1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this Christmas Eve is taken from Isaiah 22:22. It’s entitled, “O Come, Key of David,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. As many of you know, just a few months ago we had a transition in our family. I accepted the Divine Call to be Pastor here at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Creek, WI. My wife Roxanne and I were blessed to be able to buy our first home in Caledonia. When the end of August came, with great anticipation I signed the closing documents to make the house we bought our home. Finally, the time came for the realtor to give us the key to our new home. Oh, what a feeling that was to be the special holder of the key. Tonight, we pray and celebrate the coming of the Key of David.
3. That’s what stanza 5 of our beloved Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is about. There we pray: O come, Thou Key of David, come, And open wide our heav’nly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! (LSB 357:5) The Key of David is spoken of only twice in the Bible, once here in Isaiah and once in the Book of Revelation. Our text: “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (v 22). So, the Key of David. But who is the “he” that holds it? What does it unlock? And where do we find it now? Since there are lots of children here eager to get home and open Christmas presents, we better get started answering.
4. Just who holds this Key of David? To answer this first question, we need to go back to Isaiah. Out of context, we lose something. We just assume the Key of David is held by Jesus and that’s all there is to it. But there’s more. In the context, the key of David is actually held by Eliakim, the new chief of staff for King Hezekiah. These were troubled times for the king. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been wiped out by the bad guys of the day, Assyria. Hezekiah was paying large sums of money to keep Assyria out of Jerusalem. His advisers were terrified. One of them, Shebna, the former chief of staff, apparently wasn’t doing the job. He is demoted to secretary and replaced by Eliakim son of Hilkiah, a priestly name. So maybe Eliakim is a priest as well as chief of staff. What great symbolism for Jesus, our High Priest, who’s in charge of the whole universe!
5. Chief of staff for Hezekiah was an incredibly powerful office. Eliakim held the key to the city, not just a big ceremonial key like we give some visiting dignitary, but a real chunk of iron or bronze that opened a big lock on a massive gate. The king governed through Eliakim. As keeper of the key, Eliakim could cut deals with Assyria, make war, pay tribute, open the city gates or lock them to Assyria or anyone he pleased. Talk about power! What he opens, “none shall shut”; what he shuts, “none shall open.” But Eliakim doesn’t live forever. Eventually, he dies. The Key of David is passed on to others not so faithful. The key is misused, misplaced, and finally lost when the kingdom of Judah is taken down by the Babylonians and David’s kingdom is cut off at the roots. Still, there would always be a Key—a Key in a spiritual sense—that would open the gates to a restored kingdom of God.
6. There’s an old saying, “If you want the job done right, do it yourself.” Someone needed to get the key back, rebuild the kingdom, and open the gates to the faithful. Who would that person be? The divine child born to Mary, Jesus Christ, the rightful heir of David, the son of Jesse; he is that person! Israel and all mankind, all the kings and priests and chiefs of staff in the world, have totally blown it with sin and incompetence, so God comes in the person of Jesus Christ and reclaims the key. Tonight, we celebrate the fact that the Key is no longer missing. Jesus holds the Key. Jesus is the Key! So, we know the Key is Jesus, but what does it unlock? Matthew’s Gospel for this Christmas Eve tells us how Joseph learns that Mary, his virgin bride-to-be, will bear a child. He’s to call this child Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). That’s Christmas.
7. But later, the Gospel of Matthew speaks of the key Emmanuel brings and what it unlocks. In Matt. 16, Jesus, before he begins his trip to Jerusalem to be crucified, has a conversation with his disciples. He asks them the most important question anyone can be asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Responding to that answer, Jesus says, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:13–19)
8. With these words, the keys held by Jesus are now entrusted to the Church founded on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now what do we do with the keys Jesus has entrusted to us, the Church? If you have a key and you don’t know what it unlocks, it’s not much good. Do you have a stash of keys at your home that you have no idea where they go to? Why do we hang on to them? Because we think someday we might discover what lock they actually go to. Seldom do.
9. The Church founded on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, does not have that problem with its keys. We know exactly what the keys go to. They are the keys to the kingdom of heaven. They are the keys that lock or unlock the gates to let you and me in, or keep us out. They are what Jesus speaks of when he tells his disciples after his resurrection, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (Jn 20:23).
10. The power and responsibility to forgive or retain sins are the keys Jesus gives his Church. But it is not an arbitrary power and responsibility. It doesn’t depend on the whim of the congregation or its pastor. It depends on the confession of the sinner. Every sinner who confesses his sins, every sinner who repents and trusts Jesus alone to save him from those sins, is to be forgiven. To such a person the Church through its called pastors says on behalf of Jesus, the King of heaven, “I forgive you all your sins.” When you hear these words and believe it is Jesus speaking them to you through your pastor, the gates of heaven are unlocked for you.
11. Now we know what the key unlocks. But where do we find it? We find it in the Church Jesus builds on the confession that he is the Christ. People have all sorts of reasons for being in church on Christmas Eve. For many, it’s an opportunity for family and loved ones to be together in the same place at a very special time of year. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without going to church with family on Christmas Eve. For others, maybe it’s a way to remember how things used to be. Our world has changed, our culture is different, but at least once a year things are the way they used to be. The songs, the lessons, the creed are just as we learned them as children. That’s reassuring.
12. But there’s another reason for being here. “Here” is the Church where you find the Key of David, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Those keys are here in the form of two gifts from God: the Word and the Sacraments. Through the Word of the Gospel that you hear and believe, Jesus forgives your sins and opens the gates of heaven for you. Through the Sacraments, those visible signs—bread and wine in Holy Communion, water in Holy Baptism—through these Jesus himself is present and opens the gates of heaven for you. This is where you find the Key of David, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You find the keys to heaven when you gather in the name of the triune God as the Church of Jesus Christ to receive his gifts of forgiveness in Word and Sacrament.
13. We often say, “Christmas is about giving.” It is. But it’s not really about our giving gifts to friends and loved ones. And it’s not really about our giving God gifts to celebrate the birth of Jesus. None of this is bad. But the giving of Christmas is really about God giving us his gifts—the gift of the Key of David, his own Son, to be our crucified and risen Savior. And then, it’s about God giving us, through Word and Sacrament, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Through these, received in faith, Jesus comes to us, we are forgiven, we possess eternal life, and we look forward to resurrection. What a gift!
14. How do you see yourself tonight? Are you pretty much self-satisfied, thinking of yourself as a good person, worthy of heaven? If that’s you, then what I’ve said probably doesn’t “ring a bell,” so to speak. You aren’t at the point in your life where the Key of David means much yet. But keep coming. Through the Word you hear, the Holy Spirit can still speak to you and help you see your need of Christ’s gifts. But as you find yourself praying the words to the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” God has much to give you tonight. Let me read you the literal translation of the Latin: O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners Who are in darkness and the shadow of death. Tonight, if you recognize yourself a prisoner of sin, if you live in the darkness of guilt and the fear of death, Jesus is here with his gift of the keys to set you free. Receive them by faith, and heaven’s door is flung wide open for you!
15. We pray: Jesus, Key of David, come near to us we pray, in Word and Sacrament. Forgive our sins, and open to us the gates of heaven. In your holy name we pray. Amen.
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