Janitor / Handyman (Keith)
The definition of a janitor could probably be best summarized as ‘the person who cleans up other people’s messes’. When I worked as a Janitor at a department store years ago, we liked to jazz up our title to make it sound more important. I used to refer to myself as a ‘Sanitization technician’. The store I worked for called us the ‘building systems maintenance crew’.
Keith cleans up the church and fixes the stuff that breaks down. He is the janitor, the custodian, and the handyman. He is the guy who picks up after other people’s messes. He is also a counselor, a mentor, a lay minister of the Gospel, and an all around ‘good-guy’. These things not only describe what Keith DOES, they are really a description of who he IS. He helps clean up people’s life messes and fix-up their lives with wisdom derived from his many years as a faithful follower and disciple of Jesus.
Whenever Keith sees me coming down the hall, he quickly raises his hand up with a big #1 sign as he points his finger up to indicate Jesus is number one and the only way to heaven. It has become a quick draw race now between us to see who can be the first to point to heaven. Whoever wins, then pretends to blow the smoke of the ‘barrel’ of their pretend gun and says, ‘Gottcha!’
He is also well known around the church as the guy who carries ‘tic-tac’ mints. Kids are always trying to get him to give them a mint and so do a fair number of adults who feel that they may have a touch of ‘dragon breath’ that needs a little attention.
Keith has been a follower of Jesus since he was about 5 years old. He remembers vividly how he came to Jesus at a church service. His mother was already a wholehearted follower of Jesus and often talked about her faith and the subjects of heaven and hell. He decided early on that he liked the idea of eternity in heaven a whole lot more than eternity in hell. Besides, he thought, “Who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus?” He remembers the feeling of unspeakable joy and freedom when he gave his heart to Jesus and the feeling of a great weight being lifted off his shoulders.
He pretty much grew up and lived his life as a believer from a young age but over time he grew complacent and was content to kind of coast along in his faith and not really pursue the relationship with the Lord in the way he had before. He grew up and joined the air force. It was the only time in his life when he wasn’t cleaning and fixing things. His job was to load the bombs and ammunition on the planes so they could go off and destroy and break things.
He recalls how he was home on leave one time and during that time was invited to a revival meeting. The Lord powerfully impacted him and he realized that he needed to really be sure that Jesus was sitting in His rightful place on the throne of his heart as Lord and King. He said his life has never been the same since that night. He was put into a higher gear in his relationship by an act of his will to make Jesus Lord of his life and also by the knowledge that he had been powerfully filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to follow through with that commitment.
After his time in the air force, he went in business with his Dad who had by this time become a dedicated follower of Jesus as well. He had called himself a Christian all along but he never demonstrated any real relationship with Jesus in his life. His dad later on went on to become a Gospel minister and was very zealous for the Lord from that time on. Their business was a lawn and yard maintenance business in Arizona and they had a fair number of regular clients. One day, his dad said, here is the truck and equipment- here are your clients and here is your business. He sold the house in 7 days and moved away to go preach the gospel.
A few years later, Keith’s cousin invited him to come to Alaska to help do the maintenance and upkeep of several condominiums that he had purchased. Keith felt like the Lord really wanted him to make the move and so he did.
Keith has been working at the church for several years now and has become known as a faithful, committed and wise man of God. He recently married at age 56 to his ‘little sweetie-pie’ Linda. When asked if he had ever been married before, he replied, “No, I have been keeping myself, waiting for the right woman that I would know was sent to me by the Lord.” They have been married for about a month and they are already in ministry ‘mentoring young couples’ (Someone forgot to tell them that they are a young couple!)
He loves the sport of target shooting and spends a lot of time at the range. He reloads his own ammunition as well. He feels that the Lord wants him to be a straight shooter and a person who helps ‘empty shells’ re-load and go on for God. The Lord has used Keith over the years for this very purpose many times. I can say from personal experience that Keith has a gift from the Lord to know when a person needs a little extra encouragement or a word to inspire confidence or a joke to cheer someone up.
So what can I say to sum it all up? Keith is the guy that cleans-up other people’s messes; fixes the things that are broken around the church and in people’s lives; shoots straight and tells it like it is; reloads empty shells; encourages those who need a boost, and spreads joy and happiness with a fun loving demeanor. Hmmm, That sounds an awful lot like Jesus to me! That is a name that is just fine and needs absolutely no 'jazzing-up'.
