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Manhood often feels like navigating through uncharted territory, but you don't have to walk alone. Join us as we guide a conversation about how to live intentionally so that we can join God in reclaiming the masculine restorative presence he designed us to live out. Laugh, cry, and wonder with us as we explore the ins and outs of manhood together.
Advent Part 3: The God Who Plays
00:00
Hey guys, it's Jesse French and welcome to another episode of the Restorative Mon. Restorative Mon. It's like I'm from Jamaica. I have been watching Cool Runnings by the way, with my kids. So Restorative Mon podcast. Oh gosh, that's funny. That's good. Thank you. Yeah, that was, that's just no editing here people. This is apropos for where we're headed today. So perfect. This is true.
00:27
Ah, yes, it was all by design. It was all by design. There we go. It was on purpose. Yeah. Now the restorative man podcast by Restoration Project. Thanks for bringing us along wherever you guys are. Excited to be joined by my co-host, who is in your roster. Can you say it in like a Rasta voice or like, no, no, I'm not going to humiliate myself that way. Just leave that for me. Just leave that for you. That's your job. Chris, it's good to have you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.
00:57
Yeah, good to be here. Oh my gosh. Okay, I won't go down the Cool Runnings rabbit trail of goodness. I will say I love that movie. And there are so many good lines from that movie. So okay, well, okay, so no, no, no, no, you just opened the can of worms. Give us one one good line from cool. I'm not smoking man. I'm breathing. Right? It's good. That one's my daughter's favorite line. She looks good. Yeah, it's good. So good. And I have fun fact, I've actually seen the
01:25
actual bobsled hill in Calgary that that happened. So, no way. Wow. Okay. Okay. Excellent. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Well, um, but I'm not going to make you quote anymore. Okay. There is right now guys, you're listening, but I can see Jesse and right behind Jesse is the door to his office. Yes. Okay. And Jesse, what often happens behind that door? Uh,
01:55
routinely restoration projects staff will hide behind the door, kind of wedged between the door and the wall to surprise and scare poor, unsuspecting souls that open the door. That open the door. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And here it is. It is. It is hilarious.
02:20
terrifying and hilarious. For yeah, for the person doing the scaring, it is hilarious. Terrifying for the one being scared, which happened to me a couple weeks ago. And I so bad. Yeah, I didn't scream but I was scared the snot out of me. It happened to my wife. It was the unintentional scare that still happens. So she's not the intended victim. But
02:47
She happened to walk in and there happened to be And here's the thing if you guys haven't met us yet There's only a few of us that are under six feet and so I think actually There may be only one of us. That's true. I think that is true on the team. I'm a staff team That's under six feet. So we're talking about like hulking men that stand behind a door Yes, and and the one that scared my wife was the most hulking of all of them. Yes. It's fun. So yes I bring up the door
03:16
I bring up the playfulness and even your cool runnings because of where we're headed today in our Advent reflection. That's right. Good. Good segue. Well played. Thank you. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Well, we have been in the midst of, like you said, an Advent mini-series of sorts of examining some pieces of scripture. Hopefully.
03:38
wondering and asking around some of the story deeper still that we believe Jesus is pursuing and wondering and has eyes for. And like we've said, this has come kind of from a fun repurposing of some writing that you've done for our Small Batch Journal, which comes out every December and excited just to be able to continue this Advent series and some of your reflections around this. So yeah, again.
04:05
we have a little bit lighter of a tone to where we're going because of the passage that Jesus, or the experience that Jesus has invited us into in the scriptures here. So guys, I'm gonna read from Luke chapter 24, verses 13 to 33. So this is, in a lot of Bibles, they have those titles or whatever, it's called On the Road to Emmaus. And I wanna start with this. So when I was in international missions and my wife and I were overseas,
04:34
serving in the Middle East, we titled the name of our monthly newsletter, On the Road to Emmaus. And this is actually the title of this portion, On the Road to Emmaus. And I want to come back to why we titled it that and kind of where we're headed today. So Luke chapter 24. So you guys, this is the day of the resurrection Sunday. Okay. So that very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus.
05:00
about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. And while they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "'What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?' And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him,
05:27
Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?' And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God in all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this,
05:57
It is now the third day since these things have happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. And he, Jesus, said to them, oh, foolish ones.
06:26
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them, in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent.
06:56
So, he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.
07:25
I love this passage. I love it. You're like chuckling. I can see you. You're like chuckling as you read. I love this passage. So I started with talking about cool runnings and asking you more for that and about hiding behind the door because Jesus is totally playing with his disciples here. He is playing with these men. He's not playing them. He's not doing something to harm them or whatever or lead them on.
07:53
He's playing with them. And it is so fun to watch him do this. Yes. Yes. Say some more. Keep going, because I'm excited to hear you unpack it, because it's I think it's true. And I'm laughing because I've heard this passage described much more through a not through a lighthearted tone. And so I'm excited to hear where you're going. So.
08:19
Well, and I mentioned like when we were overseas, this was the title of our newsletter, like On the Road to Emmaus or On the Emmaus Road. And we titled that because our like mission and vision was that more people would open their eyes to recognize who Jesus was, and that he was walking with them and they needed to like open their eyes and have some epiphany of awareness that they were dumb to not see him.
08:46
and you know that if they could just come to recognize who Jesus was, then all things would be well. And it was a very serious and solemn kind of thing. Like that's what we were wanting. We wanted more people to recognize who Jesus was. And yet, like as I spend more time in this passage, I feel like he's being a total prankster. Like of all the places, here's the question. All right, you have just been crucified. You have just spent three days in the tomb. You have just had an encounter with Mary.
09:15
and you have loved her and you've seen her and you've told her like, hey, I am alive. Go tell everybody I am alive. Which these disciples had obviously heard, right? They were there, they were part of the group that heard from the women and then it was verified that the guys went there like, yeah, it's actually true. Like all that stuff. Of all the places that Jesus could be, the resurrected Jesus could be, why was he sneaking up on a couple of his friends on this seven mile hike out of town?
09:42
of all the places like if he wanted people to know that he was alive, he should have shown up in like the synagogue or he should show right or at the very least and he eventually does but at the very least in the in the company of everybody where everybody can see and all that kind of stuff and but like the very next thing he does is he goes off to this mountain road seven miles out to a guy named Cleopas who we've never heard of before. Yeah like be more strategic Jesus like your
10:11
upgrade our potential. It does, yes, absolutely. And I love, it just says that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. So like this resurrected Christ body shows up somewhere on the seven-mile walk and just like sidles up to these guys and starts walking down the road. I feel like it's equivalent to him hiding behind the door. It's just like, I am going to show up in a place that is most unexpected. And he just kind of like, poof, here I am.
10:40
and I'm gonna start walking and engaging with these guys. And it's almost like a spam call, right? Like, you know, like, hey, what is this conversation that you were holding with each other as you walk? And I'm sure you joked about using the accent, the Jamaican accent, right? But did he use an accent that they didn't recognize him? Like, was he totally playing with them? Like, tell me what's happening. Or you guys are talking about something, you know, fill me in. And...
11:09
And they just didn't get it. They just didn't get it. So then he walks with them and walks with them. Do you know how long it takes to walk seven miles? Well, I mean, that's like at least two hours probably, right, like two or three hours, depending on how fast you're going. On pavement, and this is a dirt road in the middle of the Judean desert from Jerusalem out to Emmaus. So, you know, if it's...
11:37
hours, if it's three hours, if it's four hours, it's several hours that they're talking with him. And so the entire time he continues to play with him. He keeps his disguise on. He makes sure that they don't recognize who he was. And then they get there, right? They get to Emmaus. So they drew near to the village to where they were going. And he acted as if he were going farther. Yeah, right. Right.
12:05
Like the ruse is still in place. Very much. Yep. Yes. So like, I love that he's even still playing them then. And you know, just like, hey, like, do you not recognize me? And then they, you know, play act would, oh, come on, come on. It's late at night. It's late at night. Come sit with me. So until finally, finally, finally, finally, in the moment of gratitude, in the moment of gratitude, when he is taking the bread,
12:33
and blessing it and breaking it and giving it to them, that is when their eyes were opened and recognized him. And then, we have another poof. Yes. He disappears, literally the next sentence. Yeah. Their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. He's gone. What was the point of this visit? Yeah, like he just interrupts the guys, right? Like, and it's totally unasked. Like, I don't, yeah, the point, I mean,
13:03
The point is that they're struggling to answer because like the point is like, yeah, he did reveal himself and then he peace that like, I don't, uh, I, I am struggling to give you an answer. I actually think there was no point other than play. I think they're like, we don't have any deeper knowledge of his Christ likeness in this moment. He doesn't teach them anything he does talk about, you know, okay, so he shares from the scriptures and things, but we never hear from Cleopas again.
13:32
There's no more that we ever hear. So it's not like he took it and wrote it down and all of a sudden it's a book of the Bible. So, you know, whatever. I think it was actually all about play. He just wanted to like jump out from behind the door and keep his identity hidden. And then, you know, play with him a little bit, you know, ruse the whole thing. Like, I'm gonna keep going and you know, maybe, you know, whatever you'll invite me in. And then when they recognize him, he just disappears. Like there's actually no point. And I bet just pass it. What it doesn't say is,
14:01
how he disappeared, right? And I can imagine, and this is totally, I understand I'm totally like reading into scripture and maybe writing into scripture in the next sentence I'm about to say, but I can imagine if Jesus is this playful that he actually was like, gotcha! Yeah. And then he disappeared. Yeah, yeah, with the giggle or like a long, or deep belly laugh, like either one of those. Yes. Yeah.
14:28
So as I think about where we are in Advent, there is the seriousness of the incarnation. There is the seriousness of what we've been talking about with like understanding our whole truth, all of our pain and shame and disease and exile and hurt and loneliness and all that, all that kind of stuff. And so we have a Jesus that can sit in the dirt with us and have those conversations with us and call us the sons and daughters of God.
14:58
He is this like goofy, fun, playful, laughing, joyful God who just wants to hang out and surprise us. Yes, that's so good. And I would say actually that work of, that we talked about in the previous episodes of hearing the whole story of engaging our shame, right? Like you were saying, very, very deep waters in that sense that he's still in those spaces, right? After the deepest parts of who we are. And I would say,
15:28
Some of the cool piece of like neuroscience lately is when we think about this pranking play space, actually that is also after the deepest parts of who we are. So hear me out. So you and I have talked about this guy named Jim Wilder, who was a colleague of Dallas Willards has just done some fascinating research around neurobiology and theology and really like looking at, hey, how do those brain science, how does that actually map with theology?
15:56
And he has this book called Renovated, which is really, really good. But one of the things that he talks about is he talks about identity and the formation of identity being this very sort of protected function, right? Like we don't just work ourselves into a new identity or we don't just try harder. Like it's not the way that the brain science works. But he says, Hey, actually the way that identity is shaped is when there are experiences of joy that are shared. And so the
16:24
His point is the people that we share joy with, those are the people that actually have access or a platform and the ability to shape our identity. And so his whole point actually is that, hey, Jesus is after when the word salvation is used, he's talking about new identity. And one of the ways that Jesus is able to engage and hopefully shift our understanding of identity is through shared joy. So if that is true,
16:54
What greater way to share joy than like through practical joke, through the pranking of people, right? Like that, that even then, I think when viewed in that way, right. It's still still as seen as hey, Jesus is after the deepest parts of who we are in this wonderful, goofy, hilarious way. Well, because think about it like, okay, so if a stranger were to hide behind your door and then jump out of you, like that's creepy. For sure.
17:22
And you're like, who the hell are you? And why are you jumping out from behind the door? That's terrifying. But the minute that you have the brief flash of fear from being shocked, then recognize that it is one of your good friends, there is something about that that moves it into the place of laughter and joy and relationship building and identity formation and trust and all that kind of stuff, right?
17:46
Versus if it's a total stranger that does that, like I said, that's creepy and you don't do that to people you don't know. Yes. And it is also what helps you develop a deeper sense of this person is willing to play with me, are they willing to hear my story? If they're willing to sit with me and laugh, can they sit with me in grief? And I often talk about how joy and grief are two sides of the same coin, that you can only know joy by knowing the depths of grief.
18:15
And you can only know the depths of grief by knowing the heights of joy. And so I think there is something about this combination of things, this interplay, this relationship that, you know, he was just crucified. They witnessed it. They saw it. And now they're super confused because the tomb is empty and the women are saying he's not there. And, and they're walking. I don't know why they had to leave Jerusalem at that point, but they're walking down the road and he pranks them. He shows up and he's like,
18:44
Hey guys, what you're talking about? Oh, you see me now, I know, yeah, yeah. What's going on? And like pretending to be ignorant to all that had just happened. And I just think it's fun. And there's so many other places, Jesse, in the scriptures where this is happening. Like, you know, they don't recognize him many different times and they're out in the boats and they're catching fish. And then he's back on the shore just like with a campfire, like waving, like, made you guys breakfast. You know, that's Jesus. And
19:11
He's like, hey, I'll, you know, I'm going to take off for a while and you guys got this. So like go and, you know, share with the world and I'm not going to be with you, but I'm going to do with you. And like this whole thing, like I just, there's so much more play to how I think we envision him. Yeah. Which isn't that just going back again, one more time to your point of like the stranger who scares you, it's creepy and weird, right? But the people that you do play with, those are the people that you trust. Right? Like my kids, it's super clear with kids, right?
19:41
they will only play with the people that they feel safe around, that they trust. That is reserved for only this place of trust. And so what a sweet expression of that, that Jesus wants to actually lead us into. Absolutely, absolutely. And so as here in Advent, we'd just love everybody to take a moment to ask yourself the question, like what is actually keeping you from recognizing the Jesus who is walking next to you? How does he show up not in like,
20:09
If your lack of recognition is not because of your failure or your stupidity, but your lack of recognition of him is because he's actually playing with you and he's disguising himself to see if you can find him. If he's playing a little hide and seek to find, like, do you recognize me? Can you find me? What might that look like for you? What keeps you, what disguises might he be using that are specific to you? Right? Is he hiding behind your door? Is he hiding behind a word? Is he hiding behind a rainbow? Is he hiding behind
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a thunder cloud, like, I don't know, like it could be, where is he hiding as you are walking down your road today that he might actually not be as serious as you imagine and he's actually far more playful. For me, one of the ways, this is a long story, but like I have this kind of, I don't believe in spirit animals, okay, so don't see me in any kind of whatever, but if I had a spirit animal, it would be a hawk. And...
21:06
I tell you guys, I cannot count how many times I will be out and about and I will be like in a rough place or I'll be like struggling through something or whatever and some kind of hawk will fly by. It'll just fly by and I'm like, where did that come from? And I've just become to notice that it's Jesus playing with me and saying like, I'm still with you. I'm walking with you. I see you. And you know, my daughter, she's
21:35
That's butterflies. She has this thing with butterflies. Yeah. Okay, it might not be an animal like that, right? It might be something else, but what if you assumed that Jesus was playing with you and didn't assume that he wasn't? That's a double negative, but whatever. He assumed that he was playing with you. And he was interested in developing that level of trust and joy and delight so that he can be with you also in the places of your grief.
22:03
And how fitting to have this conversation during Advent, right? Of once again, like if Jesus can be playful right after his resurrection, is he not also playful in this wonderful season of anticipating his birth? Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So as we have, we have a Jesus who likes to play. It's good. It's good. I'd love to hear, love to hear from you how Jesus plays with you. OK, we'll talk to you next week, guys. Thanks, Chris.