Keys to the Kingdom
On Sunday we hear a story about our old friend, Saint Peter. It's a famous story, one that the Roman Catholic Church has invested a lot into. It's the story of Peter's confession that Jesus is the Son of God, the messiah, the Christ.
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah...And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church...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."
Peter has the courage to confess Jesus as Lord and God, and so Jesus honors and blesses him in a unique way. Popes ascribe their authority to this verse, claiming that they have similar binding power on earth and heaven. But I don't buy into the idea that Jesus was naming Peter as his emissary on earth, and setting up a rigid structure of governance with a single person, supposedly descended from Peter, at the helm.
First of all, even we at a church named for this special, inspiring saint, can recognize that Peter was every bit as flawed as us: able to deny his Lord and abandon him to the crucifixion, able to doubt and sink in the water, able to mistake Jesus' mission on earth for one of might and conquest.
And secondly, the binding and loosing power given to Peter in these verses is actually given to all of us just a few verses later. Peter’s not the only one whose actions on earth reverberate throughout eternity. Mine do, too. And so do yours. What you do on this earth, how you love and serve others, how you forgive wrongs or hurts, how you give generously of your wealth and time—it is bound up in the fabric of heaven. It has meaning and significance.
Perhaps if Christians throughout the centuries had spent more time pondering that, and less ascribing some unique power and authority to a particular person or group of people, the world would appear that much closer to the kingdom of God. Next time you see a pope or bishop or priest—anyone who you’ve been taught to revere as holy or righteous or possessing of some unique authority—remember that, according to Jesus, we all are equally bound and loosed in heaven.
