Two thoughts based upon Yesterday’s Scripture readings for the Last Judgment:
In 1 Corinthians 8:8, St. Paul said, “Food does not bring us near to God…” This statement has a special spiritual connection to it when we consider what happened to Adam and Eve in Paradise. Certainly eating what God had made did not bring them closer to God! The Fast reminds us of this truth – for all our love for eating, feasting, gourmet meals, carry out or dine in, junk foods, rich and tasty foods cooked to perfection – none of it will bring us near to God. In terms of our relationship to God, as St. Paul continued in 8:8, “we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.” It really is learning that though feasting is associated in our thinking with blessings and thanksgiving and rejoicing and abundance and prosperity, much of the feasting we do is really associated with our fallen world. When we read Genesis 1-3, we realize that in God’s Paradise of Delights there was no animal killing or meat eating mentioned and also no mention of eating animal “products” – eggs, milk cheese. The Great Fast puts us closer to the pleasures of Paradise than does our Paschal Feast! No wonder in Orthodox monastic spirituality there is so much emphasis on fasting! Food does not bring us near to God, as St. Paul said, but fasting on the other hand can.
The Gospel account of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) has one very interesting feature to it. No where in the judgment is sin mentioned! The people facing the judgment are not condemned or commended for keeping Torah, the Jewish Law, nor for committing sin, nor for being good or evil in our usual moral understanding of these words. The Judgment is based totally on whether or not they loved or served the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters. Those cast into the eternal fire prepared for Satan are those who failed to love Christ’s little brothers and sisters. As we proceed through Lent, that is certainly something for us to consider. Maybe instead of worrying about all the details of keeping various religious rules and regulations, the one thing needful is to be able to see Christ’s little brothers and sisters – or to see Christ in the poor, needy and neglected – and to care for them!
