• Keeper of the Keys, Matthew 16:13-20
  by Rev. Randy L. Quinn   (see below)
   

• Unsung Heroes of Faith, Exodus 1:8 – 2:10
  Rev. Randy Quinn
   

• Love Breeds Resistance, Exodus 1:8-2:10, by Rev. Christian Skoorsmith
   
• Round Pegs in Square Holes? Romans 12:1-8, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   
• Who do you say I am?  Mat.16:13-20, by Rev. Frank Schaefer
   
• On this Rock, Mat. 16:13-20, by DGBradley
   
• A Visit from Andrew, Mat. 16:13-20, by Crystal in NY  
   
• Escape Artist, Romans 12:1-2, by Troy Brewer
   

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Keeper of the Keys
 a sermon based on Matthew 16:13-20
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn

Have you ever paid attention to the kinds of questions people ask?

Ø      Some people ask questions that probe deep into our soul while others ask questions that allow us see into their souls.

Ø      Some people are like lawyers who only ask questions to which they know the answers, as if to test us, while others ask questions that cannot be answered, as if to get our response to what they have been pondering.

Ø      Some people ask questions to confirm their own opinions while others ask questions to explore differing opinions.

If you haven’t paid attention to the kinds of questions people ask, you probably haven’t thought about how you ask questions, either.  I’m one who tends to listen to a conversation and develop theories.  I then use questions to test my own thinking.  Am I understanding what is being said or not?  Typically, my questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”

I’m trying to learn how to ask different kinds of questions, but that tends to be the style I use most often.

I’m trying to learn how to ask different kinds of questions because I have often marveled at the way some people use questions.  They ask questions with a different purpose; they can probe and explore things I never thought to explore.

I have a friend, for instance, who always asks questions in a staccato fashion, one right after the other.  I rarely finish answering one before he is asking the next one.  His questions reveal things that would have been hidden and unknown had they not been asked – and while it is sometimes frightening to realize what is revealed, I am almost always grateful for the insights his questions bring.

Then there are those people I meet who ask innocuous questions, often seemingly unrelated.  After several of those questions, with almost no noticeable change in tone of voice, they ask a question that will reveal something about myself I don’t normally reveal.  It’s as if their earlier questions work to build a sense of trust, and that trust is then employed in ways I’m not expecting.

Some of my teachers used questions to lead us and guide us into new discoveries.  While I know they already knew the outcome, it was clear they wanted us to experience the thrill of discovery.  Other teachers use questions to push us into areas and realms where not even they know the answers.

As I read our text for this week, I wondered about Jesus.  How is he asking these questions?  Does he have a “right answer” in mind or is it simply an exploration of ideas?

Ø      Is he giving his Disciples a final exam, an exam that has right and wrong answers?

Ø      Is he simply taking a poll to determine the success of getting his story out?

Ø      Is he verifying his own understanding of events so far?

Ø      Is he testing the waters to see what needs to happen next?

And how are the Disciples feeling as he asks the questions?  Are they answering nonchalantly over a sandwich or is there sweat beading on their foreheads as if they have been put on the spot?

In her commentary on Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, Linda Bamber reminds us that, for good or for bad, we tend to look for ourselves in a story as a way of understanding the story, as a way of empathizing with the characters.  She opens her comments this way:

When adults show children how to read a map, they say, “Here is your street (or state or nation),” and the habit of finding ourselves on the map persists when we are grown up.  When travelers return with pictures of Cairo or Barcelona, they say, “That’s the hotel we stayed in, there,” as if it explained the picture.  If a work of fiction is a map of its own world, the first question we ask of it is, “Where am I in here?” or “Who is like me?”  This question is unsophisticated but important, because it shapes our most basic responses.  Only when we have answered it do we know who to love and hate and what to hope for[1].

As I read her words, I realize that we respond in the same way with scripture.  We try to “locate ourselves” in the story, including our text for today.

Ø      Am I one of the Disciples who are put on the spot by Jesus?

Ø      Am I one of the people the Disciples know or know about, whose answer they bring to Jesus?

Ø      Am I a bystander who overhears this conversation, but is unaffected by it?

Too many people, in my opinion at least, want to be the bystander.  They want to be a part of what the pundits call the “water cooler” conversations.  Too many people want to join in the gossip about the Disciples – and maybe even about Jesus – rather than be directly affected by the story.

Those of us who claim a relationship with Jesus Christ, however, those of us who want to be included in the church Jesus builds, have no choice but to locate ourselves squarely in the place where the Disciples find themselves.  We cannot read this in any other way.  We read this story as if Jesus is asking the questions of us.

What are our neighbors saying about Jesus and what do we think?  (If we don’t have an answer to the first question, we need to spend more time with our neighbors and if we don’t have an answer to the second question, we need to spend more time with Jesus.)

Those who know, like Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, can find themselves receiving the same blessing Peter did.  It is a reminder that the church is not going to be perfect; it is made up of human beings like Peter who claim faith one day and deny Jesus the next.

The church is not perfect, nor will it be until it is reconstituted in the next life.  Until then, it is made pure and holy in God’s eyes by God’s grace.

Whenever a pastor comes to a new church, one of the most difficult tasks is to learn – not names of people – but which key is used for which door.  J  When we moved to Bow in 1992, however, I inherited one of the largest collections of church keys that I’ve ever seen.

There were keys to each of the Sunday school classrooms as well as each of the church’s exterior doors.  There were keys to storerooms and closets as well as desks and filing cabinets.  I should have counted them – just so I would know how many there were!...[continue]