In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“How should I live my life as an Orthodox Christian?” I ask the Lord. And he replies to me, “What is written in the Scripture? How do you read?” I reply to Him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” The Lord replies to me, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But seeking to justify my original question—I do not really want to know what I should do to live as a Christian but what is minimally acceptable, “What’s the least I need to do and still be saved?”—seeking to justify my original question I ask the Lord, “And who is my neighbour?”
And I want to hear back from Him, “Go to Church, serve the Liturgy and other services, receive Communion and the other Mysteries.” And these are all good things—objectively good!—and are necessary for the building up of the people of God: we need them in our lives. We must love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our strength, but this must not be an end in itself: if this were the totality of our faithfulness to the Lord then it would be for our condemnation. So the Lord gives the familiar Parable of the Good Samaritan.
A man has been attacked by robbers and stripped of his personhood and dignity. And he is passed by three pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, the City of God. A priest passes him and says to himself, “I go to serve the Liturgy,” and passes him by, likewise a Levite, “I go to receive Communion,” and passes him by. And these are good things, righteous things, but they should not form the totality of our faithfulness. Yet one who is a heretic, who gets things wrong about God, who does not worship God according to the Tradition of the Church, sees in the man one who deserves compassion, sees in him the image of God and sees in himself someone who should serve rather than be served.
And I consider my life—how many do I pass by? Of how many do I say to myself, “they can come with me to the City of God” but I do not even lift a finger to help them. And when I approach the gates of Jerusalem I will cry out, “I have come, let me in,” and I will hear the reply, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” (Matthew 25:11)
The Apostle James says to us,
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
— James 2:14–17
And lest we think this is just one passage, the Beloved Disciple says,
If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
— First John 4:20–21
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us neither neglect spiritual matters nor physical matters, let us love God and love our neighbour for in doing one truly we fulfil the other. Let us serve those in need as well as serve God, honour those in need and worship God, and so we fulfil the Gospel and inherit eternal Life.
To our crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, I would have you know that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
— Galatians 1:11–19
At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
— Luke 10:25–37