Be a Pantry and Not an Armory

 by Ganevar M. Tinagsa

Text: Acts 4:32-35

 

“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.”    -    Acts 4:32

 

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my mind be pleasing to You oh God. Amen.

Introduction:

The God of Love give us peace as we meditate His word. Koinonia, How are you? How do you fell today? I know that some of us are longing the end of this pandemic. I know that some of us felt bored because of this pandemic. I know that some of us are longing to have a face-to-face class. I know that some of us got angry because of the sluggish response of this pandemic. And, I know that some of us felt the feelings of the needy. But behind this all angle, let us try to find out where are we and who we are in front of this giant stumbling block. And, one of the thing that we can stand before this huge block is to give a bit of life to our fellow human being. That was, the title of our meditation this morning “Be a Pantry and not an armory.” But before I proceed to the kernel point of this message I want to clear to you why I’m using the word armory as an opposite to the Pantry. I’m sure that you are disturbed to this word for this is a military jargon. I’m using this word as an allegory of a life taker. It is a life taker because the content of this room is a gun, and the gun, takes life. As a contrast, the Pantry is a life giver because it contains food that sustain our strength, especially the life. Children of God, journey with me in this meditation on how to become a Pantry.

Body:

First, we must be inclusive. The description of the early Christian community in Jerusalem start with the words that shows the wish of Luke to present that this community of believers in Jerusalem are like other Jewish group practicing a community of goods. In verse 32, described the inclusivity of the community of faith. The image of having an equal shared of property. They ensured that everybody could have an access to the goods what the others are enjoying. The very motive of this inclusion, is to make sure that the needy was always in the frontline of the discussion as far as the Christian relations and economics is concern. In the middle of the verse 32, says “no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own.” If we look the opposite word of this line, it is a kind of selfishness. Selfishness is a matter of guarding yourself away from the others, and this is how the image of an armory as a storage of a gun, the thing that can take life in a second. Gun as an object symbolising selfishness because most people use this object to deter the life of others to do nothing for there is a possible that their life will be risk if they can go beyond the borders. This is why I use the gun symbolising selfishness, and selfishness is a life taker. The description of verse 32, shows that privatization has no place to them. With their own will, everything they acquired was put in the table as subject for equal sharing. The overall impression of this people is involved of sharing without expecting a return. In short giving for them is a voluntary rather than the required act.

If we look to our context today, there are many life had gone because of the selfish attitude. They make the thing as an exclusive only to their own interest in order to give honor to their name. One of the example is the “Community Pantries.” The purpose of the community pantries is to help the needy who cannot afford to buy their basic needs because of this pandemic. This act was very insult to the side of the Government since they are absent when people crying for help to them. They become absent for they are focusing only to their own interest. Moreover, the Government was absent because of the disappearances of the Government fund, and this is the reason of the sluggish respond of the pandemic. Because the Government felt insult, they tried to destabilize the Community Pantries by deterring them and red tagging them as member of the Communist Party of the Philippines without any proof.

Second, we must be fair. In verse 34, Luke explain how the community enacted as a community of goods. They sell their own property and share, and gather the proceeds together. The image viewed, as a fair balanced in the financial standing in the community. This verse 34, does not mean that the property of the community must be transferred into one person only or to other, this is only a liquidation of assets so that if there are exist in their property it will give voluntarily to the needy. The purpose of selling is to measure the value of their property and to make it transparent and legal in the eyes of the community. Transparency and legality will extract a fair balanced of the community.

Looking the first Christian community in the Jerusalem, we are too far from them. A culture of ours, is the patent of western colonization, where individualism is very clear and loud. How can we cut the tie from that patent? When will be the sun will rise so that we can see the true light? How long the darkness of the night will pass? This experience make us awake, to take courage to participate in dismantling the pyramid that hinder us to see the sun. Breaking the barriers that divides us from the fold of God is one of our duty. We are all humans, and since we are humans, we deserve to have a fair balanced of life that God wants us.

Another thing is, we want to have a happy and peaceful life, but how can we obtained a happy life if some are suffering because of us? We do not let our happiness become the source of sorrow to our fellow human being. As an opposite, we do not let the happiness of others become the source of our sorrow. Example you are a successful businessperson, you will get rich because of this business but behind of this you did not gave a complete benefits to your employee. In your side as businessperson, you were happy because you expense less, but how about in the side of the employee! Are they happy? If we connect this situation to our pandemic time, the NTF-ELCAC trying to stopped the “Community Pantry” alleging the pioneer organizer as member of the CPP-NPA. If they will stopped this totally, what would happen to the empty stomach? What would happen to the people who cannot afford to buy their food because of this pandemic that brought them jobless? The NTF-ELCAC, are they happy to observed their fellow human being suffering from hunger? Can they afford to eat their salary without pondering that the salary they enjoy is came from the tax of this Filipino People? Me, myself, I will say that this is unfair. They are exercising excessively their duty that drove this nation into poverty.

On the other side, in order to make it fair to what I have mention above, to all recipient of the pantry we must think also that when we get the goods, we must also remember our fellow Filipino who want also to have that food. In short when we get a goods from the pantry, we make it sure that the person next to us can get equally with what we have. We must not forget that they have also stomach like us. They feel what we feel.

Lastly, we must participate the cause. In verse 35 mentioned that the proceeds will be given to the Apostles. Giving their proceeds to the Apostles means that they  participate the cause. One of the part of the Apostles is to administer the distribution of the goods and to make it sure that all community can have an equal share and to avoid political issue for they trust the Apostles in managing the available resources. This is also a rule in dispensing charity, as well as giving justice to those who are in need. To those who were not able to buy their maintenance for their self, such as infancy, sickness, or bodily disability, or incapacity of mind, or a numerous charge and the like. The verse also is an example of servant-leadership as what Jesus mention in Matthew 20:25–28. The way Jesus lead the people, is not manipulative but constructive. He has an open ear to listen to the need of the people and to respond according to the need. Because leadership for Jesus is not to domineer but to serve with open heart.

If we look to our present context, the Philippines, we are facing difficulties when it comes to leadership that drove some of us Filipino not to participate the cause. These are the culture and the form of Government that we have. This culture brought by the Spanish to us, which is the patron-client relationship. And the Government that we have is a Democratic form of government brought to us by the American colonizers. The intersection of culture and government make us confused on how could we performed our freedom. Our freedom to participate in building the communal society must be treat equally. Our freedom to extend a help to others will threated and red-tag because they want to manipulate us. This is now the wake-up call for us in liberating ourselves from this culture, a patron-client culture. The culture that oppress people and make people being tie in their nick. We must stand and raise the flag of Democracy where the people is the Government, because the voice of the people is the voice of God. If we can do this, the pantry that we want is more than like a pantry. A mobile pantry that is willing to find the people who are in need. We do not let the “patron-client” culture hold our nick, for this is a life-taker. It is a life taker for they do not have mercy to their client. They are making their selves rich while their client is suffering in pain and tired. They are depriving of their rights to speak because for them they are always right. Now is the time to assert our right, stand and speak before them. If we can make this participation we can also easily participate in making a pantry available for all with no fear against the authority that tag us as a bad people in the government. Like the image of Acts 4:35, we must not let them pull us back. We must continue the advocacy in building the pantry by supporting them morally. Pandemic as one of the darkest hour in our homeland, but it could be more darker if we cannot participate in uplifting the community to be a community of goods. It could be more darker if we must take side to this manipulative government.

 

Conclusion:

People of God, if we want to change this nation to be a nation where all can exercise freely their rights, we must change first our self by being an inclusive person. To make ourselves available when they need us. Setting aside the barrier that hinder us and extend our hand to them. Secondly, we can restore the well of God to have a communal life by making ourselves fair to others. Since God is fair to us, we must also be fair to our fellow human being. To make them access to the things that we have too. How could we happy if some of us suffering from pain and sorrow? We are all interconnected and interrelated. So, if some of us suffered on that situation we can suffer also. Lastly, we must participate in building a communal society. A society that has a unity in dismantling the “patron-client” culture. A society that were able to recognize the voice of God. A society that willing to listen the voice of the voiceless. We must not be silent, because being silent is to refuse to be a communications partner to God and the rest of His creation.

The God of Justice, Hope, Love, and Peace be with us as we walk in the labyrinth of this precarious world. AMEN.

 

 (Delivered by Ganevar Mollejon Tinagsa during the Wednesday Virtual Worship of the Silliman University Divinity School April 21, 2021;10:00 o’clock in the morning.)