Gospel Reading
John 2:23-3:12
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; 24 but Jesus did not trust himself to them, 25 because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him,“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered him,“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4 Nicodemus said to him,“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus said to him,“How can this be?”10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (Revised Standard Version)
Other Sunday Readings
Acts 9:23-31
Saul continually escapes persecution, this time a murder plot (v. 23). Saul confronts the apostles who distrust him since he was once a persecutor of the Church (v. 26). After having shared his experience and vision of the Lord on the road to Damascus, Saul’s life cannot be anything less than a convincing witness to the Lord’s goodness (v. 27). As a result of having tasted the Lord’s kindness, Saul is fearless and preaches boldly in his name.
This section contains the first mention in the book of Acts of churches in the plural (v. 31). The Church is not only made up of people with a shared, common belief in the heart and a vague creedal agreement of “essentials,” but consists in visible, tangible local communities united in visible, tangible faith, teaching, worship, tradition, and authority.
Questions
- What does it mean to “live in the fear of the Lord?” (v. 31) Can you cite visible, tangible examples from your own experience, or perhaps someone you know? From the life of a particular Saint?
I Peter 2:1-10
St. Peter encourages us to drink pure milk as infants do (v. 2). He then seems to imply that when we have tasted the goodness, kindness, and graciousness of the Lord, we should long for that nourishment (v. 3). That first taste as infants takes place at our baptism, when we are cleansed in water, receive the Holy Spirit through holy muron, and taste Christ’s Body and Blood. These opening verses bring clarity to what follows.
The New Testament or New Covenant Church is the continuation of the Old Testament or Old Covenant Temple worship. St. Peter is not just using metaphor when he draws from Old Testament imagery (vv. 6-8). Rather the Old Covenant and all of its laws, customs, and worship was and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Church is Israel (Galatians 6:16), the people of God, in which we participate in the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, nourished by his Body and Blood, and in which we are sacrificed (offered) to God, a life of offering ourselves back to him as a response for the goodness and kindness he has first shown and given to us. Therefore, in Christ, the living Stone (v. 4), we are what St. Peter refers to as living stones, a spiritual house, a royal priesthood (v. 5). We, therefore, have a priestly ministry to offer ourselves, our very lives, to God. The necessity of living a holy life (v. 1) is not blind obedience or duty (v. 8), but born out of love.
When all of what St. Peter says seems to be impossible, and it is when left to our own devices, he reminds us that we are now a people of God (v. 10), the true Temple built of living stones, a clear image of the promised resurrection life. And so we, the Church, and all living stones within her, are utterly dependent on and anchored in the chief Cornerstone. (v. 10) As a result, we are given the priestly calling to declare his wonderful deeds, inviting others to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
Questions
- St. Peter provides a list of sins, something common in the writings of St. Paul as well. Is this list seemingly random or incomplete? Why list these and not others? Was it specific to his very broad audience (1:1), or does the context surrounding this verse provide a clue? (v. 1)
- “Pure milk”: substantial, not watered down, free from contamination or admixtures, nothing foreign introduced, clear, sincere, authentic, honest. Describe the spiritual nourishment you receive in your daily walk with God – from your personal disciplines, your parish, the Armenian Church. What does or should this nourishment provide in our lives, in the Church? Does it remove our suffering? Does it solve all of our problems? Does it guarantee wealth and health? If not, then what is it about? (v. 2)
- Very likely recalling Psalm 34:8, St. Peter asks us if we have tasted the kindness, goodness, or graciousness of the Lord. Do you know what he is talking about? If so, in what specific ways? Is St. Peter correct in that it sparks an addiction to God’s nourishing love? When you have tasted his love and goodness, are we satisfied with anything less? It is similar to the challenge of explaining the taste of a certain food to someone who has never experienced it before. How would you invitationally describe this taste to someone who may have not experienced God’s kindness, or may have but is not as keenly aware as to what it is? (v. 3)
- Drawing from your personal faith experience, how would you describe the metaphorical paradox, “living stone?” Where else in Scripture are stones and rocks talked about? Start with Luke 19:40, Matthew 7:24. How would you describe your parish, the Armenian Church, as a spiritual house? Even when it does not seem like it, how are we, the Church, the Body of Christ, being built into a spiritual house, to be holy priesthood? If a priest is someone who offers sacrifice as worship, how are each of us a priest in the Church? (v. 4-5)
- In what specific ways has your parish community, the global Armenian Church fulfilled verse 9? Past and present?
World Church
According to the Armenian Church calendar, the second Sunday following Zadeeg is designated as “Sunday of the World Church” (Աշխարհամատրամ Կիրակի). Although little is definitively known about the origin of this feast day, or why it is referred to as “Green Sunday” (Կանաչ Կիրակի), is there still something it can say to the Armenian Church today?
The physical Church
What we do know about this particular day can be derived from the sharagan of the day which contains the theme of blessing or consecrating a chapel (possibly a commemoration of some historic church dedication, most likely located in Jerusalem). In fact, a more accurate translation of the feast day is, “Sunday of the World Chapel” implying the physical building of a church (մատուռ), rather than the word for Church (Եեկեղեցի), which refers to the community of believers.
An excerpt of the hymn sung during Առաւօտեան ժամ (Morning Office) tells us what Armenian Christians believe the Church to be, which includes the building:
Having become your disciples by the holy apostles, we learned to glorify you in the temple of your holiness, which you founded upon the rock of faith, Lord, God of our Fathers. Come, people of the nations, let us joyfully celebrate the inauguration/dedication of the holy church, praising the Lord God of our Fathers. Together with the bodiless multitudes, all nations forever praise and highly exalt Christ the King who comes today into the holy church. Come into the church, people whose faith is in the Holy Trinity. Praise God. Joyfully celebrate to the edges of the table, and highly exalt him forever. (trans. Bp. Daniel Findikyan)
Living stones
Having been consecrated as a house of worship and prayer, every church building is a sacred space that resembles and recalls the holiness of heaven itself, in some cases the universe. It is where the faithful gather as the Body of Christ, where the richest and deepest mysteries of the Church are revealed and celebrated. The architecture is theologically meaningful as a brick and mortar icon of the presence of Jesus Christ, and our being grafted into him through baptism.
As Peter writes to the Church in his first epistle (2:5):
Like living stones, you are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The priesthood of believers
What does it mean, or look like, to be a living stone? Baptized into the Church, the Body of Christ, we all have a priestly ministry to the whole world: to give thanks to God for offering himself to us, and to offer ourselves back to him, to see the world as God sees it, and to offer the world the same eternal life that God gave us. Rather than having a mission, the Church is a mission, a mission to the world. It is one of reaching out and inviting others, everyone – from those already baptized into our family to those who never heard – into communion with Jesus Christ in whom there is healing and peace.
And the healing that we long for as an Armenian people still suffering from ancient and contemporary wounds inflicted upon us by the world, will be found when we forgive and then share God’s love, forgiveness, and healing with others, when we allow God to raise us up, as a people, as the Church to recognize and stand for those in need of his justice and healing in the world, just as Christ has demonstrated his love to us.
The Armenian Church as universal
The universal Church, which includes the Armenian Church, is the voice of hope and the hands of healing in the world, and our nourishment to carry out our mission to the world finds its source in Holy Badarak. Before distributing Christ’s Body and Blood, the priest prays: Տպաւորեա՛ ի մեզ…
Imprint upon us the grace of your Holy Spirit as you did on the holy apostles, who ate this meal and became the ones to clean the whole world.
After sharing Holy Communion, the people sing together, proclaiming that our celebration of Holy Badarak is for salvation, not just for us as Christian Armenians, but for the whole world: Գոհանամք զքէն Տէր…
We thank you, Lord, for you have fed us at your immortal table, serving your Body and Blood for the salvation of the world and as life for ourselves.
Who else will be Jesus to the rejected of society if not the Church, if not the Armenian Church? It should go without saying that the Armenian Church is God’s Church, it belongs to him. In other words, the Armenian Church does not belong to Armenians. So let’s not limit our ministry and mission, because others attend to the poor and build hospitals, or others might be better at it and have more experience, or because we have other issues of importance to which we believe we are required to attend.
The world is waiting for hope, a hope that lasts – the exact hope that the Armenian Church has to offer, with the Cross perched on top of the kmpet (գմբեթ) casting its shadow over the world, the symbol for which our church buildings now stand, and have firmly stood over the centuries weathering every attack, pandemic, and evil thrust upon her.
Born of the Spirit
The traditional interpretation of the early Church, including Armenian Church Fathers, of the phrase “born again” has always been to equate it with Holy Baptism during which we are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 1:13). St. Gregory of Narek writes (93 C):
Similarly, this oil of salvation, sanctified with light, is poured on us to anoint our outer temple, and enters us in secret and unseen, whereby the inner man is born again.
New life, membership, citizenship
Unless a person is baptized into a new life, it is not possible to become a member of the Church, the Body of Christ, or enter into God’s kingdom, as Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Through Jesus Christ, God inaugurated a new family made up of those who are “born again.”
Ordinary birth as a child of Abraham was no longer enough for God’s chosen people. God’s Kingdom became open to the world, and the people of God now make up the Church (Galatians 3:27-29), the womb from which we are born through baptism.
Again, St. Gregory of Narek prays (75 K, L):
“Just as without the Father, there is no Christ, so without the womb of the mother Church, the soul cannot be fulfilled…She [the Church] gives birth to godly mortals, saints in the image of the sole God, Christ.”
Born again
When we are born again through baptism, we die to our sin (I John 3:9) and are raised to newness of life, because we are united to the eternal, resurrected life of Christ (Romans 6:3-4, I Peter 1:3). We are cleansed and given a new heart through the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Ezekiel 36:25-27, Romans 8:11). In short, we are born again as a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).
What does this mean? It means it is no longer our will be done, but God’s will be done. We, the Church, the Body of Christ, are the mission that the Gospel accomplishes. Instead of living according to our passions that often drag us away from God and into unfulfilling routines and habits, we are given the gift to live like Christ, to become like he is – divine. We are able to heal, love, and forgive as he does. We are given the grace to respond to the moment as to what the world needs us to be in that moment, in the name of God, in the name of the Church, in the name of the Armenian Church.
Knowledge of God
This new birth, being “born again,” is but the beginning of our new life, not a single subjective experience. Knowledge of God (Աստուածգիտութիւն), enlightenment, begins at baptism, but the promises made at our baptism follow us, call us, and demand from us throughout our entire life and faith journey. So how do we feed and nurture that life?
Do we live a life of repentance, perpetuating the faith, hope, and love asked for us by our Godparents at baptism? As we recite in the Creed, “We believe…in one baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins,” baptism, our new life in Christ, is always connected to a life of confession, repentance, and conversion – always being transformed to the image of God, regularly, unceasingly turning toward Jesus Christ, our Savior and Healer.
Live your baptism
Our Baptism is anything but a static event captive to the past on the day that it took place. It must be recalled daily, even momentarily. It should permeate our lives as Christians, where we live out our Baptism in response to what Christ first did for us. How do we respond? How do we fulfill the baptismal vows spoken over us by our Godparents, the priest, and those of the Church community in attendance that glorious day?
By living a committed, holy, and consecrated life dedicated to God. By forgiving our enemies, even of unfathomable atrocities, even if it must be done over and over, day by day. By loving God and loving others as he first loved us. By seeing God everywhere present in the world, by viewing the world, others, and ourselves through the love of Christ. By seeing and encountering God in the moment, whether that moment is routine, mundane, extravagant, or even tragic, by God’s grace we allow these things to ever draw us closer to him in order to become like him.
By Dn. Eric Vozzy
