ONLINE CHURCH BULLETIN

INSIDE THE FENCE

William Barclay has written about a group of soldiers during World War II who had lost a friend in battle and wanted to give their fallen comrade a decent burial. So they found a church with a graveyard behind it, surrounded by a white fence. They found the parish priest and asked if their friend could be buried there in the church graveyard.

"Was he Catholic?" the priest inquired.

"No, he was not," answered the soldiers.

"I'm sorry, then,"said the priest. "Our graveyard is reserved for members of the Catholic church. But you can bury your friend outside the fence. I will see that the grave site is cared for."

"Thank you," said the soldiers, and they proceeded to bury their friend just outside the graveyard on the other side of the fence.

When the war had finally ended, before the soldiers returned home, they decided to visit the grave site of their friend one final time. They remembered the location of the church - and the grave, just outside the fence. They searched for it, but could not find it. Finally, they went to the priest to inquire as to its location.

"Sir, we cannot find our friend's grave," said the soldiers to the priest.

"Well," answered the priest. "After you buried your fallen friend, it just didn't seem right that he should be buried there, outside the fence."

"So, you moved his grave?" asked the soldiers.

"No," said the priest, "I moved the fence."

That is EXACTLY what God has done for us. We don't deserve a place "inside the fence." We don't deserve heaven when we die. But God has graciously moved the fence. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us so that we could be included in His forever family. "Now we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith" (Romans 5:1-2).

For His Cause,
Tim Woodward