we belong to each other

To hear Brandi read the essays instead, click here: https://youtu.be/I7zfMAhGvbc

I am an American, and I am wired to be independent. I resonate deeply with the ideal of rugged individualism we celebrate here in our country, preferring not just to work alone, but, often, to my dismay, to go it alone. I have had to unlearn patterns of withdrawal, fueled by preferences for efficiency over relationships, and control over collaboration. The truth is that I lie to myself when I pretend I don’t need others. I need people, and I am made to flourish when I respond sacrificially to people’s needs.

This dependence on community is present throughout the Holy Scriptures, and is a necessary part of God’s design for our flourishing. In the Garden of Eden, God claims it isn’t good for man to be alone, so he takes action to create a partner for him. Throughout the early heroes of Israel, we see God calling each leader to care well for their community. As the Biblical record continues, God continually calls individuals into relationships so they can lead, protect or rescue their communities. Finally, Jesus, the God Man who came so we could more intimately know God, consistently surrounds himself with others. He imbeds himself in communities, talking, eating, napping, arguing, praying, crying and doing miracles WITH others. He needed and wanted a community. He was utterly content in his own skin, fulfilled with his own company. AND. He chose to collaborate in making meaning, bearing each other’s burdens and navigating systems of injustice, exclusion and abuse with his friends.

In short, the Bible does not celebrate rugged individualism. When asked about what matters most, Jesus says that two things are required of us all: love God and love others. Period. We are to keep each other, to hold our cares together, to take each other—and our pain—seriously. The American protestant church has a history of theological misalignment in our emphasis on individual salvation and piety at the expense of elevating or investing in caring for our communities. We need to realign ourselves with the Word of God, teaching each other to care deeply for neighbors near and far as an expression of our love for God and our understanding of how God designed us. We are not our own, but belong to our Maker. Our individual abilities have limits, and the simple truth is that we are not enough alone. We need each other.

This week’s readings remind us that God made us to thrive in interdependency. As we enter the longest days of Lent, raise your gaze from your own intentions and feels in order to see the people around you. Ask God to reveal the many ways you belong to others, and commit yourself to explore how love of neighbor reflects and reinforces your love of God.

Week Five: Love your neighbor

“The kind of peace shalom represents is active and engaged…Shalom is communal, holistic and tangible.  There is no private or partial shalom.  The whole community must have shalom or no one has shalom…Shalom is not for the many, while a few suffer; nor is it for the few while many suffer.”                                                                                                                                  -Randy Woodley

“The Son of God becoming human in Jesus Christ…demonstrates the truth that all reconciliation is relational…There is a divine morality that compels us the build or restore relationships with one another.”                                                                                                                 –Jemar Tisby

“We never get to the bottom of ourselves on our own. We discover who we are face-to-face and side-by-side with others in work, love and learning.”                                                     -Robert Bellah

3/30 Ps 101:1-6; 119:9-20

3/31 Micah 4:6-7; Luke 6:20-27

4/1 Ps 22:1-11; 24-31

4/2 Prov 3:1-12

4/3 Matthew 14:13-33

4/4 Song of Sol 8:6-7; Isaiah 41:3-13

4/5 Ps 116:1-9; Ps 127:1-2