Tag Archive for: God’s Power

God’s Power: Lent Day 31

Lenten Recipe

Recipe #31 – Tomato & Bread Soup

Lenten Journey Day 31 – God’s Power

Today we continue with the lessons of the Unrighteous Judge, to understand God’s response to our prayer. Does God answer prayer? How? Is prayer as powerful as they say it is? Does it change God’s mind?

Yesterday we looked at the Problem of Evil. Certainly we all pray for the good and against evil – whether for ourselves, or for others, this prayer is a familiar one. At the very least we have said the phrase, “Peace on Earth” as a prayer of humankind through the ages. Yet evil is very real in the world. In fact, we see such a great presence of evil in this world. If God is all powerful why does He not eliminate evil? If God is all loving, why does He allow evil to exist? Why does He tolerate hatred? Why is there prejudice? Why is there war? Why is there illness? Why evil?

Our church fathers have pondered this question and as an answer have directed our attention to the cross of Christ. In fact, on that original Good Friday – not evil Friday, but good Friday – we find the Son of God himself is not exempt from evil. God did not stop evil from touching His Son. If God allows this evil, does that make Him powerless? Does that diminish His power. We say that He is omnipotent, we say that He is all powerful, so why does He not stop evil? Perhaps it is because we fail to understand the true nature of God.

St. John the Evangelist tells us that God is love. In a very straightforward mathematical equation (a=b; b=a) he allows us to see that God is Love and therefore, Love is God. Pure love is that manifestation of God. But we are talking concepts: God, Love, what do these things mean? St. Nerses Shnorhali in his theologically rich hymn, “Aradov Looso,” (=morning light), offers us the primer, that is, the key to unlock the giant mystery of Life, Love and God. In this hymn, which he offers to light and the source of light, Shnorhali writes, “The name of love is Jesus.” When we understand that God is love, and love’s name is Jesus, we now begin to understand that the crucifixion is part of the equation but is not the end. Jesus rose. He conquered death; He conquered evil, so in God’s eyes, it is only a platform. It is only one step – and a necessary step to understanding true love.

Each of us that has had the fortune of experiencing love knows that there is a cost to it. There are certain pains that go along with love. Does that exempt us from being all that we can be? Does that in any way hinder us, expressing and experiencing true love? Quite the opposite. In fact it enhances the love experience. So much so that if we look at the empty tomb on Easter, it is only valuable, it is only truly an empty tomb of victory in the context of the crucifixion. That is, without a crucifixion you can never experience a resurrection. And herein lies the key to evil.

The answer to the question, Is God powerless over evil? is, certainly not! God is love! And that is the power of power, that is the light of light. That is the true God of true God. That is real power, isn’t it? For He lights up the darkness; He gives strength to the weak. It allows us to stand in the face of crucifixion and know that we are never alone and that there is an empty tomb for each of us. There is victory for each of us. There is a resurrection for every crucifixion.

From the beginning of this Lenten Journey we have been challenged to move our thought process from our minds to our hearts. As St. Nerses Shnorhali reminds us, “Put a guard upon my heart, so that it may think no evil.” Not “upon my brain,” but “upon my heart.” It is from that point that we start developing our love. From our heart. Now, mind you, the heart does get broken. That heart is not rational, but neither is love. Love is true. Love goes beyond rationality. It gives us the endless possibility to be in union with God. You cannot rationalize a crucifixion, but you can understand that a father, in love for his creation, would give everything – even His Son – knowing that in the end, His creation too, shares in the possibility of resurrection, in complete victory over all the dreaded evil in this world. Herein, God answers the ultimate prayer.

We conclude today with a prayer, by St. Patrick who lived during the 4th and 5th centuries. This is called St. Patrick’s Breastplate because it seeks God’s protection in a world of both tangible and invisible dangers.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.
Amen. 

Connection to Tragedy

Armodoxy for Today: Connection

We just celebrated the Assumption of the Holy Asdvadzadzin. In our last message, I spoke about the connection between the grapes and the Blessed Mother. Even more, we cited the passage from the Gospel of St. John about the Jesus being the vine, the Father the vinedresser and we, the branches, are called to bear fruit.

In traditional churches such as the Armenian Church, it is easy to lose the connection between these celebrations and the purpose of these celebrations. Every celebration, every feast, every event, in the Armenian Church has to point to Jesus Christ. Without Christ, these stories are only a part of a history which may be interesting but bear no connection to “the vine.”  In other words, they are irrelevant to the lives we lead.

This past week, the blockade in Artsakh continued. Here in Southern California hundreds of protesters took to the Los Angeles freeways, stopping traffic, demanding attention to the plight of the Armenians in the Artsakh, who are now facing another genocide. Meanwhile, the Armenian Churches celebrated the Assumption of St. Mary, with grape blessing ceremonies and people flocked to those churches to taste the fruit of the vine, without understanding the implications such as ceremony and story have on their lives.

St. Mary, who is revered as the Queen of Saints, and whose icon adorns the altars of Armenian Churches from Armenia to Los Angeles, to New Zealand and India, is an example of humanity elevating to godliness. St. Mary’s greatest action in life was that she said, “Yes” to God. “I am the servant of the Lord.” With that yes, she took on bearing Christ in this world.

The sad reality was too unnerving this past weekend and church after church offered commemorations of the Assumption and performed grape blessings without a connection to the reality that is unspeakable – a reality, Armenians have promised, “never again” and today find themselves begging others to the resolve for them.

The “Yes” that St. Mary said to the Lord is the example she lays for each of us. We read in the Luke chapter 1 that she is asked to bear Jesus. The consequences for pregnancy without marriage in those days was death by stoning. She asks, “How can this be, she has never known a man.” And the reply is, “Nothing is impossible for God.” She said Yes to God in the face of the death.

Today, the struggle in Artsakh requires extra ordinary, supernatural resolution. We know this, and yet we continue to appeal to governments that could care less about a group called Armenians. The only people who will care about this group is the Armenians and we have the power to do something. God has asked us to bear Christ, just as He asked St. Mary. We have not tried this option, if we had we would not be blocking freeways and protesting in foreign lands. The protest would take place in Azerbaijan.

In Yerevan, Zinvori Tun (the Soldiers’ Home), stands as a testament to the ugliness of war. Soldiers in the 2020 war were young children. They were killed and those who lived are in immense need of physical and psychological recovery. Our In His Shoes ministry has been supportive of these recovery efforts. Earlier this summer we visited the Home and saw first-hand the recovery effort. At the entrance of Zinvori Tun is a room which houses a khatchkar (Armenian Cross Stone). The president of the home, Haykuhi Minasyan, explained that the work they are doing for these “soldiers” is beyond human powers, and the khatchkar is placed as a reminder that their work is possible only with a prayer and God’s assistance.

This is the connection that we must receive from the Church, and if we don’t, then all of our efforts are futile and in vain. History shows us that we have to rely on our own resources and those resources accented by God are a powerhouse. Our smallest efforts are magnified with God.

This week, in the shadow of the Assumption, I’ll be sharing the connection of St. Mary’s Yes, and the grapeblessing to our real world problems. Join me, on these Armodoxy for Today sessions.

The reading today is from Luke chapter 1, the annunciation, “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. For with God nothing will be impossible.

Then Mary said, “Behold the servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Cover Photo: khatchkar at Zivori Tun

Theodicy 2

Armodoxy for Today
Theodicy 2

On our journey through Advent, we are dealing with the “Problem of Evil.” 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. Yesterday, in reviewing Luke 13, we saw that Jesus clearly states that evil is not a punishment from God for our sins and mistakes. Still, we have to question, if God is all powerful, why doesn’t He merely do away with evil once and for all?

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 asks her children, “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.” We must be careful in defining something as evil, or even as good, because we do not have the view 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.” 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.

 

 

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Expelling the Fairy Tale of Expulsion

Next Step #89 – February 19, 2010

The causes of sin and usurping God’s power: A different look at Expulsion Sunday. Check out the warning label on some of your OT stories: Religion is not for children. Fairy tales make for good camera, but can scare the kids (and us) to the point of no return. Returning to paradise is a goal beyond the stories. Comments on the expansion of Epostle.net with the NEW DAILY PODCAST: A Lenten Journey. WALKING IN THE SHOES of the people of Darfur and unveiling of this year’s April 24 outreach program.
Music: “Atoms in Motion” by Armen Donelian;
Bubbles by Ani: “Gardening”;
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for epostle.net

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