Sunday Sermon: God’s Building, August 16, 2009
“…you are God’s field, God’s building.” I Corinthians 3:9
Every man who works with the soil knows to reap from that soil, you shall patiently pass through a long winter, work hard planting during the Spring, be watchful during the Summer which will bring the full harvest during Autumn. It is the second half of August now. During centuries, farmers and villagers gather their first harvest and dedicate it to God. The Armenian Church has chosen the grapes as the symbol of all goods grown from Mother Soil to dedicate to God.
We, Arizona Armenians, as children of the Church, today have brought our very first harvest in front of God’s holy altar which surrounds us. Our gift to Him is this new temple of worship. God bless the hard workers, all the volunteers, all the benefactors, for all those who have prayed for this project’s completion and for all those who believed in our dream. The dream of half a century ago is now a reality. It is not by chance, the Assumption of Mother Mary celebrated the same day as the grape blessing ceremony. The Virgin Mary gifted the birth of Jesus as the first harvest for our salvation. Her sacrifice was the greatest gift to humanity. In Jesus Christ was founded and built the church. It was not built by stones and blocks; but with flesh and blood.
Today we are the living stones and blocks in which God continues to build his church. The church which is built with stones and blocks needs sand, mortar, cement, iron, wood, etc. What do we need for the spiritual church? In order to make it strong, beautiful, and illuminated. The first component is faith. Abraham and Peter had that type of faith. The faith is solid and resembles rock. A church built on that rock would not be afraid of tribulations, disasters and temptations.
Dear faithful, we need Abrahams and Peters amongst us.
The second component is prayer. A church is a meaningless place without prayer. Prayer is the conversation between man and God. What can we talk with God? We can talk about everything, like Father and child. Our prayers should be full of trust, forgiveness, and openness. Like prophet Elijah and King David prayed. The apostle James says to pray when you are suffering and pray when you are cheerful. Pray when you are sick and pray when you are healthy. Pray
for one another. The spiritual church needs another component, which is fire. It is called the fire of love which sanctifies and cleanses ourselves. This fire does not burn. It warms our hearts and souls. This fire was absorbed by the apostles. Living church also needs true worship with your heart and soul. We are not coming to church to only see each other and to chit chat and catch up with one another. We are not coming to the church merely to say we were here. We are not
coming to listen to the choir’s concert. We are not coming to fill out an application for volunteerism. But we are here to worship, cleanse ourselves from sin and repent and become a servant of God. We are here to glorify and honor God. The one who looks for his own glory is a Pharisee, therefore be cautious and keep your distance from them. A living church should be dynamic, fruitful and alive. Life is a constant motion. To keep up, we should console, enlighten, continue to grow in our faith and bear the fruit of the Heavenly Kingdom, happiness, love and peace.
To keep our church alive, we need to practice the art of sacrifice. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us to live eternally. Today the living church needs our sacrifice.
What can we give to God when everything belongs to him as it is? Let’s think. Is it considered a sacrifice for us to attend
Divine Liturgy? It is a part of the Christian lifestyle. Is it a sacrifice when we give our savings to the church? It is a good deed. Volunteering is a good deed, also. When you give to God what is absolutely necessary for your own self that is truly a sacrifice. That is how the Virgin Mary and all the saints & martyrs lived.
Indeed we are God building, if today we are ready to sacrifice that which is precious…Amen.
by Rev. Father Zacharia Saribekyan
