon – Holy Communion and anointing for healing, for online participation go to https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Wednesday, June 24, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Services at Noon & 7:00 PM

Monday, June 29, Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul, Services at Noon & 7:00 PM

Save the date, Sunday, Sept 20, Annual Parish Picnic, following combined 10:00 AM service. More information to follow as the date draws near and plan to invite family and friends.
 
MaRiH Crisis Pregnancy Center: Updated Critical Needs
& More

Below are 2 updated lists: the critical needs list and the needs list. Both have been updated:

Critical Needs:
Diapers, sizes 5 and 6
Spring/Summer clothing (Boys & Girls), size 0-3 months, size 2T 
Baby Wipes
Baby Blankets
Baby formula: Similac Advance Formula
Bibs: toddler
Car seat: infant
Other needs:
Diapers, newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4
Spring/Summer Clothing, 3-6 month, 9-12 month, 18-24 month, 
Bibs, infant
Maternity clothes (Spring/Summer)
Wash cloths
Hooded towels
Diaper rash ointment, Baby Shampoo
Baby bottles
There are two options for helping the Center with these needs:
Option 1 
Amazon has all the specific items needed. You can order the specific item(s) and have them delivered directly to the Center.  

The MaRiH Center
3230B Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-4521
703-370-4774

Option 2 
Go to your local store, purchase the items requested and drop them off at church on Sunday. We will deliver them to the MaRIH Center.
 
Food Bank Needs
 
The food bank continues to need our assistance to feed the hungry. Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). Also lower sodium products are better and more healthy.

Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
tuna (cans or foil packages)
peanut butter. jelly
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso, chicken noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom. tomato
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
 
Copyright © 2026 St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
1607 Dewitt Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1625