Cleopas & the Stranger: The God Who Turns Up in the End

Cleopas & the Stranger
The God Was There All Along
August 30, 2020

Blindness affects millions of people all over the world. There are a number of things that can cause permanent blindness, including repeated eye infections, conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and some health conditions that affect the eyes, such as diabetes.
 
In 1882, Helen Keller was struck deaf and blind at the age of 19 months by an illness that included a high fever. Historical accounts of Keller’s life have speculated that the illness was rubella, scarlet fever, encephalitis or meningitis; but the exact cause remains a mystery. According to a modern-day medical analysis, bacterial meningitis was the likeliest culprit.
 
But just like there are many causes of physical blindness, there are also many different types of blindness. A popular air freshener ad refers to being “noseblind.” There are conditions such as night blindness, color blindness, being blinded by the sun, blind rage, or blinded by love. Or you might be flyin’ blind, with blind faith on a blind date! Blindness is more than a physical condition.
 
As we continue in our Stranger Things sermon series this week, we’re looking at the story of a less familiar Bible character by the name of Cleopas. He’s only mentioned a couple of times in scripture. But the encounter recorded for us in the book of Luke about Cleopas’ journey on the road to Emmaus following the crucifixion of Jesus reveals to us another type of blindness…the blindness of disillusionment. I’d guess that most, if not all of us, have wrestled with some level of disappointment or disillusionment in the past few months. We’re all processing a variety of losses and working through grief. If we’re not careful, those things can blind us, much like they did Cleopas, to what God wants us to see, do, and be.