Part XII:

A Table for Two

www.ambassadorsforJesus5.com

     Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  ~1 John 4:7-9

     Alex took Sarah to a nearby steakhouse and they were waiting on their drinks.

     "I think I've lost my appetite," Sarah sadly noted.

     Alex intended to offer what help he could, "Would you like to talk about it?"

     "I just started to lose it there.  I mean that young man was going on about revolution…and then I saw all the smoking they were doing, and all the liquor they were drinking," her eyes grew wide as she continued, "Then he brought out more strong drink.  It disturbed me to see how they were consuming it as if it were kool-aid, and many were so young.  Teenagers under the influence."  She knew she was babbling but she couldn’t seem to stop.  "When I mentioned how wrong it was someone else accused me of trying to steal their liberty and then the young man got very angry.  From there it grew worse and just got out-of-hand."  Her emotions rose as she relived the moment and in her distress Sarah found herself short of breath.  She figured this was a good place to stop and didn’t volunteer the information on the dark figure as she wasn’t sure what Alex would think.

     This woman has heart! And I love the song in her heart!  A ray of hope had entered his. He wanted to put his hand over hers in a comforting gesture but thought that would be too intimate a move for a woman he barely knew.  Instead he said, "I understand.  We’ve all been there.  Heck, I still go there from time to time and really need to rely on the Lord and his grace to see me through for I can’t stomach too much of that either.  Sarah, you’re not alone."

     She gave him a look that said she was grateful for his understanding.  Just then the waitress came back with their drinks, "Are you ready to order?"

     He tilted his head to the side a bit and asked, "Why don’t you have something to eat?  They have a great Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich here.  Tell you what, I’ll order two and if you’re still not hungry then I’ll have them wrap it up and it'll be my dinner, or you can take it home if you'd like."

     Sarah agreed and the waitress responded with, "Two Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches coming right up, anything else?"

     "I think that’ll do for now."

     After the waitress had left Sarah asked, "Did I say thank you yet?"

     Alex shrugged it off, "Think nothing of it, I enjoy the company."

     Her lips curved in a smile and Alex felt his heart skip a beat.

     "No, I mean all of it, for getting me out of there, for lunch, for yesterday…I don’t think I’ve even thanked you."

     And grateful, he said to himself.  He felt this was his role as a man but most of the women he knew didn’t take the time to express gratitude.

     He offered her a heartfelt, "You’re welcome…and thank you for joining me."

     She smiled again and something happened to him that rarely happens…Alex was at a loss for words.

     Sarah then gazed down and began to awkwardly play with her napkin, "I feel guilty over what happened…and now I’m embarrassed by it all."

     "Ah, the tormenting fruit of guilt," he found his voice again.  He always did when it came to speaking of these things.  "There's a big difference between feeling guilty and Godly sorrow, as vast as death and life...and there's no need to feel embarrassed around me.  Have you forgotten whom you’re talking to?  I’m thinking of changing my name to 'Accident Prone'.  How's your head today?  You didn't wake up with a migraine, did you?"  That got a laugh out of her and he felt his heart leap with joy.

     After enjoying the moment Alex grew serious again, "Sarah, I don’t want to paint a distorted picture.  There’s been an awful amount of hurts dealt throughout our community.  Many in the subdivision you entered today started out in mine.  You saw the façade there," he said feeling more confident she could be trusted.

     "Yes," she replied, "I wasn’t sure what was going on but it was coming in clearer this morning.  You think the head collision had anything to do with it?" she asked with some humor of her own.

     Now he was the one laughing, "You may be onto something..."  Then as an afterthought he mischievously offered, "I could do it again if you think it would help." 

     Sarah vigorously shook her head "no" but she was grinning from ear to ear now and Alex was happy that her mood was changing for the better. He continued.

     “Alright, but let me know if you change your mind...now back to my story.  Eventually some residents began seeing the problems there, along with the personal damage it caused, they then crossed the street into the other neighborhood and settled in there. It's been like a bad episode of 'Family Feud' ever since, but we’ve also had our breakthroughs.  The process has been slow but I'm very optimistic about the future. After all, we have our Jesus."

     Sarah nodded before growing sad again, "I’ve had my share of sorrows with the tensions and divisions in the body of Christ too."  She then she offered sheepishly, "And my share of mistakes there too. Why is it that the body of Christ is so divided?"

     "Our heads are too big," Alex made a big circle with his hands for emphasis and gave her a toothy smile.  "That’s the short version, but I have a longer one on the menu if you’d like."

     Sarah giggled and said, "Yes, I’d like to hear it."  Sitting straight up in her seat now she was all ears.

     That’s all Alex needed to hear.  This was a topic close to his heart and if someone gave him an open invitation he was more than willing to walk through that door.  

     "The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul said that knowledge puffs up, the big head syndrome, but love builds up.  Jesus said that we search the scriptures in search of life but it all points to Him.  In Him we have the Holy Spirit who is our Breath of Life.  His Word is now a living organism within our hearts, his Spirit abiding in ours.  As we allow Him to live and breath within us we become living epistle for the glory of God.  You don't get that from knowledge alone.  Knowledge often leads to bad breath, we have to have more..."

     At that Sarah enjoyed another hearty laugh. "You have a way with words, go on."

     Just then the waitress returned with their order, "I’ll be back in a bit to see if there is anything else I can get you."

     Alex nodded.

     "My appetite seems to have returned.  I'm actually quite hungry now,"  Sarah happily acknowledged.  "I think I will have that sandwich after all."

     Alex was so pleased, "Good, then we had better eat now and I’ll share more afterwards, but first grace."

     She nodded in agreement and Alex gave a short prayer thanking the Lord for always being there when they needed Him, along with thanks for their time of fellowship. They then reached for their sandwiches and began to eat. 

Part XIII:  JC