In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
We are all mixed together in this life, my brothers and sisters—poor and rich, men and women, righteous and unrighteous, sinners and saints—and we interact with each other, rub up against each other affect each other. We may have good things which happen to us without our deserving it, likewise bad things can happen without our having done anything wrong. Our world is a mess of rights and wrongs, goods and evils, blessings and curses.
When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Judgment is at hand, my brothers and sisters in Christ: the Lord is coming, and coming soon (Revelation 22:12). And whereas his first coming was in dishonour—in poverty, in a cave, in secret—now he comes with great honour and glory with all the holy angels: this will be a fearful and dreadful sight. And the mess of this world, the mess of righteous with evil-doers, sinners alongside saints, will be separated, divided one from another. Notice how even at the division, though, their experience is the same: not until the judgment of each human being is there a difference in state.
And the Lord judges: he brings his righteousness on all humanity. And he does not judge us on what we know nor even on what we believe—it is not a theological test for which we orthodox Christians have been given the secret knowledge. The Lord judges us on if we have robbed our neighbour. If my neighbour is hungry then the food on my plate and in my cupboard has been robbed from him. If my neighbour is thirsty then the drink on my table is stolen, hospitality I could have offered has been taken from him, his clothing I hide in my home, visiting him in times of trouble I have refused him. All I could offer but I hold onto identifies me as a goat.
And more so, for we offer to our neighbour in need not only the bread which nourishes today but then tomorrow hunger returns, we offer him the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. For if Christ is risen from the dead, if we have been given eternal life, if we are inheritors of the promises to Abraham, then it would be a denial of ourselves to hold onto this Truth as a treasure to guard in a tower: rather we should raise up a beacon that all may see the Light and have the opportunity to enter into this reality.
And more so, for we offer to our neighbour in need not only the bread which nourishes today but then tomorrow hunger returns, we offer him the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it may be impossible to help everybody but that does not mean we are incapable of serving some. Pray for your neighbours, your relatives, your colleagues, your fellow students, your friends. Pray that the Lord will give you opportunities to serve them, to help them, for there are many who are in need of service. And the Lord will see the service you offer and reward you. Take courage: the Lord does not desire to see you perish and will take any opportunity to grab hold of you as his own. But we must make a start, turn to the Lord and turn to our neighbours to serve them.
To our incarnate, crucified and risen Saviour, whose humble service is our example, Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and might, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit, Amen.
Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
— First Corinthians 8:8–13, 9:1–2
The Lord said, “When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
— Matthew 25:31–46