A City Of Refuge

 

 ANZAC DAY, APRIL 25, 2022

WATCH THIS SHORT 15 MINUTE VIDEO, ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ANZAC DAY.HERE:

Several commemorative elements connect Anzac Day to the Christian gospel:

 

* The reversed order of bugle calls (with “The Last Post” first, followed by “The Rouse”) makes the point that each soldier in particular (and everyone in general) must die before rising, having gone to sleep before awakening.

 

* A minute of silence, between bugle calls, denotes the dead soldier resting in the grave, based upon the biblical and creational analogy between sleeping and dying with awakening and rising from death.

 

* The flag lowered to one banner’s depth from the top of the pole makes way for the invisible Black Ensign (the Flag of Death) denoting the temporary power of death, which is overcome by life as the flag re-ascends to its rightful place after the minute of silence.

 

* The Ode to the fallen makes reference to night, which involves the daily rehearsal of dying and rising, through sleeping and waking: “at the going down of the sun and in the morning ...” and we remember the soldiers asleep in the grave awaiting the trumpet call to life.

 

* Rosemary worn on the lapel (or added to roast lamb) may remind us that seed-bearing plants bear witness to the resurrection, as noted in 1 Corinthians 15:35-37.

 

* The Rising Sun Badge, worn by Australian military personnel, (featuring bayonets radiating from and protecting the crown on which is the cross of Christ) represents the Anzac tradition of serving Crown and Country.

 

It may not suit the modern theology of many churches, but Scripture makes clear that God can use political and military personnel to achieve his purposes for nations and kingdoms. The principle of loving our neighbour applies to nations, not simply to individuals.

 

Still today French children hold enormous affection for the Anzac militia who brought deliverance to some of their villages during the First World War.