Sacrificing for Others

This Friday we celebrate Remembrance Day – that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the guns fell silent on the Western Front after the bloodshed of World War I. Services across Australia will allow people to pause and remember all those who have served and sacrificed in wars and conflicts across the world, and to reflect on the historical events that led to this day of significance.

When talking about the supreme sacrifice for the freedom of others it’s fairly easy to make a connection to the supreme sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us on the cross so that we can be freed from our past and be gifted with an eternal hope. It is by his grace that we have been saved and set free.

When we talk about God’s grace we often talk about it being a completely free gift, not costing us or requiring of us a single thing. That’s completely true – grace is a free gift to be received. But to give it though, often comes at a cost. It cost Jesus the agonising death on the cross.

As we are called to extend grace to others it also often comes at a cost. To forgive may cost us letting go of a sense of revenge or justice. To truly listen may cost us our time. To truly help may cost us the uneasiness of doing something uncomfortable. To truly help may also cost us financially. But we do it anyway so that others can be set free from whatever it is that is troubling them.  

This Remembrance Day, as you hear again about the sacrifice of others for our freedom, you might like to recall the sacrifice that Jesus made for you, and then to ask yourself, ‘What am I willing to sacrifice so that someone I know might be set free from something that’s troubling them?’

Stuart Traeger
Spiritual & Cultural Leader