A CONVERSATION FOR FOUR

[The following is a reflective homily I wrote yesterday - picturing what Peter, Andrew, James and John, meeting 10 years after they met Jesus - what they might be saying.]

It happened after it all happened.

Roughly…. around 10 years - after everything so far.

What? Well, let tell you something about people you have heard about - at least by name.

Peter and Andrew just happened to be home that Sabbath - as well as James and John. The four of them decided to walk to a mountain - some ten miles away. They brought their tents with them.  They climbed the mountain - and they began talking about everything - that had happened.

It’s good to talk about everything - every once and a while.

“Little did we know that when that Stranger came along that day and said, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of others’ - that he caught us - for life.”

They looked down from that mountain - from a neat spot - a place they loved to go - when they  were kids. Everyone has favorite places.  This was the place  they chose to camp for the night. It was almost evening as they looked down at the lake glistening and gleaming with light - light all across the lake. The lake was like a big gray blanket on a beach.

“Look at Galilee. If it wasn’t for him calling us - we would probably have spent our life on the edge of that water there - fishing for fish - and wow did he catch us - so we could catch others.”

“It’s good to be back home again - to be with family - friends - to compare notes - and to tell the stories - and then next week we’ll be back on the road again.”

“Look at that lake. From here we can’t tell what’s underneath the surface. We don’t know how many fish are swimming in Galilee’s waters tonight.”

“I was mesmerized by his eyes and his words at first - then  his parables and his stories - then the way he treated people.”

“My dad, Zebedee,  stood there in that boat  along with the men we had hired and yelled out -  when he saw us let go of our nets - and start up the road with Peter and Andrew and the Stranger.” “Where are you going?”

And we yelled back, “We don’t know. He just said to ‘Come after him’ so  in time we’ll let you know.”

“It’s been a good ten years now.”

“The first few years we walked with him. We saw miracles. We saw love. We saw jealously. We saw betrayal by one of us.  We saw him arrested and killed. John, you were the only one of us, who stood there under the cross when he died. The rest of us were scared - really scared."

And Peter said, “I denied knowing him. Three times I did that. Three times.”

And Peter got very quiet after  saying that.  Andrew knew how embarrassing that was to his brother. He saw Peter wipe some tears off his face with his sleeve and then Peter said, “And he forgave me 3 times.”

"He died."

"We thought that was the end."

"We thought we’d soon be back to our nets."

"Then we experienced his resurrection."

"Then we experienced new life."

"Then we began telling the stories we remembered - what we saw and what we heard." 

“We heard and experienced that water can turn to wine - and wine can turn to blood - and our thirst for God could be satisfied in and through Christ.”

“And along with bread becoming his body - we were in his presence every time we broke the bread and fed the hungry and visited the sick and those in prison.”

“Remember the day they dragged that women to him - to stone her  - for being caught in adultery. I was scared with that mob that day - for her - and for all people caught in adultery.”

“I was scared too, but I sought of smiled, because remember that day when he told us - especially us men - that adultery doesn’t always happened in bed - that it can happened in the bed of our minds.”

“I remember that afternoon we caught him talking to that woman at the well - and we didn’t know what that was all about - till he told us. Wow, could he see through people - and some knew it - especially crazy people in synagogues and crowds.”

“Yeah,” said Peter, pointing down the mountain towards Capernaum. “Remember that time we went into the synagogue  in Capernaum, that this strange looking guy with an unclean spirit yelled out at Jesus, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

“He knew who Jesus was long before we really knew who he was.”

“I remember that night when Nicodemus came to Jesus and Nicodemus couldn’t drop his nets - but Jesus caught him in his net that night.”

“Remember that time - over there - near the Gerasenes - and he sent a whole herd of pigs - running wild - down the cliff into the waters and all those folks were furious.”

“I remember that time he told me where to cast my nets to catch some fish - and I told him the lake is empty tonight - and surprise - our nets were filled to the breaking point.”

It was late so they set up their small tents - said their prayers - and slept in the peace of Christ.

No they were not transfigured that night.

But yes they figured out and remembered that night some of the things that had happened to them up to now - how Christ had changed their lives - how they were becoming the Gospel long before it was written down.

The next morning they rose from the dead of sleep - with the dew of the grass all around them - on their robes and on their beards.

And they started back down the mountain - to the plains - and onto to the trails and road back home - to say “Goodbye to their families” and then - once again - they continued to bring the gospel to the world. Amen.