Amy Lynne Jung

Have you ever heard this heart-wrenching story?

Polish Priest, Maximilian Kolbe, was arrested by the Gestapo for hiding Jews and Polish refugees from the Nazis during World War II. During his time at Auschwitz concentration camp, ten men were rounded up to be starved to death in order to deter further escape attempts by the prisoners. One of the ten men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, began to cry out, “My wife! My children! I will never see them again!” Kolbe was present and was moved to step forward. He removed his cap, and said, “I am a Catholic Priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children.” (He was only 47!) Astonishingly, the commander allowed Kolbe to replace him and Gajowniczek ended up surviving the concentration camp.

I heard this story years ago and always wondered how that experience impacted Gajowniczek’s life. Was he moved to live for the sake of others because of what Kolbe had done for him?

In 1994, Gajowniczek visited St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church of Houston, Texas where he told his translator that so long as he has breath in his lungs, he would consider it his duty to tell people about the heroic act of love by Maximilian Kolbe. Gajowniczek died on March 13, 1995, at the age of ninety-three, fifty-three years after having his life saved by Kolbe.

I don’t know much about his post-war life, but I hope that he did more than tell people about Kolbe’s heroic act. I hope he was compelled to live a life of grace and love.

I’m asking myself this week, “As one who has received an astonishing gift of grace and love, am I giving astonishing grace and love?

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” -1 John 4:7-11

I hope Gajowniczek loved because he was first so loved by a stranger. He received grace, the unmerited favor of one man to another. And I hope I will love well and see my brothers and sisters in Christ love well because we were first so loved by a gracious God who died in our place. Nothing we did was deserving of it; He took pity on us and we were given unmerited favor.

What Kolbe did for Gajowniczek was amazing and had a lasting impact on all who hear the story. There is a difference between what Kolbe did and what Jesus did, though. Kolbe’s heroic act didn’t stop the Nazi’s from going on to kill Kolbe, nine others in that incident and millions more. Kolbe was just a man. There is powerful inspiration in his story, but Kolbe can’t really do anything for us now except inspire us. Jesus, on the other hand, is the Son of God. Jesus did more than just die for me. My sin was placed on Him. It was buried. It was cast into the deepest and darkest of seas. His righteousness was placed on me. The Father now sees Jesus’ perfect life in me. Jesus rose from the dead and is alive now and is at work in us and in the world.

He is calling us to join in His work. He not only gives unmerited favor, grace for salvation, but by His Holy Spirit he gives us enabling grace that empowers us to live out His commands. The greatest of which are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). The same power that rose Jesus from the dead works in those who are His (Ephesians 1:19-20). Jesus did more than inspire, He conquered sin and death and has given new life.

So why does that new life seem to be missing in my life at times and in the church and in the world?

It is true that Jesus enables us to live lives of grace and love, but we must truly give our lives over to Jesus. He must inform our lives more than work, politics, family, and friends. If we have made Him Lord over our lives, we must turn from sin and yield to Him and what He calls us to. We must cooperate with Him as He works powerfully in our hearts, minds, and souls. Our faith isn’t passive, it’s active. As James tells us, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). We are not saved by our own works, but our salvation will produce works of love and grace. A life of true faith will produce the fruit of love.

Is this what I see in me? Is this what you see in you? What do you see in the Christian culture around you?

Will you join me in praying for our world, our country, our city, our church, our families, and ourselves? For those who know the Lord, to respond to His enabling grace in their lives to sacrificial, Christ-like loving. For those who don’t know Him, to respond to He free gift of unmerited grace and love.

Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

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