"And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common..." (acts 2:44)
i was listening to lady share her vision for community gardens the other day, how it's not really about food production, it's really about bringing these people together to tend a garden, and yes to cultivate fruits and vegetables, but more to cultivate relationship...and as a result of joining together to tend these plants, they get to know one another, they learn each other's needs, and they learn that even in their own need they have something to offer to this community.
the idea is that when community is formed, needs are known and therefore shared and met.
i thought, "that is kingdom."
reading a dictionary definition of "community" mostly just puts on paper what we have come to know community as, which is more of a physical locale, or a coincidental sharing of values or beliefs...
but i think the reality of it is best laid out in the ecological definition:
com-mu-ni-ty: noun
...a group of interdependent organisms of different species
growing or living together in a specified habitat
obviously we're not different species...although your dog may very well be a vital part of your community...and in general people are not thrilled to be referred to as "organisms", but the key word isn't either of those.
the key word is interdependent.
isn't that the truth? "no man is an island." john donne knew it, thomas merton wrote a book about it, hugh grant learned it in "about a boy", apparently hallmark even made a movie about it.
interdependent.
so. we can share meals and homes and cars and skills...but they had all things in common.
here's the point (i wish i had a great transition to the point which would hit you like the lights coming on in a room you've never seen, or a bean bag thrown at your chest...alas, i do not, i'll just use a large piece of punctuation instead)
:
i think we can carry each other in faith. this interdependent group of organisms (frequently called "the body of Christ") weaves together a safety net of faith and belief, of hope and certainty and conviction and truth, and when one organism slips and bit and isn't so sure, when one's vision is clouded, one heart is timid, knees are weak, hands are feeble...
"sharing all things in common..."
all caught in the communal net.
it's okay that my hands are feeble because your hands are strong;
your faith is small but her's is great;
my eyes can't see it well, but he has a clear view;
your heart feels faint, but mine burns with certainty.
interdependent.
fellowship (2842): "partnership, (literally) participation...
communion, contribution/distribution."
from 2844: "a sharer: companion, fellowship, partaker, partner."
from 2839: "common, i.e. (literally) shared by all or several"
from 4862: "...denoting union; with or together, i.e. companionship,
resemblance, possession.... completeness."
completeness. that's great. because i lack. communal completeness.
there are things i used to believe for. used to hope for.
be certain of.
but it started making less and less sense to keep believing.
a growing uncertainty.
foolishness.
having succumbed to this uncertainty,
resigned to it and relinquished hope and certainty,
i felt myself standing off to the side of the common belief.
yes there are great things for ya'll...me? we'll see.
but i'm alright with cheering for your successes.
and then someone said to me:
"i still believe in you and in the things God has put in your heart."
what?
how?
"...they had all things in common..."
suddenly i found myself caught in the communal net: faith.
it hit me like a bean bag thrown at the heart (is that weird? that's how it felt):
we need each other. we need shared faith as much as we need shared resources.
this whole time i figured that if i didn't believe for me, that was that.
God would just have to wait until i believed again.
my thread was pulled,
the communal faith net would have to carry on without me.
the communal faith net would have to carry on without me.
and i'd hang out on the sidelines until i had something to contribute again.
not so.
"...partnership...contribution...partaker..."
partaker.
if you can believe, maybe i can too.
i am a partaker.
weave, contribute, partake. communal faith. community. kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment