PREACHER’S NOTE 21 NOVEMBER 2021
One Friday evening after work, a
couple of friends and I, all serving in
the South African Air Force for our
National Service and living at the
Waterkloof Air Base Officers’ Mess,
decided to pop in to the Mess’s pub
for a beer. How you join a room full of people, be it
a meeting or some kind of function, or even just a
quiet beer in a pub, is not simple in the Defence
Force. As you come in the door, you need to scan
the room quickly for the highest rank in attendance, go over, salute, and ask if you may join. As
we went in, we spotted a colonel standing chatting. We went over and started with our joining ceremony. Then we noticed he was pointing subtly to
the man next to him. The man turned, and there
was General Jannie Geldenhuys, head of the
whole Defence Force, reporting directly to the Defence Minister. We stumbled through our ‘can we
join’ questions, trying to get away as quickly as possible. He looked at us (our cowering and stammering must have been quite a sight) and said, “Just
wait”. He asked each of us who we were, where
we were from and how we were finding National
Service. We must have chatted for half an hour!
The reading for this Sunday, from the book of Daniel
(7:9-10, 13-14) paints a picture of Jesus being
brought into the presence of the Lord God, sitting in
judgement on His throne before all nations. Jesus is
given all authority over heaven and earth. What
power and majesty! When we meet Him in person,
what will we say? Stammer our way through greetings? And what will He say to us? I believe He’ll take
His time to find out how we are in a gentle but insightful way. What do you think?
Blessings, Andrew.