Friday, March 28, 2014

Golf with the Baptists

Someone told me bits of her back story, as she asked me questions about faith. She grew up Roman Catholic, and had two major moves in her life. In St. Louis, she had been surrounded by many Roman Catholic churches and people. They then moved to Tennessee where Baptists dominated and she golfed with them. Having been twenty five years ago, she didn't inquire like now. This was a question burning in her heart. What is the difference between Roman Catholics and the others?
I sat with her and started with Martin Luther. I prayed for gentleness. She glowed from having Mass with her priest. The questions came again after a Gospel singer's performance. We exchanged back and forth, as her questions bubbled to the surface, like what does it mean to be "born again?"
The thought flooded into my mind, "I have food you know nothing about." Jesus' quote while He communicated with the Samaritan woman. (John 4) Not in any way is the woman I talked to like this woman, except that she was seeking. I can see the similarities now, though, like the affirmations about where and how to worship. I talked about God's presence and Jesus in ways all Christians worship.
I was reading Acts this week. Peter had the vision three times of food, unclean for a Jew, but God said it was clean, before his lunch and before he was called to witness to the Gentile, Cornelius.(Acts 9 and 10). Peter denied Jesus three times after the Last Supper. He was told to feed Jesus sheep three times by the shore by Jesus after a fish breakfast.(John 21)
I have also been fasting this week. As I talked to this lady, I felt fed. Maybe this is the daily bread spoken of in the Lord's prayer or part of it. God uses the physical often to show us spiritual truths. We do have the Lord's Supper, which originated with the Passover meal.
Questions originating over lunch with the Baptists after golf, but not asked, arise again twenty five years later. My physical hunger met with a woman's spiritual hunger. All this to grow the Kingdom of God. Thanks to golf with the Baptists.

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