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TWO CLUELESS MEN!
Thirty-five years ago I had a kid in class by
the name of Mike Perry. He was a good kid and a better than average math
student. That same year, about two-thirds the way through it, the Superintendent
of the Chandler School District walked into my classroom toward the end of the
day. I greeted him and figured he was just taking time to drop in
on a number of classrooms just to see how the troops were doing.
But after I greeted him he said, "I just
dropped by to see how my son is doing." Suddenly, I'm scrambling through
my classes trying to make an instant connection between the Superintendent, whose
name was Ted Perry, and someone in my classes who had the same last name. Fortunately,
I came up with it without having to ask him for his son's first name! That
would've been bad, real bad!!
Yes, I'm clueless! To this day, after teaching
for nearly four decades, Linda will scan my roll sheets and point out that Lolly
Gonzales just might be the younger sister of Molly Gonzales or that Ron Owens
is probably the identical twin brother of Don Owens. To my credit, I actually
made the connection between Ron and Don, but I had to be hit between the eyes
in regards to Lolly and Molly.
In this regard a recent headline read -
Women Are Right: Men Are Clueless Holiday Shoppers, Says Retail Expert!
This retail expert noted: "If a man mentions
in July that a friend has a cool all-in-one remote control, a woman will remember
and buy one in October. Men, (on the other hand), hear nothing. If a woman mentions
six times how good her friend looks in her new cashmere sweater, cuts out pictures
of cashmere sweaters and leaves them on the kitchen table, asks her husband which
color sweaters he prefers, the husband will have no idea that she would like
a (cashmere) sweater (for Christmas)."
Or as a woman by the name of Rita Rudner has noted:
"Men forget everything; woman remember everything. That's why men
need instant replays in sports."
But on the plus side, men innately possess the
key to comedy as evidenced by this quote by Megan Mullally:
"That's the key to comedy: allowing yourself to look stupid."
You see, there are advantages to being clueless! Now
if men are indeed clueless, we ought to be able to find a nice example of "cluelessness" in
Scripture. Actually, there are numerous example and we could probably begin
with Adam but one of the finest examples is found in Luke 24:13 - 35 we read:
Now that same day two of them were going to a
village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking
with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and
discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along
with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
As they were walking and talking they suddenly
heard footsteps coming up behind them and soon a stranger was walking along beside
them. In some unexplained manner, probably not too difficult with these
two, they were kept from "recognizing" this stranger. We're
not told how or why the restraint was placed on the two. But as to the "why," maybe
it was simply because God loves a good joke. In this case, the joke is
not on you and I but on the participants.
The two people may have been a man and a woman. Perhaps,
it was Cleopas and his wife. But I think the common assumption that it
was two men is the right one. If one of the "disciples" had
been a woman, she would've known about what the women found at the tomb and put
two and two together. As it is, these two are clueless, regardless of the
visual restraint placed on them.1
He asked them, "What are you discussing together
as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem
and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
Cleopas found it hard to believe that this guy
was completely uninformed about matters that were on everybody's lips. Hence,
he just blurted out something like, "Where in the world have you been the
last few days? Have you been hiding out it a cave somewhere or under a
rock?"
"What things?" he asked.
How Jesus said this with a straight face is beyond
my comprehension. And I'm someone who can say just about anything with
a straight face. But if I had been in Jesus' sandals I don't know if I
could have said this with a totally straight face. It just proves that
with God "all things are possible."
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He
was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20
The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and
they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going
to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22
In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning
23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision
of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to
the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
Thomas gets all the press as the doubter of the
resurrection. But this story tells us that he was merely one among many,
including these two men. It's clear that these two were given plenty
of clues as to the truth of what Jesus had told them before hand but when hope
is dead and buried it's easy to misread the clues.
But at this point in the story they don't see
that they were the ones lacking in understanding. As far as they were concerned,
this stranger was so clueless that for them to respond by simply saying "Jesus" would
hardly be enough information. Consequently, they began by telling him about
Jesus of Nazareth. I mean, as far as they were concerned, this guy knew
so little it was downright pathetic.
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and
how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did
not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was
said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
For whatever reasons, Jesus started with Moses
instead of Genesis 3:15. We also know that he covered all the prophets. So
perhaps he concluded his survey of the OldTestament with Malachi 3:1. But
whatever passages he covered we can be sure that in regards to those passages
dealing with his suffering, he gave the two disciples a fresh perspective. A
viewpoint that began the eye-opening process for these two men.2
As they approached the village to which they were
going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay
with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in
to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes
were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32
They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked
with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
How was it that in the breaking of bread they
suddenly recognized him? Did they see his nail-scared hands? Was
it in the way he spoke to his Father that refreshed their memories? Or,
perhaps the divine visual restraint was removed. Regardless of how it happened,
they saw him, recognized him, and before they could say anything he disappeared.
At that same moment the entire discussion on the
road made sense. Like a lost key found or a huge mystery solved, the weekend
fell into place. But more than having a fresh understanding of recent events,
the two disciples now knew that Jesus was alive and was with them. It was
news that they couldn't keep to themselves!
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It
is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the
two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when
he broke the bread.
So what can we learn from this passage of Scripture? The
most obvious lesson is found in their resolution to make the return trip to Jerusalem
and share the good news with others. It's reminiscent of the four lepers
in II Kings who went outside the gates only to find that the surrounding army
had left in a hurry, leaving all their goods behind them. As they were
eating and drinking, while those inside the gates were dying, they realized it
wasn't right to keep the good news to themselves.3
Second, on our own it is not possible to see Jesus
as the God-man. We need a heightened awareness that can only come about
by having our eyes opened. And the only one who can open our eyes to see
the truth is God himself. So as we reach out to others we ought to be praying
that God would be working on their hearts to see truth as truth, just as he worked
on our hearts.
Third, you'll note that Jesus took the time to
walk to Emmaus with these two men. He walked beside them as if he
had all the time in the world. He patiently opened up the Scriptures for
them. Yes, he teased them by acting as if he was the dumbest kid on the
block. But teasing, when done correctly is an ironic behavior. In
the midst of embarrassing people it draws the teaser and the teased together. Why? Because
when it is done with humility, it quietly expresses affection for the teased
one.
The secret to teasing others is to tease those
you genuinely like - it will increase the emotional bond between the two of you. To
tease those you don't like is not teasing, it's harassment. You've seen
it in junior high school where someone is teased unmercifully - to the point
that they no longer want to come to school. But Jesus knew how to tease
others righteously, as seen on the road to Emmaus.
Fourth, though the two were preempted in Jerusalem
by all the other stories that were coming into the news room, they did get a
chance to tell their story. You can almost see them being peppered with
questions about Scripture. These two clueless men, enjoyed their new-found
glory, and answered all the questions as if they had a doctorate degree in theology. What
a night of unspeakable joy!
Finally, one last story taken from Terry Lindvall'a
book on laughter. He writes:
One Christmas holiday when I was a bachelor in
Virginia Beach, I discovered that my girlfriend had run off with my roommate. I
was crushed, devastated. Tears dammed up in my eyes, and a giant lump filled
my throat anytime I thought of my poor, pathetic predicament. "Merry
Christmas. Yeah, right."
But it was the holidays, and despite my sad story
I was scheduled to fly back home to California to see my family, whom I hoped
wouldn't run off too. My brother, John Mark, and brother-in-law, Kent Rush,
were to pick me up at Los Angeles International Airport. If anyone could
cheer me up, they could. The thought was not much comfort, but it was
puny consolation.
When I arrived at LAX, I found no one there to
meet me. I trudged down the long corridors to the baggage claim area, all
the while watching, but saw only young children hugging their grandparents, vacationers
hailing cabs, couples holding hands and kissing, old friends reuniting. But
no one had bothered to show up to meet me. "It figures," I pined.
As I glumly waited for my suitcases, all the other
people picked up their luggage and left toward ground transportation. Finally
my bags came down the chute, and I hauled them from the belt. I looked
around again, hoping to see a familiar face. But all I saw were some airport
staffers and a couple of guys reading newspapers. I felt doubly abandoned,
doubly sorry for myself.
In the midst of my pity party, it slowly dawned
on me that the L.A. Times and the USA Today, held high above the men's laps were
shaking rather violently. As I looked more closely, I noticed that the
newspapers had two holes cut in each, and through them, two sets of laughing
eyes were peering out at me. I began to laugh as hard as the "readers" did. All
throughout the airport, my mischievous, prank-pulling relatives had been with
me, happily hidden behind the headlines. All I needed was a different perspective
to get out of my own sorry state. All I needed was the surprise of laughter
to interrupt my pathos.4
Wow! Behind the headlines of today's newspaper,
our laughing teasing God is alive and is at work in our lives and the lives of
others for his glory. Amen
1 As I understand
it, the name Cleopas (Cle' o pas) means The Whole Glory.
2 Genesis 3:14 - 15 reads: So the
LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you will be
punished. You are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the
whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live,
crawling along on your belly. 15 From now on, you and the woman will
be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush
your head, and you will strike his heel."
While Malachi 3:1 reads: "Look! I
am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord
you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant,
whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the LORD Almighty.
3 In II Kings 7:8 - 9 we read: When the lepers arrived
at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating, drinking
wine, and carrying out silver and gold and clothing and hiding it. 9
Finally, they said to each other, "This is not right. This is wonderful
news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some
terrible calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let's go back and tell
the people at the palace."
4 Terry Lindvall, The Mother Of All Laughter,Broadman & Holman
Publishers, Nashville, TN, 2003, pp. 81 - 82.THE JOY OF LAUGHTER 11/12/06 1
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