The Message, August 18, 2024: "Amazed!" An Easter Message, Luke 24:1-12

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
August 20, 2024

 

“Amazed!”
An Easter Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Luke 24:1-12

            Did anyone go to the Easter Sunrise Service in Ocean Park this morning? Anyone?
No? Just as well. You would have had to fight through the crowds of beachgoers staking out their turf at the crack of dawn. (Of course, it was actually raining on Sunday morning. They may have cancelled the service.)

            Obviously, there was not an Easter sunrise service today. It is August! Easter was months ago and is still months from now. (Mark your calendars … April 20, 2025.)

            There was not a sunrise service today. However, if there had been one it would likely have been memorable … especially for those folks on the beach that would be wondering what those crazy Christians are doing.

            Over the years, I have experienced a number of very memorable Easter sunrise services.

            There was the one in Beverly, Massachusetts held at Lynch Park. It was so moving watching the sun rise over the ocean. What was NOT moving were the valves on the trumpet players trumpet. It was so cold that day that the valves froze. It is hard to sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” when you can only play one note.

            There was the year in New London, New Hampshire when we had a snowstorm on Easter weekend and were blessed with two feet of snow. Someone asked if we should move the service indoors, and naturally I said, “No.” I took the members of the youth group down to the spot on the lake where we held the service with snow shovels and snowshoes. We tamped down a path then shoveled out a space on the beach for the service. On Easter morning, John MacKenna (who owned a restaurant in town) brought containers of hot chocolate for us to enjoy DURING the service.

            There was the year in Norfolk, Massachusetts when Easter fell on April 1 … April Fools Day. The Confirmation Class and I planned a service that began with a Christmas pageant complete with shepherds, angels, magi, Jesus, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Chewbacca. A very skilled carpenter in the church family designed and built a Christmas tree that would transform into a cross by pulling a pin and sliding the branches together.

            And then there was the year … more years ago than I can count on all of my fingers and toes … when I took the youth group to Florida during their April vacation. Easter happened to fall during that week, and I saw an announcement about an Easter sunrise service at SeaWorld. Awesome!

            We sat on the aluminum benches and waited for the service to begin. We sang the traditional Easter hymns that we sang today. We heard the Easter story like we heard today. We heard the message … like you are enduring right now. And we waited … and waited … and waited … and waited … and waited … for dolphins! I imagined that the angels would roll back the stone and DOLPHINS jump out of the water!!

            It turns out that there were no dolphins, no water-skiers, no seals or killer whales. The service was not put on by SeaWorld. Some church just rented out their venue. I know that it would have been incredibly inappropriate. But I was expecting to see dolphins.

            Mary, and Mary and Joanna went to the tomb where Jesus had been laid NOT expecting to see dolphins, or the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus, or Chewbacca. They were not expecting to see angels or two men in dazzling white raiment. They were expecting to see Jesus …

            They were expecting to see Jesus’ body. They were expecting that he would be dead … and they experienced very different emotions than those I felt at SeaWorld that Easter morning so long ago.

            They were in the midst of the most painfully devastating experience of their lives. Just a few days ago they had been with Jesus. They had walked with him to Jerusalem. They had shared a sacred meal together. But then he had been arrested, tried, convicted, and beaten. Just a few days earlier, Jesus had been cheered by the crowd, but the cheers turned to jeers. He was mocked and spit upon. He had been stripped and whipped … then crucified. They watched their teacher, their rabbi, their friend die an agonizing death upon the cross. And then they stayed with him until he was removed from the cross and laid in the tomb.

            As they walked to the tomb that morning, all of those emotions flooded over them and through them. Their grief must have been overwhelming.

            The grief was compounded with confusion as they approached the place and saw that the stone had been rolled away. Were they in the right place? Was this the correct tomb? Had they gotten mixed up or lost in their pain and sorrow? They entered the darkened tomb and felt around looking for the place where Jesus had been laid. Nothing. Nothing. What would they do? What could they do? What was happening?! Where had he gone?!

            And then two men, two messengers in dazzling raiment appeared to them and said, “Remember. Remember what he told you in Galilee. Remember.”

            They remembered. “… on the third day he will rise again.” Rise again. On the third day he will rise again. And as they remembered, their confusion slipped away, and the fear slipped away, and their grief slipped away. Rise again! As they remembered a different feeling filled their hearts … their minds … and souls … JOY! “Rise again! That is what he said! That is what he promised!” JOY!!

            Mary, Mary and Joanna went and told the eleven, and the others, and at first, they did not believe. They thought it to be an idle tale, not because the messengers were women, but rather because they had not yet remembered either. Despite all that they had seen and heard in the months and years that they had spent with Jesus they did not believe. They did not yet remember.

            Except Peter. Peter who had stepped out of a fishing boat thinking that he could walk across the water to Jesus got up and ran to the tomb. He ran to the tomb and found it empty. He ran to the tomb, and he was amazed! He was amazed! Jesus was raised again in three days! It was true! It really happened!

            The tomb was empty … BUT … that is not the promise of Easter. The promise of Easter is what happens next! The promise of Easter was realized when they encounter the Risen Lord!

            In their hurting, and doubting, and skeptical minds they could have come up with other reasons why the tomb was empty. The body was moved. The Romans stole the body. Thieves stole the body. There were other possibilities that could have made them question Jesus’ words, “… and be raised again in three days.” The promise of Easter, the promise of resurrection was realized when they SAW him; when they could exclaim and proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!”

            “I have seen the Lord!” That was a later in the day exclamation. That was a later in the week exclamation. And that is a two thousand years later exclamation.

            When I was looking for resources for this service this morning, I went online and searched for “Easter in August.” And can you guess what I found? Nothing. Nothing. Last month, when I searched for “Christmas in July” I received hundreds of responses. Of course, ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine of them were images of Santa Claus or snowmen frolicking on the beach. And I did see that many other churches and businesses were celebrating Christmas in July. But Easter in August? Nothing.

            As we say in the weeks after Christmas, “We wrap up our nativity sets and stuff Jesus back into the attic, basement or garage, then we pull him back out in November.” When it comes to Easter, the reality is that we may not take Jesus out of the basement or the attic or the garage at all. He may still be wrapped in bubble wrap or newspaper. We may try to keep him locked in the tomb so that he will not be able to ask anything of us.

            So then, let us not push Jesus into the tomb and roll the stone back into place. Instead, let us remember. Let us live in the amazement. Let us realize the fullness of the promise of Easter. “Jesus Christ is risen! I have seen the Lord!”

            The resurrection does not happen just one day a year. It is not something that happened a long, long time ago, never to happen again. It is not something that just happened to Jesus. We ALL have the opportunity to experience resurrection. We all have the opportunity to experience new life in Christ. It can happen to us, for us, with us every day. Now! We can live as people who proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!”

            We have seen the Lord … transform hate into love.
            We have seen the Lord … transform violence into peace.
            We have seen the Lord … offer divine Light into the darkest places on earth and in human hearts and souls.
            We have seen the Lord  … take vileness and viciousness and create compassion and kindness.
            We have seen the Lord … mend broken hearts.
            We have seen the Lord … transform isolation into community.

            ‘I have seen the Lord’ when I was broken. ‘I have seen the Lord’ when I was bruised and beaten. ‘I have seen the Lord’ when I was at my lowest point, when I thought that I was at the end. I have seen the Lord …

            That is the promise of Easter. That is the promise of resurrection. The power of God is with us … always with us. The power and the Presence of God can roll any stone away. And when we remember that … JOY!

            Resurrection happens every day. New life happens every day. Jesus is not some dusty character that we take out a couple of weeks a year. Jesus is risen! Jesus is alive and active in our world. Jesus is alive and present in our lives!

            A few weeks ago, one of our neighbors was in the depths of despair, lost and broken. He heard the steeple bell ringing before worship and he came in. He cried for most of the service. Some of you sat with him and spoke with him. You offered him welcome. Yes … I have seen the Lord.

            Just this past Wednesday, I was in the atrium during diaper bank. As one of the women was leaving she stopped and said to me, “Thank you for this. It is needed and appreciated.” Yes … I have seen the Lord.

            As Peter stood in the empty tomb, he was amazed. He knew the truth of Jesus’ words, “… and on the third day he will be raised.”

            The Junior Choir sings one of my favorite songs, “Every Morning is Easter Morning.” Every day is resurrection day. Let us live  as Easter people. Let us live in such a way that every day we can proclaim, “Yes … we have seen the Lord!” Amen.

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