God's Glory Church

It is always very rewarding to say that each of God’s children is endowed with special gifts and talents. We love to hear others praise us for how we have wonderfully used or developed our God-given gift. Some live for the sake of this praise and strive for it, for many it becomes the meaning of life to gain fame or recognition in the eyes of other people, but is this what God wants for us? Let’s try to understand this, and for this we will need to delve into another parable of Christ:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all nations will be gathered before Him; and he will separate one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…”(Matthew 25:31-46)

This is one of the most powerful parables Jesus ever told, and the lesson is very clear: God will judge us by our attitude toward human needs. He will judge us not by the knowledge we have accumulated or by the fame we have acquired, not by the wealth we have accumulated, but solely by the help we have provided. And this parable teaches us something about the help we should give.

1. We must help with simple things. What Jesus chose – to give the hungry to eat, to give to the thirsty to drink, to receive a stranger, to visit the sick, to come to someone in prison – anyone can do this. This does not require spending hundreds of thousands of hryvnias or putting your name down in history; you need to provide simple assistance to people in their daily affairs. There is no other parable that would open the way to serving God for ordinary people themselves.

2. This should be help that is not based on any calculations. The people who helped did not think that they were helping Jesus Christ and thereby accumulating merit in eternity; they provided assistance because they simply could not act otherwise. It was a natural, instinctive reaction of a loving heart, without any calculation. While those who did not provide help said: “If we knew that it was You, we would gladly help You; but we thought that this was some simple person who should not be helped.” Many are really ready to help if they hear praise, gratitude, if it becomes known to everyone. But this is not providing help at all, but satisfying one’s ambition. Such help has nothing to do with generosity; it is disguised selfishness. God praises help that is given solely to help,

3. Jesus shows us a beautiful truth: in giving such help, we are giving help to Him, and any such help that is not given was not being given to Him. How to understand this? If we really want to make a parent happy, if we want to encourage him to show gratitude, it is best to help his child. God is a great Father, and the best way to make God’s heart glad is to help His children, our fellow citizens.

This doesn’t happen often, but at least two people saw the truth of this parable in their lives. One of them was Francis of Assisi. He was rich, of noble birth, brave, but he was unhappy; he felt that something was missing in his life. One day he was riding and met a leper, disgusting and repulsive, with the most terrible of all diseases. Something pushed Francis to get off his horse and hug this terrible sufferer; and in his hands the face of the leper was transformed into the face of Christ.

The other was Martin from Tours. He was a Roman soldier and a Christian. One winter he was driving into the city and was stopped by a beggar asking for alms. Martin had no money, and the beggar was blue with cold and shivering, and then Martin gave him what he had: he took off his soldier’s cloak, worn and frayed, cut it in half and gave one half to the beggar. That night he had a dream. He saw heaven, angels, and among them Jesus, who was wearing half a soldier’s cloak. One of the angels asked Him: “Lord, why are You wearing this shabby, old cloak? Who gave it to you? And Jesus answered softly: “My servant Martin gave it to me.”

When we know the generosity that, without any calculation, helps the simplest people in the simplest things, we know the joy of helping Jesus Christ Himself. Let us not wait until the final judgment to find out that we have not done something for Christ. But, valuing our time, let us do good to everyone, as Scripture teaches us, and “especially to those who are of our own by faith.” After all, he who does not take care of his own has renounced the faith and is worse than an infidel.