Apr. 23, 2023

As I was updating the website this week I saw something I see all the time when working with computers and other electronics…the phrase default settings.  I actually had two choices, the default as it apparently already was and then the other was the custom button.  I thought what the heck, lets click on that…holy smokes it was incredibly different.  The words on the screen became much bigger and bolder.  Honestly it was a bit more than I was after…it didn’t really fit with the rest of what I had already typed up.

I tell you that little story because I was struck by a phrase I read while looking up more information on Cleopas.  It’s not a big name in the Bible, matter of fact this is the only time he is mentioned.  But I guess it is better than the other guy in the reading today who we don’t even get a name for.  As I looked up Cleopas and his very brief history in the Bible, the phrase that just grabbed me was “…it seems that Cleopas had defaulted to doubt.”  That ended a brief synopsis of Cleopas and his interaction on the road with Jesus.  

You recall from the reading that Jesus poses a question, asking what they have been discussing.  It wasn’t because Jesus didn’t know, but instead he asked the question to help lead them down a path of discovery.  

Cleopas’ answer hints at the limits of not only their understanding of the possible events in the last day, but is very telling as to what Jesus’s crucifixion may have done to his faith.  As he’s telling the stranger on the road what’s been going on, he refers to Jesus as a “prophet,” although one who was “powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” and who they had hoped “was going to redeem Israel.” Cleopas, and he wasn’t alone, could not fathom the events of that morning, with its stories of angels and an empty tomb. 

Just like Thomas last week, because he had not seen or spoken to anyone who had actually seen the resurrected Jesus, it seems that Cleopas had defaulted to doubt.  His default setting was doubt.  What’s our default setting?  

We talked at length last week about doubt and it’s not just a once a year thing when we pin all the non-belief on Thomas.  At the same time we talked about how much easier it seems to be to believe the worst and to doubt a miracle.  As my grandfather had written, there’s a catch 22 when it comes to miracles.  On one hand they are supposed to be proof of God’s reality and dominion, but the fantastical nature of them can simply lead us to more questions.

These men walking along the road have both good and bad news that has been delivered to them and we can tell from the interaction they have chosen to stick with the bad news.  Just look how the conversation begins…the turn to Jesus looking sad.   Why are they sad?  They are sad because they know that Jesus was crucified.   That’s the news they are able to process.  To them Jesus is dead.  

But what about verse 22 you may ask.  What about the women who delivered the news of the Resurrection?  I don’t usually wade to deeply into the Greek for fear of losing folks but in this case it is important to note that one way the word of the men's reaction to the Resurrection news could be interpreted here is “insane.”   Another more literal translation is “out of wits.”  Did the men perceive the news to be insane and coming from people who did not have their wits about them?  Or did the news leave them feeling like they were going crazy, that nothing seemed to make sense anymore?  Whichever it was they were clinging to the one thing they thought they knew…Jesus was crucified and had been put to death.  That other news…was unverifiable and maybe the insane babble of people who had lost their minds over what had happened.  Afterall, they had pinned so much hope on Jesus.  All the things he was supposed to be, just to be hung up there and killed.

If you really think about it, these poor guys are just trying to wrap their minds around what happened three days earlier and not just because of the events of that one day, but because of the months if not years leading up to that.  These men had a foundation of faith.  They had a belief in Jesus as the Messiah when he was living amongst them, but now?   Where do they stand?  That’s likely the conversation they’re having.   Hashing out all the what-ifs.   What if Jesus is dead?  What does that mean…in their minds it means that he couldn’t be the Messiah…he was only the Son of Man part and not the Son of God…just Joseph and Mary’s kid who did some pretty dazzling stuff, but to what end?   What if the women are right and an Angel did appear and tell them that Jesus was alive?  How is that even possible?

Back to our default settings.  What would we be more likely to believe?  Put yourself in their sandals.  What do we think is possible and what do we deem impossible?  Are we willing in this day and time to walk down a road with a fellow believer and have faith that a miracle has occurred?   If we got word of a miracle, a true miracle taking place what would we be thinking?  Would we be using a word that meant insane or would we be praising the name of Jesus with a faith and knowledge that it was his hand at work?

This isn’t easy.  I’m not saying that it is.  Too many times our default setting is believing only what is humanly possible while we suspend our belief when it comes to God’s realm of possibilities.  We’re right back with Thomas last week searching for concrete proof, looking for something that makes sense to us.  You see those default settings aren’t just for us.  In setting doubt as the default, we set a default for God in our lives.  We limit what we believe he can do based on what limits we have.  

I want to tell you about a “miracle” that took place back in March of 2014 in Holmes County, Mississippi.  It started as a regular day on the job for County Coroner Dexter Howard.  He received a call from a hospice nurse who had been treating local farmer Walter Williams.   The nurse was calling to alert Howard that the 78-year-old Williams had passed away.

Howard … drove to Williams' home to collect the body to take it to the funeral home. He checked Williams' pulse and pronounced him dead.  In a later interview with CNN Howard would say "There was no pulse. He was lifeless.”

The coroner finished up his paperwork, put Williams in a body bag and then took him over to the funeral home.  So far everything was typical, but then the body bag moved.

Howard said that when they got Williams into the embalming room, his legs began to kick and Williams actually seemed to be breathing.

Paramedics arrived and hooked Williams up to monitors. Sure enough, he was breathing and had a heartbeat, so they transported him to the hospital.  He eventually even went home, where he was declared a miracle.

Howard says he was absolutely certain Williams was dead. The only reasonable explanation he could think of was that Williams' defibrillator, implanted beneath the skin on his chest, jump-started his heart after he was placed in the body bag. 

We need that defibrillator to go off in our chest sometimes don’t we?  We need it in the same way that the two men in our Gospel lesson had that breaking bread moment with Jesus.  We need him to open our eyes so that we can not only recognize God in our neighbors but so that we can recognize God’s work within us and the world.

How do we get from talking with a stranger on the road to breaking bread with Jesus?  That’s ultimately the faith question being asked of us this morning.  What changed?  What button did Cleopas and the other man press to make it happen?  Here’s all I can tell you because its what the reading tells us.  These men felt a burning within them while Jesus was teaching them, while they went over the scriptures.  While they did not know that this man was Jesus, what they did know is that learning more about God’s word was touching their hearts in a very real and a very powerful way.  When it seemed that this man who had kindled up this fire within them might be going a different way they urged him to stay with them.  It was after that invitation to stay that they then shared what I have to imagine was the greatest meal of their life, not because of what was on the menu or that the surroundings were like some posh restaurant, but because at some point Jesus took that bread, blessed it, broke it and in doing so revealed himself and the glory of the resurrection to them.

That fire for God’s word and that invitation for Jesus to remain with us.  That’s how we change our default setting.

Please pray with me…

God, oftentimes we are weary travelers on highways and byways of life.  We too often see the hustle and bustle around us but fail to see that you are there as well, step for step.  Help us to focus on you.  You are the constant in a life of uncertainties that can leave us at out wits end.  We want to experience the joy and excitement about our relationship with you as strongly as Cleopas and his friend did when their eyes were opened.  As the old hymn goes…Let us break bread together on our knees.   Help us to have that thoughtful and meaningful prayer so that we can fully commune with you.  You rod and staff comforts us because you want us to take paths leading to still water and green pastures.  On our way to those wonderful places, remind us that you are ever present so that we do not fear when our travels take us through places better described as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. You are constant and consistent.   You are God almighty.  Amen.