Keys to the Kingdom by Carolyn Tucker

4-Barrel Carburetor

I really enjoy walking down memory lane at car shows and looking at the gorgeous classic ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s cars on display. I have personal fond memories of these powerful beauties because the first car I remember my folks owning was a ‘59 Chevy Impala. And later, when I was in high school, I was permitted to drive their ’68 Chevy Caprice SS. Wowie zowie; this car was so classy she even wore skirts! Something unexplainable happened to me during those years that caused me to fall in love with glasspacks and 4-barrel carburetors.

As opposed to a 2-barrel, a 4-barrel is a more-complex carburetor commonly used in high-performance engines. It uses two primary and two secondary barrels to supply air and fuel to the engine which results in increased horsepower and performance. Only the primary barrels open at idle and low-rpm driving, but the secondary barrels open up during high-rpm driving, e.g., passing vehicles or just flooring it for the fun of it! Modern cars don’t have carburetors; they’ve been replaced by fuel-injection systems. Ah, for the good ol’ days when you ran out of gas and had to save a little bit to pour into the carburetor. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to!

At my age, I’m pretty much considered a “classic” because I’ve noticed that when I wake up in the mornings, I just don’t feel like I used to at 22. I’m basically just idling on a 2-barrel carburetor for several minutes. But as I meander to the kitchen, I know I’ll be strengthened, encouraged, and reinforced with power once I read my Bible and devotional books. As I spend time with my heavenly Father, He begins to pour fuel into my 4-barrel which enables me to get started and have the power I need for the day. Dad used to say, “You never know what the day holds when your feet hit the floor in the morning.“ And I might add, “So you better take time to fill up your spiritual gas tank so you won‘t run out of power.

Apostle Paul wrote that we believers are in a race. So we can think of ourselves as driving a race car. Every day we run laps, around and around, and it takes lots of focus, determination, strength, and power. So it makes sense that every morning we need to get our jump-start from Jesus (and a cup of coffee) to get us up and running at full throttle. Every believer finds his/her source of power in the Father, so we can commit our prayers to Him in confidence. Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Church of Ephesus and surrounding area churches: “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the Holy Spirit Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality” (Ephesians 3:16 AMP).

There’s power in a 2-barrel, but I would most-certainly choose the mighty power of the 4-barrel. As Christ followers, it’s our choice. So why be puny when you can be powerful? The “inner man” is the true and enduring self — who we really are. So we need to keep our heart (inner man) tuned up so we can accomplish our calling and participate in the race of life at full power. Thankfully, we don’t have to try to live our lives on our own strength. “Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).

The Key: In the words of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, choose more power.

One week before Charlie Kirk’s death, I mentioned to a family member that if I could have lunch with anyone, it would be Charlie.  His death left me in tears.

As a former high school debate coach, I was awestruck by his ability to express his opinion, showing respect for his opposition while imparting unique, masterfully-crafted arguments that I never had considered. Who was this man?

I mean, I am fairly knowledgeable about the Bible, but Charlie had a way of synthesizing scriptural positions in a way I failed to anticipate.  “How did he come up with that?” I would ask my husband, or whomever was in listening position.  “That’s a brilliant argument,” I would say to myself.  Like I said, who was this man?

Regardless of what you think of Charlie Kirk, I hope you consider his assassination a grave injustice.  Instead of facing off with this man-of-faith to discuss their differences, Tyler Robinson premeditatively chose to put a bullet through his adversary’s neck.

Today, while driving to work, I listened to the radio as the detective assigned to the crime discussed how Robinson begged the arresting officers to be gentle with him, not to cause him harm by sending a SWAT team to bring him in. Basically, to treat him with a dignity he did not afford Charlie Kirk.

And I thought…that takes some nerve. How can someone who offers no mercy expect to get any in return?

Matthew 18:23-35 confronts that issue. Jesus’ parable addresses a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. One who could not pay owed millions of dollars. His master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

The man fell down and begged his master to be patient; he would repay it all.  The master, pitying his servant, forgave his debt.  When the man left the king, he met up with another servant who owed him a few thousand dollars, grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.                                                                                                                   

Just like the servant with the king, this man fell down and begged for clemency.  “Be patient with me, and I will pay it.”  Instead, his creditor had the man arrested and jailed until he repaid the debt in full, a lack of mercy that upset the other servants who witnessed the injustice. They went to the king and told him what had happened.

The king responded by calling in the servant he had forgiven and said, “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” Payback time. The king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

Jesus had one last message for his crowd: “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”  If only Robinson would have done that with Charlie!  He who couldn’t find any mercy begged for kindness and compassion when arrested.

So, what are we to take from this message?  We are not to respond as Robinson and the king’s servant did and seek vengeful payback, as much as we want to do so.  After all, God will be the final judge. Should Robinson not repent, his eternal punishment from the King will be much worse than any we can inflict with our lack of mercy.

As is true as that is for Kirk’s killer, so it is for us as well. Are we showing the same mercy to others as we want in return?