Have you ever been given the keys to something of great value?
The day I got my driving license was on my actual 16th birthday. I will never forget it. It was a landmark day for me, as it is for all of us when that important new chapter in our life comes. I could now get in the driver’s seat, take a drive and be alone behind the wheel of this wonderful invention we call an automobile! I had a freedom I’d never known before that day!
It was June 1973. My dad took me to the department of licensing at the county courthouse. I had completed driver’s ed. I had practiced plenty. I took the written exam and passed, then I went out to my dad’s car for the driving part of the test. A uniformed police officer got in the passenger seat, clipboard in hand, and he tested my abilities while my dad waited on the courtyard lawn for my return and the results. I vividly remember that I was petrified—but outside of a few minor flaws, I PASSED!
But here comes the best part. MY DAD HANDED ME THE KEYS TO HIS CAR and said, “Son, now that you can drive, here are my keys. Take my car and go spend a few days with your grandparents.” It may not sound like a big deal, but my dad’s parents lived 150 miles away! What I am saying is that the very day I got my permanent driver’s license, my dad put me in charge of his car—or, to put it another way, he put his car totally under my responsibility for a full week, for a 300-mile round-trip drive all alone. I literally drove from the courthouse steps that day straight to my grandparents’ house 150 miles away—from New Braunfels, Texas, to Corpus Christi, Texas.
What’s the point?
My dad gave me the keys of responsibility for his possession!
It is with this theme in mind that I ask you to prepare for this coming Sunday, May 1. Read ahead and contemplate the following focus verses: 2 Corinthians 12:20-21.
Then, I ask you to take some time to read and contemplate those verses in their larger context of 2 Corinthians 12:2-21.
Paul had been part of the planting of the church (ekklesia) in Corinth. They had been left responsible for this most valuable thing—the Body of Christ in Corinth. He had stood at the courthouse lawn and had handed them the keys to this precious Body. How would he find them when he returned? You will find the following theme scream out from this passage:
Commissioned people in His Church are given the keys to His precious work!
In 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 you will find that twice Paul says, “I am afraid that when I come I will find you…” Read this and contemplate why Paul would worry about how he would find them when he saw them again. Think carefully about the responsibility in our charge, and whether or not we are working to hold up that responsibility. Jesus himself said in Matthew 16 that Peter and all of us disciples have been given the keys to the Kingdom of God.
Commissioned people are given incredible responsibility. What are you and I doing to live under that responsibility?
See you Sunday morning at 10 a.m.!
