Homily 675 – 36 APE
Holy Transfiguration, Ames, Iowa
February 15, 2026
Epistle:  (140) – 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2
Gospel:  (106) – Matthew 25:31-46

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.

This may be a short Homily, since this reading is one of the ones that doesn’t require much in the way of explanation.

I’m asked frequently if this person will be saved, or that person will be saved.  If this Christian tradition will be saved, or if that belief will ensure someone is saved.

This passage answers that question.

This passage tells us, point blank, what saves us.  And, what condemns us.  It is oh so simple.  Yet, we don’t want to believe it.

If we take care of others, God will take care of us.  And if we take care of ourselves, and leave the care of others to someone else, God will not intervene as we try to take care of ourselves.

It is really that simple.

Christ takes it so far in this description as to say that the ones left to themselves will go away into eternal punishment.  Those who care for others into eternal life.

We want to argue with this.  We want to tell Christ about how we defended Him, how we were accurate in our interpretation of the faith, how we spent every waking moment reading the Scriptures and praying and receiving communion and giving and fasting.

Look at all we did for Him!

Yet, we will not be saved, because we didn’t help others.  We were so focused on ourselves, our prayer life, our fasting disciplines, our giving – not to mention our careers, our status, our stuff – that we completely missed the point.

All of these things, all of these ascetical disciplines, are to take our focus off of ourselves and place our attention on Christ.  Having all of our attention on Christ means we have our attention on others.

One thing that is very, very important here.  Often I get the question also “what about those who never hear of Christ?  What about those who never hear about Orthodoxy?”

This passage answers that question also.  What does it say at the beginning?  “All the nations will be gathered before him.”

All the nations.

Not the Christian nations.  All the nations.

And they will, from what we read here, all be judged by the same criteria.  Did you attend to the needs of others?  Did you attend to the needs of your neighbors?

One of the side questions that may be important to ask, and that I’m very guilty of failing on, is do you even KNOW the needs of your neighbors?  Of others?

It’s rather easy to see a sign that says “homeless” and know that someone needs shelter.  Or “hungry” and know that they need food.

But the people around us rarely hold signs.  The people most of us know rarely have a sign that reads “struggle with parenting.”  Or “worried about work.”  Or “don’t understand the language.”

Maybe it’s “I’m alone.”  Or worse – signs like “my spouse abuses me.”

Most people don’t have signs telling us what they need.

We might ask “How are we – How am I – supposed to know what people need?”

I have a one-step method.  Step 1:  spend time with them.

That’s it.  What they need will be made evident to you.  And when you know what they need, you will know how to help.

It is really that simple.  Put the phone down, put the screens away, and spend time with others.  Not virtually – in real life.

We have a generation, maybe two, that missed that part of orientation we call childhood.  We have a couple of generations that missed the roving bands of kids in neighborhoods around the country, playing with one another, getting mad and fighting with one another, working out their differences with one another.

Learning and practicing interpersonal relationships.  No adults around, even.  Just relying on instinct.

Because caring for others is indeed our natural state.  We have to learn how to be selfish.  We have to learn how to be self-oriented.

Our natural state as humans is to interact with one another.  To be kind, to suffer with one another, to rejoice with one another.  When our friends receive a blessing, we rejoice with them.  When our friends suffer loss, we grieve with them.

And in all things we learn that the other person – that neighbor, that friend, or even that stranger on the road to Jericho – is not just important.  They are us.  They are Christ.

So when we think about our salvation, when we consider our eternal fate, don’t look internally.  Look around us.

Are we helping?  Are we making the lives of those around us better?  And if we can’t, are we at least suffering with them, rejoicing with them, being present with them?

Everything the Church does is for this goal.  Our prayer, our worship, our discipline, all about giving and offering ourselves to others.  We focus on Christ, and see Him in every face that we encounter.

Because then, and only then, can we be assured of our own salvation.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.  Glory to Jesus Christ!