The Message, March 31, 2024, Easter Sunday: "What Do We Do Now?" John 20:1-18

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
April 02, 2024

 

“What Do We Do Now?”
An Easter Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
John 20:1-18

[As I contemplated my Easter Message for this year, I thought about the disciples and what they must have been experiencing that week. Today, we have so much emotional distance from those events. We hear the story as spectators rather than as participants. This message imagines those events from Peter’s perspective.]

            When it all began, I had no idea what I was in for.

            It was an ordinary day. Andrew and I were fishing like we had done every day before. We were fishing … casting our nets … pulling our nets. That was our life. That was our father’s life and our grandfather’s life before that. That was all that we had ever dreamed we would be.

            Then our ordinary day became something completely extraordinary.

            I had met Jesus before. My brother had introduced us. He was a compelling man. When he showed up on the beach that day, I had no idea what to expect. Then he asked me to follow him. I asked myself, ‘Follow you where?’ ‘Follow you why?’

            He said that he would make us fish for people. What on earth did that mean?! I had no idea. But … I followed. I dropped my net, Andrew dropped his net, and we followed.

            He could have been a kook. Maybe WE were the kooks for dropping our nets. But there was something about him. We were drawn to him. We left everything that we knew and set out to fish for people.

            As I stand here today, I cannot believe what we experienced over the last three years. I do not know if anyone will believe it.

            Not too long after we met, my wife’s mother fell ill. We thought that we were going to lose her. Jesus went to our home and cured her. He laid his hand upon her, and her fever left her. Just like that. And that was only the beginning. The word spread and soon my house and my yard were full of people wanting to be … needing to be … cured. And he did.

            But even that was only the beginning.

            He brought that little girl back from the dead. He called out demons. He made the lame walk and the blind to see. Those were not phony-baloney parlor tricks. He really healed them!

            Everywhere that we went the crowd began to follow. Maybe that was what he meant by ‘fishing for people.’

            Every day I wondered why he had approached me and asked me to drop my net. And every day I thanked God that I did. I was seeing things … and experiencing things … that I could never have imagined!

            All of those healings that he did, all of those lives that he changed … and yet, he kept telling us to ‘tell no one.’ How could he possibly expect people to keep silent? How could he expect us to keep silent?

            We saw it all! We experienced it all! The boat … the fish.

            There was that time when he told us to drop our nets again, even though we had been fishing all night and caught nothing. But we did as he instructed, and we caught so many fish that the boat nearly sank!

            And then there was that time when the storm whipped up and we were being tossed about in our fishing boat. He had stayed behind to spend some time in prayer. But he saw what was going on and he came to us … WALKING ACROSS THE WATER!! Did anyone else see that?! We saw that!!

            He told us not to be afraid then he calmed the sea. Yes … just like that … he calmed the sea! I jumped out of the boat and for half a moment I was walking on the water too! Or, at least I thought I was. I knew that I could not do that, and I slipped beneath the surface. And then he saved me …

            He reached down and clasped my hand and lifted me up. He saved me. Little did I know that would not be the only time that he saved me. He saved me the day that he said, “Follow me.”

            All of it was a miracle. All of it was powerful. And all of it was charged with love. He did not do it to put on a show. He did not do it for the fame, or the applause. He did it because he loves.

            The words that he said when he preached spoke to us in a voice that we had never heard before. The lessons that he taught were so simple yet so profound. I just wish that we had understood earlier.

            We were so blind at times. We squabbled amongst ourselves. We argued over which one of us was the greatest. We argued about who would get to sit in the place of honor. He was so patient. He was so forgiving. He taught us. He showed us. If we want to be great … we must serve. If we hope to be first … we have missed the point.

            We argued with HIM! When he told us what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem, we actually argued with him. He called me Satan! The Tempter!

            He told us that he had to go. The words of scripture foretold it. We did not care what the prophets had said. We did not care what scripture said. We loved him too much to allow that to happen. But we went. Or should I say … He went … and we followed.

            We had finally begun to see. We had finally begun to understand who he was … who he IS. And we did not want it to end. “Stay with us, Jesus. Son of God!” But we went.

            And here we are. It has been a quite week. That is the understatement of the century. But then again, it is nearly impossible to capture life with Jesus in words.

            We had that powerful Last Supper together. His loving spirit was on full display. It touched us deeply. We prayed … we laughed … we cried. Oh … did we cry.

            We went to the Garden together. That was one of the worst nights of my life. First, I fell asleep when Jesus had asked us to stay awake and keep watch. And then he told me that I would deny him before the rooster crows. And me being me, I argued with him again. I told him that I would never do that. But sure enough … I did. How could I do that? How could he know? How could he love me after that?

            But … again … he did, and did.

           When they nailed him to the cross, they might as well have driven the nails right through my heart. The last three years rushed before my eyes. I could see and feel every loving moment. I could see and feel the way that his love reached out to everyone that he met. Good Lord … he even loved the criminals crucified beside him!

            I could not bear to watch … but I could not look away. Those soldiers just nailed Perfect Love onto that awful cross.

            After he was laid in the tomb, we had to leave him. Sabbath laws required that we return home. Goodness knows, we did not want to get into any more trouble than we were already in. The Romans were already looking for us so that they could take us into custody too. We did not want to give them the opportunity.

            We gathered … hidden away … and we wept … and we wondered … ‘what do we do now?’ We tried to remember everything that he taught us. We tried to recall everything that he showed us. There was so much. And now we saw that everything that he said … everything that he did … was a lesson for us.

            Love. Love. Love God. Love one another. Love neighbors. Love those who are called and considered ‘enemies.’ Love those who no one else will love. Just love without conditions or consideration of what is in it for us. Just …love.

            And then Mary pounded on the door this morning. Breathlessly, she told us that the stone had been rolled away.

            He had told us … promised us that he would rise from the dead after three days. So, we ran to the tomb. There were the empty grave clothes! There was the empty tomb! Just like he said. Just as he promised.

            We went to tell the others that it was true. It is true! The tomb is empty! Just like he had said.

            Then, while we were talking, Mary was pounding on the door … again! She had actually seen Him! He spoke to her! She touched Him! It was not just an empty tomb, and folded grave clothes … He was alive! He had risen!

            Now, I had to be the voice of reason. Me … of all people! Impetuous Peter! But Jesus had called me the Rock, so I had to be the rock.

            Jesus Christ is alive. He is risen. What do we do now?

            What do we do now? He told us. He showed us. We love. We love … and love … and then we love some more.

            He told us to “Remember him.” And we do. Every time that we love, we remember.

            The tomb is empty. Jesus Christ is alive within every heart and soul. What do we do now? We love. Amen.

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