Tomorrow (June 6) marks the 80th anniversary of the first day of Operation Overlord, the Allied attack on German-occupied Western Europe, which began on the beaches of Normandy, France, on 6 June 1944. Primarily US, British, and Canadian troops, with naval and air support, attacked five beaches, landing some 135,000 men in a day widely considered to have changed history. Better known today as “D-Day.” https://www.worldhistory.org/D-Day/
It has been eighty years since the beginning of the end of the Second World War. Less than 200 men that fought that day are still alive. Their average age is 100. This might be their last anniversary of the event that freed the world from the Nazis. A few generations removed; many Americans have no connection to that day because since that time our world, as a whole, has been at peace. Yes, we have had major regional conflicts, but we have been spared the global impact of world war. Simply reading about the heroic events of that day and what followed, should leave all citizens of the world in awe and respect for the sacrifice that was made to liberate an entire region from the clutches of Nazi tyranny in Europe.
But how quickly we forget. For the most part, the world has moved on. Forgotten are the small grave yards that dot the French coastline. The most well-known is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. Located in Colleville-sur-Mer, the American St. Laurent Cemetery was established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,388 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. https://www.abmc.gov/normandy American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 permanent American military cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments and markers, which are located in 17 foreign countries. These cemeteries and memorials, most of which commemorate the service and sacrifice of Americans who served in World War I and World War II, are among the most beautiful and meticulously maintained shrines in the world. https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials
When the last of the remaining 200 soldiers die, these monuments are all we will have left to tell their story. To me the message is clear, there was something back then that was worth dying for. I did not have to live the history to realize I have benefited from what someone else was willing to give up so that I might see a future of freedom. I can only imagine what those who were liberated must have been feeling to know someone was coming for them. To have the hope that what they could not do for themselves was being done for them. Out of ignorance, many in the present generation fail to respect the sacrifice that was made for them. They simply do not know because we have failed to educate them. The fault lies in those who know and do not share.
Paul makes this argument about the Gospel message. In Romans 10:13-15 he makes the case that individuals cannot make a decision about Jesus if they have not been informed. And people cannot be informed if those who know do not go!
How is a generation to know about something they did not live? They are beneficiaries of a freedom that they have no knowledge of the cost. We expect them to be grateful, but how can they be if they do not know? Just as we are about to lose the last living generation of D-Day, we are only one generation of losing the message of the Gospel. I do not want to be part of the generation that failed to share the story of sacrifice that has shaped the world as we know it. More so, I do not want to fail my Lord who commanded me to go into all the world and share the Good News.
In your scope of influence today, what message are you sending to insure the passage of knowledge to the next generation?
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:13-15
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
It has been eighty years since the beginning of the end of the Second World War. Less than 200 men that fought that day are still alive. Their average age is 100. This might be their last anniversary of the event that freed the world from the Nazis. A few generations removed; many Americans have no connection to that day because since that time our world, as a whole, has been at peace. Yes, we have had major regional conflicts, but we have been spared the global impact of world war. Simply reading about the heroic events of that day and what followed, should leave all citizens of the world in awe and respect for the sacrifice that was made to liberate an entire region from the clutches of Nazi tyranny in Europe.
But how quickly we forget. For the most part, the world has moved on. Forgotten are the small grave yards that dot the French coastline. The most well-known is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. Located in Colleville-sur-Mer, the American St. Laurent Cemetery was established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,388 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. https://www.abmc.gov/normandy American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 permanent American military cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments and markers, which are located in 17 foreign countries. These cemeteries and memorials, most of which commemorate the service and sacrifice of Americans who served in World War I and World War II, are among the most beautiful and meticulously maintained shrines in the world. https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials
When the last of the remaining 200 soldiers die, these monuments are all we will have left to tell their story. To me the message is clear, there was something back then that was worth dying for. I did not have to live the history to realize I have benefited from what someone else was willing to give up so that I might see a future of freedom. I can only imagine what those who were liberated must have been feeling to know someone was coming for them. To have the hope that what they could not do for themselves was being done for them. Out of ignorance, many in the present generation fail to respect the sacrifice that was made for them. They simply do not know because we have failed to educate them. The fault lies in those who know and do not share.
Paul makes this argument about the Gospel message. In Romans 10:13-15 he makes the case that individuals cannot make a decision about Jesus if they have not been informed. And people cannot be informed if those who know do not go!
How is a generation to know about something they did not live? They are beneficiaries of a freedom that they have no knowledge of the cost. We expect them to be grateful, but how can they be if they do not know? Just as we are about to lose the last living generation of D-Day, we are only one generation of losing the message of the Gospel. I do not want to be part of the generation that failed to share the story of sacrifice that has shaped the world as we know it. More so, I do not want to fail my Lord who commanded me to go into all the world and share the Good News.
In your scope of influence today, what message are you sending to insure the passage of knowledge to the next generation?
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:13-15
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
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