Invitation beyond the List

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – 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.

Banquet Invitation

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – an 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 the 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.

Practical Theodicy

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – Applied Theodicy

We have dedicated this week of Advent to exploring theodicies, that is, what does it mean to believe in a good and just God, especially in the face of evil. We were prompted by the lesson of the week from Luke 13.

Today, we apply theodicy and decipher a practical theodicy. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” We begin to understand ourselves as part of a process, part of God’s royal family, and in so doing we begin to understand that the kingdom is not about prestige and honor but about accepting a responsibility of being human and created in the image of God. In other word, solutions that are found outside of us, reduce or nullify a very important component of our humanity, namely the ability to interact and share in the love is God. We pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is more than a wish, it is the understanding that we are the inhabitants of earth and therefore, if His will is to be done, it is with our participation.

The world around us is filled with the much pain, and suffering is everywhere. The evil we experience in life has many causes, some brought about by people, others by life circumstances. The Christian is called to be Christlike. Jesus came across people who were suffering from illness as well as those in deep pain over losses brought about by tragedies in life. He reached out, comforted, healed and restored. We would like to do the same, of course, but are not confident of our ability to do so because we are overwhelmed with the magnitude of evil in our lives.

Reach out. Comfort. Heal. Restore.

Applied theodicy is about applying what we have learned as an answer to evil. Before Jesus healed and restored, he reached out and comforted. Reaching out is the first step a Christian is called to do, and each of us is capable to doing so.

During the Advent Season, we have a very special evening dedicated to the remembrance of one of the greatest evils, namely the death of children. On the second Sunday in December, we gather and remember those who have passed before their time to live. “Children’s Memorial Day” is an opportunity to come together, offer ourselves, and bring semblance in a time of disaster. For a parent that has lost a child, whether to illness or to accident, comforting them may seem impossible, so then begin with the first step, reach out. It is simple action that mimics the actions of our Lord. He reached out. Comfort will follow and begin to understand how God uses people, in this case you, to bring about healing and restoration. You begin to understand that indeed the Kingdom of God is within you, and as a member of that Kingdom you are honored with responsibility.

Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

We are only half-way through Advent, and already the pieces are coming together. Each day builds on the lessons of the previous day. To be Christlike is to accept responsibility to overcome the hardships, the evil, of this world.

We pray, the words taught to us by Christ, “Our Father who is in heaven, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory. Amen.”

Cover: Uvalde memorial

A Theodicy beyond Superman

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – Beyond Superman

We began this week of Advent with the Sunday Gospel message from Luke, chapter 13, where Jesus answer emphatically that evil is not the result of God’s judgement on us. He follows up with an invitation to repent.

Yesterday, I shared with you recollections of an earthquake which ravaged the Armenian landscape in 1988 and was responsible for 50,000 deaths and tens of thousands more injured. And I left you with the question, why believe in a god that cannot save us from the perils and dangers of this world, otherwise known as natural disasters? And for our Advent Journey – in preparation for Christmas – the question is asked, why celebrate the revelation and birth of a god who is powerless against nature?

Look no where else for the answer but the Armenian Church, a Church that answers the questions not by philosophical arguments, but with a steadfast drone of prayer and hymns that reverberate the pulse of humanity.  The answer is simply to look around and see God the presence of God around you.

In times of crisis, our mental image of God transforms Him into a kind of superman. After all, He is omnipotent.  But the order of nature is such that there is an imperfection built into this world. Lightning causes fires. Drought causes crops to wither and brings famine. The shifting and settling of the earth causes earthquakes. And sometimes, unfortunately, people die.

God is not some kind of superman. God’s power is not measured in strength to bend steel with his hands, to change the course of mighty rivers, nor to prevent the earth from shaking. The OG, the Original Gospel is plain: God is Love. Disasters will happen, but God is found in the reaction to the disaster. We see God in the reaction to the earthquake–in the love and support He provides us.

International communities stopped their fast-paced lives to aid in the aftermath. Turks, from across the border, left home and family to come and aid. God gives us the capacity to love. We express that love through our giving. Literal readings of Old Testament stories have skewed our notion of God, thinking of him as this great puppeteer who sends disaster to this world to see our reaction. No!  Disaster, pain and suffering are part of an imperfect world. Where we do find God is in the peace and love that only He can give in answer to that disaster. In this manner we understand that without God, we may not even survive the worst of calamities.

The feast of Theophany is the celebration of God becoming man so that man can know God. He took our form and went through all the motions of man. He suffered and died. He did not exempt Himself from this great suffering, for no one is exempt. However, He conquered death and promised the same to those who believe. What He left was His own peace, “not as the world gives.”

When the earthquake hit, we were all hurt. Where was God? We saw Him in the love and support from the four corners of this world.

We pray the 15th hour of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s pray, “Christ, guardian and protector of the faithful, let your right hand shelter and protect us, by day and by night, while at home and while away, while sleeping and while awake, so we may never fall. Have mercy on your creatures. Amen.”

Earthquake Shakes a Theodicy

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – Earthquake Theodicy

On December 7, the earth shook in the town of Spitak, Armenia, sending ripples a half world away. We felt the shockwaves in our souls and psyches as the stats began to come in.

The year was 1988, the Soviet Union was still intact. It’s president, Michael Gorbachev was visiting the United States, engaging in high level talks with then President Ronald Reagan promoting Glasnost and Perestroika. Gorbachev cut his trip short on the news, and returned home and to Armenia to assess the damages. Anywhere from 25,000 – 50,000 people were presumed dead and thousand more injured. Although this number is great by any standard, it is particularly significant for a small country with a small population. Two percent of the population in Armenia and one third of their land mass was leveled that day. By comparison, if an earthquake in the United States killed 2% of the population, we would lose about 7,000,000 people and one third of the United States leveled, would be from the Rocky Mountains to the Western coast!

When facing such devastation, it is only natural to ask why? Even more, why did not God spare the good Armenian people?  Why did He not intervene? Why the Armenian people? The same ones who were the first to accept Christianity, the ones who have so piously observed the faith for centuries, the ones who defended the faith to death, why them? When the history of a people, such as the Armenian’s, is plagued by devastation and tragedy, the questioning goes deeper: Why believe in a God who cannot save us from these dangers?

Through my years in the ministry, I have heard many different answers – theodicies – from people trying to make sense of it all. Some feel God has abandoned the Armenians for some divine purpose and plan. Some doomsday forecasters claim the earthquake was part of the “signs of the times.” Still others believe it to be “God’s will,” as a punishment or for some other divine plan.

As for me… I do not shy away from the science of earthquakes. Why did the earthquake happen? Because the earth shifts. Why did people die? Because people were trapped under the rubble of buildings which were constructed poorly. Why didn’t God step in and save the Armenian people? I don’t know, but I venture to say that things just don’t work that way.

So, the more important question becomes, why believe in a god that cannot save you from the perils and dangers of this world? And for our Advent Journey, the question is why celebrate the revelation and birth of a god who is powerless against nature?

We look at that answer tomorrow, and the answer may surprise you to find that without God, we may not have survived.

We pray Psalm 27, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. Amen.

All fingers bleed

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – All Fingers Bleed

On our journey through Advent, we are dealing with the “Problem of Evil,” dictated by the Sunday Gospel reading this week from Luke chapter 13.  A theodicy is an answer to the problem, defined by the incongruity between the statements that God is good, God is all powerful and yet, evil exists. In the Gospel message, Jesus clearly states that evil is not a punishment from God for our sins and mistakes.

Still, we are people and raise questions when we notice incongruities in life order and so we question: if God is all powerful, why doesn’t He merely do away with evil once and for all? And, if God is all good, why would He not want to do away with evil?

Our query begins today with an understanding of what we believe. What are the definitions of our Faith? Much of our understanding of God comes from images and concepts that are brought to us courtesy of Hollywood. And most of those ideas are formulated on misreading and misinterpretation of Old Testament stories. Jesus came with a simple message to tell us we are all children of God and there are no favorites for God. In Armenian folklore, a mother is asked by her children which one she loves more than the others, to which she replies, “Which one of my fingers, if I were to cut, would not bleed?” They all bleed equally and so is a mother’s love for her children: equal for all. Even more, our Heavenly Father, Jesus tells us, “Makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Thus, we must be careful in defining someone as evil, or even as good, because we do not have the vantage point of God.

We often confuse God with a character who appears this time of year, someone who rewards good and punishes evil. We’ve created a folklore around him and even written songs about how he makes a list and checks it twice and “Knows if you’ve been naughty or nice.” Gifts to good boys and girls and a lump of coal to the bad ones. That’s Santa Claus! While Santa Claus may help us with our sense of dealing out justice, God’s justice is His own.

The other day, a celebrity with a history that would make some people uncomfortable, made a donation to a charity. Someone commented, “We don’t want your filthy money.”  How presumptuous! First, that you have the right to reject someone else’s goodness, second, that there is such a thing as non-filthy money! Jesus is clearly delineating a Christian stance when he says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

God’s judgement has its own time and own method of being administered. Why God doesn’t vaporize the evil people and do away evil once and for all, the step we take tomorrow in our Advent Journey.

We pray, Heavenly Father, You know our needs better than we can ever know or understand. Calm my heart and my spirit so that I may find comfort in Your care and help me to not go beyond the limits of what is my responsibility in this world. Amen.

Continuing Advent with Evil

/0 Comments/in , ,
Theodicy

This week of the Advent Journey is dedicated to what theologians refer to as, “The Problem of Evil.” Simply put, it’s the incongruity of believing in a good God, who is all powerful and being faced with the reality that evil exists in the world. In other words, given that evil is real with headliners such as cancer, war, molestations, earthquakes, and famine, either God is not all good or God is not all powerful. Why would a good God, who is all powerful, allow evil to exist?

Evil is a problem which has perplexed people since the first-time villagers had to pick up after a devastating earthquake, or a lightning bolt created a forest fire that wreaked havoc for people and all the members of the animal kingdom. In this day and age, when we understand that earthquakes are caused by the shifting of tectonic plates, and lightning bolts are the result of charged clouds grounding, God doesn’t need to enter the equation. However, for theologians and clergy who make a case for a good and omnipotent God, forming an answer is called a theodicy. It follows that if God allows this evil, then is it possible that evil is a punishment from God? People of good faith can easily reach this conclusion, and figure illness or death are paybacks from God for wrongs you have committed. And so, the question was brought to Jesus.

On this Sunday of Advent the Church offers the Gospel reading from Luke chapter 13:1-9. Here, there were two incidents that people perceived to be delivered as punishments from God. The stories – one of Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices and the other was of a tower which fell in Siloam causing the death of 18 people – were the focus of this inquiry of Jesus. On today’s scale, it would be like us asking Jesus if the Indonesians who died in last month’s earthquake perished because they were sinners? Or was it because of the sins of the Ukrainians that bombs fell on their cities?

In the passage, Jesus answers, Do you think that they were worse sinners than all the other because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Under no uncertain terms, Jesus gives the definitive answer that evil is not the punishment of God upon us! The idea that God sits in heaven waiting for us to make a wrong move so he can blast us with a lightning bolt is as absurd as it sounds. And Jesus emphatically gives us a big N-O!

So then, why evil? Can’t God vaporize all evil? Or is it that he just doesn’t want to? We will pick up with these questions tomorrow, on our journey through Advent.

We pray Shnorhali’s 15th hour: Christ, guardian of all, let your right hand protect and shelter me by day and by night, while at home and while away, while asleep and while away that I may never fall into sin. Amen.

Thanksgiving Daily

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent – Thanksgiving Daily

If the retailers can extend Black Friday to the entirety of the month of November, we certainly can extend Thanksgiving beyond the traditional one-day commemoration to a series of thoughts on the subject.

Thanksgiving is not prayer. Thanksgiving is an acknowledgement of something greater than yourself. As such, it falls into the category of worship. In the Armenian Church, worship takes place seven times a day. From the early morning hours to the moments before restful slumber, there are seven hours of worship. For a people who have known very little peace and prosperity, that have been attacked, raped and murdered, it is extremely unusual that this group of people offer so much thanksgiving. It is unusual, unless viewed under and through the lens of Armodoxy. Thanksgiving, and therefore worship, is not about stroking God’s Ego. The Evangelist John tells us God is love. Accordingly, love has no ego-issue. Love is giving and sacrificing. When we worship and give thanks, we are acknowledging the power of love. The words of the Apostle (I Corinthians 13) come to life, “Love is patient; love is kind,” and we are forced to come to terms with the power of love, as St. Paul writes, “Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Love is God, God is Love. Thanksgiving is, in fact, about acknowledging God, and therefore acknowledging the power of love.

Let us pray, Bless us with Love, O Merciful God; that we may Love as you Love. That we may show patience, tolerance, kindness, caring and spread love to all. Amen.

 

Masis: A Puzzle Piece at Thanksgiving

/0 Comments/in , ,

Masis: A Puzzle Piece at Thanksgiving

Next Step #809 – November 27, 2025 – Thanksgiving Edition. A fun and personal exploration on Thanksgiving morning, putting pieces together around the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Fr. Vazken discusses personal memories and how they contribute to filling in the puzzle of life, faith and ultimately, peace. From Genocide survivor to a parade, from a wishful lunch date to our first-world problems, a set of questions and answers that will have you reflecting, asking and connecting.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025
Thank You Very Much, Scaffolds
Cover Photo Varoujan Movsesian, 2025
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for Epostle.net
Subscribe and listen on demand on your favorite pod-catcher!
We’re on Pandora, Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Thanksgiving During Advent

/0 Comments/in , ,

Armodoxy for Today: Advent and Thanksgiving

In America, the country takes a break every third week of November to celebrate Thanksgiving. And although the claim is made that the United States is a secular country, the word thanksgiving would have you believing otherwise.

Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving, and it is more than appropriate that if falls in the Advent period of the Church, since the corporate worship of the Church is rooted in the act of thanksgiving.

To give thanks implies there is someone, or something, to which you offer appreciation. And while it is fashionable to negate God from the conversation, thankfulness also implies the appreciation is directed toward someone or something greater than the self.

Jesus shares this story with us, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”  Jesus then tells us, “This man went down to his house justified rather than the other…” (Luke 18:10-14)

Often our thanksgiving resembles the prayer of the Pharisee. Unlike comparison shopping thankfulness is not about comparing things we do or do not have with those things that others have or do not have. It’s easy to look at the blind man and be thankful for our sight. Or to see the street person and be thankful that we are not homeless. Or hear of hunger in countries threatened by famine or war and be thankful that we have food and peace. Thank God, we might say, that I am not like them!

In the history of the Armenian Church, you find that the prayers of thanksgiving are offered at times of abundance as well as times of scarcity, at times of peace and at times of war and even genocide. Thankfulness is the ability to put the ego on hold, in check, and understand yourself as a part of something greater. It is the beginning of religiosity and ultimately peace.

Today, let our prayer be for those things that are blessed in our life – family, love, beauty. We pray Psalm 26. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your loving kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. I will wash my hands in innocence so I will go about Your altar, O Lord, That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works. Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving.