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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