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KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (Matthew 16:13-20)
The interview between Jesus and Peter reported in today's text from Matthew is special. Mark reports a parallel scene (Mark 8:27-33), similar in that Jesus inquires about the gossip regarding who he is and then charges his followers to keep quiet. But Mark leaves out all the keys of the kingdom stuff.
It's Matthew who adds the powerful confession from Peter that Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of the Living Lord." A very contrary declaration from Peter who normally was inconstant in his understanding of Jesus. And this is followed by Jesus' emphatic designation of Peter as the rock on which Jesus will build his church and the person to whom Jesus hands over the task of keeper of the keys of heaven.
This conversation has opened up the gates of heaven to the endless jokes and cartoons portraying Peter in humorous contexts as the keeper of the pearly gates. One I heard recently was that a couple who were very much in love but who had been taken by accidental death to heaven before they could marry, upon arriving at the pearly gates immediately accosted Peter with their request: "Can we get married here." Peter reflected and asked the couple to wait. They had to wait a month before Peter returned to assure them that he had a priest who would marry them after admission to heaven.
But the couple having had so much time to contemplate the possibility of their marriage had arrived at a further question which they placed to Peter: "We're glad we can get marry. But we've been thinking while you were away, what if it doesn't work out and we decide we need to have a divorce. Can that be arranged here?"
An exasperated Peter replied: "Look, guys. It's taken me a whole month to find a priest up here to marry you. Can't you figure out how much longer it would take me to find a lawyer for you!"
Jesus says to Peter: ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH…I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Matthew, who wrote in Greek, is doing a word play since the name Peter in the Greek is Petros which also means rock. Aramaic which Jesus spoke the word play is not so obvious.
Peter gets what sounds like an impressive gift, but what kind of gift was it? The time we usually hear about someone being given the keys is when the mayor of New York or Paris or some other illustrious city honors a visiting dignitary by giving that person the keys to the city. The press reported this week that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was given the keys to the picturesque cliffside town of Positano in Italy. Schroeder, who has been vacationing there all of August, was given solid gold keys by the resort town's mayor.
Is that what Jesus was offering Peter - golden keys to unlock all the pleasures and freedoms of heaven? I don't think so.
In this scripture set in the first century, it is not visiting dignitaries who receive keys, but servants. The owner of the house would give keys to the steward, or chief housekeeper. It then becomes the steward's job to decide who can, or cannot, enter the house and gain access to the owner as well as to oversee the work of other servants in the household.
This, then, is the "gift" which Jesus gives Peter - the "gift" of stewardship of the church which Jesus Himself will build. This is an awesome charge of responsibility to Peter. Jesus is anticipating his own death at this point, and he says to Peter: You're going to be in charge shortly of my ministry on earth. You decide who can enter my household. You enforce the standards of work and behavior among my servants. And whatever you decide here on earth - in my church - I will confirm in heaven. Steward of the church. Keeper of the "keys" of the kingdom. What a powerful position.
And Jesus chose Peter, at least in Matthew l6, while a bit later in Mathew l8 Jesus gives a similar charge of accountability for keeping his church to all of his disciples.
Now, I don't know about you, but neither Peter nor the other disciples would have been my first choice to lead the church. In Peter's case, like most of the rest, he was just a fisherman, with no formal training in theology or church administration. Despite three years as Jesus' disciple, he still didn't understand the nature of Jesus' mission. Yes, Peter had just confessed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but the text tells us that wasn't Peter's own doing. Jesus thanks his Father in Heaven for convincing Peter to make his profession of faith. And only a few minutes later, when Jesus speaks of his coming suffering and death, Peter will protest and for his trouble be called SATAN by Jesus. And, as we know, when Jesus was arrested, Peter would deny even knowing him. Jesus' choice of Peter to be first among his church leaders after his death is indeed amazing.
To be sure, Peter wasn't left to make decisions about the church entirely on his own. He had Jesus' teachings and example to guide him. He was also expected to act in concert with other Christians. I placed the text of Matthew l8 in our bulletin because in this scripture Jesus is charging the entire community, not just Peter, with the task of disciplining church members. And in the Book of Acts we learn that questions about church government and discipline were decided by the Jerusalem Council, and not by Peter alone.
The Protestant interpretation, both of Matthew 16 and 18, is that Jesus has entrusted to all who believe in him the stewardship of his Church. Every congregation, like every denomination, must arrive at some way to identify authority within the church, but Protestants tend to see the assignment of authority and power as diffuse and shared by laity and clergy alike. In an independent congregation like our own it is obvious that we are all keepers of the keys. But that's just as as incredible as entrusting things to Peter, because we are all pretty weak vessels to handle the keys of the Church and to serve as ushers to the doorway of salvation.
Some congregations, especially of a cosmopolitan nature, shrink back from exercising any responsibility for keys. Just throw the keys away so we never need make any hard and possibly confrontational decisions about whether all worldly attitudes and persons are okay in the house of faith. It does amaze me what some Christians can get away…even their unfaithfulness is evident and known to several in the congregation, there may still be a powerful inclination to say and do nothing. No one wants to hold the keys of accountability.
In other congregations, especially more conservatives ones, there may quite enough little Protestant popes who are eager to seize the keys and shake them in the face of the supposed unworthy and bar the church doors against others.
It's awesome that any of us have responsibility to take our turn handling the keys to the Church. And they are "keys" in the plural, not just one key. The way our church is set up there are keys assigned to liturgy and worship, keys assigned to spiritual oversight, keys assigned to stewardship and finances, keys assigned to outreach, service, and other keys. Occasionally important issues do arise regarding broader spiritual or ethical issues and our church council is charged with accountability to the whole congregation.
One big key we are turning in the locks just now is that of our search process for an eventual new pastor. In a Protestant congregation the minister is not the only keeper of the keys of the Church but he or she should be considered an important keeper of those keys because that person often sets the spiritual tone for the entire congregation.
There are some unmistakable parameters for holding and using the keys to the Church. We, like Peter, hold the "keys" as stewards, as servants. The keys to the Church are not ours. They belong to Jesus Christ. We act, therefore, as His servants and in His name. This fact sets very real limits on what we decide and how we exercise the authority entrusted to us. We can't ever exercise our authority in an unChrist like way.
Like Peter, none of us can carry out our tasks alone. Each of us is too limited in insight, too fallible in judgement, too prone to follow our own ideas to act as solo stewards of the keys. In using our keys, we must act together and not jangle this key or another egotistically and independently. We must talk and pray together. We must listen together for the guidance of God's Word in Scripture and of God's Holy Spirit.
That is why the rare event like our autumn retreat is crucial to the development and proper exercise of the keys of the kingdom. If the only times we congregate is at public worship, most of those so gathered will never get to know other members well enough to develop trust. We need the special circumstances of some time away and together to listen, study and strengthen that trust which is essential to good congregational government. I hope many of you will participate in our September retreat not solely for our own good; but come and participate for the good of one another and of our church.
And a final parameter for us as we pass around the keys of the church is that we trust that Christ is very much available to the people of his Church. He never has abandoned his Church. He has promised the Holy Spirit when we gather in His name. And the Spirit is that special active factor in the life of any congregation which can strengthen, humble, bind together, enlighten.
The song I have chosen for our offertory, "Open the vaults of heaven", continues this image of keys of heaven and reminds us, and you may want to look at the words of the song which are printed in our bulletin, that ultimately it is God, and not ourselves, who makes the keys of grace, salvation, hope turn for us in this world and the next.
Pastor Gene Preston
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The Rev. Gene R.Preston14th Floor, Blk 36, Lower Baguio Villa Tel : 25516161 Fax: 25512114E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com |
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