The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1946-11-28
SER MON NETTE
FOR HIM i AM SECURITY
BY GLEN M. WARNER

SHOW me penny" Luke 20:24
The text reminds us of the argu-
nient between the Penny and the
Dollar Bill as to their respective
worth. In contempt the Dollar said,
Il am worth a hundred pennies. :"
YES" replied the Penny, but
am better than you are since | gc
to Sunday school more often than
you do"
In a London museum there is a
very valuable coin collection. The
coins vary according to size, age,
metal and condition. According to
the late DR.. T. Reaveley Glover, a
public orator of the University of
Cambridge, England, one of the
most valuable of this collection is
small silver coin with this inscrip-
ton, ''TiberiuS Ceasar, Son of the
Divine Augustus. This coin be
longed to the reign in Rome from
IA A. D. to 81 A. D. It's value is not
due to its age, weight or condition,
but it is presumably one of the same
issue mentioned in the text from
Luke. A good many years ago some
Jews were arguing in an obscure
corner of what was then the great
est nation of the world. One was
asked whether they should serve
the God Jehovah or the National
God, Augustus. "ShOW me penny"
the speaker demanded, and preSum-
ably they showed Him one of this
issue. Whose inscription is thiS?"
He asked. Caesars, they answered.
"Very well, give Caesar what is his
the image on the coin. Give God
what is his-the image is the soul
Of man" From that touch of Jesus
hand on the coin, He raised the
value of this whole issue of these
Roman pennies.
This is typical of the touch Of
Jesus. By His touch, through a
church in q community, real estate
values are increased We feel more
secure under the shadow of the
church spire The touch Of our Lord
makes material things become sac
ramental. Who can eValuatC the
worth of a Christian home, Christ
lar school, or a Christian hospital?
Ry the same token, let Jesus touch
a human life and sec what happens
Our vision is cleared. The blind
man at Bethsaida had the first touch
and saw ''men as trees walking .
Many a man and woman have felt
this first touch, They were quick
ened by His present, but they,
through inadequate vision, develop
only a partial loyalty, and an in
complete commitment to the Christ
ian cause. When Jesus had touched
the blind mans eyes the second
time, che saw all things clearly.
Isn't this a suggestion of our need
for a repeated and continuing con-
tact with the Lord of Life?
We are nominally a Christian ma
ton. However, our fears, our sins,
our troubles are strangely similar to
those of so-Called nOn-ChriStian ma
tions. AS someone has said, I'VE are
too Christian to be jolly pagans, and
too pagan to be happy Christians. "
Tne repeated contact with Christ
brings both nations and individuals
new insight, triumphant freedom,
and a living faith.
In one of the galleries of Flor
ence stood a group of Statuary by
Mlchelangelo. 1t was known as The
Prisoners" for a peculiar reason.
The artist completed only enough of
the sculpturing to give us a glimpse
Of human figures emerging, as it
were, from the marble mass. They
seemed to be struggling to free
themselves that they might realize
the purpose of their creation. But
they needed the Masters hand and
genius and love to complete the
carving and thus to release them.
1t is sin, evilnesS, and ignorance
that would thwart our purpose of
creation. 1t is the constant touch Of
the Master Workman, completing
our lives, that breaks the shaCkles
of sin, oVercomes evil with good, and
releases us from mass ignorance to
truth and light Obscure people like
Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, St.
Augustine, St. Francis, Luther, WeS-
ley, and many others were touched,
and life in terms of a penny be
came a life in terms of a great trea-
sure.
IF any man be in Christ" says
Paul, ''he is new creature"
For whatever is born of God
overcometh the world, and this is
the victory that overCometh the
world, even our faith"