Lectionary 21; August 2008; Bethel Lutheran Church, Rochester.
Matthew 16:13-20.

Dear Friends in Christ, Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. AMEN.


Keys are a reality in our lives. Nearly every single adult in this room has a set of keys in your pocket or your purse. Often the person with the keys is the person in power. This past week I was joking in a group of pastors about a local church that lost one pastor this summer, then lost another pastor this summer. But what they are really worried about is if they lose a custodian, because that person has the keys!

In preparation for this sermon I took out my own set of keys. While they are very helpful, I am a bit annoyed at the two large fobs that accompany the keys to our two vehicles—such a lump of stuff to carry in a pocket. And on one of those fobs I carry a house key. The other keys are all for the church. There is one to get me into the building, an old master key for the original building on this site, a new master key that gets me into most of the two newer buildings, and an office key that lets me into my office. I have a key to get into the communion cabinet. Then I realized I have a key on here that goes to a cabinet we haven’t used since we moved into this sanctuary almost five years ago. Finally I have a key that goes to an old briefcase that I haven’t used for 10 years. At least I thought it was to the briefcase. I tried it on Friday. It didn’t work. I don’t know what that key is for.

Is that true for some of the keys in your life? Some are very useful. Others don’t work, or you don’t even know what they are supposed to lock and unlock? Oh, yeah, I have this motor scooter key in my other pocket—how did that get there?

And, in our day, we have so many keys that aren’t keys at all. My daughter has a car that doesn’t really need a key. When she gets close to it with the fob in her pocket or purse, she can unlock the car without any key. And she can start it without a key, too. Wait a minute. Isn’t that the way cars were 100 years ago?

And some of you have keypads by your garage door so that you can get into the garage. The key to my computer is a series of numbers and letters that locks and unlocks the content. Some high security buildings are using eye retina scans for the key to get people in and out of highly secure areas.

So some of our keys are traditional, while others are no key at all. In Jesus’ day they didn’t have traditional keys or locks as we understand them. But Jesus understood what a key was. A key is something that binds something up, or loosens something. And Jesus tells Peter that he gives to the church the keys of the kingdom of heaven!
One day a computer programmer died and went to the gates of heaven. Said St. Peter. "Do you know any reason why I should let you into heaven?" "Um...I used to help out folks who asked technical questions over the Internet."
"Ah," said the saint, eyeing his laptop. "That's certainly a worthy goal, heaven knows. Tell you what, I'll give you a special opportunity -- you can pick where you want to spend eternity, heaven or hell."
"Great!" said the man. "But...I never got to church much...what's the difference?" "I'll show you," said Peter. He waved his keys. Immediately they stood on a lovely white beach, with palms waving in the breeze, wonderful surf, and lovely women beckoning from a pavilion fully equipped with the latest computer hardware and full Internet access. But before the man could log on, Peter waved his keys.
"That was hell," Peter said, "and this is heaven." This time there were lovely clouds with all the hues of sunrise, and everywhere throngs of folks in white singing praise to someone or something just out of sight in a blaze of golden light. Wonderful, beautiful music. "Ah, well...This looks great, Peter, but if it's all the same to you, I'll take hell." "Fine," said Peter, and waved his keys.
After a month or so Peter thought he'd check up on the man. So he waved his keys and materialized in a horrible cavern lit with the fire of molten magma. Flames licked around a gaunt figure chained to the wall. In front of his face was suspended a huge computer showing a screen saver -- with the mouse hanging just out of reach. "Hi there," called Peter. "How's it going?" The man struggled to lift his head. Gasping, he croaked, "Peter -- if this is hell -- where is the beach? The computers. The splendor?" "Oh, that." said Peter. "That was just the demo."
Some people believe that the keys to the kingdom of heaven are held by St. Peter near some pearly gate in the clouds up there somewhere. That isn’t the case at all, according to Jesus in our Gospel for today. Instead, the key to the kingdom of heaven is the authority Christ gave to the church to forgive the sins of those who repent, according to Martin Luther.
There isn’t some saint in heaven standing at a gate with a set of keys ready to take you to your room like some divine bellhop. Instead, there is a Savior who is at the door to our heart every day with the key to the kingdom—the key of forgiving others. We aren’t working on some demonstration model. We are working the real thing. According to Jesus, whatever is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever is forgiven on earth is forgiven in heaven. It is even more explicit in the Gospel of John where we read, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Forgiveness—the key to the kingdom of heaven. It appears that this is the first instruction that Christ gives to the church. Jesus has asked his disciples who people say that he is. Ultimately it is Peter who says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
That confession is the rock on which the church is built. For 2000 years we have identified with the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And as Jesus hears that confession he establishes his church and says that even the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church. And the church will be entrusted with the keys of the kingdom of heaven!
We are to be a loving and forgiving community that unlocks the kingdom for our community, our families, our visitors and friends. But here is an odd twist. We need to receive the key as much as we need to give the key away.
Once in a long while I will hear from a non-church attendee that the reason for not coming to church is that the church is full of hypocrites. Of course we are! We are imperfect and as much in need of forgiveness as one who has never darkened a church door. There is a humorous billboard that says, “Stop griping about your church. If it was perfect, you couldn’t belong.” We all need forgiveness every day. To expect us to be perfect is like expecting all health care workers to be perfectly healthy. In the city of Rochester, we have over 30,000 people working in the health care industry, and I can tell you that they are not all perfectly healthy!
Who needed the key to the kingdom more than Peter himself—the bold one who said that he would never betray the Christ—never! And yet, within hours he denied Christ three times. Did he take comfort in knowing that he—the Rock—is one yet given the keys to the kingdom of heaven?
What is it that we pray in our Lord’s Prayer: forgive us our trespasses or sins as we forgive those who sin against us? We have the key to forgive, and we need the key of forgiveness for our own sins and faults.
We all believe that the keys to our houses and cars and safe deposit boxes are important. But there is no key more important than the key that unlocks the gates to the kingdom of heaven. And that key is available to us every day—every day. Jesus has entrusted that key to the church—to us. AMEN.