And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 11:42)
Reading the lives of saints might give one the impression that in Orthodoxy the only way to please God is to practice extreme forms of asceticism or to do feats of miraculous wonder. The saying of Jesus listed above tells us that God notes in our favor even the simplest acts of kindness – give a cup of cold water to a child. The most ‘mundane’ acts – feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, providing clothes or a home, helping a stranger, being a good neighbor to those around you – God blesses as participating in His love. We are not required to do great miracles – the path to the kingdom is accessible to everyone. We don’t even need to experience mystical spirituality, for God acts in us through our neighborly and kindly acts. All we need is to have a heart and eyes that are open to seeing the needs of others, and providing for them when we have the resources and opportunities. Orthodox theologian Olivier Clement writes:
The true miracle, the most difficult achievement, is therefore the example and the practice of love in the spiritual sense of that word (and here the Gospel speaks of agape, the Latin caritas). To enter into God is to let oneself be caught up in the immense movement of the love of the Trinity which reveals the other person to us as ‘neighbor’ or (and this is better) which enables each one of us to become the ‘neighbor’ of others. And to become ‘neighbor’ is to side with Christ, since he identifies himself with every human being who is suffering, or rejected, or imprisoned, or ignored. We need only call to mind the Last Judgment scene in the Gospel according to St Matthew: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me...’ (Matthew 25: 35-40). (THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM, p 271)
Glory to You, making Yourself known where man shows mercy to his neighbor. (Akathist: Glory to God for All Things)