Dinner with a Perfect Stranger

 Book Review

Earlier this week, I read an intriguing book by David Gregory.  The book is small - 100 pages in a slim, compact size, but it's big on meaning.  The way I got this book is an interesting story in itself.  I was visiting Sara and family, and we were coming to the end of our walk through lovely Crowder Park.  A Little Library box sits near the parking lot, and my two grandkids flipped through the books looking for anything of interest to them.  It was slim picking for kid books (lots of kids visit the park), so my granddaughter passed on getting anything.  My eight-year old grandson Landon, however, was keen on getting something and he decided he liked the looks of this book.  His Mom explained that it was an adult book, but he insisted he wanted it.  And so, he carried the book to the car.

Since I'm an avid reader, I quite naturally picked up the book in the car and started reading the back cover and several pages.  I was hooked right away.  When we got to Sara's house, I asked if I might borrow the book and I would return it to Landon later.  She laughed, saying she was sure Landon had already forgotten about it and I was welcome to keep it.  Truth is, I believe God wanted me to have that book and He used my sweet little grandson to get it into my hands (:

So, let me tell you a bit about the book.  The story is told from the point of view of Nick, a successful businessman who is going through the motions of life with a marriage on the rocks, seventy-hour work weeks, and an empty soul that needs to be filled by God.  He receives an invitation to dinner with Jesus of Nazareth, at Milano's Restaurant, Tuesday, March 24, at eight o'clock.  Needless to say, he was a bit freaked out by the whole thing, but decided he'd check it out.

Here's what the back cover says, "The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who comfortably discusses everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell.  And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick's personal life.

"The man says to him, 'You're bored, Nick.  You were made for more than this.  You're worried about God stealing your fun, but you've got it backwards... There's no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe.'  As the evening progresses, it seems that having dinner with a perfect stranger may change Nick's life forever."

While such a premise for a story might sound a bit sacrilegious, it's really not.  It's more of a "thinking outside the box" type of story that touches the heart and made me consider things in a different light.  When you think about it, Jesus spent three years talking and sharing meals with his many disciples and friends.  Imagine sharing a meal with Him and being able to ask questions.  Imagine how He would know about all of your history, all of your thoughts and needs -- and imagine how much you would feel His love for you through it all.  That's what I got from this little book of conversation and my heart was so touched I wept.  

You see, each of us who is a child of the King have this close, precious relationship with Jesus available to us every minute of every day.  We were created for this wonderful relationship with God.

The perfect ending for the book is found in Revelation 3:20, "Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me" NIV.

Below is an excerpt from the book that touched me deeply.  It's a picture of relationship.  Nick has been questioning God's love for him, so Jesus offers a parable/story that is incredibly moving in the truth it shows us about God's love:

Jesus answers Nick's question about God's love with this story:  "I heard about two boys in fifth grade. One of them made straight A's; the other barely passed every year. Despite their different grades, they were best friends - had been since kindergarten.

"Near the end of the school year, they had a big math test. The first boy sailed through it; the second, who needed to make a C to pass, struggled. After class, the first asked the second how he did. 'I don't think I made it,' he said. That day at recess, while everyone played outside, the first boy sneaked back into the classroom, shuffled through the stack of tests, and found their two. He erased his name on his and wrote his friend's name there and then wrote his name on his friend's."

Nick waited for a second, and said, "That's all?"

"What else were you expecting?"

"Well, the story's not over. When the teacher returned and graded the papers, she would have known what he did."

"No, the story ends there. What does it tell you?"

"That the first kid was willing to exchange his grade so that his friend could pass."

"Yes, and more than that.  What would have happened if the second kid had failed?"

"He would have been held back the next year probably."

"And then..."

"They couldn't have gone through school together anymore."

Jesus paused for a moment, then spoke a little more softly. "God longs to have you with Him. That's why He created you. But your sin separates you from Him. It has to, if God is just. You have to be innocent before God. So, to get you back, God took your sin upon Himself, and He died to pay for it. That satisfies His justice. In exchange, He offers you a not-guilty verdict. He offers it as a free gift."