"Gathering of the Broken"

Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Look who gathers at the table. Christ’s table.

The setting is the last supper. The customary elements of a Jewish Passover meal are present, and the upper room is beginning to fill with talk and laughter as the group of men gathers.

When Jesus ascended those stairs and looked around at the group, one must wonder what was going through his mind. Memories, maybe? It had to have been a nostalgic moment. Jesus is portrayed in all four gospels as a thoughtful character, and this was a good moment for thought. It was coming down to his final hours before the greatest and most terrifying element of God’s plan was fulfilled, and these last precious moments on Earth were to be spent in the company of the most precious of friends. Seems this is in the plan, too.

After all that he had been through with these beloved few. Three years’ worth of trial, disaster, rejection, love, and joy. All very real emotions, felt by very real people.

And real people these men were.

These dozen fellows weren’t priests or prophets. They didn’t have any spectacular brilliance or perfection.

They left these to their Master.

Yes, these were certainly average, foolish, prone-to-mistake human beings. There’s something that we can all identify with.

Take Simon Peter, a lowly fisherman trying to scrape out a living on the tremulous Sea of Galilee. When Jesus summoned him and his companions to become fishers of men, he didn’t hesitate, despite the fact that it must have seemed hard enough being a fisher of fish.

On an even darker note, recall Matthew. The lonely, corrupt tax collector. This was a character with a truly regrettable reputation. He had a shadowy past, but his future was certainly made bright when Jesus arrived and defied the Pharisees by sharing one of his many memorable meals at Matthew’s home.

Perhaps it was simply their proximity to the absolute perfection that made these men seem so fraught with wrongdoing and limitation. But it’s certainly evident that Jesus’ mission wasn’t to call the city’s most pious inhabitants.

Another memorable illustration of the human nature found so abundantly in the apostles takes place on the Sea of Galilee as well. It’s nearly four in the morning, and Peter and several other followers sit alone in a boat. Having just witnessed the feeding of five thousand followers from a single loaf of bread and three small fish, they had plenty on their minds. Then suddenly, they spot a figure that they assume is a ghost approaching them. However, their fears are in vain, for their ‘ghost’ is quick to identify himself – as Jesus. Against all hope and perhaps all common sense, Peter insisted that Jesus call him forth from the boat. The rest, even if we did not know it by heart, we could assume with very little difficulty.

Aren’t we so like Peter, desiring more than anything to forget all of our limitations, our stormy waters, our boundaries? To leap forth out of our boats and comfort zones to approach our Master – only to lose faith at the most critical of moments. Oh, we of so little faith.

Look back on all of the times that you’ve studied this story in various Sunday school classes and study groups. Probably several hundred times. Maybe several thousand. Despite this, they all amount to about the same thing. For some reason that we never fully acknowledge, we tend to pin poor Peter down as the villain. The most logical explanation for this would be Jesus’ line near the end of this tale: “Thou of so little faith”. Antagonizing though it may seem, it’s not any kind of put-down or insult. It’s simply a fact.

Just think for a second, upon hearing Matthew’s account of the event. And for what it’s worth, the other gospels don’t include an account of Peter walking on the water. Just Jesus. However, all of the gospels agree that there are several others in the boat here. Watching, waiting, perhaps for Jesus to come. Struck in awe by yet another miracle.

But we don’t see but one getting out of that boat.

This is another level on which we identify with the disciples, Peter in particular. ‘We’ being Norcross Presbyterian, Presbyterian Churches in general, the Church of Christ as a whole. I don’t know about you all, but when I hear people who aren’t regular church attendees going on about how we’re simply too good to accept them, I become a little bit indignant. After all, it’s not our righteousness that sets us as Christians apart – it’s our passion. We are the ones that dare to throw caution to the raging winds of the storm and forget our earthly limitations, all in the interest of meeting Christ on the straight and narrow – which we all know is where he lives.

Yes, you can bet we’re going too fall. We’re going to lose our balance and in doing so, lose our faith. There’s always going to be that one worry, that one fear, that one wave that crashes a little too hard and brings us to our knees. But at that moment, our knees are exactly where we need to be. Because no matter how hopeless things seem, Jesus will be there, offering us his hand just as everything seems truly beyond the reach of hope – and lifting us up again.

Look who gathers at the table – our table. We, too, take a moment of nostalgia. We remember all of the meals shared with our own beloved. Only One here is truly perfect. The rest of us are burdened by our own shadowy pasts. But like the disciples, our futures become bright once we find the faith to again leave our own boats to seek Jesus.

Look, my friends, who gathers.