This Friday marks the 7th year in row that we have gathered for LoveThyNeighbor. To give perspective on that period of time, consider that our graduating seniors were cute little 6th graders when we first started down the LTN path. Every time I see one of the old-school t-shirts from the first year, I remember the excitement that filled the Grand Hall as almost 300 of us went out into the greater Pensacola area to do acts of service for over a dozen local non-profit organizations.
For the five years prior to the launching of LTN, Trinitas sponsored an Annual Gala and Auction to raise needed money for the Annual Fund to provide financial aid scholarships to many families. And boy did we have fun at these fancy events! From students dancing the Charleston to fine dining, the gala and auctions were nights to remember. But after five years of successful events, we concluded that two things were missing.
First, we were not together as a school family. Yes, most moms and dads attended the events. Yes, our teachers and upper school students were there but most of our younger students were not involved.
Second, we had become so focused on our own needs that we were beginning to lose sight of the needs of our neighbors in the greater Pensacola area.
So, we decided to do something different. Something that would include the entire Trinitas family and something that would have an immediate benefit to our neighbors outside our school walls.
Thus, LoveThyNeighbor was born.
The inspiration for this event comes from Matthew 22:34-40.
“But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
As we prepare to carry out the command to love our neighbor as ourselves, we should look closely at what lies just before and after that phrase in this passage from Matthew.
Before we love our neighbor as ourselves, we are pointed to the higher and greater commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. Brothers and sisters, this is an amazing statement AND a prerequisite to loving our neighbors rightly. If you and I don’t love God with our whole selves, how can we ever hope to love our neighbor? The greatest and most important thing you can ever do is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
Secondly, note that the passage tells us that all the Law and all the Prophets – meaning the entirety of the rest of Scripture – depends on the fulfilment of these two commandments. This is a mind-blowing assertion made by the very Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word.
When we leave campus on Friday to trim trees, pick up trash, cook meals, and the hundred other acts of service that we will accomplish together, I challenge us to take a hard look at our priorities, our loves, our motivations and make absolutely certain that we are loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. May the Spirit of God working within us to do the good will and pleasure of the Father cause it to be so in the name of the Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
