The BluePrint - The Plan

We are starting a new series, and it is one that

we have returned to every few years. If you have

been here for any amount of time, I guess longer

than a few months, you may have picked up on

the idea that the house is more than just the

name of this community. We've really gone pretty

hard on the metaphors that you can... get from

it the sort of, was that? We love a theme. I

literally wrote that in my books. I love a theme.

But it is a useful one. I promise it wasn't like

we weren't trying to be trendy. It really just

lends itself to a lot of useful ideas for what

we hope to cultivate here. And you can see it

in the teens gather. They are called the shed.

The kids go to tree house. These are adjacent

structures with their own sense of meaning as

it relates to a house. A house lives in a neighborhood.

And we want to be good neighbors, as Jesus has

taught us, to love our neighbors. And we want

to care for those around us. So we pray for Greenbush

and highlight the neighbors that care for our

other neighborhoods as well, our other neighbors

as well. So like each day or each week at the

end of service, we've heard from other organizations,

like the Third Place has talked today. We'll

hear a little bit more about who NEST is in our

community. And so those are really, really useful

ideas for us to grab hold of that help us understand

how Jesus wants us to be with each other. We

also have talked about establishing certain patterns

here. We talk about rest, live, and work a lot

each week. We pray in the spirit of... wanting

to be transformed so that our view of rest is

what it aligns with what God has for us, that

our view of life and work aligns with what God

has for us. And this is a useful idea, too, because

if you are a guest in someone's house, you might

be invited over. And generally, someone will

offer you hospitality the first few times that

look like, come, have a seat. No, don't get up.

I'll bring you a glass of water or a coffee.

You sit. And as one gets more connected in a

house, you might be there for a meal. And our

community tables are built around this particular

idea. And at a meal, you linger and you talk

and you get into the things of life. And as you

become more connected to... that house, you know

that as the dishes are being cleared, you might

join in in the cleanup and you might, if you've

even prepared something yourself and brought

it over to help feed the people, we work alongside

of each other and for each other. And when somebody

moves, you know, we pick up a box and we put

it in our car, we vacuum, we clean, we help each

other out in these ideas of community and home.

And all of these things build so much more than

just a group of people that see each other on

Sundays. All of these things build a whole community,

and here they build the house. And these are

all the things that we see. But the things that

build a good and strong house are the things

that are generally behind the walls and in the

foundation and behind the siding. These are the

things that one catches if you look at a blueprint.

We have these books that we've designed in the

past that are available. I think we've got some

out in that cabinet in the lobby. You're welcome

to take one. These have been a useful guide for

us, and they will tell you a lot about this community

called the house. In here, On page 21, we hear

about what the blueprint means to this community.

And so it says, at the house, we encourage a

pattern of discipleship that shapes our lives.

Each step can build on the last. The goal is

to become like Jesus. That is what the blueprint

is made to help us with. that structure in our

lives. So if we continue to extend this metaphor,

we realize that in a house, things do break down

without continued maintenance, don't they? Anybody

who's a homeowner knows this really, really well.

The challenge about the elements that are critical

to the infrastructure is that, as I said, they

are not the most visible pieces. You have to

go looking for them. You have to go finding them.

You have to do your research and your study.

You have to be really in tune with the house

to be cognizant of, oh, wait a second. It feels

a little bit more humid in here than normal.

Why is that? Oh, wait a second. That light is

flickering. Is it just the bulb or is it the

electric in the house? And so all these things,

the electrical, the crack that water got in that

now causes rot on an internal beam, the chink

in the foundation behind the drywall, all of

those things are the sort of, yeah, they're the

things you don't see, but it is critical to keep

an eye on them. It is critical to maintain them.

Not all of us are privy to the blueprints that

built our houses, but we have a pretty good idea

of what's written on them because of what we

use in the house and how we use the house. And

these things, if left uncared for, unmaintained,

mean degradation for the structure. That is unavoidable.

And so for our house here, the things that are

important to the blueprint, the things we pay

close attention to or we should, the things that

we care for, And the things that we maintain

in our lives are patterns of rest and life at

the table and abiding in prayer and meditating

on scripture, listening to the spirit, practicing

your faith, forgiving as you've been forgiven

and working with God. These are not arbitrary.

We didn't just pick these out of the air because

they seemed nice. They were not chosen because

they seemed, oh, this could be worth the effort.

We chose them because they are patterns that

we find in scripture and encouragement towards

a healthy life in following Christ. This is not

a one for one, but what I'm about to read, but

I do want to read from the book of John. Jesus

was getting ready to head to the cross and he

had a number of things to pass on to his disciples

in these last hours that he had with them. So

the things that he says in his last moments,

in his last hours with them, are things that

we should really like, we should really be paying

attention to. Because if there are things that

if you know that your time is limited, you're

going to pick the most important. You're going

to pick the ones that you're like. If you have

heard me say anything at all, it is these things

I want you to remember. And so he was very focused

on them knowing that it is important to stay

connected to him and that even though it is time

for him to go, the connection will not be lost.

To be encouraged, to stay connected, to grow,

bear fruit, and keep this going. beyond themselves.

He wanted to encourage them and let them know

things were not coming to an end. They were actually

getting started. So as we read, you will see

the through line here and what is Jesus' most

crucial conveyance of information. These are

the things he chose to say. And so I'm going

to encourage us to stand as we are able or take

a posture of attention as I read through. Parts

of John 15 and parts of John 16. Of the Gospels,

this is the last in the group of four in the

New Testament. And so I'm going to start in chapter

15. I'm going to read 1 through 17, the New Revised

Standard Version updated. And so at verse 1 it

says, Jesus is saying to his disciples, I am

the true vine and my father is the vine grower.

He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.

Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make

it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed

by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide

in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot

bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the

vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

Stay connected, he's saying. I am the vine, you

are the branches. Those who abide in me and I

in them will bear much fruit. Because apart from

me, you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide

in me is thrown away like a branch and withers.

Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire

and burned. But if you abide in me and my words

abide in you, my words, ask for whatever you

wish and it will be done for you. My father is

glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and

become my disciples. As the Father has loved

me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If

you keep my commandments, we've talked about

obey, you will abide in my love just as I have

kept my Father's commandments and abide in his

love. And I have said these things to you so

that my joy may be in you and that your joy may

be complete. This is my commandment, that you

love one another as I have loved you. No one

has greater love than this to lay down one's

life for his friends. You are my friends. If

you do what I command you. I do not call you

servants any longer because the servant does

not know what the master is doing, but I have

called you friends because I have made known

to you everything that I have heard from my father.

You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I

appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that

will last, so that the father will give you whatever

you ask in my name. I'm giving you these commands

so that you may love one another. And part of

chapter 16. Verse 1 says, I have said these things

to you to keep you from falling away. And 12

through 15, I still have many things to say to

you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit

of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth.

Listen to the spirit. For he will not speak on

his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and

he will declare to you the things that are to

come. He will glorify me because he will take

what is mine and declare it to you. All that

the Father has is mine, and for this reason I

said that he will take what is mine and declare

it to you. Let's pray. God, as we hear from you

today, as we look to you, continue to shape us

as disciples of you, that we would grow, that

we would internalize these things, that they

would become foundational to us. that they would

become patterns that we not only repeat in our

own lives and build from, but that we would help

each other in all of our efforts to be disciples

of you. And so speak to us today. Open our ears

to hear you. Open our eyes to see you. We pray

this in your name. Amen. You can have a seat.

So rest. Live at the table. Abide in prayer,

meditate on scripture, listen to the spirit,

practice your faith, forgive as you've been forgiven,

work with God. The blueprint has been a part

of the house's structure since the very beginning.

We encourage the practice of these things as

key aspects in your life with Christ, things

every follower of Jesus would do well to grow

in. We're going to take a little side quest,

which is not surprising with me. to two of my

other jobs, which are piano teacher and orchestra

manager. So I'm a musician. I work with musicians.

I teach young musicians. I hire musicians for

the symphony. My friends are musicians. I'm around

people that have dedicated their lives to music,

whose livelihood is music. And since I was seven

years old, I have been familiar with the idea

of practicing, much to my chagrin. For just about

all of my students now, practicing is the apex

obstacle for moving forward. And of course it

is. It is unfun. It can be a slog. And everybody,

almost anybody that I know who has eventually

quit taking an instrument, they were like, I

just hated practicing. I'm like, well, yeah.

That's everybody. The goals of it are difficult

to conceptualize, especially if you're young,

because it takes a long time to understand the

value of it. But how do we go from something

newly learned to becoming strong in that thing?

Somehow, somewhere in our minds, we believe it

can be done without practice. And even if we

think practicing is a good idea, many believe

a one or two time pass through is probably enough.

We don't. have good muscles for practicing something.

We have a violinist in the orchestra who is 86

years old, and he is still in the orchestra because

he has become good at practicing. None of us

like practicing, but we do like the results of

practicing, don't we? And when my students and

I have this conversation, everyone agrees we

want what practicing delivers. And there is just

no shortcut, guys. That is the reality. You get

better by going through the hard stuff. You get

better by going through the practice. And this

is, of course, applicable to all sorts of things.

This metaphor is not mysterious. Like, you can

apply it to just about anything. But when it

comes to growing as a follower of Jesus, we do

have a naive notion that we just sort of should

arrive at a healthy and mature state without

practicing any sort of transformed lifestyle.

When we commit to following Christ, we commit

to, in the historic way of understanding it,

walking so close to the rabbi that the dust of

him gets on us. And if that is the case, you're

not just walking and observing. close enough

to do as he does and speak as he speaks and watching

and participating in what Jesus does and copying

it until it becomes fully settled in us too,

until it becomes fully realized and matured in

us as well. When I model something for a student

on the piano, the initial times it's played by

them, it is just copying me. It's not internalized

yet. How can I, the attempt is just to make it

sound like what I just did. But the goal is for

the student to inherently know how the music

should go, should be able to interpret the music

and play something melodic and musical with great

artistry because they now have built the skill

to do it. And so they understand execution better

and style and dynamics. That's the goal is to

get them to that point, which only happens over

time through many hours. of a lifetime of practice.

But practicing is hard because it's done often

in places that are unseen. And it feels like,

again, what is the goal? And the results are

hard to see quickly. It is built over time. And

sometimes, in fact, quite often, when you set

out to practice, there's not actually clear direction.

Like, we all get that something should be practiced

if you want to get better at it, but how? How

do we do that? What's the course of action? When

a student is told to practice, and even that

concept is new, when I get a new kid, they are

going in blind. They don't know what that means,

and so even practicing takes practice, which

feels very weird, right? But when my students

get a new piece of music, we start by playing

it. That makes sense. The goal though is not

correctness. The goal is not to play it correctly

on that first pass. The goal is reconnaissance.

We are gaining information. What is the piece

doing? Where are the dynamic marks? What's the

phrasing? What are the patterns? And then after

that, we check in. What was tricky? I asked them.

What do you want to focus on with this this week?

What feels hard? We come up with a kind of a

plan, something that helps make the wholeness

and the bigness of it feel much more doable,

much more accessible. Because sometimes they

turn that page and they see all the notes on

the page and they're like, oh my gosh, it's too

much. And then we just break it down. We have

to break it down. So that's part of the plan,

right? We have to break down practice. We have

to find things that are tricky. We have to figure

out what is going on. And then it feels doable.

And y 'all, this is the same for how we approach

this blueprint. Folks, how are we at changing

the air filters in our house? Did you even know

you had to do that? It's a part of the unseen

stuff, right? I have started setting reminders

in my phone for myself every few months to remind

me to change it. But a step back from that. I

can't change it if I don't have one to switch

to, right? Because when you need to change it,

you're not like, oh, I got to go to the store.

Like, it's like one of those, like, life is busy

right now. So I set another alarm to buy a pack

at a certain time of year. And then I have the

air filters. And this is a kind of maintenance.

But I have to make a plan for it. Because even

if I set the reminders and I don't have the stuff,

like, the thing isn't getting done. When we don't

have a plan even for how we practice something

or how we maintain something, the chances are

it will just start moving in the opposite direction

than we would hope. And truly, it's about preparedness.

We practice so that we may be prepared. There

are a couple passages or a couple lines in these

sections from John that I want to go back to.

Jesus told his disciples about the ways things

are about to change. He's getting them prepared.

He's trying to give them a heads up. But that

their relationship with him, their connection

with him will not be severed, which would be

hard to imagine, right? With that in mind, though,

people, he is saying, Jesus is letting them know,

they're not going to understand it because it's

going to look kind of new. And he wants them

to be prepared for what could happen so that

they can look ahead. So throughout chapter 15,

we see him finishing thought groups with statements

like, I'm telling you this so that. I don't want

you to be surprised. I want you to be ready.

I want you to stay connected. Keep going the

course. I'm telling you this so that. John 16,

one, I have said these things to you to keep

you from falling away. I want you to be prepared.

I want you to be ready. 16 -4 says, but I've

said these things to you so that when their hour

comes, you may remember I told you about them.

I want to get you ready. He's basically saying,

keep the house strong, you guys. Don't forget.

Don't sit in your despair. Keep going. Keep focusing

on the things that are critical here. Keep the

house strong. My students can come back from

a week between lessons and often say, oh, I didn't

get a chance to practice. I didn't have time.

And often I'm like, well, you're seven. You did.

You just don't know time management yet. And

that is what one says when a plan to practice

was not put in place. It's not uncommon for a

student to sign up for lessons. And a family

can come back and just be like, I don't know,

we just can't figure out how to do this. And

I'm like, you make time for it. You carve out

the time. You put it in the schedule like you

do with all the other things. And that sometimes

can genuinely feel like a revelation. As though,

shouldn't the time have just been there for me?

we think about that with a lot of things. There

are just a few things that make it a little bit

more obvious. So often when we say we ran out

of time, what we actually mean is we weren't

prepared. We did not look ahead. We did not know

how to manage that time well for that week. And

now listen, this is not an indictment. Life really

be like that sometimes, y 'all. And you feel

like you can't catch your breath. That is real.

But also sometimes we are just not doing what

we need to do to prepare, to look ahead. We are

not taking a breath to consider what we need

to make time for, and we're not remembering our

priorities or what we value. Or even where those

places in our life where things have gotten pushed

out by other things are that we didn't notice.

And all of a sudden we've got stuff in our life

that we didn't want. And so we do need to make

a plan to look ahead, to reevaluate. We do not

have to let life keep deciding for us. If anyone's

familiar with something called a rule of life,

does this sound familiar to anybody? It is a

very useful practice. It is built out of monastic

communities. That is where it is originated from.

But a rule of life is an intentional schedule,

a set of practices, and relational rhythms designed

to help provide structure for your daily routines

around your core values and spiritual goals.

So I just shifted into a new chapter in my life.

I work for the symphony full -time now. And going

into it, I knew my time wouldn't look as it had

before. And so I knew I would need to revisit

some things that I had previously built structures

for, and I would need to go back and reevaluate

them to see if it still matches what I value.

and what I want to keep time for in my life.

I've not been able to do it yet because things

had transitioned quickly. But the thing is, it

is on the calendar. I have carved the time out

to do this thing because it's important to me.

And I know that if I don't go forward with a

plan, one will be thrust upon me. And it may

rub up against the things I value or the things

that I want to keep time set aside for. And so

I get to decide that. It's not easy to carve

out time for it, but I understand that I need

to in order to go forward feeling like I had

a plan to care for the maintenance of the house,

as it were. And so I looked ahead. I put it on

my calendar. And much like one does when you

want to take a vacation, or plan for friends

to come over, you make that time noted and you

set boundaries around it. And so here's the thing

I will offer. We do know how to do that in life.

We make plans for regular things all the time.

We know when school starts for the kids and they

probably get there on time most of the time.

We make time to be here. We make plans for when

homework gets done. We make... Financial plans,

savings plans. We make exit plans in case of

emergency. Some people are really good at making

weekly meal plans because you know how well that

will get out of hand if you don't. Some families

have really, really great chore structures for

their house and they have really established

plans for that. Vacation plans. You've set aside

that period of time for your vacation. We know

how to do it. But I think that we forget that

things like how we grow in discipleship and in

our relationship with the Lord somehow doesn't

feel like it should be cared for in the same

way or planned for or structured. So we have

a variety of other plans in our lives. It is

not crazy to consider that plans that care for

your spiritual self are possible. We make time

for the things that we value. So as we discuss

the blueprint, this book discusses a plan. And

we've used these as foundational topics for community

tables. And here, we revisit them here every

four years. And so this is the fourth time we've

done a series on them. These are the macro sort

of views. The overview here. and the community

tables. But we do suggest a weekly rotation through

these things as well to keep them fresh, to keep

them in front of you so that they don't get far

away from your site. So Saturday, a good day

to rest and consider rest. It already fits within

a cycle that we live in in our societies. Sunday,

live. a good day to live and interact with others

and consider healthy life. Monday, abiding in

prayer. Tuesday, obeying God's word. Wednesday,

listening to the spirit. Thursday, practicing

your faith. Friday, practicing forgiveness. And

all week, consider what it means to work along

with God. If you grab this book, 22 and 23, have

a place where it's structured out for you with

scriptures that help you think about these things.

It's very useful. There's a number of weeks in

it already. that will take you through a few

rounds of it to keep it fresh. As we head into

this series, each of these things will get their

own week where they're highlighted. You will

learn more and you will have the opportunity

to meet for the first time or revisit some of

these ideas more in depth. And so as you go into

it, be open to what God wants to say. Now, I'm

going to make a little note here. If you are

an all or nothing person, I want to say this.

This is not all at once, y 'all. This is not

all at once. In fact, things often go more smoothly

when we take bites at a time. The music my students

learn and focus on, we do. We talk about, like,

how do you want to approach this? Let's do a

few measures here. Let's do hands separately.

We always pull it apart and do it in small bits.

For those of us who might be just a little neurodivergent,

I do know that even taking small bites can feel

like a lot sometimes. And so sometimes making

a plan and building a habit, that's a hard thing.

Building a habit, it does feel impossible. Please

know that I know. I know. You're not alone. Every

day resets itself from the things that we did

yesterday as though they never happened. And

even, you know, I looked left and all of a sudden,

like, the last 12 days hyperfixation has reset

itself. So things can inexplicably change. That's

just the way of life. But listen, we are not

without hope. Because also, lesson from the divergence,

don't beat yourself up about this when this happens.

Because the thing is about this is it's already

set up for you. And much like you've heard me

perhaps talk about our church year schedule,

I think of it a lot like a map. These structures.

believing you probably will get off course, these

structures are here for you so that you know

how to get back, that you know where to go back

to. Because the system will fail, y 'all. It

will fall apart. When we set these things up

to try to adhere to a structure, they are there

to help, but we are imperfect, right? And so

they will fall apart. A big thing like a job

shift, a move, somebody passing away, they can

all be major disruptors. And so this is why I'm

not wanting to talk about this as a self -help

trellis. I'm talking about this as a life with

Jesus that I value. And each of these things

discussed are integrated into that, not separate

from it. And so as I walk with Jesus, I listen

and I pray and I think on the scriptures and

I respond to them and I go through it and sometimes

one will stand out as something I need to pay

more attention to and God's going to let me know

because I'm practicing listening and the scriptures

will stand out to me and something will really

move me and I will want to think about that passage

for days. The Lord will lead us. Be of good faith

because you are not alone in this. And so as

we go into this next eight weeks of this series,

I want to offer to you to be praying about asking

God and thinking seriously about just strengthening

one of them. You're going to the gym and you're

starting with arms. That's what you're doing.

And then over time, As you build a practice,

as you implement a plan, you will have built

strength with all of these. Because it's not

a race. We don't need to get it done in a certain

amount of time. We just need to start. So back

to the house metaphor, because metaphors are

flying around right now. Within a house, when

things are broken or needing attention, It doesn't

go well when somebody tries to do everything

all at once, right? You just end up with a whole

lot of things started and nothing finished. You

know that when you have to do projects, you have

to make a plan of priorities. That's what's going

to be useful. And so as I said, as I listed these

things off, or as the next eight weeks get laid

out, I encourage you to listen to God, pay attention

to your hearts, assess and evaluate which one

makes the most sense to start out and go from

there. I believe God will tell you. When the

house isn't maintained, it isn't healthy, and

it's hard to live in. It is difficult to get

back to a good place, and it adds worry, concern,

and even fear in our lives. And when the people

in the house are not paying attention to the

things the blueprint outlines should be in good

working order, the house becomes an unhealthy

place to live by inaction. A house does not maintain

itself. And so for some of us, this is new. We

are just getting familiar with the blueprint.

And for some of us, we are being reminded to

check in on things that are familiar but might

be important to do a solid review of. We can

easily fall out of practice on things in our

life. We did mention that. We become rusty. Something

needs to be strengthened again or fixed after

sustaining some damage. You might have sustained

some damage that you didn't even know affected

you. And the house may need some maintenance.

And as I said, it's not just for you. As a community,

we are also for each other. We do it so that

we can care for each other as well. We care for

the house so that it is a place. of rest for

others that need it. We care for the house so

that others can be welcomed as we were welcomed.

And we care for the house and we listen to the

spirit and we become people that pray and we

live in the fullness of God that God designed

for us so that we can continue to offer it to

others that need a house that is safe and good

and welcoming to them. And so as we go into this

series, I encourage you to go into it. with great

openness, that God can use this time for you

and for us as a way to strengthen the house,

fix things that have been maybe overlooked, those

moments where you're like, oh, I'll get to that.

Let's get to that. Let's do the things that we

need to do, okay? Let's pray. Jesus, I am grateful.

I am grateful for what you offer us. You offer

us a place of safety and rest and wholeness and

goodness. And you invite us to offer that to

others. And as we seek to do that, as we seek

to, as the house here, provide a good place for

others, help us be mindful of where perhaps we

need to. maintain some things, check on some

things, fix some things, address some things,

and set priorities, make a good plan. Yeah. And

maybe even recognize that this is something that

we haven't prioritized or valued in a way that

has found space in our life. And so I pray that

you transform us through this series, that you

help us forward. I pray this in your name. Amen.