Unlocking the Key

“Rizzarazzarazenfratz!”  you mumble beneath your breath after placing the key in the lock, your only key, snapped in two pieces at the turn of your wrist.  If God wanted to capture your attention right now, what could he possibly say  through this snapshot of everyday life that would rival a mountain-top experience?   For the answer, let’s try unlocking the key to the mystery.

Did you know that in the mid 1900′s, while excavating the buried ruins of the Khorsabad palace near Nineveh (in what is now Northern Iraq), archaologists uncovered the oldest known lock in existence?   Within the palace built for King Sargon II (ruler of the tyrannical Assyrian Empire 721-705  BC), they discovered a gigantic wooden bolt containing a slot with holes at the top. Wooden pegs filled the holes, preventing the bolt from opening, unless a massive wooden key was inserted. Interestingly enough,  though size and construction have changed, this 4,000 year old  design is still the basis for today’s pin-tumbler locks. 

Arti-facts generate interest, yes, but revelation comes when you probe deeper into the why’s behind them.            Locks either keep out trespassers, protecting people and property inside, or they keep in prisoners, protecting those  outside. If you study the ancient Assyrian Empire, you’ll find that they not only accrued wartime spoils from conquered peoples, but they held their captives under lock and key as well.    Many years later, as BC collided with  AD, followed by 2000 more years of technological progress, the lock hasn’t changed much.   A locksmith (or today a manufacturer) creates the key first.  Starting with a blank, he cuts the ridges (teeth) at varying levels, giving it a unique combination. Next, he designs all of the internal components to fit that key’s particular combination.  Then he tests it.   When the proper key is inserted into the lock,  all of the pins inside align to form a straight line, allowing the cylinder to turn. 

What does this have to do with God speaking to us in the ho-hums of everyday life? Imagine that the lock represents you and the locking pins inside signify your needs and desires. As the key enters your life and your needs and desires align with it, you are free to live as your Creator intended. In truth, you are physically, emotionally, and spiritually designed to connect with your Creator, your source.   Unfortunately, life with a small “l” wears on you over time, pursuading you to run from your natural state, causing you to turn to yourself or others as your source.  In essence, when you welcome no key or the wrong key,  your internal pins can’t line up, and the door to your relationship with God remains locked.  This does not suit you well because you were created from  the beginning — to commune with your Creator and His creation.                                                          

The Key to walking through the door hinges on the grace and mercy of Christ, should we decide to accept it. Thankfully, one master key fits all.  It draws us near and connects us with our Creator.  In the Greek New Testament, this connectedness is referred to as koinonia (community), wherein we  participate in the very Life of God  which suits us best.  How can you flow in koinonia moment by moment? 

“Listen to your life,” exhorts Frederick Buechner, the Pulitzer nominated American writer and theologian. “See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”  The Key, as Reverend Buechner so eloquently states is something you can never get but only be given.  Christ, through his grace and mercy offers you freedom.  All you have to do is welcome it.                                                                                                                                                   

Returning to where we began, why did that key break in the lock?  Sometimes we forget how God reveals Himself in the day-to-day. When we ask questions and seek answers, He opens the door, albeit a narrow one, with no holds barred.