Today's Gospel concerns that Last Judgment that shall occur at the end of time, when our Lord shall return with all the angels at the end of time to judge both the quick and the dead (not to be confused with that particular judgment we must all face when we depart from this world). Now on the basis of this rather stylized account (it should not be understood as a literal presentation of the event, which shall occur outside the bounds of time as we know it), the whole basis of this Judgment seems to be--whether or not we have performed literal works of charity on behalf of our fellow man during our earthly lives. If we have done so, we shall be privileged to stand on our Lord's right hand and to be granted as our reward eternal life in God's Kingdom, while if we neglected to do so, we shall be placed on His left hand and cast into that eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels (demons).
It all sounds pretty simple, does it not? So if you want to be saved from eternal punishment in that nasty fire, you had better play it safe: volunteer to help out in a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter, join a prison ministry, make frequent visits to the sick whether in their homes or in hospital, and in general, give generous alms to the poor and the needy. And remember: God keeps score! The more good deeds you perform, the more likely you are to be allowed into the Good Place.
But all jesting aside, we all know that this is not the essential teaching of the Orthodox Church concerning salvation, which is certainly not some sort of merit badge God awards us for performing a certain quota of good deeds. It is, rather, our deification as sons and daughters of God, that is: our union and communion with our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. If then, the whole meaning of salvation is to be united with God through the purification of our hearts and the cleansing of our sinful passions, it is essential that we understand just Who and what God is. Firstly, St. John the Theologian assures us that God is love. And secondly, if God truly is Who dwells eternally in the unapproachable light, then He can in no way be subject to change. And this means He must exist above and beyond every passion and emotion... whether anger, sadness, a desire for revenge, nor any other movement of the soul to which our fallen human nature is prone.
God is love, and so He loves with a perfect love both the sinner and the saint equally, and He never wavers in this love no matter how far we may have wandered (like the Prodigal Son) from the path of salvation. Nevertheless, God's love is (as St. Paul assures the Hebrews) a "consuming fire" that penetrates even unto the very depths of hell, illumining the righteous while at the same time scorching those who have willfully turned away from Him and trampled underfoot the commandment of love.
Of course it is true that if we have acquired in our hearts God's love, we shall naturally express His infinite compassion and mercy toward the poor and needy, loving our neighbor--even our worst enemy--as though he were our very own self. And we shall do so not for the sake of gaining any sort of reward, but rather because a heart consumed by the love of God can in nowise be constrained or limited by egocentric thoughts and desires. This is why those on the right hand have no recollection of the good deeds they have performed. As for those on the left hand... they are oblivious of the good deeds they have failed to perform due to gross negligence and hardness of heart. Let us set aside, then, every conception of God as a vindictive judge intent on casting the sinner into hell, for truly--as our heavenly Father--He in no wise desires the death of the sinner, but rather that sinners such as you and I should turn from our wicked ways and live.
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