21st Sunday - Gospel Illustration - John 6:60–69 – Trusting in the Lord
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Trusting in the Lord J. C. Penney’s Conversion Story Copyrighted material that appears in this article is included under the provisions of the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright Act, which allows limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing.
21st Sunday - Gospel Illustration - John 6:60–69 – Trusting in the Lord
1. Trusting in the Lord J. C. Penneys Conversion Story
Copyrighted material that appears in this article is included under
the provisions of the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright
Act, which allows limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for
educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for
viewing.
2. You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God (Jn. 6:68-69.
When the stock market crashed in 1929, J. C. Penney like most of
America was frightened to the core of his being. Penney became so
fearful he couldnt sleep and eventually became obsessed with the
fear of death. One thing led to another and he acquired a nervous
condition known as shingles. He was hospitalized and given sedation
to relieve the pain.
3. Physically and mentally he declined and reached a point
where he believed that he would survive until morning. Convinced
that he would die he wrote farewell letters to his wife and
children. Penney lived through the night and the next morning he
heard a group of people singing a hymn in the hospital chapel. They
were singing, God will take care of you; beneath his wings of love
abide, The hymn was followed by a scripture reading and prayer. God
makes straight crooked paths. And, of course, God always knows
best. Penney was on the path to self destruction until God
straightened the path with a hymn.
4. From that point on Penney felt he was lifted out of the
darkness of despair and felt the warmth of Gods brilliant sunlight.
The fear of death was gone, he would live on until he was 96
years-old and build a merchandising empire of 1200 stores in all 50
states. Faith in God goes beyond temporal reasoning but the benefit
of belief and trust is peace and the loss of fear. Even though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for
you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Ps.
23:4). Penney had lost his fear of death.
5. In todays reading we hear that some of Jesus disciples left
him because he had told them they needed to eat his flesh and drink
his blood (Jn. 5:54). And in that statement Jesus used the Greek
word , four times. means chew, so the people would need to chew his
flesh. He also used the Greek word for drink which means, to
receive into the soul what serves to refresh, strengthen, nourish,
it to life eternal. Some say that Jesus was speaking symbolically
but that is clearly not the case.
6. It is obvious that the disciples who were leaving
interpreted Jesus' words literally that is they thought that Jesus
was promoting cannibalism, and they could not accept the teaching.
Note also that Jesus made NO effort at all to clarify His teaching
further, neither to His remaining disciples nor to the twelve
apostles. Anglicans and Lutherans also believe Jesus was speaking
literally not symbolically. The people who reject John 6 as
literal, typically believe that John 3:3 born again, is a literal
and not symbolic translation. As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said,
Gods love is so great that if we were dogs, He would become a dog
biscuit . A biscuit which feeds our eternal soul.