456. Holy Tuesday Morning: Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Gospel: Matthew 24:36-51; 25:1-46; 26:1-2

1 The parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Jewish weddings took place in the evening. Young bridesmaids with lamps went to the bridegroom’s house and escorted him to the ceremony. It must have been lovely. But this night the bridegroom is late in arriving. Some bridesmaids are prepared. Some are not, and they go out for more oil. While they are gone, at midnight he arrives, and when they finally get to the ceremony, it’s too late. The wedding is already going on, and they have missed it. “I don’t know you”, the bridegroom  says – an expression which meant “Go away”. You’re too late.

2 Then the parable of the talents. Talents were money: I read in the Orthodox Study Bible that a gold talent was worth about $6 million, a silver talent about $400,000. The point is that God has given each of us a fortune in gifts, capabilities, resources of many kinds in varying amounts. He wants His own back with interest, expects each of us to develop what He gave us. So are we growing in the Faith? in the gifts of the Spirit: love, patience, joy, gentleness, kindness, peace, self control? Are you developing whatever talents God has given you – music or teaching or sympathetic listening or management or service to the poor or mathematics or chanting…..a multitude of possibilities. For some even ordination if He calls you to it. Or are you like the last man in the parable, just holding your own? Or, God forbid, are you wasting what He gave you? What? you think God gave us gifts so we can just sit on them? If we do not produce, we will be cast into the outer darkness, away from the Light, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at what we could have had and now will never have, because time is over now. The moral: Use it or lose it.

3 Finally, the famous and distressing parable of the sheep and the goats.

We heard this also on the Second Sunday before Lent. The Church must think it especially important for us to hear.

Take note: this is the judgment of “the nations”, including the Gentiles, the nonbelievers.

The question that comes up so frequently among Christians: Can nonbelievers be saved? Jesus’ answer is No, but Yes.

No, because He said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: No one comes to the Father except by Me.” John 14:8  There can be no salvation outside Christ, for only in God is salvation, and Christ is God. Salvation means to be united with Christ our God.

But Yes, because at the End there will no longer be any unbelievers! All will see Christ for who He is. So Yes, those who once were nonbelievers will then believe, and can enter the Kingdom. Jesus Christ said so. However nobody will slide in just because they believed. I once visited a man in the county jail, who had done many bad things, including running off with an underage girl from our parish. When I got to the jail he was leading a prayer meeting. I said, “Look, man, doesn’t it bother you that you’ve broken almost all the Ten Commandments?” No, it did not – not at all – because “I believe in Jesus Christ, so I’m saved.” Wrong! There will be requirements of behavior for all of us.

The standard of judgment will be this: Did we show love, mercy, compassion for the least of His brethren? To all who did, Christ will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”

It will turn out that many had been serving Christ, even though they did not yet know it. This is not ours to judge, but God’s alone. We must never put a limit on the mystery of how God works on earth – to His love, His mercy.

However, this raises the other question posed by this parable: How many believers will be saved? What if they (even if they went by the name of Christian) ignored the needs of people, or far worse if they mistreated them, caused them pain and suffering and hunger and thirst and homelessness. Be careful here: Don’t let your mind center on others who mistreat or ignore people. Jesus is talking now about you and me. Then it would be: “Depart from me, you evildoers, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” In this case the truth would be that we never were believers. If we had truly believed in Jesus Christ, we would not have acted like that.

So here is the almost paradoxical key: Correct doctrine is essential. But correct Christian doctrine tells us that love is even more important than doctrine. “The greatest of these is love.”

You and I, mortals that we are, are forbidden to judge persons. Only God can do that. However, we must judge actions. Otherwise every child-abuser and murderer would go free. And every war criminal.

To which this year, let’s add the following image:

Ukraine and Gaza: We can do a little to help suffering people there. For one thing, unfortunately how we vote matters here. For charitable donations, I’d suggest you search for:

International Orthodox Christian Charities, one of the most competent and efficient of all charitable organizations. Specify Ukraine Relief or Gaza Relief.

And “Tents for Gaza” sponsored by Saint Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, Livonia, Michigan: https://stmarylivonia.com/s/gaza-tent-sponsorships/

Also how many other needy people, Christ’s brothers and sisters, are here in the United States? in our cities? on our borders? or next door to us? or in our churches? in our homes? – remembering that there are not only physical needs but spiritual needs as well, people who are lonely, people who need Jesus Christ and His love, and our love. Some need no more than someone to talk to, listen to them, perhaps only the effort to include them in a conversation. Or even just a kind word or a smile.

Jesus finished His teachings. He said to His disciples: Now be ready. “I have told you. After two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

The Next Post will arrive this afternoon for Tuesday night Bridegroom Matins.