August 28 Thoughts

August 28 – Entanglements of Love and Life

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 4:32-37

As we talked about at worship team last week, scientists surmise that the oldest currently living organism on earth is a grove of aspen trees somewhere in Utah. Tree rings show that the oldest trunks now standing are about 130 years old. But the trunks we see are but the newest generation. These aspen trees have not grown from seeds. They are clonal shoots from an immense and almost unimaginably old system of roots. This root system has been sending up new shoots as old trees age and die, producing new generations season after season but continuing one unbroken line of life for better than 80, 000 years. Yes, eighty-thousand years. When this colony plant began its life, humans were still developing language. It grew for 60-70 millennia before we began planting seeds or harvesting crops. (Ray, you might be able to give us a better anthropological picture of who our ancestors were when this plant was young.) This colony of aspens, known as “Pando”, has survived this long because of its interwoven root system underground. Fires have raged above ground, razing the grove but again and again the roots send up new shoots. Older generations die off, but the life of the grove continues because all these trees do not exist individually. They exist together. Only in an integrated community has this aspen grove survived longer than any other living thing on earth. (I could not find a proper citation, but there are a few scientists who speculate that in the lesser explored regions there may be older groves, some possibly as old as a million years! For our purposes, 80,000 will do just fine.)

Along similar lines, but with somewhat less impressive numbers, a friend of mine encountered an example of how Christian community has survived the generations. She was touring in England when they entered an old church. Not old in aspen terms, but old in terms of human buildings, well over a 1000 years. It was obvious that this ancient building had been remodeled and rebuilt many times in its life. On one wall was a little unassuming plaque that simply said, “Christians have worshipped in this place for over 1300 years.” In that time, many kinds of Christians worshipped there, and the forms, languages, and content of that worship must certainly have varied greatly. But Christians are still worshipping there to this day. Something about the love of Christ has continued to draw people to that site, to join together still to love and sing and pray.

It was community that the first Christians were known for. For the most part they were poor, undistinguished, of low stature. There was no real reason for any society to notice this non-descript gathering of people. What got them noticed was the way they cared for each other and for the poor. This and a few other passages in the Book of Acts fly in the face of those who today want to say that the followers of Jesus were thoroughgoing capitalists. “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” They held their property and treasure in common for one purpose: “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” It was to care for the poor. As best as we can piece together, it was a community of radical equality. Female and male, poor and rich, high class and untouchable all were equals in Christ. And like the aspen trees they survived and a hostile world and flourished precisely because they did it together, in community. Singly and individually there were vulnerable and frail. Together they changed the world.

We live in a culture (and under a government) that wants to isolate us and weaken our connection with each other. We are easier to control when we are isolated. It is more difficult to dream of a new order when we have to do it alone. I believe that as much as people today long for meaning and significance we also long for real community, real connection with our own grove of life. If our time at Mingus is about anything, it is about community. We gather weekly to worship in community. It is community that makes us Christian and not just isolated spiritualists. Surely, Christians are not the only ones who gather in community but that is the name of the specific community of which we all are a part. And as shoots of that community our roots reach back 2000 years and more. Unlike the aspens, we cannot sprout genetically identical clones as the old trunks wither and die. We continue the line and we refresh and grow only as we invite new people into this community. Christian community stands in opposition to the isolation and compartmentalism of popular culture. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

Igniting Desire: When we are alone and afraid, we long for a place to truly belong.

Good News: The community of love leaves no one in need.

Subject: The entangled roots of our community give us life and a cosmic support system.