You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
MATTHEW 5:4-12 (MSG)
Today I had the privilege of having breakfast with a few of my good friends at one of my all time favorite breakfast places in Portland… Gravy. I always order the Delise omelet which has half a pig in it (bacon, ham, and sausage), grilled peppers and onions, lots of cheese, and with what seems like a few dozen eggs, then covered in sausage gravy with a side of the best hash browns known to humanity. This is the breakfast of the gods, and there is nothing better than to share it with Ken Loyd. Ken is unlike anybody I have ever met. His story is super fascinating (you can listen to his story on the Unsuccess Podcast HERE) and one that has many ups and downs.
A few years ago, while enjoying breakfast at our favorite spot, he shared with me his vision of heaven. He said, “Josh, when I think of heaven I have absolutely no desire to get caught up in the sky and live in a beautiful mansion in a place that is void of any real pain or hurt.” He went on to tell me that when he envisions heaven he sees himself getting dropped off on a city corner that is dirty. Across the street there are people sleeping on the sidewalk and in tents. Their faces are dirty and they smell not so great. There are newspapers floating around in the wind, and Jesus is right there in the midst welcoming him. I have always imagined heaven as transcending all of this and lifting us out of the pain and the mess of this world. Not Ken, because it was only in the mess where he truly experienced the presence of God.
For Ken, he never felt like he belonged in any other environment. He was a part of some pretty successful churches and ministries but always felt like an outsider. Even when he was leading small groups and was one of the pastors he felt like he just did not belong. After moving to Portland he ended up starting a church for youth who lived on the streets. He shared with me how those living on the streets were his people. He feels accepted by them and has a real sense of community. There is an authenticity that is present there that is most often not present on Sunday mornings in most church gatherings. There is no BS in that community and what you see is what you get. He felt the most loved and accepted by those with alcohol on their breath and needles in their arms, covered in tattoos and piercings. The people who have no place in society were the people Ken discovered were most like him. There was no need to pretend any more. They were the misfits and it was here that Ken felt most at home.
This image of heaven is unlike anything I have ever seen or heard. As I child I have a vivid memory of asking my dad one night about what heaven was going to be like. His response to me was, “I don’t know exactly, but what I can assure you is that it is going to be better than anything you can imagine.” This was actually pretty reassuring to me as a kid, but the older I get the more I realize that what we understand as “better” is not in fact better. When Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven he never referred to it as bigger and greater and more splendid than anything we can imagine. Instead he inferred that those who are at the end of their rope, those who are suffering, those who have learned to be content with who they are, those who care about others, and this who are peacemakers (Matthew 5) have in fact already discovered the kingdom of God. Maybe heaven is nothing like we imagine and maybe what is “better” actually is not better. There seems to be something upside down about how God does things and the kingdom that Jesus taught about.
This past year I commissioned a piece of art trying to depict this vision of Kens. I was able to finally give it to him this morning. If I am being honest Ken’s heaven is not yet my heaven. I am still placing my hope in a nice mansion with a beautiful kitchen eating Delise omelets all day and every day. However, there is something so captivating by Ken’s heaven. The painting tries to do it justice (and I think does a pretty good job), but seeing the emotion Ken has when describing this scene is part of it. He lights up when he talks about it and the people who are going to be there. It is so other and probably more in line with the images of the kingdom of God that Jesus gives us than any other image of heaven I have ever come across.
Ken has alway struck me as being unusually interested in others. He is curious and rarely assumes the worst in people. I am sad that it took me so long before I finally got to meet him. In many ways he is who I strive to be like as I grow older. He has become a mentor and a dear friend to me. My hope is that as I grow older I might become more and more curious and fascinated with others. My world has become bigger and my understanding greater because of listening to Ken and learning a little of how he sees the world. Might we all learn to be a little more unusually interested in others and we just might be surprised by what we find.
