St Columba’s Presbyterian Church Weekly Message 21ST JULY 2017 Confronting the Tough Questions… Shortly before the death of actor and comedian, W.C. Fields, a friend visited him in his hospital room… and was surprised to ϐind him thumbing through a Bible. Asked what he was doing with a Bible in his hands, Fields replied: “I'm looking for loopholes.” Overwhelmed by the cold hard truth of his mortality, he was suddenly con- fronted with the fact that all his life he had been avoiding the tough question of what happens when life in this world comes to an end. And this confronta- tion left him frantically thumbing through a book he had been studiously avoiding all his life! Fields’ reply to his friend summarizes the approach that most of us adopt when it comes to the tough questions of life and of faith… avoidance seems to be the order of the day for most of us. When Alistair and I decided that we would spend the month of July focusing on Matthew 13 – a chapter rich in imagery and symbolism found in the para- bles that Jesus uses here – I was rather excited (my preference has always been for a more systematic and series oriented approach to preaching). But this excitement soon turned to dread, when I realized that I would be the one dealing with verses 24-30, the Parable of the Weeds. A Parable that deals inevitably with eschatology and judgement! Two subjects that we in the mainstream of 21 st century Christianity just simply aren’t comfortable with. My initial response was to take my cue from W.C. Fields – I frantically began thumbing through other portions of Scripture, looking for loopholes. Like most of us (I presume), I wanted to avoid the tough questions that this para- ble raises about the end of things and the judgement to come – can you blame me? It is only my second sermon here, after all. Hardly the kind of subject material to endear one to a new faith family! Continued overleaf…….
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St Columba’s Presbyterian Churchstcolumbaschurch.co.za/Weekly Message 21st July 2017.pdf · St Columba’s Presbyterian Church ... on Matthew 13 – a chapter rich in imagery and
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