Today, Eastern Orthodox Christians around the entire world all read the same Gospel reading concerning the Great Judgment from Matthew 25:31-46. Each year we Orthodox come face to face with this Gospel passage, whether we want to or not. It concerns the sheep and the goats; even more importantly it concerns who will inherit the Kingdom of God and who will not. Both the sheep and the goats call Jesus “Lord”…the difference between the two is found in putting the love of God into action.
In our daily readings we often read about the 2nd Coming of the Lord. The Great Judgment really puts this in the right perspective. It is irrelevant for any of us to be trying to figure out when the Lord will return. It really doesn’t matter if it is today or a thousand years from now. What is really important in this whole matter is that each of us will appear before His Judgment Seat…whether He returns in our lifetime or if our hearts simply stop beating, we will be there…either as sheep or as goats…we will be there.
In the past, our Church took up the challenge of meeting each of those things the Lord says to the sheep in praise of them. “I was hungry…thirsty…a stranger… naked…sick…in prison…and you met my needs!” I am so very proud of the members of our Church as they have continually met the needs of these different concerns. Sometimes we met them locally and sometimes in a far off distant place. God is Love and this is that love touching precious souls through us. This Great Lent we can again be challenged by this same Gospel passage in perhaps a slightly different way.
All of those things that Jesus expects us to be doing have as their foundation our Faith. It is presupposed that we are already doing the things He has taught us to do: Attending Church regularly; Praying regularly; Reading our Bibles regularly; Receiving Holy Communion regularly; Confessing our sins regularly; Fasting when it is time to fast…and the other things that are foundational to our Faith. All of these things build us up spiritually so that we are better equipped to put our Faith into action. This is what we should hear in this Gospel reading: We will all be called to give an accounting of how we put the love of God (our Faith) into action. The sheep and the goats both called Jesus “Lord” but only the sheep had put love of God (their Faith) into action.
In the parable of the Talents, one man was condemned because he simply hid his talent in the ground…he didn’t even try…no attempt was made to increase his talent. For doing nothing, his talent was taken away. Our Church is our talent…a gift given to us. We must try our best to make it grow. Putting our Faith into action is both an individual and a corporate matter. It is something we as a Church must take seriously. Our Church is a wonderful gift from God and we will be held accountable for what we did with that gift.
Jesus planted His Church on this earth so that every person…from every nation…from every walk of life would have an opportunity to be a part of it and to be a part of His eternal Kingdom. (“For God so loved the world!”) In our local Church, we may not be held accountable for every nation, every people, or for the whole world. BUT, we may well be held responsible for our little part of this world…the world that we live in each day. We are responsible for what we do with the gift of our Church in our “world” … the area in which we are located. Consider with me for a moment those words of Jesus spoken to the sheep and the goats at the Great Judgment and let’s apply them to the people of our “world”:
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” Many of the people around us have a spiritual hunger and they are looking for something that will truly feed their souls. Jesus said: ”I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35). Has our Church offered the people of our “world” the Bread of Life?
“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” Like the woman at the well, many people would love to drink the water of Christ: “Whoever drinks the water I give him, will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Is our Church offering this “water” to those around us?
“I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Do the people of our “world” even know that our Church exists…are they strangers who are unaware of our existence? What can our Church do to truly invite them in?
“I was naked and you clothed me.” Much like Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), many people have had their eyes opened and realize they are spiritually naked. These people are being clothed with anything and everything this world has to offer. The Church can offer them the greatest clothing of all: “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). What is our Church doing to clothe the naked of our “world”.
“I was sick and you took care of me.” When Jesus was asked why He was hanging around with sinners, He said: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt. 9:12-13). There are so many people in our “world” that are sick with sin and our Church has the very medicine that will make them well. The Church has always been and continues to be a hospital. What has our Church done to make this medicine available to others?
“I was in prison and you visited me.” It has been said that the hardest prison to get out of is the one without bars. So many people around us are living in their own personal “prison” each and every day…truly a living hell. The psalmist knew this when he wrote: “Bring my soul out of prison, that I might praise Thy Name…O Lord forever more” (Psalm 141:8; 142:7). Jesus explained how one could be set free from this prison: “The Truth will set you free…everyone who sins is a slave to sin…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:31-36). What is our Church doing to set the captives of our “world” free?
It is only God who can truly help the people of this world. But as in all things, we are called to work in cooperation with God (synergy). We are called to do our best in bringing the love of God Who is the Truth to our “world”. We are called to invite the people of our “world” to come and see…and experience…the love of God found in the True Faith. We are simply called to make the attempt…to try. It is the Holy Spirit who will touch the hearts and minds of people through our loving efforts. Please pray with me throughout this Great Lent that God would give us wisdom to know what we can do in our “world” …using the technology and all the resources available to us…may we take this step of faith and see what God does with it.
May God help us to be His instruments of love in our world.