Don Friesen
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910), more commonly known as Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, essayist, dramatist, philosopher, pacifist, and educational reformer, wrote the well-known War and Peace. Less well-known are his ideas on nonviolent resistance through works such as The Kingdom of God is Within You, which influenced Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tolstoy was a great man with great literary and moral influence, but he also wrote simple stories for peasant children primers, and short stories with moral lessons. One of those stories concerns a man named Pahóm who was dissatisfied with his impoverished existence and thought that if he had more land his life would improve immensely. (Leo Tolstoy, Stories and Legends, 1946; entitled "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" and written in 1886) If he had enough land, he thought to himself, he would not even fear the devil himself! Which the devil, being the devil, took as a challenge!
The story follows the man's acquisition of land, beginning with a parcel of forty acres, which he financed by selling a colt, half of his bee colony, hiring out one of his sons, and borrowing the rest from his brother-in-law. It worked out well, and thanks to a good harvest his life improved considerably. Problems with his neighbours, however, made him restless, and when he heard of land beyond the Volga selling for a decent price he sold his land and purchased more land there than he had ever have dreamt of owning. He was about to close the deal on another piece of land when he heard of some other land that he could get for next to nothing! He checked it out, and found the conditions of the deal were unusual. The land was not being sold by the acre. He was offered as much land as he could walk around in a day for a thousand rubles, but if he did not return to his starting point by sundown, he forfeited both the money and the land.
Pahóm was so excited he could hardly sleep that night. He got up early, roused the vendor, marked the starting point, and started off. He walked mile after mile, marking his route as he went, and each time he thought of turning the land seemed too good to lose and so he walked on. He turned eventually, but put off the second turn until after lunch. By then he had grown tired and walking had become difficult. Pahóm grew anxious as the sun began to set, and fearful that he would lose everything he began to run, and then to run faster, despite the pain in his legs and chest. Just before the sun set, however, he raced towards the starting point, his legs giving way just as he reached it.
"A fine fellow," remarked the vendor with a devilish laugh. "He has gained much land!"
Alas, Pahóm had expired with the effort. His servant picked up a spade and dug a grave for Pahóm. And to the title question, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" Tolstoy offers the memorable phrase, "Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed."
Enough, More than Enough, and Abundance
When does enough become more than enough? When does the need to acquire goods, property, and cultural enhancements become greed? A decade ago the Wall Street Journal did a story on a new breed of young physicians who were alarmed that their salaries were beginning to slump from the national average of $250,000 annually. About sixty of them were enrolled in an MBA program at the University of California, hoping that a business degree would enhance their careers financially. This is the new reality of "market-driven" health care, remarked one of their professors. (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 1998)
I would consider an annual income of $250,000 far more than enough, even if it were to plummet to a mere $150,000. These physicians, however, look like small potatoes when set alongside Forbes magazine's list of the richest billionaires in the world. At one point Forbes decided to limit their list of billionaires to an arbitrary number – the top 200, say – because there are at least three million millionaires working hard to make the billionaire list!
When is enough more than enough? Or, considering today's Scripture lessons, we could ask, "What is enough, and what is more than enough, and what is abundance?" Today's Scripture readings all deal with abundance. Our Gospel reading promises abundant life. "I came," said Jesus, that (my followers) may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Or, as another version reads, "I have come so they can have life. I want them to have it in the fullest possible way." (NIRV) Or another; "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance to the full, till it overflows." (AMP)
I want to return to this text later, but notice the theme of abundance in today's other readings. Acts, chapter 2, portrays a community life that is still the envy of many! Luke tells us that "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." (Acts 2:44-45) Luke is describing a comprehensive abundance, shared by everyone, and even an abundance of numbers, for "day by day," says Luke, "the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." (2:47)
Then there's the twenty-third psalm, opening with the declaration that since the Lord is my Shepherd, "I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1) "I lack nothing." (TNIV) Abundance is vividly expressed with the image of food: "You prepare a table before me ...you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." (23:5) Or, as another translation renders it: "You treat me to a feast.... You honour me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows." (CEV) This is generous hospitality and then some! Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says, "There is no gesture as expressive of utter well-being as lavish food...." The table in Psalm 23 is a symbol for all the good tables at which you have ever sat and the joy you experienced around that table.
Today's Scripture readings are not unique. The Scriptures contain a lavish array of images of abundance. The Old Testament speaks of "the abundance of the everlasting hills" (Deuteronomy 33:15), of "rain in abundance" (Psalm 68:9), and "food in abundance" (Job 36:31) It speaks of "the abundance of (God's) steadfast love" (Psalm 5:7) and speaks of it often. It says that "the Lord ...will abundantly pardon". (Isaiah 55:7) It speaks of the "abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge" (Isaiah 33:6), the abundance of God's "goodness" (Psalm 31:19) – and also of the "abundance of prosperity and security". (Jeremiah 33:6) Deuteronomy promises that "the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings...." (Deuteronomy 30:9) God, of course, is recognized as the source of this abundance, Psalm 147 declaring: "Great is our Lord, and abundant in power...." (Psalm 147:5)
The New Testament puts even more into this biblical cornucopia of abundance, speaking of the "abundance of grace" (Romans 5:17), the abundance of "consolation" (2 Corinthians 1:5), of "abundant joy" (2 Corinthians 8:2), of "faith ...growing abundantly" (2 Thessalonians 1:3), of "blessing in abundance" (2 Corinthians 9:8) and "peace ...in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2)
The Greatest Miracle of all Time!
Abundance, from a North American perspective, is often defined in material terms and in individualistic terms. It doesn't take much more than an average student of the Scriptures to figure out that the biblical notion of abundance is a much broader concept, as some of the excerpts I just read make clear. It includes material well-being, the Bible having a holistic sense of human well-being, but you need more than accountants on your staff to account for the abundance the Bible wishes for us. It's a well-rounded abundance.
We also tend to see things in individualistic terms, and there are no shortage of "Abundant Life" churches offering abundance to the individual. You can have abundant life if you believe the right things, the things we believe. You can have abundant life if you observe these four spiritual laws. You can have abundant life if you take our 12-step programme. You can have abundant life if you don't drink, smoke, dance or gamble. You can have abundant life if you can successfully squeeze the good news into a tight, restrictive, legal code. Abundant life is yours if you have a certain view and experience of the Holy Spirit, or if you watch my TV programme, ... and if you put your hand on the television, you... well, you get the idea. Do this or that and the other thing and you – your personally – will receive material blessings in abundance.
Our Gospel lesson, however, is talking about sheep – not one sheep – many sheep, a flock of sheep! Jesus is talking to his followers, a group of followers, and his promise is intended for the group. When John shaped his Gospel, he did so for the sake of the Church, and so when Jesus says, "I came that (you) may have life, and have it abundantly," he is talking to the Church! "I came that the Church may have abundant life."
What would a church experiencing abundant life look like? Well, we have a pretty good description in our reading from the Book of Acts: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, ...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 ...with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number...." (Acts 2:42-47)
What a beautiful description of the Church! And what an amazing transformation! After the crucifixion the disciples hardly qualified as a group anymore, its group-ness fractured by denial, betrayal, confusion and a whole lot of other things that inhibit if not destroy community life. And here, by Acts, chapter 2, they have gotten it together! They're a group! They're an amazing group. They're a church! It's a miracle!
A colleague (D. Drake) says that as a kid he was impressed by the miracles in the Bible. Stories like the parting of the Red Sea stirred his imagination. He could see the pillar of fire reflecting off the faces of the slaves fleeing Egypt. He could feel the dust as the demolition of Jericho's walls caused them to crumble and tumble down! He often wondered which miracle in the Bible was the most difficult for God to do. Parting the Red Sea would take a lot of strength, but walking on water must have taken a lot of concentration. As an adult, however, he concluded that the most difficult miracle must have been the one in Acts, chapter 2: "All who believed ...had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need." That's got to be the most difficult miracle in the Bible, to get people to part with their money and possessions! You can hardly get Christians to talk about money, especially if it's their money. They will talk about sex, even if they're uncomfortable with the topic, but they're even more uncomfortable with the notion of opening up their financial affairs. It would take a miracle of God to make that happen.
The Marks of an Abundant Church
The church portrayed in Acts, chapter 2, is a miraculous creation. What did God do with or to these people? As a way of reflecting upon the quality and faithfulness of our own life together, I would identify several elements of an abundant congregational life that emerge from this passage. The first element is the closeness of this community. They were often together. The members of this congregation spent time together. They met together; they worshipped together; they studied and prayed and ate together, and evidently enjoyed being together.
This is the New Testament ideal. When Paul, for example, uses the image of the body being "joined and knit together" (Ephesians 4:16), he's talking about a special quality of togetherness. The image is one of fabric, of drawing together various strands, and tying, binding, uniting that, which alone, un-tied, could never be a fabric in and of itself. The Church has an amazing opportunity to make visible by the quality of their life together God's intention for all humankind to live together in harmony.
Secondly, the congregation in Acts 2 appears to be an inquisitive community. Luke tells us that they "...devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching". They wanted to know what Jesus had taught. They listened to the apostles because they wanted to learn all they could from those who had been with Jesus. What did Jesus say about this? What did Jesus say about that? What would he want us to do in this situation?
I think our congregation performs pretty well on inquisitiveness. We're curious about a lot of things. You name the subject; we want to read about it. What's the latest book profiled in the New York Times? We want to read it. What's the latest play that's the talk of the town? We want to see it. Turning this same inquisitiveness to our biblical heritage and Christian history serves the Church well. A faithful church is one that is eager to conform its understanding and its life to the teachings of Jesus.
Thirdly, the congregation in Acts 2 is a joyful community. Luke describes them as having "unaffected joy". (Acts 2:46, TEV) They met together with "glad and generous hearts". The word for gladness in Greek means exultation, expressing a high degree of joy. They praised God, evidently because they felt like it! A congregation has an opportunity to make visible Jesus' intention "...that (his) joy ...be in (us), and that (our) joy may be full." (John 15:11)
Fourthly, the congregation described in Acts 2 is a compassionate community. We read that the members of this congregation had "...all things in common," and that they found "...favour with all the people". (Acts 2:47) And the quality of their life together appears to have made others want to become Christians and join the Christian community. (2:48)
If the marks of an abundant congregational life were only inquisitiveness, fellowship and joy, it might be an abundant life for its members, but not for anyone else! The word, "koinonia," is one of the words the New Testament uses to describe the Church, and it conveys not only what we share in together, it also has a sense of what we share out together – what we give of ourselves beyond our circle of fellowship. The early Christians, for example, cared deeply about the poor in their midst, and shared their abundance with them.
In 1988 a friend of mine was one of eleven Canadian church leaders visiting Cuba. They had an unusual opportunity to visit with Fidel Castro in his office. They were with him for three hours, from 11 p.m. until 2 in the morning! Castro wanted to visit with church folks from Canada, and they talked about a lot of things. My friend is fluent in Spanish and no doubt he was helpful in facilitating the conversation. Castro asked for their impressions of Cuba and talked about his passion to provide health services and education to Cubans. He talked about providing shelter for the homeless and more equality for the poor. He compared conditions to those in pre-revolution Batista times.
Then Castro began to talk about the Church, said my friend, and about Christian faith. He joked with them, saying they were surely concerned about getting to heaven, and he said: "You know, I think I should get to heaven too. From what you've seen about how we have helped the poor, do you think there's room for me in heaven?" He held up a copy of a new biography of him that had just come out that week, and he pointed to a particular page, and said, "This biographer says here that the Cuban revolution was inspired by Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto. You know, that's wrong. It was not inspired by Marx. The Cuban revolution was inspired by a carpenter from Nazareth who went up on a mountain to teach. And it was inspired by the sermon from that mountain."
Castro talked to them about his education in the Jesuit schools and about how excited he was to learn about Jesus and his teachings, something he never had heard in church! He had asked his teachers why the students were not told what Jesus taught and how he lived. He talked about how badly he wanted to know this Jesus better, and how excited he was about what was available to him. And then he made a most striking comment. Shaking his finger in his characteristic way, he said: "Remember that the Cuban revolution was in 1959; three years before the beginning of Vatican II. If the Catholic Church in Cuba in 1959 would have been like the Catholic Church in Nicaragua in 1980, there never would have been a Cuban revolution of the kind we know. But the Church wasn't doing what it was designed for, and so someone had to." (Robert J. Suderman. "Leaders Shaping Leaders: the Critical Task of Identity," presented at Ralph and Eileen Lebold: Leadership Development Endowment Fund Banquet, at Conrad Grebel University College, June 19, 2007)
A Church that fails to do what it was designed for is not an abundant Church. A Church that fails to share the gospel with those who are passionately searching for identity, vision, and purpose is not an abundant Church. A Church that eviscerates its message by restricting it to middle class issues and anxieties is hardly the Church envisioned by the New Testament!
A fifth characteristic of an abundant church is that its foundation is firmly fixed on Jesus. The Church is not a mere sociology experiment, it is the Church of Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells us that a congregation may have all manner of wonderful things, but if we do not have the love of Jesus, we are nothing! (1 Corinthians 13:2) We may have all manner of wonderful people, but if we do not have the love of Jesus, we are nothing! Our congregation may have many attractive characteristics and programs – we may have the greatest singers, the most expensive musical instrument – but if we do not have the love of Jesus, we sound like fingernails scratching across an old-fashioned chalkboard! (13:1, my paraphrase) We might attract the most eloquent of speakers, lead the deepest of seminars, and be on the cutting edge of all current trends, but if we do not have love for one another – forget it!
I once took a course from a church renewal expert who had been given a wonderful opportunity to put his church renewal principles into practise. It was exciting, and his star began to rise. And then, after a while, his world fell apart. He confesses, "...I became overwhelmed by the realisation that when all the rhetoric about renewal is done, we are still dealing with human beings." (Robert Roxburg) He resigned, spent the better part of a year rethinking the church, and his own ministry, and he realized that people have to be loved, not cajoled or manipulated or intimidated into new ways of thinking. He said that he "...gave up seeking for the ideal community and learned to love those whom God had placed among us." He learned what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had written, that "He who loves his dream of community more than the people in the community will ultimately be a destroyer of (community)."
Jesus left us with a very simple commandment, that we love one another. "Love one another," he said, "as I have loved you." (John 15:12) May we grow in the abundance of our love for one another, and in our obedience of the One who came among us to lead us into ever deeper levels of compassion and sharing, and who is able to accomplish among us abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.