Community Church Sermons
August 24, 2008
Pentecost 15
Psalm 138
Matthew 16:13-20
Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows
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Where are the keys? What have you
done with the keys? How am I supposed to open this without the keys? Why can’t
you just put the keys where they belong and then I’ll be able to find them, the
next time I need them?
Keys, they open,
they close, they are the real power behind access. Keys are so important in our
world that multitudes of people in our world make their living providing keys
or providing access when our keys have gone awry.
Isn’t it strange
that in the midst of Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ messiahship, Jesus enters
into a discussion about keys, and even more puzzling is that the heart of the
discussion is how he wants to give us more keys than we already possess. I do
not know about you, but I am not sure that I want them. my pockets are bulging
already with a mixture of necessary and mystery keys, but Jesus says he is
going to leave each of us with a set of keys to the kingdom, and the
responsibility for unlocking and locking up. This is certifiable proof that
Jesus was never a church trustee, or he would have known the headaches that
come with issuing so many keys, and each set of carefully documented keys he
did issue would have come with explicit directions on how they were to be used
and to whom and by when they must be returned save the penalty of death! And
Oh, Yeah, they would be attached to some big ugly clunky thing, so that we dare
not just slip them into our pocket with our other keys and forget about them.
THE KEYS TO THE
KINGDOM, that sounds like a most important set of keys. The power to confine
and set free, that sounds like a most important job. The assertion that God
will honor the power that comes with these keys, however, is most astounding to
me. If we confine something, God will leave it confined. If we set something
free, God will leave it free. Do you hear that? So much for the sovereign,
controlling, nothing escapes my will God, if we take these words of Jesus
seriously. These words suggest that God will do as we do. That the power of God
will be set free in the places where we take our keys and unlock the doors.
That the hostility of evil will be confined in the places we take our keys and
lock up the doors. And vice – versa. These words suggest that we must be
careful in making our choices about what we lock and unlock, because once the
decision is made it is often difficult to reverse. These words suggest that we,
not God, are responsible for the conditions of our world that result from our
opening and locking up.
Locking and
unlocking, it sounds like such a simple task, but history suggest otherwise. As
we have moved through history, we have often found ourselves confining things
that need to be free, and dealing with the consequences of free things we never
imagined would happen.
Locking and
unlocking, it sounds like such a simple task, but our relationships suggest
otherwise. We find ourselves needing emotions we have locked away, and dealing
with the repercussions of emotions we wish we had never unleashed.
Locking and
unlocking, it sounds like such a simple task, but our interior lives suggest
otherwise. We find ourselves locked with shields of invincibility that no human
or God can penetrate, and yet in our most private moments we find ourselves
open, vulnerable, and alone, wishing we had someone with whom to share the
experience.
Locking and
unlocking, it sounds like such a simple task and it is really, once we realize
its power. So, here are the keys, for whoever wants them, and yes, they do come
with a big clunky attachment to remind you where they came from --- the
attachment is called responsibility.
Here are the
keys, just remember God will do with them whatever you do with them. As we lock
and unlock our world, may God grant us the wisdom to know which to do and when.
AMEN!