Greater Love
ANZAC day is a day that invokes for so many people memories that, on one level, are quite painful but on another level cause pride to swell. And though there aren't many of the original ANZAC’s left, many of us feel that we have some sort of connection. Whether it be because a relative fought on the battlefields in WWI, Australians seem to feel they have some sort of connection. For some the connection is enough to warrant a pilgrimage to Gallipoli or Villes Breteneux or other battlefields of France or Turkey. This week thousands of Australians will once again make the pilgrimage to these places where lives were sacrificed.
ANZAC day is a day when we specially think about those who fought and died on our behalf sothat freedom could be a reality for us.
A well-known passage of memorial prose was written, by John McCrae as he remembered a friend whose death he witnessed and whose funeral he presided over his name was Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. This is McCrae’s poem.
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
A very touching and relevant peace of poetry, as we remember the sacrifice of those who battled to maintain freedom on our behalf. And for that they were prepared to make a great sacrifice. Many made the ultimate sacrifices – with their lives. Not an easy thing by an stretch
In Romans 5, Paul speaks of another sacrifice that was made
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The pinnacle of human love can be seen in someone giving their life for a person they’re close to, a person they love, like a spouse, child oreven a comrade in battle. This is a rare thing – and usually only happens in extreme circumstances and usually it’s a spur of the moment kind of act
We might be able to think of 1 maybe 2 people we’d be willing to die for, but certainly not for a bunch of people, especially those we don’t know. But God’s love isn’t like that. The history books are full of accounts of someone covering up a grenade in order to save a few other people, but God’s love is much greater. God went far beyond what we’d do. We’d never think of doing what He did.
But when it came to God sending Jesus to die for us Jesus dies for people who couldn’t care less about him. It’s mind blowing that Christ died for us when we were his enemies. When we were utterly helpless God’s love came to us; while we were sinners Christ died for us; at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly. It wasn’t once we’d patched things up or once we came to the bargaining table. Peace talks weren’t even on our horizons when Jesus died on that cross. By the blood he shed on the cross we can enjoy peace with God. The amazing thing about peace with God is that it’s a peace that lasts forever It’s a peace that means we find confidence and contentment In the One who made us. The message of the gospel is that the gap between being at peace with God or not; the gap between no longer being an enemy and having your life settled with God is closed by Jesus.