Locking and Unlocking

Matthew 16:13–20 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Homily: Most of us carry keys—House keys—Car keys—Church keys—Keys to office—Keys to workshops—Keys to storage buildings. We have keys to all sorts of places where we keep things that matter to us. And every key has basically two purposes. A key can LOCK something—and a key can UNLOCK something. Sometimes we need to lock things. We lock our doors at night because there are things outside that we don’t want to let in. But sometimes we desperately need a key that will unlock something. Have you ever stood outside a locked door—maybe a locked car or a locked house— and realized that the key you needed was somewhere on the other side? Suddenly that little piece of metal becomes extremely important to you; doesn’t it. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about keys. But these are not ordinary keys. Jesus says to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” In order understand what Jesus is talking about, we need to look at what happened just before Jesus talked about keys. Jesus and His disciples had traveled to Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”In order understand what Jesus is talking about, we need to look at what happened just before Jesus talked about keys. Jesus and His disciples had traveled to Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples had plenty of answers. “Some say John the Baptist.” “Some say Elijah.” “Others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” And not much has changed since then. People still have opinions about Jesus. Some say He was a great teacher—Some say a prophet—Some say He was simply a good man who taught us to love one another. But Jesus doesn’t allow His disciples to hide behind what everybody else thinks about Him. He makes the question personal: “But who do YOU say that I am?” There comes a time when every one of us must answer that very same question for ourselves. “Who do we think Jesus is?” Peter answers: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”—and Jesus responds: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!… I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Peter confesses the truth about Jesus, and Jesus places keys into his hands. This action on the part of Jesus, speaks of giving Peter authority. But this action also speaks of responsibility. Keys are not just for keeping. Keys are for using. So perhaps one way to think about the mission of the Church and the mission of those who make up the church is to ask: What is our responsibility in terms of what we are supposed to lock? And what is our responsibility in terms of what we are supposed to unlock? Some things need to be locked out. For example: hatred needs to be locked out— and bitterness—and gossip—and pride—and jealousy—and selfishness—and anything else that destroys the children of God needs to be locked out. But keys are not only for looking doors—keys are also for unlocking doors. And the Gospel has an extraordinary ability to do this very thing. The gospel unlocks forgiveness for the guilty—it unlocks hope for the discouraged—freedom for those imprisoned by sin—grace for people who think God can never possibly love them. Think about Peter himself. Peter received the keys—but Peter was far from perfect. Eventually he would deny three times that he even knew Jesus. Imagine that. The man holding the keys would himself need someone to unlock the door of grace.Think about Peter himself. Peter received the keys—but Peter was far from perfect. Eventually he would deny three times that he even knew Jesus. Imagine that. The man holding the keys would himself need someone to unlock the door of grace. And Jesus did that for Peter. After the resurrection Jesus found Peter—forgave him —restored him—and sent him back out to minister to others. Perhaps Peter learned something that all of us who follow Jesus are wise to remember: When we realize that the door of mercy has graciously opened for us, we should NOT be so quick to slam the door of mercy shut on someone else. And I know something personally about standing before a locked door and desperately wishing I had the key. Most of you have heard me speak about my son Joel. Of all my children, Joel is the one you have never met in person. You have met him through my sermons, but you have never had the opportunity to shake his hand. Joel served our country as a United States Marine in Iraq. When he left Iraq, the war followed him home. For months he struggled with PTSD; and somewhere along the way, Joel lost his direction—he got into trouble—and—he eventually he ended up in jail. I will never forget going to see him. There was a locked door between us. He was locked in—and I was locked out. And for once in my life, I didn’t have a key. I was his father. I was a pastor. I had spent years helping other people through difficult places. But none of that gave me the key to the jailhouse door. I couldn’t walk in and bring my son home. I couldn’t reach across and put my arms around him. There wasn’t even the warmth of sitting across a table from one him. There was only the cold, impersonal glass of a television monitor. My son on one side. His father on the other. And no key. Or so it seemed—because I DID have one key—I had the key of prayer. There are some doors in life that our hands simply cannot unlock—there are places our children can go where we cannot follow them—there are illnesses we cannot cure—there are relationships we cannot repair—there are circumstances where all our experience and determination leaves us with NO key. There are some doors in life that our hands simply cannot unlock—there are places our children can go where we cannot follow them—there are illnesses we cannot cure—there are relationships we cannot repair—there are circumstances where all our experience and determination leaves us with NO key. But there is one door that is never locked to us—-The door into the presence of God. So when I couldn’t get through that locked door to Joel—I prayed—when I couldn’t put my hand on his shoulder—I prayed—when I couldn’t change his circumstances—I prayed. Prayer didn’t magically unlock that jailhouse door—but prayer opened another door. It allowed me to place my son into the hands of someone who could go where I could not go. Sometimes the key Christ gives us doesn’t immediately unlock the circumstance. Instead—He gives us a key that opens up the door to the presence of God in the middle of the circumstance. And that may be the only key we have. But friends—never underestimate that key. Because not every prison has steel bars. Some people are imprisoned by guilt—others by shame—others by fear, anger, addiction, or something painful from the past. You can be perfectly free on the outside and still live behind a locked door on the inside. And that is where the Gospel becomes such good news. Jesus Christ possesses keys to prisons we cannot open by ourselves. Peter would continue learning that lesson. In the book of Acts, God led him into the home of Cornelius, a Gentile. There in Cornelius house, Peter discovered that God’s grace was opening doors which Peter thought were permanently closed to everyone except the Jews. Through a vision from heaven, God changed Peter’s mind. And Peter used God’s kingdom keys to open yet another door. He finally declared with relationship to this Gentile, Cornelius: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” The man with the keys —Peter—was still learning how to use them. And perhaps so are we are still learning how to use the keys God has given to us. Sometimes we lock people out because of their past—Sometimes we lock people out because of their personality. I have done this myself and I did it just recently. Sometimes we lock people out because of their past—Sometimes we lock people out because of their personality. I have done this myself and I did it just recently. The personality of one of the men from the Summit I attended in Massanetta Springs hit me the wrong way—and I was about to lock him out. I didn’t want to be around him. But guess what—God awoke me last night and this man was very much on my mind. I was about to lock him out. But God said—NO. Sometimes we even lock ourselves out—we say—I’m not good enough—I’ve made too many mistakes—It’s too late for me. But Peter’s own life tells us otherwise—Peter denied Jesus three times—Jesus restored Peter—and then—Jesus trusted Peter with the keys. So we ought to be very careful about declaring that a door is permanently locked which Jesus may still intend to open. In the book of Revelation, Jesus describes Himself as the One “who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” Ultimately, the keys belong to Christ. He entrusts them to His Church. So perhaps the question for us this morning is quite simple: What needs locking—and what needs unlocking? We need to—lock out hatred—lock out bitterness—lock out narrow mindedness— lock out anything that destroys another child of God. What do we need to unlock? We need to unlock forgiveness—unlock reconciliation—unlock compassion—unlock hope. We need to make certain that the doors of Christ’s Church remain open to people searching for grace—because—every Sunday somebody may walk through those doors carrying something nobody else knows about—guilt—grief—failure— loneliness—a broken heart. They don’t need for us to put another lock on the door—they need the Gospel. And the Gospel is a key. The gospel says—there is forgiveness—there is grace—there is another chance—there is a Savior—and His name is Jesus.But remember where this entire conversation began. Before Jesus gave Peter the keys, He asked: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” That confession is the master key—Jesus Christ—He unlocks what sin has locked —He unlocks forgiveness—He unlocks hope—He unlocks new beginnings—He unlocks eternal life. And Jesus can enter places where you and I cannot go. I learned that standing outside a locked door when my son was on the other side. I couldn’t go in—but Jesus could.—I couldn’t reach him—but Jesus could—I didn’t have the key to that jail—but I had the key of prayer—and I knew the One who held all the other keys. Maybe somebody here has a person you love on the other side of a door you cannot open. Don’t give up. You may not possess the key to their circumstances. But you still possess the key of prayer. Use that key! In prayer—put those you love into the hands of Jesus. And use any other keys which God has given you. That is my challenge to both you and to myself—let us use every key we have—let us use each one wisely—and let us always remember that Jesus holds the master key. Let us trust him completely and when He swings wide the doors of grace for whomever He pleases—let us graciously NOT be inclined to swing those doors back shut again. And to that END we pledge our devotion—and give God the praise—the glory— the honor—both now and forevermore. Amen. Pastoral Prayer Gracious and loving God, We come before You this morning grateful that our hope is built on Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the One who opens doors no one can shut and who makes a way when we can see no way. We thank You for the doors of grace You have opened for us—for forgiveness when we have failed, for hope when we have been discouraged, and for new beginnings when we thought it was too late.We thank You for the doors of grace You have opened for us—for forgiveness when we have failed, for hope when we have been discouraged, and for new beginnings when we thought it was too late. Lord, teach us to use wisely the keys You have entrusted to us. Help us lock out bitterness, hatred, pride, and anything that separates us from You or from one another. And help us unlock doors of forgiveness, compassion, reconciliation, and welcome. We pray especially for those who find themselves behind locked doors today—not only doors of steel and stone, but doors of fear, grief, addiction, loneliness, guilt, and despair. Remind them that no door can keep out Your presence and no prison can place anyone beyond the reach of Your grace. We pray also for those we love whom we cannot reach or rescue. When there is nothing more our hands can do, remind us that we still possess the key of prayer. Give us faith to place them into Your hands, trusting that You can go where we cannot go and work where we cannot work. Remember those who are sick, those facing uncertain diagnoses or difficult treatments, those grieving someone they love, and those carrying burdens known only to You. Open doors of healing where healing is possible, doors of courage where the journey is difficult, and doors of peace in every circumstance. Bless Your Church, Lord. Keep us from locking doors that Christ would have us open. May everyone who enters this fellowship searching for mercy discover that there is forgiveness, there is grace, there is hope, and there is a Savior. And when we stand before doors we cannot open, help us remember who holds the keys. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Into His hands we entrust ourselves and those we love.