 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
-1 Thessalonians 5:11 Have you ever tried to open that one kitchen drawer with all the weird shaped stuff and it won't budge? Something gets jammed in there after it shuts and then when you try to pull it, it's just stuck? You have to start jiggling the entire drawer in and out, trying to get things to settle a little lower. I usually make it worse, so eventually I have to shove my hand up inside and try to grab whatever edge keeps catching. Maybe you've never experienced that, but it's a regular occurrence in our house. So the other day I'm trying to figure out what on earth is jamming the kitchen drawer. We've got paring knives, peelers, a garlic press, and all sorts of items in there. I finally adjust things correctly and slide the drawer open, and I see this giant green handled knife filling up half the space. What on earth? The green knives are always kept in the wood block on the counter. We know this. So I'm just about to open my mouth and with a condescending voice ask loudly, "Who was it that put the green bread knife in the drawer???" And then I stopped. I realized that Bethany and I almost certainly didn't do that. We know where this stuff goes. That means that one of our kids did. That means that one of our kids was putting away dishes. And I was about to call them out for doing it wrong. It was a tiny little "kairos" moment for me. A moment in time where you notice God whispering just a little encouragement to help you be formed more like Jesus. Notice the movement, not the mistake. I wonder how often I am quick to criticize an action that is just someone trying their best with the knowledge and skills they have? I do that too regularly. And yet so much of my own growth has been because others haven't chosen criticism when they certainly could have. My church let me lead worship on my guitar when I was seventeen. I hardly ever play the guitar anymore, and I didn't do it well back then. It must have been rough! Yet it was an affirming experience, because people recognized my heart more than my lack of skills. It helped me have confidence in front of people. I left a kid at a conference once when I was a youth pastor because I forgot to do a final count. The parents were forgiving, and I didn't quit ministry (I wanted to, I was so embarrassed). I gave so many bad sermons before I started to feel even a little competent as a teacher (I need to be careful with this one because there a still a LOT of Sundays that are a swing and a miss). My congregation has been kind and gentle with me. Jesus's disciples got it right sometimes and wrong a lot more often. Yet Jesus continued to believe in them, helping them walk forward even as they learned. He saw the beauty in their effort. He offered grace in their failures. I still can't believe that after Peter denied that he knew Jesus, that Jesus asked him to lead the entire movement. Perhaps when we look at the moments that others don't get it right, we need to remember that there is often something worth affirming in the effort. And like a friend of mine likes to say, "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." I'm so quick to expect that others will get it right the first time, yet I know how much grace I've needed over the years (and still need, Lord have mercy!) of trying and failing, before getting some things right. It's just a kitchen drawer. But I had a choice that day to criticize a mistake or affirm an effort. I know I'm conditioned to criticize. But I'm trusting Jesus to help me name the goodness far more quickly in those around me. How about you? Where are you prone to notice the mistakes around you? How can you trust Jesus to help you find something to affirm just as quickly? You may never know how crushing your criticism is, or how inspiring your encouragement can be. Jesus, slow down my quickness to criticize today. Peace, Keith
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 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.
-Luke 10:1 "Why don't I come down for a day and help you weed?" These are words that will almost certainly never come out of my mouth. And they didn't. But they did come from my mother-in-law during a conversation with my wife Bethany recently. We have a large sloped flowerbed in our backyard that leads up to the woods, and we simply hadn't been able to keep up with it this year. Jobs and kids and schedules made this summer tougher for yard work than in the past, and fall weekends hadn't been much better. And to say that the beds had become overgrown with weeds is...an understatement. One of my kids could be up in there and I wouldn't know it. Our plants were struggling, but Bethany was mentioning how we were going to have to just surrender and wait another season to figure it out. It was too overwhelming of a task to tackle. Bethany said it took several repeated offers from her mom before she finally caved. It still felt too big. But that amazingly generous offer led to a seemingly impossible transformation. Can I just tell you of the power of two strong, determined women? (about half of you don't need me to tell you anything about that). Talk about being overwhelmed! The weeds had no chance. Bethany and Sue took a day during the middle of last week and spent hour after hour digging in the dirt, filling bag after bag and wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow with weeds. They freed up flowers and native plants that hadn't seen sunlight in months. They were covered in dirt and grime from head to toe, yet God's beauty was being revealed. And when I got home from a meeting and found them in the backyard, they were actually smiling? It's confusing, I know. And that's the thing about tackling overwhelming tasks with others. It doesn't just make it possible, it can even make it life-giving. Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs to go before him and help loosen the soil for the kingdom of God to take root. It was a daunting task. People were full of Jewish political and military expectations. Many would not be interested in the message Jesus was bringing. I'm sure the disciples felt overwhelmed. It was also overwhelming when the risen Jesus stood on the precipice of Mt. Arbel, telling his disciples to go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them his ways. Even the first step of the journey years earlier must have been overwhelming, when Jesus said to those fishermen, "come and follow me." Yet none of those invitations was toward a solo journey. Every time a hard task came, Jesus made sure that his people didn't do it alone. But then he ascended, and we forgot. We quickly become overwhelmed with the need to fix ourselves, accomplish great goals, and do hard daily tasks, because we forget that we weren't made to do this work alone. Jesus never intended to start a religion that fit nicely with rugged individualism and bootstrap theology. Jesus created a beloved community that would bear each others' sorrows, share in each others' challenges, and partner together in his shared purpose. And it was rooted in mutual love. Those words may be familiar, but they remain radical. Inviting other people into our lives and also offering to lend a hand with the overwhelming obstacles that our friends may be facing-- that's not normal. But it's how we live into our created purpose. This is one way we participate in God's ongoing redemption of the world. And thank God Jesus has given us his spirit to empower those bonds of community and partnership! Perhaps it's time to accept a hand. Perhaps it's time to offer one in a new way. We all face overwhelming tasks all the time. Raising families. Figuring out our identities. Dealing with finances. Managing mental health. Processing loss. Exploring faith. Practicing compassion. Keeping up on our weeding! What a gift to realize that there is joy and movement when we tackle these things alongside fellow followers of Christ. Jesus, break down the myth of self-sufficiency, and grow humble love in me. Peace, Keith  He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; - Psalm 23:2-3 Shhhhhhhhhhh. It's ok. This week at LifePath Church we are exploring the spiritual practice of silence and solitude with God. It is both a challenge and an immense gift. Jesus wants to bring restoration to us and increase relational connection with us. And it happens when we slow down enough to be found by him. As we considered how Jesus leads us to quiet stillness in a world of busyness and noise, I ended my message on Sunday with a poem from the great American theologian and scholar Howard Thurman. His emphasis on the contemplative life with God formed the basis of his nonviolent work for justice and equality. His classes and writing inspired a young Martin Luther King, Jr. during formative years. Dr. King even had a copy of one of Thurman's books in his suit pocket throughout the Montgomery bus boycott. Influenced by Quaker spirituality, Thurman deeply valued the way that God transforms a disciple through silence and stillness. He called it, "Centering Down" and he found it deeply joyful. So today, I invite you to center down as well, and quietly connect with God through Thurman's poetic words, soaked in a life of faithfulness to Jesus. And perhaps you can take a few moments afterward to simply be still. How Good to Center Down by Howard Thurman How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by! The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences, While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull. With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes, a fresh sense of order in our living; A direction, a strong sure purpose that will structure our confusion and bring meaning in our chaos. We look at ourselves in this waiting moment – the kinds of people we are. The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives? – what are the motives that order our days? What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go? Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused? For what end do we make sacrifices? Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life? What do I hate most in life and to what am I true? Over and over the questions beat in upon the waiting moment. As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind – A deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear. It moves directly to the core of our being. Our questions are answered, Our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round With the peace of the Eternal in our step. How good it is to center down! Jesus, let me sink deeply into you today, with a growing awareness of my inner self and your constant presence. Peace, Keith  Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.
- Hebrews 12:2 (GNT) Bethany and I have a dream of one day adding a small addition to the back of our house where our aging back porch is. We keep worrying that it's going to fall over if we close the door too hard right now. We have everything laid out exactly in our minds. It would be bright and quiet, with a peaceful new office space on the left (with a huge window facing my birds and the woods) and a simple mud room on the right for a less cluttered way to get in and out of the yard. We hope the opportunity comes in the next few months/years to save, find a professional builder, explain our vision, and have them make it happen. We don't really want to give an architect freedom to do just anything. We have a clear framework and we need someone to get us there. We humans prefer that sort of thing, don't we? Having a very specific vision for what something is supposed to look like, and then finding the right help to get it done? Unsurprisingly, this is one reason why it can be such a struggle to truly follow Jesus. New Testament scholar Tom Wright introduced me to this imagery. He reflects on what the Jewish people of Jesus' time were expecting: "They were looking for a builder to construct the home they thought they wanted, but he was the architect, coming with a new plan that would give them everything they needed, but within quite a new framework. They were looking for a singer to sing the song they had been humming for a long time, but he was the composer, bringing them a new song to which the old ongs they knew would form, at best, the background music. He was the king, all right, but he had come to redefine kingship itself..." Most of us reading this are American Christians. We have become conditioned to hope that Jesus will bring us the life we want, or at the very least, the life we can envision. The problem is that our imaginations are woefully inadequate, and the kingdom of God is exceedingly larger than we expect. Plus, Jesus is always surprising religious folks! Wright says that we are more accustomed to wanting someone to save our souls rather take charge of our whole world. I think that's true. And yet, what Jesus came to do really was shake up the whole world and everyone in it. He came to flip over its systems of power and prestige. He came to make a way for God's kingdom to flourish within each human heart and within the (often unjust) systems in which they participate. That's what it means to be free on every level. And it starts with a true openness to let Jesus be the architect, the composer, the author, of our lives. That sounds exceedingly heady and not practical, I know. But sometimes we only gain the ability to truly see and hear when we're not even sure what we're listening or looking for. We just have to be attentive. And to trust that Jesus is truly, exceedingly, astonishingly good. What new layer will Jesus uncover within you? What surprising opportunity to love will Jesus place in your path today? What fresh purposes and projects might Jesus be inviting you to spend the next season of your life on? Let's not assume we have it figured out. Who knows, maybe if Bethany and I talk to an architect, we'll see options out back we've never imagined before! Let's continue to walk with openness and humility toward Jesus. He will always surprise us with transforming grace and love, and he will always equip us for unexpected callings in God's kingdom. Jesus, keep reframing my perspectives until I am trusting and following you completely, each new day. Peace, Keith |
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