I knew I shouldn’t watch such a movie so late in the day. How would I ever get to sleep? But how could I ever tear my eyes away from it? When to do so would be…
… a sacrilege?
The movie was “Schindler’s List.” I still shake my head with the horror of it all. The enormity of man’s inhumanity to man played out on the worldwide stage during seven years that led to the very brink of one people’s extermination.
Your people, Lord. Six million Jews, murdered by the Nazis.
Yet there were heroes, too. Many were anonymous to all but You. A few, well-known indeed. Like Oskar Schindler.
An Unlikely Hero, to be sure.
A Nazi party member. A middle-class businessman. A gambler. A flagrant womanizer, seemingly unhindered by the fact that he was married. Not exactly a “poster boy” for the Catholic faith he espoused.
A savvy opportunist seeking to capitalize on the war to get rich. And get rich he did.
Until You showed him real wealth, Lord.
You gave this Unlikely Hero eyes to see what was really going on around him. And in the process, You radically changed his heart and the direction of his life. From building his riches to using them to save as many Jews as possible.
How much was one Jewish life worth to him? How about everything?
A multimillionaire spending ALL of his money to purchase the freedom of 1,200 Jews by “buying” them as his factory workers. Providing for them and protecting them for at least seven months leading up to Germany’s surrender in 1945.
Risking his life many times in the process… and persevering. Refusing to back down. Refusing to quit.
Weeping in anguish when he looked back on the wealth he had squandered on lesser things. Selfish things. Before his change of heart.
How many more could he have saved, if only…?
One person. Making a difference for so many.
An Unlikely Hero, perhaps. But a Hero, nonetheless.
Oh, Lord… Thank You for every such role model! Whose very existence convicts our hearts and spurs us on to the acts of faith You have reserved for us. That we, too, may — by Your Spirit — become the heroes You have ordained each of us to be.
For such a time as this.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus… [Let us] consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that [we] will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Humbled in the presence of Giants,
Abba’s Girl