Acts 2:44-47
“Don’t ask the mountain to move, just take a pebble each time you visit.”
-John Paul Lederach
The work of change takes time and commitment, one pebble at a time. …the Hebrew phrase Tikkun Olam means You are here to repair the world….The Jewish understanding is that we repair the world by making the fragmentation of creation whole again. The work of repairing the world is endless and beautiful. (Mark Nepo)
I have always loved the description of the earliest communities of Jesus followers from Acts. They were together, they shared all they had, the took care of one another. In one way this description is a pipe dream, more of a wish than a reality. The author of Acts was trying to convince readers that all the earliest communities who sprang up around the Jesus story were unified and coherent. We’ve learned in the last few years that they were all diverse, believing a variety of things which they lived out in many different ways. But the theme of caring for one another holds true from one to another.
When I was younger it always confused me that American churches were so opposed to socialism, because this description sounds like socialism to me – all things in common, each receiving according to need. There’s no evidence from the first century that this model ever was practiced on a large scale. It didn’t replace the Roman economic system and become the rule of the day, so it doesn’t describe an economic model adopted by the Jesus folk. Rather it was implemented across many small communities. When it says, “All things were held in common,” we’re not talking about joint checking accounts. Many of these people were enslaved and literally didn’t own themselves. It must have been true that a few sold properties to fund the needs of others, because there are at least two times that’s mentioned, but there’s no evidence that everyone was pooling resources.
I think this passage describes not socialism but compassion. Those with plenty of food fed those with too little. Those with a place to stay took in travelers. Those with work trained those without with skills to support themselves. These are the kinds of things we read about a few years ago when we read The Didache over a summer. People helped each other get by. Historians tell us that was common in the first century not just among followers of Jesus, but among many small groups of people – supper clubs, discussion groups, burial societies, trade associations and more. It was a way to make life easier for everyone and be sure someone had your back.
And it’s surely accurate that these were joyful gatherings – people with common mind enjoying life together. We know that joy. Several times this week Victoria and I have shared joyful moments when she wrote a check from the community fund for me to deliver. Some of you were able to gather at the celebration of World Refugee Day at Town Square. Yesterday folks gathered in our building for meditation and lunch. When we connect with one another and help each other, it’s joyful! That sets the tone for our enterprise this summer as we enter into conversation about how we live more justly in contemporary times. If we’re going to spend a few weeks talking about how we can care for people better, we need to remember to ground that in joy. Otherwise, it will overwhelm us.
John Paul Lederach also gives us good advice for this journey – take small bites of big problems. Lederach is a professor whose specialty is conflict transformation. His theories suggest that people or groups in conflict need to look not just at a particular problem (like unhoused people in winter) but at the systems that give rise to that problem (like lack of affordable housing or adequate mental health care). He encourages conversation and creativity and trains groups to find their own solutions rather than have one imposed from an outside authority. For example, if my awful lawn is causing a neighborhood eyesore, my neighbors can report my weeds to the city, or they can offer to teach me what they are doing to eliminate their own weeds. Lederach’s goal is world peace, so when he says move a mountain one pebble at a time, he speaks from experience.
This Lederach quote is from a book by Mark Nepo about building community in ways that make our world healthier, and he introduces us to the concept of Tikkun Olam or repairing the world. This comes from the Jewish tradition and begins with God’s creation. God has given all creatures a beautiful world to enjoy and to nurture all life. We share that story with our Jewish ancestors. But where some Christians see the world as a perfect creation broken by human sin and the solution to that lying in God’s action of salvation, Tikkun Olam sees the world in need of repair because Creation isn’t finished. God began what was needed, and then placed the world in human hands to continue creating until it comes to perfection. Lederach would be a part of that creation as he researches ways to make peace. We are part of that creation when we help our neighbors or plant a garden.
All of these readings today come from the same foundation – the world is better when we work together. We have resources. We have knowledge. We have human connections. We connect with all creatures. What if we view life not as a competition for who can get the most, but as an invitation for all to share their best? Some folks want to define the world as limited and if I don’t get what’s coming to me, I’ll lose out. It’s a competition for jobs and education and recognition and money. Others describe the world as sufficient. There is enough for what everyone needs. We don’t have to be afraid that if we share, we’ll run out. We do have to be clear about needs. That may mean that Elon Musk doesn’t need a $45billion salary. He may be that much more helpful to the world than we are, but I doubt it.
My hope for this summer is that our sermon time will be a conversation. Today I’m trying to set some foundation for that, and honestly to give myself time to find folks to help us make those conversations informed and helpful. But a little conversation is a good thing. Let’s return to the idea of Tikkun Olam. It’s similar to our sharing of Light Signs each Sunday. Let’s spend a few minutes thinking together – how are you repairing the world? How would you like to repair it?