Monday, August 18, 2008

Matthew 16:13-20, The Message

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?"

14 They replied, "Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." 15He pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17-18 Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. 19 "And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven." 20 He swore the disciples to secrecy. He made them promise they would tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Verse 19 might said to be "key" to this scripture. (Groan now, yeah that was awful).
I have keys to the church (not exactly as Jesus might have imagined) -- a huge bunch of keys that I have inherited from all the previous pastors. I was told that there are only about 3 that are really important at either church. That would leave about 14 that I don't know what exactly they unlock....

We all carry keys. I got the kids new house keys this year because the old keys disappeared into "house key heaven" (that's next to "odd sock heaven" for those who like to be informed) -- hopefully this set will last. I have keys on my big keyring -- the most of which are the keys to the church, but also a few other keys. I have my house key, my car key, my husband's car key. I have the keys to two other cars that I've been test-driving for the last couple of weeks. I have a key to our travel trailer -- and a key to the airplane. Shelter and transportation. Important things. I do need to get around all day long and I do need a place to lay my head at night.

What other keys might we have on our key chain? Some of us have keys for our work. Some of us have keys for pleasure (like my trailer key). Personally, the LH once told me that I have the key to his heart -- isn't that romantic? We use keys for entry, for access. We also use the word "key" in a variety of different ways -- some of us might have the key to success. Do you have that? That sounds like a good key to have -- some of us have had presented to us the key to the city -- that's nice too. Sometimes we get the key to understanding something -- sometimes we get the key to happiness -- those would be good to have as well.

What Jesus is offering here to Peter, the rock, is something very valuable. Peter is being given the keys to the kingdom of God.

What might those keys be? More to ponder tomorrow.....

No comments: