Both the Epistle and the Gospel for this Sunday of the Last Judgment point out the difference between a selfish attitude and a selfless one. We are called, of course, to be selfless. And here’s the amazing thing: the more we give ourselves away in love, the more we receive ourselves back as something even better. This is because God made us for love. When we love, we are are discovering who we are; we are becoming who we are. We are doing what we were created to do.

Yesterday was Valentine’s day, when the world supposedly celebrates love. Certainly, this can be an occasion for showing love for others. But we know that real love involves a lot more than a box of chocolates. The real St. Valentine was a martyr. So he knew that real love means putting God first, and putting others before ourselves. He died for real love, because He died for Christ; and Christ was crucified out of love for us.

When we put ourselves first - when we live for ourselves and not for God and our neighbor - we squash love. It’s like the woman whose baby died, and who accused another woman of stealing her baby. The two women came before King Solomon, arguing about whose was the baby. The real mother, as Solomon guessed, was unwilling to allow the child to be harmed, so she was willing to give the child up to save its life. The other woman, who selfishly wanted the the mother’s baby for herself, was willing to cut the baby in half, so neither of them would be happy. How could someone do something like that? That’s an extreme example, but it’s the kind of thing that selfishness does to us. It makes us into tyrants or terrorists who want what we want, or everyone will suffer.

This calling to be selfless, to live for love, does not mean that we are not to consider what our limitations are, or that we are not to be good stewards of our own resources. Of course we are. This is actually an extension of humility. If I am proud, then I think I can do everything, be everything, save everyone. Then I don’t think it matters what the limits of my resources are - I’m going to do what I want even if it means living wastefully; wasting other people and their livelihood along the way. I can even pretend to be saving the world, and all the while acting like a predator. Pride and selfishness turn us into the proverbial “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” On the other hand, a humble awareness that I can’t do everything, and that I can’t use up what others need - including what they need from us - will go a long way towards healthy self-regulation.

We’re not called to be supermen and superwomen, who have no weaknesses and never get tired, look good and feel great all the time, and get all the right answers. God’s not calling us to be that. He is calling us to trust Him enough to put our lives in His hands; and to trust Him enough to share all we can with others. It may well be that, with a healthy, humble attitude we know that we can only give a dollar when the person is asking for 10. Or we know that we only have energy for this, and not that. The important thing is not to think that we’re heroes for doing the little that we do, not to expect to be praised and thanked for every little sacrifice, and to offer what we offer ungrudgingly, and with a desire for the other to be blessed by God. This was what was in the heart of the widow who gave two mites - yes, she was giving her whole livelihood, but the Lord would not have praised her if she were doing it for show, or if she were full of herself.

That’s also what is in the heart of those who come before the Judgment Throne of God, and hear Him say, “you fed Me when I was hungry, clothed Me when I was naked, visited Me in prison,” and so on.” They respond, “but when did we do any great thing like that? We don’t remember doing anything special; we just did what anyone would do.” The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. We are unprofitable servants, and see how far we fall short.

Those who are called “goats” at the Judgment Throne have very different attitudes. “What?! I always did everything right! I never made any mistakes! I followed all the rules! I gave 10 cents to a beggar one time!” And so on. There is self-justification, self-righteousness, and self-centeredness, and so there is no openness to love. And God is Love. So if we are closed off within ourselves, behind the walls of self-justification and millions of excuses, then we cannot receive the gift of undeserved Love that the Lord desires to give us.

If, however, we stand and say, “I have done nothing good; no, nothing, and I don’t deserve any reward, and yet I hope on Your mercy;” if we practice even now by saying such things, and by offering whatever we can in terms of mercy towards others and not relying on ourselves, then we stand a good chance of having the life-receiving and love-receiving attitude of the Sheep.

One way that we behave not just as God’s sheep, but as His children, is by considering the limitations of our neighbors. In particular, as St. Paul says, we have to be mindful of the weaknesses of those around us. We don’t ever want our liberty to be a cause for our neighbor’s stumbling. So says St. Paul, if my eating meat causes by brother to stumble, let me no longer eat meat.

It’s a typically human thing for me to say: “It’s my right to eat meat.” It’s a noble and God-inspired thing to say, “although it may be my right, I will refrain so that I don’t hurt my brother.” As you can see, we have been given this passage for meat fare Sunday, as if the Church is saying to us: “Practice fasting from meat, following St. Paul’s words, so that you will learn this very important principle.” Of course, the real issue, once again, is not meat. but love. Are we going to insist on exercising our rights, even it it harms others? Or are we willing to give up our rights out of love for others? I have the right to say what’s on my mind, for example. But out of love for the other, I should sometimes filter my thoughts before they get to my mouth, speaking whatever is edifying and leaving out what’s not.

What we are called to practice, and what we can hope for from God is Divine Justice. Not human justice, but Divine. The newly glorified St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain gives the “10 Peaches” example to illustrate this. Let’s say I have 10 peaches, and I know you love peaches. I could gobble up all 10 peaches, and leave you with nothing, or maybe 1 peach at the most. St. Paisios says that would be injustice. I could divvy the peaches up - 5 for you and 5 for me. That would be human justice. Or I could practice Divine Justice and eat just one of the peaches as we sit together, and then say, “you know, I don’t like peaches as much as you, and besides, my stomach hurts…you eat the rest.”

May we dive into the ocean of Divine Justice, which is the same thing as Divine Love and Divine Mercy. God’s perfectly loving justice means that His forgiveness is immeasurable, and He always gives us infinitely better than we deserve, and even better than we expect. This is the source of our hope for Judgment Day. To paraphrase one of the hymns for this Sunday, “I am a wretched sinner and don’t deserve to be counted among Your sheep, but my hope is in Your compassion, O Lord, so have mercy on me.”

So may we learn now - and not wait until the judgment day to learn - what it means to be God’s sheep and His children. May be be inspired by His love to love others. May we be enabled by His Divine Justice to practice Divine Justice with others. May we know our weakness and our limits, and also respect the weakness and limits of others. And may be we inspired by the Holy Spirit to follow the example of those who say to Christ on the last day, “Have mercy on us, for we have fallen short,” and to whom He says, “enter into the joy of My Kingdom.” Amen.