Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 20 August 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay (Padre. Royal Canadian Legion)
The Lamb at Vimmy Ridge
On May 17th
of this year, I walked the short walk from a parking lot to the memorial atop a
small ridge, overlooking a small town in France. There were sheep everywhere. I
did not see a shepherd. One little lamb had escaped a fence and become
separated from the flock; she desperately ran back and forth along the ridge
looking, searching, hoping for someway to break through the fence before it is
too late; hoping to join her flock, looking for someway to be reunited; looking
for safety she bleated, she cried as she looked out terrified over the ridge.
This ridge on which she was lost and bleating has a name. It is Vimmy Ridge.
As I stood atop Vimmy
Ridge by the memorial to our Canadian soldiers, the symbolism of this bleating
lamb running back and forth, looking for someway through the fence was not lost
on me.
April 9th to
April 12th, 1917, a brutal battle was fought as our Canadian
soldiers desperately looked for a way to break through the fences and trenches
on this very same ridge. Many had tried before. Many had died before. But here they
were now, trying to get over those fences and through those trenches, to climb
the ridge and bring safety to so many.
After many battles
fought by many of our allies. The Canadian Corps were able to secure the high
ground and most of the ridge on April 9th 1917. On April 10th
they secured the village and the crest of the ridge and the final objective, a
fortified knoll fell to the Canadian troops on April 12th. The
battle was the first occasion when the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary
Force fought together. Our soldiers climbed through many barbed wire fences,
many deep trenches, many hazards and perils and accomplished what had not been
accomplished before but at a great cost: By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the
Canadian Corps had sustained 10 602 casualties; 7004 soldiers had been wounded,
some in the most horrific of fashion, some to never recover, and 3 598 people
breathed their last breath on that ridge overlooking that town on that day in
April in1917.
It was quite something
to stand there in May of 2023 and see that one little lamb bleating as she ran
trying to get through the fences more than 100 years after 10 602 Canadians lay
bleeding, 3 598 never to be reunited with their families the way the little
lamb I watched was finally able to be reunited with hers.
This all reminds me, of
course, of Jesus, who himself is the lamb of God. John the Baptist, John 1:29,
“…saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world!” And relating to the sacrifice of battle, Revelation
12:7-12a:
7 Then war broke out in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and
his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their
place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called
the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the
earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud
voice in heaven say:
“Now has come the
salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our
brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and
night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over
him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their
lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice,
you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
Jesus is the lamb of
God. As all those soldiers died on that simple ridge more than a century ago,
Jesus died on the cross more than 2 millennia ago. The WWI soldiers offered
their lives there and many of them died. Ultimately they were victorious. The
foe was defeated and as a result of this battle 100 plus years ago and others
that followed over the next 100 days, they celebrated victory and experienced a
much sought after peace.
The angels in the
heavens fought against the devil and his forces. Jesus, The Lamb of God has
triumphed in the Ultimate battle. He has defeated not mere mortals but even death
itself; therefore we can all rejoice!
Sunset on the Beach at Dieppe
(Hebrews 9:28)
May 15th and
May 16th of this year, I walked along the beaches of Dieppe. I
looked out across a beautiful beach covered with large smooth rocks that gave
way under your feet drawing you back, in towards the sea, and I looked up
steep, steep cliffs to see even ancient fortifications, in the evening
beautifully lit up by an amazing sunset.
August 19th,
1944, almost 80 years ago, over 6000 infantry, primarily Canadian infantry
arrived at this same beach. The same rocks that gave way under my feet gave way
under their feet. Only they were wearing heavy packs and carrying their weapons
and supplies; just trying to survive. Balance must have been near impossible.
They would have been so heavy, soaking wet as the sea wanted to claim them for her
own. As they looked up at the sheer cliffs, I am sure it was not the beauty of
the moment that captured their imagination but rather the sheer horror of
having to find a way to scale those cliffs, while sopping wet, heavy with gear,
and being shot at. The fortifications seemed insurmountable to me months ago;
the fortifications for many of the Canadians on the beach then were
impenetrable. 3623 Canadians died on this small strip of beach. As I stood
there watching the sunset over the water, this fact was not lost on me. 3623
Canadians after visiting this beach never saw another sunset again.
I walked silently along
the beach. I looked again at the stones, the cliffs, the fortress, the waves,
and the sea and imagined and remembered those who had gone here before me. Then
I noticed a monument, a monument, in a garden, in a place now called Canada
Square, placed there lovingly and in remembrance by the citizens of the town of
Dieppe. It reads:
On the 19th of August 1942
on the beaches of Dieppe
our
Canadian cousins
marked
with their blood
the road
to our final liberation
foretelling
thus their victorious return
on
September 1, 1944.
This memorial cast my thoughts to Jesus and His sacrifice -yes- and also the hope that comes with it. This memorial did not talk about the futility of war – we all know about that and the closer to having had experienced a war we are personally the more acutely aware of that we are. This monument does not glorify or justify war pretending that is somehow a noble cause or something we should exalt in. This plaque at this monument notes that those who died, “marked with their blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus their victorious return”. These words are so poignant for me that I will probably remind you of them on Remembrance Day and again on Resurrection Day, Easter. These words sum up the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross on Good Friday, and the hope of Easter and beyond. Hebrews 9:28 records, “so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” When Jesus died on the Cross on Good Friday it not only foretold His resurrection on Easter; it also foretells His victorious return at the Eschaton, at the end of time, when Heaven comes down to earth and there is new heavens and a new earth.
This is our hope. Just as the people of Dieppe remembered the
sacrifices of the Canadians on their beaches at a future time when they were
able to celebrate their victorious return at their final liberation; so too do
we even now remember Jesus, each and every week as we gather here for, as the
plaque in Dieppe, interpreted, paraphrased, adapted; reads, Jesus “marked with
[His] blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus [His] victorious
return”. At which time there will be no more suffering and no more death in the
Kingdom to Come.
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