At the end of World War II, the German soldiers knew the Soviets would take them to a labor camp in Siberia and that many of them would die there. The Soviet army had just taken the city from the Nazis, so when the two soldiers found an opportunity, they ran away from the group. They wandered fearfully through the dark streets of Bucharest, Romania.
When they spotted the Lutheran chapel, they were ecstatic, because the Romanian Lutherans were of German descent. But when they discovered the people inside were Jewish, their fears returned.
The pastor immediately calmed their fears. “We are Jews but also Christians, and we don’t give anyone seeking refuge into the hand of their enemies.”
At that time, if any Romanians were caught hiding Germans, they would be put to death immediately. But to the kind pastor, the Germans—still in their Nazi uniforms—were lost souls in need of a Savior. He would help them just as he had helped persecuted Jews.
He told them, “We have suffered greatly under the German occupation. Whether or not you are personally guilty, we are not your judges. We offer you our home and civilian clothing so you can make your way to Germany. We do this to prove God’s great love and mercy for you. He alone can offer you freedom from your guilt.”
Love makes people do strange things. A couple in love will go to great lengths to demonstrate their exclusive devotion. Likewise, a mother loves a child like no other person on earth. Yet the love between Christ and the believer is not just between the two of them. It is the strangest love of all, for it does not thrive on being exclusive. In fact, it is the only love relationship that grows by being inclusive of others. We must love others with Christian love in order to show our devotion to Christ. We show Christ extreme love if we are willing to love those who have not loved us back. Who is God asking you to love today for his sake?