On Earth and In Heaven

Daily Readings: Acts 23:12-35; 1 John 5:13-21; John 12:12-23
Ընթերցուածքներ` Գործ. ԻԳ 12-35; Ա Յով. Ե 13-21; Յով. ԺԲ 12 – 23

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Lewis Carroll in 1865 wrote an iconic children’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The story follows a young girl named Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole into a world filled with strange creatures. This story is often interpreted as a story about a parallel world hidden beside ordinary reality. The “parallel world” idea comes from how Wonderland mirrors reality while still being a bit different. With strange characters and personalities, the world feels like stepping into a dream version of reality. Yet, by the end, Alice awakens from the experience, suggesting Wonderland may have been a dream — though the story leaves open the possibility that it was a real alternate world reached only through imagination.

This idea of parallel realities exists in many areas of our life my dears. In movies like the Matrix, in literature such as Alice in Wonderland or Chronicles of Narnia. While these are imaginative stories that have something deeper to teach us, who among us has not wondered if this world is all that there is? Is there another reality, another timeline, other worlds like ours? This imaginative questioning is especially alive in children. Have you ever seen a child look into a mirror? They wonder with amazement at the reflection staring back at them. Is that real? Is it another person in a world behind the mirror? As adults we know that the person in the mirror is us, reflecting with light. As for parallel realities or universes, I’ll leave to our imaginations and to film yet, within our faith my dears, I would argue we in fact do believe in an invisible reality, one that this life directly impacts.

When we come to Church and confess our sins, what does the priest say? “…By the command of the Lord in the Holy Gospel, whatever is forgiven on earth is forgiven in Heaven.” This comes to us directly from Holy Scriptures from the words of Christ to His disciples (Matthew 16 & 18) teaching us that what we do here directly impacts us in Heaven. When we step into a Church, we are surrounded by icons, smell of incense, music, beautiful liturgical services, and we are taught from childhood that in Church we don’t talk loudly, we don’t cross our legs, we dress nicely, we don’t chew gum, etc. This isn’t because these things make us into bad people. Rather, again looking to the Holy Scriptures, when we step through the doors of the Church, we step out of the world and step into the presence of God, into the Kingdom of Heaven. We come into a new reality; a parallel reality. That is why from Isaiah we read of how seeing Heaven, he witnessed the angels singing and worshiping God “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Host; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is. 6:3) and the Book of Revelations (4:8) as St. John lifts our eyes up to Heaven to witness this truth again. So my dear when we are in Badarak, when we step into Church, the name of the Church or the address listed does not matter; the priest and people don’t matter because even in an empty Church, we are all worshipping together, in the Kingdom of God, with all the angels, with the saints, with all humanity – we are worshiping God. We are in a parallel reality.

One day a priest saddened by the reality of his small empty Church decided to resign. He had tried his best, preached, visited, taught the Gospel but his community wasn’t growing, very few people attended services, they were aging, tired, and this led to him to be discouraged overtime; after all he is human. In his prayers he asked God for a sign hoping that even if his Church was empty, he hoped that his prayers were being heard. One Sunday morning he got ready to start Badarak and as the curtain opened and he turned to give that sign of peace, the Church before his eyes was full. The choir was full of people he recognized and of whom he did not. There were priest standing near him, praying with him and the Church was filled with warmth, light and prayer. Uplifted by this was a joyous celebration, he prayed fervently, he gave Communion, offered up his sermon and felt the power of God working through Him. At the end of Badarak, as he turned to do the final dismissal, the Church was suddenly completely empty with only a few of his older parishioners still there. The priest however did not lose heart but recognized, when we pray in Church, we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses as St. Paul teaches; our prayers are heard, not just in this reality but in the presence of God.

What we do here is what is taking place in the Kingdom of Heaven my dears.. That is also why in the sacraments of the Church we emphasize, what we are doing visibly here, has an invisible reality in the presence of God. As we are reborn through our baptism, as husband and wife 2 become one, as a priest is bestowed with authority to forgive on earth – my dears, invisibly occurs in heaven. So yes, we are gathered in Church here today, in this reality and we are praying. We are praying for answers, and we are recognizing the love of God the Father through Christ Jesus, God the Son who died and is resurrected, who ascends into Heaven. Yet, my dears this love is not just limited to you and I, just to those who come to Church, who think and look like us. This love is not limited to this reality. God’s love is for all creation, for all time. Christ saves not just humanity but all creation that mourns because of sin. As we read, (Lk. 15:7) “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Teaching us that when we choose to live in sin, when we choose to hate, and remain unrepentant, the angels in heaven are saddened; yet, when we repent and come to God, they celebrate. What we do in this world, impacts the Heavenly world.

Today in the Armenian Church we are celebrating an invisible reality in the Kingdom of Heaven. For the Armenian Church it is known as Second Palm Sunday. This is a uniquely Armenian feast day and is told to us by St. Gregory the Illuminator, who while in the pit of Khor Virap his guardian angel visited him each day. However, on the fourth day of the Ascension, the angel did not appear. When St. Gregory asked where he had been the following day, the angel explained that on the fourth day of Ascension the angels celebrate and rejoice in the presence of Christ, of His entrance into the Eternal Jerusalem. While there is no scripture to verify this unique feast day, as we saw throughout many scriptural passages, what we do in this life is reflected in Heaven, our prayers here are reflected in the Kingdom of God; as we gather to celebrate here, the angels and saints celebrate in Heaven.

I say all this my dears to ask an important question because though it may seem imaginative or philosophical, the truth there is a deeper reality that if the material world ripples into the Divine world like a stone thrown into the water, what impact are we leaving in this reality? What life are we living, what decisions, what choices, what prayers are we echoing in this world that reflects in the parallel invisible world that is the Kingdom of God? When God created earth, He created it as a blessing for us through which to prepare us for what is to come. To prepare through prayer, humility, love, mercy, compassion; to prepare us through worship, through Holy Scriptures, through faithfulness. If the angels in Heaven serve and celebrate our faithfulness and yet, mourn and pray for our sinfulness, how do we, the children of God behave and live when the world chooses to reject God’s love, to be disobedient and remain dark? Do we pray for them? Do we look with compassion and serve in humility? For what we do in this world, reflects the Kingdom of God my dears for all to see, in all realities echoing over eternity. The man in the mirror, the imagination of parallel worlds and timelines, while fantastic and entertaining begs the question, whether fictional or real, what kind of reflection, what kind of ripple do we leave?

My dears, come and enter into the Kingdom. Come and pray; come and repent. Attend and learn the Holy Scriptures and worship not just in the Church building that may or may not be empty; but worship in the Kingdom of God. In His real presence, under His real love. And when we worship here, step back out of this invisible world, out of the Kingdom and step into the material world and live a life that reflects this place of forgiveness, healing and love, for others to see. For angels celebrate with us, the saints pray for us and what we do in this life, in this reality, directly impacts what will happen and what is happening in the invisible world to come. What will we see?