September Sermons 2026

​Sunday September 6, 2026
By Fr Nicholas Karipoff
The image of the wedding feast that we heard about in the parable of the Lord (Matt. 22:1- 14) speaks of joy. This is the joy of God the Father on account of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The bridegroom comes to declare his love unto death to his bride, which, of course, is the church of all nations. To participate in the wedding feast means to participate in the mystery of love and joy. 
For us, who are children of the fallen Adam, it is easier to participate in someone’s sorrow than in their joy. Why? Because when someone is sorrowful, we feel that we are in the stronger position and able to give something to that person. It makes our ego feels good.  How is then possible to share in the joy of someone else? It is possible when we love someone very much, like the joy parents feel when they share in the joy of their children. That is precisely what the parable is talking about in the image of the wedding feast. The greatest joy in the story of Christ is His resurrection and us feeling and participating in it; it is the joy of our own resurrection. 
But how can we participate in that joy while we are still struggling with sin? The answer is in the wedding garment that the parable mentions. It is given to each person who repents. The good thief is the first of those “bad and good”, that we heard about. He appears wearing the garment of grace, the robe of righteousness, baptised in his own blood. 
In this context we can understand the anger of the king who sees the man at the feast not wearing the required garment. It means that this man wants to participate in the feast of God but on his own terms. That sounds like someone wanting to have their cake and eat it too, or to want to love God and mammon as well. Love means sacrifice. In loving our children and anybody else we make partial sacrifices, as though we still want to retain a little bit of that cake for ourselves, for our ego. But the sacrifice to God is the sacrifice of our whole life. We give it all up. What for? To receive it again, renewed and transformed. We begin to love God and our neighbour, and those close to us, as well as ourselves in a new and joyous way. That is the meaning of God’s wedding feast. 

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