Devon, Our Brother

“Mr. Rogers” by Shutterbug Fotos, CC BY-ND 2.0; Cropped

Jesus, our brother, kind and good,
Was humbly born in a stable rude,
And the friendly beasts around him stood;
Jesus, our brother, kind and good.

When the second week of Advent comes around each year and we speak once more of John the Baptist’s admonition to prepare the way, I remember our neighbor Devon.  

For First Church, “neighbor” is not a geographical term, but a theological one. Our neighbors are not only those who live next door, or who lay their heads to rest in the Goose Hollow neighborhood.

Your lay leaders and I write about our neighbors each year in a conference report on the MILE (Ministry that matters, Itineracy and location, Lay ministry enhancement, Eliminating racism). This includes the prompts, “Describe who you believe to be your neighbors. Tell us what God is currently doing through them that is transforming your community. Where are you being invited to partner with God to make an impact there?”

Based on our core values of Inclusion and Community, one way we have described “neighbor” is anyone in need of welcome or who can welcome others.

We write about our partner organizations and faith communities- NW Pilot Project, Path Home, Lift Up, Rose Haven, Blanchet House, 13 Salmon Street Shower Project, Together Lab. We reflect on you all and the communities where you live and work, coming from Rockaway Beach to Sandy, Wilsonville to Scappoose.

And, I remember those like Devon.

If you were in worship on the second week of Advent a few years ago, you might remember that we announced a neighbor had died sometime in the night in the outdoor hallway between room 202 and the Chapel. I wrote about it here.

We learned that his name was Devon. Each All Saints and each Advent 2, I think of Devon. I remember how gentle and compassionate the congregation, staff, and paramedics were that day, all seeking to provide his body with a dignity and respect that it may not have had in its lifetime.

In these reflections, I am thankful that First Church is a community who cares deeply about those in need of welcome – or shelter, or rehab, or prayer, or food, or community, or counseling, or advocacy, or legal assistance, or memorial. I am thankful that First Church is a community who works hard not to limit who we think has it in them to welcome others. A community who are expansive in how that welcome is tangibly offered.

Our theological experience of our “neighbor” has made an impact not only on the expansive “neighborhood” around us, but also on ourselves. God works through our neighbors to transform our community, and we are invited to partner with God in this impact. This is what informs the last part of our church’s vision, to “connect with our neighbors to build a more just world.”

This means that we are not only committed to loving and serving our neighbors, we need our neighbors in order to be the inclusive Christian community we seek to be.

On that second week of Advent in 2022, we lost a neighbor. Though we did not know him, we know that he was our brother as Christ is our brother. We know that he did – and always will –belong to God, just as it is with all our neighbors.

In remembering Devon, we remember that all who suffer, all who are lonely, all who are in need, all who are rejoicing, all who have plenty, all who build community, all of us belong in the shelter of one another. All strangers are really neighbors, all unknown or unnamed to us are really siblings who too belong to God. And thank goodness it is so.

Each of us wants to inhabit a world more whole, more compassionate, more hopeful, more peaceful, more joyful, more just. Without our neighbors, we will not make it to God’s good future. With each neighboring relationship where we can be human with one another, we come one step closer to the reality that John the Baptist, the prophet Isaiah, and young Mary speak of in our Advent scriptures. There are so many complicated facets to the woes that face our world, but this part is simple: heaven comes close when we love our neighbor.

In the words of Rev. Fred Rogers, it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood: won’t you be mine?

In love,
Pastor Karyn