Together

Matthew 14:22-33

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

It was a dark and stormy night!  And it’s worth thinking about that for a minute before we get down to the part where Peter gets all wet.  In Jesus’ day both the sea and darkness were symbols for chaos, evil, uncertainty, monsters, and all that goes bump in the night… or, as I like to call it, life.  Now look what Jesus does… He MAKES the disciples get into the boat and shoves the gang off from the safety of the land into that dark and stormy night, out into LIFE, and says, “See ya on the other side!”  

Jesus Christ!  What are you doing?  Well, I think what Jesus is doing is trying to show us a couple of very important things.  First, Jesus puts the disciples into the boat TOGETHER!  Doing LIFE, he’s showing us, is a TOGETHER thing.  Discipleship, is a TOGETHER thing.  “Church” is meant to be a TOGETHER thing, not a “me and my Jesus” thing.  We are not asked to do this alone.  In fact, we’re told here NOT to do it alone!  It’s TOGETHER that we have life.  TOGETHER we’re called to be disciples.  TOGETHER that we do justice.  TOGETHER we love kindness.  TOGETHER we walk humbly through this life, caring for the lost, the last and the least. 

Still though, getting shoved off from shore in a boat… even if it is all together… seems pretty scary!  But remember, Jesus wasn’t pushing them off into anything these former fishermen hadn’t seen or experienced before.  Jesus knew that TOGETHER they had the experience and expertise to hand, reef, and steer like able seamen and together they had all they needed to make it to the other side.   

Jesus does the same for us.  Jesus shoves our group of disciples out into the everyday chaos and darkness of this world to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly... TOGETHER!  TOGETHER we give each other strength in the darkness, TOGETHER we move through the chaos of life, TOGETHER we have the variety of skills and gifts and experiences we need to do everything that we are being called to do... when we do it TOGETHER. 

Now though, we get to the bit where Jesus came to them walking on water.  Jesus came to them, a light shining through the darkness and trampling the whole, vast, world covering chaos under his feet.  Cutting through and walking over all of the enormity of a MESS we call LIFE… Jesus came and was with them.  What we're meant to see here is that isn't just this story.  That’s the promise!  Emmanuel.  God with us!  Take heart!  Even in the darkest, most chaotic moments, God is with us.  Don’t be afraid.  

Seeing all that, Peter calls out to Jesus.  “Jesus, I wanna walk on water like you’re doin’.”  Jesus, knowing exactly what will happen says, “Come on out!”  Out of the boat he steps… looks around and sinks like a rock!  But WHY?  Why did Peter sink?  Was it because he didn’t have enough faith.  No, Jesus said he had “little faith” and “little faith” we see elsewhere is enough to move mountains so that wasn’t the problem.  Then what was the reason Peter sank?  Well, Peter got out of his seat, he left the group, struck out on his own, and tried to be God!  Peter sank because he tried to walk on water like God and he sank because he wasn’t!  It turns out that Peter and all the rest of us… we’re human!  We ain’t God!  When we try to face the chaos and darkness out there… Peter shows us that we really can’t do it alone!  We really, really, really NEED one other to do Church.  We really, really, really NEED one other to do LIFE!  Doing it on our own, we just sink like Peter!

Knowing all that is important but there’s one more thing this lesson has to tell us.  And that is, that even though we KNOW we shouldn’t get out of our seats… even though we KNOW we can only do life TOGETHER… even though we KNOW that when we try to be God we get sunk… Even though we KNOW ALL THAT… Jesus promises that when we INEVITABLY do one or more of those things anyway, and INEVITABLY start to sink, he’ll be there to pull us up and out and back into abundant life.  Every. Single. Time.  Thanks be to God! Amen.