“When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25: 31-34
Many years ago, a priest named Fr. Dean Gigicos gave a sermon entitled “then what” at summer camp. The sermon was a story about a college student who was nearing graduation who went to see his priest because he was anxious about what he was going to do after college. The priest asked him “why are you so concerned?” The young man replied, “because I want to get a good job.” The priest asked him, “and then what are you going to do?” The young man said “I hope to get married and start a family.”
“Then what?”
“I want success in my career, to make lots of money.”
“Then what?”
“Watch my kids grow up.”
“Then what?”
“Have grandchildren.”
“Then what?”
“I suppose I’ll retire.”
“Then what?”
“I want to travel the world.”
“Then what?”
“I will eventually get sick I suppose.”
“Then what?”
“Well, I’ll die, like everyone else does.”
“And then what?”
And that’s the big, sobering question, that we will all address at some point in our lives, hopefully well before their end. What happens when there are no more “then what’s?”
Nowhere in this young man’s life narrative was his salvation. Life in many ways is a series of setting goals and achieving them. We go to college, in the hopes of getting a good job. We get married in hopes of starting a family. We work hard to get a good retirement. We use our hands to do a job, to hold our children, to carry our luggage when we go on vacation, to clean our homes, to hold menus at restaurants, to lift our drinks and our TV remotes.
But at the end of our lives, there are two hands that we will see—the right and the left hands of God. And He will invite us to sit on one side of Him or the other. The right hand will be for those who He deems worthy of Paradise. The left hand will be for those who are going to be condemned for eternity.
If we haven’t used our hands to feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, if our hand never pushed the button of an elevator at a hospital, or wrote down the number of a new person at school, work or church, then we are not going to see the right hand of God. If our hands were not making the sign of the cross, or turning the pages of a Bible, or holding a Liturgy book, if they rarely lit a candle, or pulled out a kneeler, if they weren’t used for hugging, or helping, then we really missed the boat as concerns God’s intention for our lives—to love Him and to serve others as we work our way towards salvation.
It is important for us to reflect on how we use our hands for God. There is nothing wrong with using our hands to carry luggage, or to look at a menu, or to lift a TV remote. Those things are good parts of a good life. But if all we do is live a good life for ourselves and we never consider others or live for God, then the moment our hands stop working, then it will all stop. If we have lifted our hands to God throughout life, then death becomes a passage to everlasting life, and perfected hands will be lifted in perpetual perfect worship of our perfect God in the perfection of Paradise.
Life is a journey through all kinds of secular goals—college, work, family, fun. But it is also practice for eternal life. And living our secular goals under the spiritual umbrella of God, raising our hands in prayer each day, this is how we prepare ourselves for the ultimate “then what?” A dear friend of mine named George is about to pass from this life. By the time you get this message he will probably have passed away. George is ninety-nine years old. His whole life has been about God, serving the church and serving others. And while I grieve at his imminent passing, I also rejoice because his whole life, he used his hands to glorify God. In saying goodbye to him, I said “when the angels come for you, just go with them, go to God Whom you have served your whole life.” For the one who has used his or her hands to glorify God and serve others, death is not something to fear, but to embrace. It becomes the natural next step, to move from using our hands to glorify God in this life and then to sit at His right hand for eternal life.
We set goals throughout life. We set the goal and we work backwards from the goal, making appropriate plans that we check off as we move towards our goal. If our goal is eternal life, sitting at the right hand of God, then we need to work backwards from the goal and make plans that are appropriate, beginning with our plans for today. It is a worthy goal each day to ask ourselves, “How can I use my hands to glorify God and serve others today?” If we do that each day, when the last day comes, we won’t have to be frightened about which hand of God we will see.
O God, Thou art my God, I see Thee, my soul thirsts for Thee; my flesh faints for Thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is. So I have looked upon Thee in the sanctuary, beholding Thy power and glory. Because Thy steadfast love is better than life; my lip will praise Thee. So I will bless Thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on Thy name. My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat, and my mouth praises Thee with joyful lips, when I think of Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the watches of the night; for Thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of Thy wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to Thee; Thy right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by Him shall glory; for the mouths of liars will be stopped. Psalm 63
Glorify God with your hands today—use them for praying and for serving!
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