Meatfare: The Sunday of the Last Judgment

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When I think of the Last Judgment, the first thing that comes to my mind is lots of fire and torment.  I imagine an angry God casting people to hell.  Imagine my confusion as the focus of today's Sunday school class and sermon is Love. How can those two concepts, judgment and love, possibly coincide?  Can you really say them in the same sentence?  Apparently you can. 

 

Our Gospel reading today comes from the book of Matthew chapter 25 verses 31-46.  In this passage Jesus explains the final judgement.  He will separate the sheep and the goats.  He talks of how the "sheep" fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, took in strangers, clothed, and visited the sick and those in prison.  Confused, the righteous ask how they could have possibly done all of these things to Christ Himself.  To which He further explains that "inasmuch as you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (verse 40).  He also goes on to tell the "goats" that because they did not do these things they will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. 

 

So when we are considering the Last Judgment and what criteria are used, Alexander Schmemann, in his book Great Lent, says the criterion is this,

 "The parable answers: love- not a mere humanitarian concern for abstract justice and the anonymous "poor,"  but concrete and personal love for the human person, any human person, that God makes me encounter in my life.  This distinction is important because today more and more Christians tend to identify Christian love with political, economic, and social concerns; in other words, they shift from the unique personal destiny, to anonymous entities such as "class," "race," etc."

 

At this point in our pre-Lenten journey we have been guiding our hearts to be more humble and repentant.  It is now at this point, laying the selfishness aside that we can turn our hearts towards Love.  Once we get "ourselves" out of the way, then we can truly look to the needs of others and act lovingly.    It is no accident that our journey is placed in this order.  Today, Meatfare Sunday,  also marks the last day we eat meat until Pascha.  Vassilios Papavassilou points out in his book Meditations for Great Lent, "We abstain from food not simply as an exercise in ascesis, sobriety and self-control, but out of love for others."  He goes on to give an example of how we have budgeted a certain amount of food for ourselves, but by fasting we have extra money leftover.  Instead of spending that money on ourselves, we give that excess in alms, to those who have no food. 

 

This is not merely a time of solitude in a spiritual journey, but a time where all of our efforts should not be just for ourselves, but for the love of others.  Fasting has no point at all if we are not learning to love others in the process.  Schmemann also states that,

"Christian love is the 'possible impossibility' to see Christ in another man, whoever he is, and whom God, in His eternal and mysterious plan, has decided to introduce into my life, be it only for a few moments, not as an occasion for a 'good deed' or an exercise in philanthropy, but as the beginning of an eternal companionship in God Himself." 

Am I really thinking eternally when I serve others?  Or is it just a momentary mindset where I segment my acts of service from my family life, my work life and even my free time.  This is not just a Lenten idea here.  This not something that I can make a priority in my life for the meager period of 40 days and hope to have pleased God.  This is an eternal commitment and an "about face" change of attitude than can only spawn from an intentional beginning.  Do I really Love  others, the way that God wants me to love them?  It's not our choice who we are going to love and how much.  Christ lays His directions out for us.   Papavassilou  explains, "We will be judged above all by our love--real, practical love--a love that is manifest in deeds and in sacrifice, not a timid, cowardly love that never dares to take a step beyond feelings and sentimentality."

 

There is only one more week until the official beginning of the Lent season.  With as thought provoking as the past three weeks have been, I can only imagine what is headed my way.  I have finally gotten over the mental stress of "what are we going to eat if we can't have meat," to a better understanding that it's not about the food.  I'm actually looking forward to having a simple meal plan for a while and being able to dedicate my time on things that matter more, like prayer and service.  I am really looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me during this time. 

 

I will leave you with one final thought from Alexandar Schmemann,

"And, finally, we know that however narrow and limited the framework of our personal existence, each one of us has been made responsible for a tiny part of the Kingdom of God, made responsible by that very gift of Christ's love.  Thus on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility, on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged.  For 'inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me...'"