A community Easter egg hunt is an interesting example of commutative justice. Okay. Hold your judgment on whether I am oversimplifying or overcomplicating until later. Easter egg hunts are done in large areas that are divided into sections. The children hunting the eggs are assigned to sections by age groups. The toddlers in one area, kindergarten to third grade in another, etc. so each child has the potential to find enough eggs to be satisfied. The older, taller, faster, and stronger children do not have an unfair advantage over the other ones. The parents of the younger children are able to allow their children to look for eggs without having to race against the older children. Each participant can receive according to their ability in this way. If a child finds enough eggs or decides looking is too difficult, the child can stop looking.
One community chose to assign certain colors of eggs to certain children because of limited space. They assumed colored plastic eggs were produced in equal numbers. They weren’t. Some organizers fretted about the problem. Even though the kids didn’t get an equal number of eggs, they did not get upset about it. The event was fun. And that was the main point. What about situations that are not one time fun activities? What about day to day struggles to fill needs? How does a community arrive at justice?
Fearing Not Having Enough
The first gathered community of Christian disciples practiced the distribution of goods to any person who had need. The Apostles and rest of the community valued the sharing of goods and decided on common ownership of extra goods to be distributed to those in need. There was only one flaw in the practice – human beings were involved.
The fourth chapter describes the arrangement for the distribution of goods. St. Barnabas is the epitome of the people who give. He sells some land and gives the proceeds to the Apostles to continue the work. Ananias and Sapphira sees this and attempt to do the same. They keep back some of the money but lie to St. Peter and the others saying they are presenting all of it. The fifth chapter tells the story of the lie, the discovery of the lie, and their fate because of it.
Why did Ananias and Sapphira lie? St. Peter makes it clear they were under no obligation to give all of the proceeds of their sale. They had not done anything particularly wrong in holding on to some of the money. Apparently the two of them feared not having enough to live on in the future. What happens if we give it all up? Keep in mind that owning land was security. Wealth and land walked hand in hand. If any need arose, the land could be sold. St. Barnabas was letting go of his security for the sake of the people who were in need.
Ananias and Sapphira were naturally concerned about their security. But fear got the best of them. They lied. After the details of their deaths were told, the people were also seized with fear. Why? Everyone knew the fear of lost security.
Diversity and Enough
We witness the fear of not having enough in the future. We easily see it in others. The fear is found in us when we reflect on it. When we see the fear in others, it is because of their actions. Fear of “the other” is similar to the fear of not having enough. The Jerusalem Church was not immune to this manifestation of the fear.
The Jewish believers in Jesus derived from both the people known as Hebraists (of Hebrews of Hebrews as St. Paul would say) and the Hellenists (Hebrews whose first language was Greek). Each group was suspicious of the other. Hebraists saw Hellenists as representing the corruption of the gentile world. Hellenists knew themselves to be “second-class citizens” in the eyes of Hebraists. The distrust was carried into the church as well.
Believers from the Hellenist group thought that their widows were being neglected by the Hebraists. When the daily distribution of food was made, Hellenists complained if was not an even distribution. he Apostles allow the solution to come democratically. Six Hellenists are chosen to serve in the daily distribution. Their job is to see that everyone receives enough from the common store.
One of these servants (diakanon) named Stephen understood his task as part of his witness to the Gospel message. The remainder of the sixth and all of the seventh chapter is devoted to his testimony.
The Gospel of Enough
Human beings want to feel secure. History is basically the quest for material and physical security. We fear losing it. And we will do almost anything to keep it. Some of the things we will do are evil in and of themselves. Ananias and Sapphira lie. They are ashamed by their own lack of trust. When that shame is exposed the rest of the church becomes fearful as well. The fear leads to accusations. Scripture does not tell us the Hellenists complaints are justified. The Apostles refuse to do anything about it. In essence, they tell the Hellenists to find people they will trust. There is enough to go around.
Earlier in this pandemic we witnessed the fearful and condemned them. The hoarders sought the surplus for many reasons. I am sure the majority of them were exhibiting fears that can destroy all our good will. We condemned the price gougers more harshly. Why? Because what they intended to do was tantamount to stealing. These groups are people who all considered what they did to be wise or smart. They are Ananias and Sapphira. Christians are supposed to trust that we will receive enough.
Life With Enough
Ananias and Sapphira died by the kind of fear that leads to greed. An old folk tale tell us about how greed overcame having enough. Jack and the Bean Stalk tells about a goose that laid a gold egg everyday. Jack and his mother used to gold for their living. When they decide they wanted more, they attempted to force more eggs from the goose. The goose died. They didn’t die. But they destroyed a great gift by their greed.
I remember the children, usually the youngest ones, who decided when they collected enough Easter eggs. The very youngest often stopped at just having one. They happily retrieved the treat inside it and were satisfied.
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