We Remember.
And We Look Forward.
The grandchildren had been talking about Anzac Day at school, and the conversation turned to whether I had any mementos of my father’s service, like medals or such. No medals I said. They are in the care of other members of the family. But I do have one memento, the New Testament and Psalms provided to servicemen in World War 2 by the Bible Society. It is still in its khaki webbing cover, but not in perfect condition. A child has practiced writing on its cover and preface. It is both a precious memento and a testimony to how in our childish self-pre-occupation we can fail to recognize what is genuinely precious.
The preface pasted at the front of the volume is by the King [George VI]. It reads: “A Message from H.M. the King. To all serving in my forces by sea, or land, or in the air, and indeed, to all my people engaged in the defence of the Realm, I commend the reading of this book. For centuries the Bible has been a wholesome and strengthening influence in our national life, and it behoves us in these momentous days to turn with renewed faith to this Divine source of comfort and inspiration.” British and Foreign Bible Society, Bible House, Sydney, 1940.
It is hard to imagine any Western leader today in times of national trial commending the Bible to his people in such an uncomplicated way. We live in different times and perhaps some of those who gather on Anzac grieve not just for the fallen but for the changes that have taken place in our society over the decades as it has abandoned a Christian moral consensus in its public life.
But that is not wise. These different times are our times, and the only time we have. And like believers at all times we engage with them by remembering, looking forward, and being determined to use our time well.
We remember that the LORD is in control. He is sovereign over the outcomes of battles. “A King” says the Psalmist “is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse [and all military technology] is a false hope of salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.” [Psalm 33:16-17]. As David said to Goliath, “the battle is the LORD’s” [1 Sam. 17:45-47].
He is sovereign over the rise and fall of empires. In the words of the heavenly voice to King Nebuchednezzar “The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will.” [Daniel 4:17, 25, 32, 34-35; Is. 40:21-24]
He is sovereign over the movement of peoples. As the LORD says in Amos “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir” [Amos 9:7], or as Paul said to the Athenians “He, God, made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,” [Acts 17:26]
The LORD rules over Australia both to prosper His saving purpose and to exercise His just judgements.
He determines our times, and our hope and security at any time in our fallen world where proud and malicious peop\le plot to prosper their own evil plans is not in politicians or defence spending, nor in the courage and competency of our armed forces. It is in the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth, in His steadfast love and faithfulness, and the LORD has entrusted all authority to the Son, our Lord Jesus, the head of His church. [Psalm 36]
We remember.
And we look forward. We share the faith of Abraham who lived on this earth with his children as ‘strangers and exiles’ ‘desiring a better country, a heavenly one’ [Heb. 11:13-16], and so we recognize with the author of Hebrews that “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” [Heb. 13:14]. And as citizens now of that city [Phil. 3:20-21] we take our identity, and so the way we live in the world, from our citizenship in heaven which paradoxically makes us good citizens of whatever country we live in now. “I urge you,” writes Peter, “as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:11-12. In change believers are never ultimately losers for we have a heavenly city, and we always have guidance for life, light for our path, for we live looking forward.
And we are determined to use well the time the Lord has given us. Our time is still a day of opportunity [2 Peter 3:9] the favourable day, the day of salvation [2 Cor. 6:2]. One of the consequences of the changes of the last decades are that people have come to Australia from all over the world, including from countries where Jesus is not freely preached. And many of those who are born here have not heard of Jesus as they have grown up, have not had an immunising dose of civic religion. After our Lord saw that the crowds were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd He said ‘the harvest is plentiful.’ That is still true today amongst our lost, confused and harassed generation, beset with anxieties about climate, about the economy, about the stability of the world order, just as it also true that the labourers are few [Matt. 9:37-38]. So in obedience to the Lord we should pray for labourers and also seek in our day to share in the work of reaping a harvest for eternity, to make disciples [Matt. 28:18-20].
The past is gone. The future is God’s future, and the present He has entrusted to us. Love serves in its own time. You may still hear John 15:13 at Anzac Day services, just as you see it on some Anzac memorials – “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends”, a testament to the influence of the book commended by King George in shaping the way many of that generation saw their duty and sacrifice. But our Lord continued to say to His disciples “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide” [John 15:16]. That continues to be our purpose in our time as we come to share in Jesus’ love for His people, know that we have been loved by a love that cannot be greater, the love of Jesus in His death for our sin. Remember, look forward, and by God’s grace let us use our time well by living fruitful lives rich in doing good and faithful in witnessing to the truth that Christ is Lord.
