APPOINTEE
In ancient times, keys were very heavy and had to be carried on the shoulder. When a prime minister, for example, was to be crowned, the king would take the mantle and belt and put on him and then would place on his shoulder the key of his palace. To receive the keys meant to have full powers in the palace of the king and authority from him to administer his property, to decide who was to be received and who would be kept outside the palace. Such was the authority given to Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, as we read in Isaiah 22:19-23. Worthy to note here is verse 21 which described Eliakim as an appointee: “He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.” These same words were applied to Peter in the gospel of Matthew 16:18-19: “You are Peter… 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.”
The simple and instructive lesson(s) to be learned here about appointments and appointees or anyone favoured by the ruling class is this: To be in power is to possess keys (heavy keys) from God. These keys are a burden, not a joy. You are burdened with other people’s problems and so there is no reason for you to celebrate, just because you have been selected to a position. Appointment is service, not elevation and you are appointed by a higher power (the king) to serve in his palace. Whatever your position, it is not your palace, it’s the king’s palace. So stop bragging as if you are the king himself. You are only a servant.
This brings us to the second and final point: As an appointee, your position is to enable you serve, not lord it over others . You have become a father to those in your care; not a Lord. Yours is a privileged position to make life meaningful for others and not to cause pain and separation. At this stage in our history, we are looking for leaders at various levels; community leaders, Church leaders, youth leaders, constituency leaders, etc. Whichever direction you are, remember the words of Jesus to Peter: “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16:17). Do not take advantage of your position to defraud, malign or oppress others because soon the keys will be handed over to other people.
Fr. Peter Abue
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author and does not represent Theluminenews its agent or the organisation the author works for/with.