Koinonia
“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.
In her brilliant sermon this morning, June 3, 2018, Patricia Matthews, reminds us of the winning word in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee this weeknd. Koinonia,
You can read Patricia’s sermon online at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock website and listen and see it on St. Mark’s Facebook page. Fourteen-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas, correctly spells this word of Greek origin meaning Christian fellowship or communion with God especially with other Christians in community. Patricia reminds us that this 91st National Spelling Bee with the 515 participants who qualified was televised on none other than ESPN, a sport’s network where we more often watch football or basketball or baseball or soccer!
When I heard the winning word this weekend and today from Patricia, my heart skipped a beat. Koinonia has been on my heart for almost a week. Our oldest granddaughter recently graduated from high school and is headed to the University of Georgia. I have been praying about how I can support her in this decision. It came as I was reading a review of two book about Clarence Jordon in Christian Century. I want to remind Langley about Mr. Jordon, who is perhaps one of the most outstanding graduates of the University of Georgia. His competency in Greek led him to his “Cotton Patch” version of the New Testament as he attempted to translate the Bible into everyday language. Jordon also founded Koinonia Farm as a farming community of believers sharing their lives and resources following the example of the first Christian communities. Out of this movement came Habitat for Humanity International by Millard Fuller and later The Fuller Center for Housing as well as Jubilee partners and much support for the Civil Rights Movement.
Today after church a group of women met to begin discernment of a Daughters of the King Chapter at St. Mark’s, another group seeking koinonia, fellowship with other women seeking a deeper spirituality and relationship to God through prayer, service, and evangelism.
I am going to keep koinonia on my heart for a few more days and see if I observe any more serendipitous connections or synchronicity in our world.
Joanna joannaseibert.com