"Commons"

Matthew 21:1-11
Philippians 2:5-11

In the triumphant march into Jerusalem, we see the story of Jesus entering the city... neighbors waving palm branches out in the streets and people everywhere seemingly joined in unison celebration. But not really. Right? Because if that were actually the case then the loud Hosannas would have kept on ringing rather than the ever so quick call from the street crowd to "Crucify" him just a short time later.  What was lacking there, beyond a lack of desire to hear Jesus' revolutionary message, was a lack of concern for the commons... what is good for all, collectively.

You see we think we know who we are collectively as a society, but we don't often really act that way. We don't understand that there is a 'commons' that can hold us together. We don't rally around what is good for all of our society, and choose to act in ways that only benefit part of our society.

In Grounded, Diana Butler Bass explains the difference in a neighborhood and a commons. A neighborhood, she says is "whom we live with, those next door, whether 'next door' is literal or virtual geography. . . At their best, neighborhoods are open tribes that practice hospitality and the Golden Rule."  She then says "The commons is not that. The commons, sometimes referred to in the singular as the common, is what we live for, the public world tribes make together--that serves the good for all."

Neighborhoods are made of people and the ways they interact with each other. The commons is the sense of morality and purpose, the sense of doing good for all people. Neighborhoods, then, can choose to have a sense of the commons, or they can choose to be inward focused instead. Same with people. And churches. Especially churches.

In the walk to the cross, Jesus feels ever so gradually alone. Shunned. Disregarded by first acquaintances, then neighbors, then loved ones.  He quotes portions of  Psalm 22 when he's hanging on the cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me."  But is it God who is forsaking in this scripture, or is it the commons?

from Psalm 22:
All who see me mock at me;
    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
Do not be far from me, (O God)
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

The commons is gone. There is no sense of doing good for all. People have scattered and run trying to save themselves.  What do we do when we lose our sense of common humanity and being on the journey together?

Perhaps we should really consider the moral and salvation-inducing effects of believing in the commons. Of knowing that if one suffers, we all suffer. Of believing in the good of the whole, not in the winner takes all.  How do we do that?