Bun Barekendan: Sincerity and the Meaning of Lent

[Children’s sermon]

Now, we did things like fasting even before then. Even before Jesus’s time, people would fast, and we continue that tradition. That’s from the Old Testament. But you’re right, 40 days is an important number of time, and Jesus set that example in the wilderness. What else did you guys learn about Lent? Anything else?

The traditional thing that people do is during the 40 days of Lent, they don’t eat animal products. We become like vegans. Not in a trendy way. But why do we do that? Does anybody know why we do that? To struggle against temptation — that’s a good example. Sometimes eating animals can be bad for the environment, and also we can be hurting the animals. Any other real reasons why you guys think we might not eat meat during Lent? Lent reminds me of the 40 days Jesus was in the desert. Good job, I’m glad you remembered that. Because Jesus ate barely anything when he was fasting. That’s a very good point. He wasn’t out there having hamburgers in the desert. Jesus was living ascetically, meaning he didn’t eat during that time.

But listen, guys, to learn more about why we do this: we do it so we can get closer to God. Absolutely. But we’ve got to connect the dots on that. How does not eating meat get us closer to God? That’s a bit hard to understand. The Bible doesn’t say that it’s wrong to eat animals. But it does say that we should be very thoughtful about what we eat.

Now, I want to ask you guys this question. We talked about Lent, and we’ll come back to it, but what is today? Today is Poon Paregantain, right? And I know some of our kids who go to the Armenian school celebrate Poon Paregantain in lots of different ways. What did you guys do to celebrate Poon Paregantain? You did performances, you did plays, you had a little party at the end. You dressed up and you wore costumes and things like that. Poon Paregantain sounds pretty fun, right? Well, today’s that day. Today’s the real Poon Paregantain.

The important thing about Poon Paregantain is in the name of it. Who knows what Poon Paregantain means? Poon Paregantain comes from Paregantain Ootyoon, which means good living. And poon means like real or main. So today is the main day that we’re meant to focus on good living.

Now, I’m going to ask you guys this question. I don’t know if you guys studied this in school, but our great-grandparents and our great-great-grandparents and our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, when they were doing Poon Paregantain, how do you think they celebrated? What do you think they did? They would go from house to house. They would visit each other in their community, and they would get treats and play games. Now, what kind of treats do you think they got on Poon Paregantain? Real ones. Raisins. They would get some raisins. Nuts. They could have some nuts. Some fruit, maybe even dried fruit if it wasn’t in season. Some dates. You know what the one treat that they had, the last treat that people would have at the end of the day on Poon Paregantain? They had a hard-boiled egg, was their last treat before Lent started, and they thought, “This is going to be my last hard-boiled egg until Easter time when I have a hard-boiled egg at Easter,” right? Because we play the egg game.

Now, let me ask you guys this for real. If I was to ask you, you have one day to have a day of good living, to do all the things that you think are super fun and to eat all the things that you want to eat. Would you guys have nuts, raisins, and a hard-boiled egg? No. You know, one of the favorite games that they had back then was that they would dance around a broomstick. Is that the game that you would dream about playing on the greatest day that you could have, the funnest day? Dancing around a broomstick, having a hard-boiled egg, having some raisins. That sounds like a real party, right? This was, for our ancestors, the day of good living. That day doesn’t sound much more fun than probably most of your days, right?

Here’s the thing I wanted to think about with you guys, and listen to this. For us today, almost every day we live is Poon Paregantain. We get to have all the stuff we want all the time. Every day is Poon Paregantain. And I’m going to tell you guys something very important that I hope you’ll believe me about. You’ve got to trust Dehdai. You’ve got to trust God. You’ve got to trust your parents. I’m going to tell you something that you don’t want to believe. You don’t want to believe it. But you’ve got to trust me. It’s true. Living every day like it’s Poon Paregantain is not good for you. It’s not good for you.

What happens is when we do Poon Paregantain every day, then we get spoiled and nothing becomes special anymore. It won’t be as special anymore. And when life becomes too fun and too easy for us, then oftentimes we easily become sad when things aren’t exactly the way that we want them to be.

Now, when we’re fasting at Lent, sometimes like when I was a kid, I thought I had to fast because God wanted me to sacrifice for him, because Jesus suffered on the cross or he suffered fasting in the wilderness, and so I had to show that I had to suffer like he did. But you guys want to know what? That’s not the answer. That’s not why we fast. That’s not why we give up meat and other fun things during Lent. The reason why we fast is not to show our sacrifice, because Jesus sacrificed himself so that we didn’t have to, because he loves us. The reason that we give things up and we fast during Lent is because it makes us stronger when we make life a little bit harder sometimes for ourselves. We challenge ourselves. Spiritually stronger when we make life a little bit more difficult. And it is a little bit more difficult to have to think about what we can eat and what we can do in ways that we don’t always have to. That’s why it’s really important, because your moms and dads want you guys to all have strong spirits. And that’s why it’s important for you to be part of Lent.

Now, you guys all got a copy of this calendar, right? So we’re going to take this home and we’re going to show this calendar to our parents. Every day during Lent has a special thought or prayer that we can pray together with our family so that Lent is something that’s going to be really wonderful for us and make us all stronger. So when we get to Easter on the other end of Lent, we can really celebrate and give thanks to God for the gift of our lives because we appreciate it. I love you guys so much. Thank you for being part of Sunday school today. God bless you. And next time you come into church for the next first Sunday, church is going to be a little bit different because it’s going to be in the middle of Lent. And I’m going to check in with you then and see how your Lent is going, to see how you challenged yourselves to become a little bit stronger in your faith.

Այսօր խոսել ենք մեծ պահքի մասին մեր երեխաներին հետ, բայց մեծերի հետ ուզում եմ անդրադառնալ այսօրվա Ավետարանի բովանդակության մասին, որը խոսում է կեղծավորության մասին, կեղծավորության մասին, որովհետև ինքը ասում է մեզ՝ ինչպես պետք է չլինենք կեղծավորներ։ Կեղծավորության հակառակը ի՞նչ է։ Անկեղծություն է։ Հայերենի մեջ դա դյուրին է հասկանալ՝ ինչ է նշանակում կեղծավոր, ինչ է նշանակում, նշանակում է այն մարդ, որ կեղծ ինքն իրեն կներկայացնում է աշխարհին, և անկեղծ ինքն իրեն արդեն մեզ բացատրում է՝ ինչ է նշանակում, որ առանց կեղծին մենք մեզ ներկայացնում ենք աշխարհին։ Սա էական դաս է բոլորիս համար, մանավանդ, մանավանդ մեծ պահքի ընթացքում, որովհետև եթե մենք անկեղծ չենք մեծ պահքի ընթացքին, եթե լուրջ և բարեպաշտ չենք մեծ պահքի ընթացքին, չենք կարող այդ դասը սովորել, որ պետք է սովորենք այս ժամանակի մեջ։ Կեղծավորությամբ ամեն ինչ ծածկվում է, և ճշմարտությունը չի հայտնվում, բայց անկեղծ մարդը ճշմարտությունը հայտնում է։ Եվ անկեղծ ի՞նչ է նշանակում, պիտի բացատրեմ սկզբաշյուտով անգլերենով, բայց հունարենի մեջ, որ օգտագործվում է Ավետարանի մեջ, այս բառը, որ օգտագործվեց Ավետարանի մեջ, նշանակում է հետևյալը՝ առանց մոմի։ Ինչու՞։ Առանց մոմի նշանակում է, որովհետև այն ժամանակ, եթե ասենք թե կարաս կամ մի բան կար, որ կավով սարքված էր և կոտրված էր, դա դնելու համար մոմ դնում էին և այդ մոմը սահունացնում էին և այդպես ներկայացնում էին, որ ինքը կոտրված չէր։ Եվ որ մենք առանց մոմի ենք, նշանակում է, որ մենք մեր ջարդված, կոտրված մասերով ներկայացնում ենք մեզ մեր մասին աշխարհին։ Այդպես ընդունելով մեր թերությունները, մեր տկարությունները և մեղքերը, պետք է քայլենք մեծ պահքի մեջ։

Our reflection for our adults who are here with us today — though I hope we had the opportunity to learn something about fasting in our midst, hearing the Sunday school’s lesson — is about the content of today’s Bible passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which leads us into the Lord’s Prayer. It is an introduction that guides us into the most foundational prayer in the life of Christianity. Christ is teaching us how to pray. But his prologue to teaching us that prayer is a call to those who are penitent, prayerful, and fasting to not be hypocritical, to not be hypocritical. He’s warning us so very clearly: do not be a hypocrite.

Now, what does it mean to be a hypocrite? In Armenian, I love it, it’s very clear: to be a hypocrite is somebody who is fake. Very, very clear. You say one thing, you do another. What is that? But being fake. You’re not being honest with yourself or others around you. So first and foremost, Christ is asking us: don’t be fake during Lent. Be honest, be sincere. If your heart is in the Lenten fast, then embrace it. If you’re doing it for show, then it’s better that you not do it. Let’s not put sin on top of sin.

However, let’s talk about what the opposite of being fake is, or the opposite of hypocrisy in this biblical context. It is sincerity. We have to be sincere throughout the Lenten journey. Being sincere doesn’t just mean not being fake, but it means representing the reality of yourself in its complete image. The complete image of our realness is open to God and, in a loving and faithful community, also to one another.

To be sincere — the word sincere means without wax. During that time, if a piece of pottery or something like that was broken, people would put the pieces back together and they would use wax to cover up those broken parts where the cracks were. And then they would paint it and try to pass it off like it hadn’t been broken, to sell it at its original price. So being sincere means presenting something with its cracks and everything. This is the reality of a thing.

And the truth is, what we have to come to terms with during Great Lent is we have cracks. We have imperfections. We are sinners. We have weaknesses. We have to be honest about that to ourselves first and foremost, and be willing to present that to God in the full context of what it means, inviting him to come and put those pieces back together himself, which he can restore to perfection, and not through using our artificial and temporary means. And also in a loving Christian environment, to be able to be honest with each other about our own imperfections as well, so that we can help each other grow stronger and help one another grow closer to God.

This is a very high calling that we all have during this Lenten season, but it begins with sincerity. It begins with looking in the mirror and asking ourselves, what ways can I be honest about my imperfections? Not so that I can be negative or self-destructive, but so I can invite God to come into those places where I have been cracked and to fill those gaps to make me whole again for his glory, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.