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At the University of Chicago Divinity School each year
they have what is called "Baptist Day." On this day each one is to
bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area.
Every "Baptist Day" the
school would invite one of the greatest minds to
lecture in the
theological
education center. One year they invited Dr.Paul
Tillich. Dr. Tillich
spoke
for two and one-half hours "proving" that the
resurrection of Jesus was
false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after
book. He concluded
that since there was no such thing as
the historical resurrection, the religious tradition
of the church was
groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was
based on a relationship
with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the
dead in any literal
sense. He then asked if there were any questions.
After about 30 seconds,
an
old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-
cropped, woolly white hair
stood up in the back. "Docta
Tillich, I got one question," he said as all eyes
turned toward him. He
reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple
and began eating it.
Docta Tillich.. CRUNCH, MUNCH "My question is a simple
question,...CRUNCH,
MUNCH..."Now, I ain't never read them books you
read...CRUNCH, MUNCH..
"and
I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek...
CRUNCH, MUNCH ..."
I
don't know nothin' about Niebuhr and
Heidegger...CRUNCH, MUNCH...He
finished
the apple. "All I wanna know is: This apple I just
ate,------was it
bitter
or sweet?" Dr.
Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary
scholarly
fashion:
"I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't
tasted your
apple." The white-haired preacher dropped the core
of his apple into
his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and
said calmly,
"Neither have you tasted my Jesus."
The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain
themselves. The crowd
erupted with applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich
thanked his audience
and promptly left.
Have you tasted Jesus? In the movie Contact, Jodie Foster's character asks her friend to prove that God exists. He asks her if she loved her father, she says, "Yes," and he says, "Prove it." Each one of us must come to God on our own terms. For years, I tried to know God from an intellectual approach, but I could not find anyone who could give me answers. It turned out my way was by experience ... a gut-wrenching, desperate plea for help that He answered. Read my testimony for more info. |