Keys, Freely Given

            Let’s just say I wrote a “self-fulfilling prophecy” into an email to our son right before    we made the recent transition to a new cable provider.  My exact words were, “I hope the change does not become a big hassle.”  May I suggest you avoid such statements, written or spoken, on the verge of any changes. 

            The cable technician told my husband and me that we could keep the old email address, so we did not send out emails about any coming change.  The old account worked for about a week, and in the short space of five minutes, Jim successfully used the account, and then I could no longer get into it.  Suddenly, we had no access to what we needed.

            A few weeks ago, Jim and I visited a weekly worship and prayer gathering here in North County.  The speaker talked about a well-known text, focusing on what Jesus says about building His church and giving his followers the “keys of the kingdom” (Mat. 16:19).  He then talked about keys and what they provide to us, emphasizing that keys give us access.  Despite the fact that I am familiar with this passage, I know there is more to understand and learn here.

            The word “access” and how it works popped into my mind the minute I could no longer get into our old email account.  Not having access disabled the account for our use, and we could not, in any way, “get to” the emails therein.  On the other hand, having access had provided immediate use of the account and the features it provided.   

            I have found more to consider on this subject of keys to the kingdom.  On a recent Sunday at our daughter’s church in Illinois, I heard a message referring to Jesus’s directions in Luke 12:31,32:  “But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.  Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  These words followed Jesus’s discussion on what his listeners worry about having, things like food, clothing, and even our lives.  His words move us toward what is really important as He says “seek first the kingdom of God.”

            In Jesus’s secret meeting with Nicodemus, He tells him that “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  Jesus explains that we can’t “see” this kingdom of another realm than our worldly existence and what our human senses tell us.  Just two verses later, he adds,  “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  Just like we are born physically, we must be born spiritually to have “access” to (enter) this kingdom.  And then Jesus makes our entry into this kingdom even clearer when He says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 6:6).

Our world today is flooded with “how to” books, messages, and exhortations on many subjects.  It is appealing to think we can follow three steps or more to reach some desirable end.  Many book titles even begin with the words “How to . . . “ and thousands of books are probably purchased every day by people wanting to obtain whatever the book examines.  Even Christian books and teachings present steps and how-to’s, including what I am presently reading,  How to Experience Revival,  by Charles Finney.  On its cover, Finney is described as “the most noteworthy nineteenth-century apostle of revival.”  I expect to learn about Finney and his times and experience by reading this book, but surely bringing revival will require more than reading a book.  

Jesus gives us these keys to the kingdom.  To build His church, we need to discover what they actually are and how they are to work in the lives of Christian people—or perhaps more accurately, how they are supposed to work in our lives .  Considering Jesus’s own ministry, I see He did not deal uniformly with people asking for His help.  Sometimes, He blessed them by commending their faith and telling them to go and be well.  Sometimes, He commanded demons out of some poor tormented soul.  Sometimes, He even prayed more than one time for the healing needed, such as for the blind man whose vision was progressively restored (Mark 8:22-25).  There is not a step- by- step or “one size fits all” in Jesus’s ministry, and there is not supposed to be in ours, either.

Jesus talked about being born again and gaining access to His Father’s kingdom through faith in Him.  Often He spoke of the Christian life as being one of searching and seeking and having constant union with Him and His life-giving Spirit.  He credited His Father with working in and through Him to accomplish the Father’s work--real kingdom work--and He points us to the same dynamic, a living connection with a living Lord who will lead us and guide us “step by step” and day by day.