Mary Gavin: Reflections on Brody and community
I never met Brody, but I have been hearing Brody stories from the time he first showed up at Westminster. I know that he was a source of wonder and delight, and sometimes frustration, to Brenda and to the community.
But over the years, I gained the impression that he was a child who stood out and attracted love because he was himself so full of life. Brody found, or made, life an adventure--at home, in church, in the youth group, at school, on the mission trip to Mexico, and in all the places he was involved in the town, including with the hockey team.
Perhaps because he lost his father at an early age, he seems to have been a child who was indeed raised by the proverbial village. I think he also changed that village. He seems to have brought out joy and generosity in others and made every group he was part of a better place to be.
When someone dies young, we often say, regretfully, that they had their whole life ahead of them. But none of us are guaranteed a long life. Brody did live his whole life, because that is how much life he had. And I think Brody really lived that life. He accomplished so much, touched so many people, brought so much joy to the world. I’m sure he had hopes and plans, and that his family had hopes for him too. He will be missed, but no one needs to feel badly for anything he missed. He lived his whole life, full out, with energy and gusto.He made a difference in the world, and that is the best thing that can be said of any of us.
But Brenda told me another story this week, about another child in your congregationwho also understood something about really living.
Students at the school were given an art assignment this week....a type of therapy to help them share their feelings about the tragedy last Friday....
They were asked to write a focus word in the center of their paper and then to write around that focus word the ideas, feelings, and meanings it had for them. Not surprisingly, most of the students took “Broncos” as their focus word.
But one very wise child chose as her word “community.” The Broncos’ accident was a tragedy, a sad event, a loss. Of course the students would want to express their reactions. But loss is only part of the story.
It has also been an occasion to bring out the generosity and caring in so many people. The community has pulled together to care for each other, to grieve together, and to make sure that the everyday practical needs are covered for those who are most touched by events.
It is a wise and beautiful attitude to notice this, to understand that “community” is the great focus word for all of you these past days...
That wise child...who understood the gift of community is Brianna Kozar....
And it is these two children...Brody and Brianna who offer us a powerful insight into today’s Scripture.
The gospel story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is a story about loss, grief, and community. Most of the disciples have gathered together in Jerusalem. The gospel says they were frightened, but mostly I think they needed to grieve together. They had loved Jesus; he had been the center of their life for only a short time, just a couple of years, but he had totally transformed the way they lived and looked at everything. And then he was violently killed, certainly before they thought he had accomplished his mission. They felt that his life had been cut off too soon. They had no idea how they would go on, but they understood that they needed to be together, to support each other, to remember, and eventually to figure out what to do next.
Except that these two disciples decide to go home. Maybe their way of handling their sorrow is to be alone, or maybe they just want to get back to their own familiar kitchen and their own familiar beds. But the two of them are still a kind of community; they are not completely alone, and they are trying to make sense of what has happened, just as the others are doing back in Jerusalem.
And they are willing to take in the stranger who joins them along the road, who helps them understand the events in Jerusalem, to see that the death of their friend Jesus was not the complete disaster they had thought. Until finally they recognize him as he breaks bread with them.
It is such a blessing that you are considering this Scripture today. The story of these two disciples is oneof the most beautiful stories in the gospels, I think. The disciples seem so real, so genuinely human. They don’t expect to see Jesus; they “know” that he is dead, so they don’t recognize him for the longest time.
Besides that, he is making them rethink everything they thought they understood about the Messiah. It’s a lot to take in.
Probably they aren’t even really looking at him as they listen. Maybe they are watching the road or looking at their feet, struggling to take in what he is saying to them. But there is no mistaking him when he shares bread with them.
Sharing food is basic human hospitality. Hospitality, especially in the biblical world, was an offer of protection, of survival. It’s how people always and everywhere show that they care for each other, even when the other person is a stranger.
And it was this sign of sharing food, breaking bread, that Jesus made the central action of his community. It was an act of self-giving, an act of love, a way of welcoming everyone who came to hear the good news and letting them know that they had reached a safe place. Take a look sometime at how many gospel stories involve meals: celebrations, dinner parties, feeding crowds, quiet moments with just Jesus and a few disciples.
What does it mean that Jesus took this most natural instinct we have, to give food to each other, and made it the marker of his beloved community?
What does this story of the Emmaus disciples tell us about where to find Jesus active in our midst today?
In our own hard times, we often question where to find God. Why did God let this happen? Where was God when we needed God to be with us?
(I’ve noticed that we are not as quick to ask these questions when good things happen, but that’s a topic for another day.)
The gospel makes it pretty clear that the disciples were asking those same questions after Good Friday. Why didn’t God save Jesus? Why did his horrible death have to happen? How are we going to cope without him?
Some of those questions don’t have answers, or at least not ones we can see very easily. But there is an answer to the question of where God is when we are in need.
God comes to us through community, through our neighbors who sit with us and who offer us food.
God comes through strangers who reach out and make us realize how much good will and just plain love there is in this world, evenwhen it looks like there is only bad news.
This does not make the bad times go away, any more than Easter made Good Friday go away.
But love in community does give us a way to find meaning and even joy as we go forward. In the hospitality of our community we find safety and protection.
The child who made community her focus word is reminding us of this truth. The Scripture today is reminding us. Jesus taught us this truth, even though we sometimes forget it or don’t understand. Whatever good we do for one another, we do for him. That is part of the message.
But the other part is that Jesus is with us in those deeds. He lives among us in the kindnesses of others. He cares for us through the care shown by our neighbors and by the many strangers we meet along the road.
Sharing food is one concrete form of kindness, but it is also a symbol for all the other ways we have of caring, from taking on needed tasks for each other, to offering beauty, to simply being there to listen or give a hug.
Those Emmaus disciples were so overjoyed when they recognized the presence of Jesus with them that they scooted right back to Jerusalem to share the news with the others.
They remind us that we need community in good times as well as in the hard times. My prayer for you is that you will always have the loving, supportive community that you experience now, that you will continue to hold on to the comfort of each other’s presence—and the joy of each other’s presence, even if it is sometimes mixed with frustration too.
May you recognize Jesus as he walks with you. May you continue to be the presence of Jesus for your community.
May you continue to cherish and hear the wise children among you.
Your friend and sister in Christ...Mary Gavin....