5-1-20 - The Abundant Community

You can listen to this reflection here.

Abundance has its drawbacks, I reflect between sneezes. The spring growth that bedecks our trees in pink and green also generates a super-abundance of pollen. You can have too much of some things. When a whole community is living the abundant life, it generates as much growth as the trees in my yard. Sunday’s reading from Acts about the early church gives us a glimpse (perhaps slightly idealized…) of just how beautiful and fruitful abundance can look like in community:

Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.

It’s a simple recipe for the good life – and yet most Christ-followers find it impossible to live this way. This is a puzzle, and a shame, for observers outside the faith have pointed out how much more appealing Christianity would be if its followers were more Christ-like. (Mahatma Gandhi was perhaps the most noted, saying, “Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ.”)

Oh well... even that early community didn’t remain long focused on mutuality and abundance. We read in Acts that very soon, someone withheld some of the proceeds of a land sale, and lied about it, which was the more community-breaking act. Conflict and scarcity raised their ugly heads.

Should we conclude this is an impossible ideal? I hope not. All it takes is one person to recommit to living the abundant life. Two is even better. They can influence others, who decide to reorder their lives, and on it goes. Sociologists have shown that human behavior is remarkably contagious. Greed, fear, and control have had a pretty good run... might we regain some ground for love, faith and peace?

• If you listed yesterday the things and people who steal your goodwill, peace, confidence and joy; and those that help you gain those gifts, you have a blueprint for action. 
• If you’re in a covenant relationship with someone else, hold each other accountable when the “scarcity thinking” starts to mess with your abundant joy. 

And as our communities commit to live this way - especially during times of economic hardship - increasing our capacity to trust that resources we need will be there when we need them; to stop and shift whenever we begin to make a decision based on our fear of scarcity – we will grow, in faith, in joy, and even in people.

Abundant life has a generative principle – abundance generates more abundance. That passage from Acts ends with this: “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” If we mourn the scarcity of people in our pews, let’s take on the discipline of abundant living and abundant trusting. Few things are more attractive than someone living at peace and trusting in “enough.”

When all the energy in the tree is focused on pushing out buds, it bursts into flower. And when all the energy in our communities is focused on living into Jesus’ promise of Life in abundance, we’ll burst into flower too. That's nothin' to sneeze at...

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