Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
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What if I came up to you and said, “Hey, I’d love the keys to your house. What is it going to take for you to give them to me?” First, you’d probably look at me like I was some sort of psycho. Then you might either try to get a restraining order or at the very least change your door locks to include retinal scanners.
So, if it’s so creepy to us, why do we do that with Jesus? What I’m referring to is how we often use Jesus as a mere get-out-of-jail free card For instance, the phrase, “I got saved” or “get saved” rubs me the wrong way. I realize some Christians are legitimately pointing to a time in their life when they began a relationship with Jesus, but I can’t help but think of the times in Jesus’ ministry when the only thing people wanted to know was what they needed to do to get saved.
“What must I do to be saved?” Isn’t that like saying, “Okay Jesus, be straight with me. What’s the minimum to get into Heaven?” It reminds me of the times my students asked me, “What’s the minimum I have to do on this project to get an ‘A?’”
The responses Jesus gave were curious. “Believe and be baptized and you’ll be saved. Believe with your heart and confess with your mouth, and you’ll be saved. Eat my flesh and drink my blood, and you’ll be saved. Sell your possessions and give them to the poor, then come follow me, and you’ll be saved.”
So, is there a simple formula? Do one of these apply. Or since there seems to be differences in what it takes to be saved, how do we rectify them to come up with a simple formula like X+Y=Salvation?
Some people, churches, and denominations have done just that. “Ask Jesus into your heart, and you’ll be saved.” “Be baptized with the holy water, and you’ll be saved.” Is that what it takes?
I don’t think Jesus was asking us to complete some sort of formula when he gave those “requirements” for salvation; I think He was inviting us on a journey – a personal relationship with the Redeemer of the world. To the rich man in Luke 18, Jesus was inviting Him on a voyage, and He was helping him try to eliminate all of the excuses that might stand in the way of an inhibited journey of discipleship.
So, if I asked you what it took to get the keys to your house, you might be thinking, “I only give keys to my friends and people I can trust,” and you might offer ways I can earn your trust. But what am I really after? Am I after your keys or your heart?
Jesus identified Himself to Pergamum as the One with the double-edged sword that can divide our actions and intentions. He knows our motives, and better than anyone, including ourselves, He knows our heart. Let me invite you into a new way of thinking about salvation (for some, this is not new at all). Instead of thinking about just getting saved; think about a personal relationship with Jesus. Think about relating with Him like we would relate with a friend – no manipulating, no ulterior motives, no arm-twisting, just a lifetime journey with Him.
You see, God isn’t just powerful enough to keep us out of hell; He’s powerful enough to walk through the journey of earth with us. He’s powerful enough to change our minds about what this world is about and start helping us think of how we can be more like Him on this earth. He’s powerful enough to show us the beauty of heaven even when we’re stuck in these frail human bodies, these jars of clay. He’s powerful enough to tell us to forget about rule-following and to leave the notion of merely going through the motions and start thinking about Him standing perpetually in our midst. If we have that type of mindset, rules will be rather redundant. We’ll stop asking “what must I do?” and start asking “what can I do?”
Try to explain that type of relationship to a friend who knows nothing of a personal Jesus, and you’ll get some strange looks. “Did you know Johnny has an imaginary friend?” they might say. But you know this is nothing of imagination. This is real; more real than this world. When you talk to Jesus, you feel like you’re more home than when you’re in your actual home on earth.
Jesus’ promise to Pergamum is to give them some of the hidden manna and a stone with a name nobody but us knows. Jesus is inviting us to a place of intimacy – a hidden realm in plain sight. And over time, as our friendship builds, He won’t just give us the keys to His house, He’ll show us to the room that’s designed just for us inside His mansion.
My late grandfather and grandmother, shared one of the most romantic dating stories. They lived in Hawaii. My grandmother was the daughter of Spanish immigrants; my grandfather was stationed in Hawaii during World War II.
The two met at church, and my grandfather couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. He tried to do the proper thing – ask her father if he could have his permission to date her. Let’s just say, that didn’t go over so well.
But despite her father’s wishes, the two couldn’t resist seeing each other. My grandfather would come by her house, and hide a note written with lemon juice underneath a rock in the backyard. My grandmother would go out, look under the rock, grab the invisible note, and use an iron to reveal what the letter said. Eventually the two got married.
Jesus tells us that in heaven, we will receive a stone with a new name that nobody but us knows. It makes me think of that rock and the secret notes in my grandmother’s backyard. To anyone else, that rock was just an ordinary stone and the piece of paper was a blank page. But to my grandparents, those were intimate, secret expressions of their growing love for each other. Had you lived during her youth, and you saw her with that paper, you might say, “What does it mean?” She might tell you, “Iron it and find out.”
David invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good. We can see the intimacy between the Lord and this man after God’s own heart, but there’s nothing like experiencing this intimacy personally. Perhaps you’ve really only described your relationship with God as just getting into the door. If so, put those keys down for a moment. It’s time to discover all of the wonder that God has for you – a journey with the Messiah, an intimate union between the Creator and the created.