I’m more than old enough to remember a game show called, “Password.” The host was the late Allen Ludden, better known as Betty White’s husband. There were four contestants, two of whom were usually quasi celebrities.
The host, Ludden, would hand out a word to each celebrity, who carefully, guarding the word from their game partner would try to give clues to what the word was and their partners would respond with guesses. Meanwhile Ludden’s voice came to TV viewers whispering, “The password is (he would name the password)” Back and forth they would go until someone guessed the word. They would then switch and the celebrity had to guess the next word. And on it went.
Yes, I remember when Password was a game show. Now passwords are a form of life partner. We have a password for our email account, one or maybe more for the bank, a password for our computer, our insurance accounts, and various apps. Don’t forget the password for Zoom, Ticketmaster, the newspaper, credit cards, airlines, and the App store, where….guess what? ….we need a password to get a new app or change an old one. But don’t worry! There is a place to store all those passwords. Yes, that’s right, we would then need a password to get our passwords. But if you forget the password to your passwords, your life is doomed! It would seem that in forgetting this password, if you would not be cut off from your life, you would at least be cut off from your lifeblood.
People use all kinds of passwords. They may include their birthdate, children’s names, pet’s name, an old address, a current address, something cute, or something that says who they are. Computer security gurus tell us to stay away from biblical passwords, especially passwords that include Jesus as these are often easily hacked.
Imagine. Jesus as your password. The Freudian in me thinks that using such a password might reveal at least a hope that Jesus might function as a password into some other place in the future. That is how Jesus is often understood. Jesus is simply our ticket, our password or passport into some better beyond.
If that is so, what do we do in the meantime? What good are all those other passwords and the good things that can come from the places we use them? Why worry about pandemics and hunger, and justice, and love, and racism, and …and…. when our ticket is punched and our password granted?
Jesus did not come to either be or give us a password. Jesus came to be out in the open, visible; seen and heard. Jesus came as much for any present we experience as for any future we might have. As followers our call is not to give out passwords to God or the Kingdom of God, but to live out that which has been freely and openly given to us. We also do not need a password to or for each other. Our password for each other is brother or sister. Anyone who grew up with a sibling knows there are no secrets in households. There are no passwords. All is in the open.
While passwords may be a partner in today’s life, their function is to help us as individuals to live better in our life. Jesus, on the other hand, is to relate to us so we can live better together in human relationship in this world and this life.
Passwords, it would seem, are to keep others away from us. Jesus is the antithesis. For Christians, then, the password is not believe or love or hope or joy. The password for Christians is “follow”. Using that as our password can allow all those other passwords to fall into place.
Pastor Gary
