And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, to test Him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:35-40
For this year’s Lenten reading, the theme is going to be Arise & Build. In my parish in Tampa, we have embarked on a capital campaign to expand our church because it is too small to hold everyone who wants to worship here. We are going to be reconfiguring one of our buildings to become a full-time ministry building, with an exciting feature that will potentially help the Prayer Team (an announcement is coming on this in a couple of weeks), add more parking and do an overall upgrade to our parish facilities. As with all things, we lead with Scripture, and as we decided how verse we would shape this project around, we decided on Nehemiah 2:18, which reads “Let us arise and build!” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. After the Children of Israel returned from exile in Babylon, they found the city of Jerusalem in shambles. The Prophet Nehemiah approached the King about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He used courage, strategic planning, cooperation from the people, and reliance on God’s favor in initiating this project. Building it back up was going to be a spiritual and emotional gift to the people. Nehemiah announced the plan with faith, and the people followed with theirs. This rallying cry in Jerusalem centuries before Christ has become our rallying cry in Tampa. For the period of Great Lent in our parish, we are examining Nehemiah 2:18 word by word, in sermons and in a Lenten series. And I would like to share reflections on this theme with the Prayer Team as well. The six themes are “Let Us,” ”Arise,” “Build,” “Strengthen”, “Their Hands”, and “Good Work.” We will reflect on one each week. The theme is a worthy one this Lent, because whether we are trying to renew and upgrade a church complex, or renew and upgrade our spiritual life, let us arise and build is a worthy rallying call for either. So, let us begin with a reflection on “Let Us.”
“Let us” is a call to action. It is the first person plural imperative, which is used to make suggestions or directives to a group. As we begin Great Lent, the Church invites us, all of us, to do several things. On the Sunday before Great Lent, the theme is “Let us forgive.” The intention of forgiveness is for it to be a communal act. We ask for forgiveness from one another. We offer forgiveness to one another. We receive forgiveness from one another. And then our relationships grow with one another. If George asks Demetri for forgiveness and Demetri grants forgiveness to George, the equation is still not complete, until Demetri also asks forgiveness from George, and George grants it to Demetri. There is a sense of mutuality in “Let us” and it only comes to completion in this context when both parties are doing the same thing.
Great Lent begins with a call to “Let us fast.” Each of us will fast in a different way, remembering that Jesus said “When you fast,” (Matthew 6:17) not “if you fast.” There is an imperative that we are to do some kind of fasting. While each of us will fast to a different degree, when we are all fasting to some degree, this also strengthens the community. Because fasting, in its core, is about discipline, not deprivation. And the community that is disciplined in thought and action becomes a closer community, because what is said and done is more intentional and thoughtful.
The Bible is filled with information. The Old Testament is primarily a history of God’s chosen people before Christ. Several books are dedicated to prescribing the Law that would be the moral code for God’s people. There are books of Prophecy that were written to give hope to the people in time of hardship, such as the exile that preceded the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall by Nehemiah. Many of the prophecies direct the attention of the people to a Messiah, a Savior who would deliver people from their state of sin and open the path back to the Paradise once enjoyed before the Fall. The New Testament chronicles the earthly ministry of Christ in the four Gospels, the establishment of the Church in the book of Acts, and includes letters to the early church communities offering encouragement and direction. The Bible intimidates many people, and so they shy away from it. It is interesting that for the first four centuries, the foundational period for the Church, there was no Bible, and up until recent centuries after the invention of the printing press, people did not have access to the Bible. That doesn’t mean we should not read the Bible, because we should. However, the complexities and richness of the Bible can be summarized in one word: Love. And the two greatest commandments are that we love God and love our neighbor. Jesus says that the entire Law and the prophets rest on these two commandments, and so does the practice of Christianity.
In beginning to reflect on what directives we are to follow, the first one is “Let us love” and specifically let us love God and let us love our neighbor. Two specific things to think about in regards to these two great commandments. First, we have to know that we are not alone. We have God, at all times and in all places, and we should expect to be loved by our neighbors. Because it is a “let us” and not only a “let me,” we instantly have a sense of belonging, a connection to others and a purpose. If you are wondering “what should I do today?” and you can’t think of anything, showing love for our neighbor is a great place to start. Even if we have our day entirely outlined from start to finish, there needs to be expressions of love for our neighbor sprinkled throughout even the busiest day. And why is that? Because the second specific thing to remember in regards to these two great commandments is that we cannot love God without loving our neighbor. There is a saying “one Christian is no Christian,” because to be a Christian requires us to be in community, not only to see ourselves as members of a church community, but to see the entire world as an extension of the church community. Even when we are shopping at the store, when we go to check out and we interact with the cashier, we are in community at that moment, because there are two people present. If the commandment of God is to love our neighbor, then we embrace our neighbor, even in the shortest of encounters, with an expression of love, which could be something as simple as a hello or a smile.
There are a lot of calls for “let us” in our world. Marketing firms make all kinds of “let us” imperatives, like “let us get the latest phone or technological gadget.” Sports teams implore fans “let us come out and root on our team.” Parents direct children to “let us keep the house cleaner.” The most basic, “let us”, however, comes from Christ Himself, and it is “let us love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” Before we arise and build, strengthen our hands and do good work, we must begin with a sense of “let us”, being in unity with God and also with one another.
Lord, thank You for bringing us again to the journey of Great Lent. As we begin this journey, help us to remember that we are not only to love You, but to love one another. Give us patience with one another in the times we don’t love as we should. In this season, give us the desire to love You and to love one another more deeply, with greater intention and purpose. Amen.
As we begin the journey of Great Lent, let us make a renewed effort to love God and to love one another.
