John 15:9-17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
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I would like to talk today about a man called Johnson Beharry. Johnson Beharry today is a British army sergeant, but back in 2004 he was a private serving in the Iraq war. On 1 may 2004, Beharry was driving a warrior tracked armoured vehicle that had been called to the assistance of a foot patrol, and was caught in a series of ambushes. The warrior was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades, causing damage and resulting in the loss of radio communications.
The vehicle was engulfed in a number of violent explosions, which physically rocked the 30-tonne warrior. As a result of this ferocious initial volley of fire, both the platoon commander and the vehicle's gunner were incapacitated by concussion and other wounds, and a number of the soldiers in the rear of the vehicle were also wounded.
Due to damage to his periscope optics, pt. Beharry was forced to open his hatch to steer his vehicle. While his head remained out of the hatch, so that he could see the route ahead, he was directly exposed to much of this fire, and was himself hit by a 7.62mm bullet, which penetrated his helmet and remained lodged on its inner surface. Despite this harrowing weight of incoming fire Beharry continued to push through the extended ambush, still leading his platoon until he broke clear leading his own crew and the crews of five other warriors to safety. He then extracted his wounded comrades from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. He was cited on this occasion for "valour of the highest order".
While back on duty on 11 June 2004, Beharry was again driving the lead warrior of his platoon through al Amarah when his vehicle was ambushed. A rocket propelled grenade hit the vehicle six inches from Beharry’s head, and he received serious shrapnel injuries to his face and brain. Other rockets then hit the vehicle, incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his life-threatening injuries, Beharry retained control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering in march 2005 when he was awarded the Victoria cross. Becoming the first person to be awarded one since the Falkland’s war in 1982, over 37 years ago.
The Victoria cross is the highest honour that can be given to a member of the British armed forces. It is awarded for valour in the presence of the enemy. Since it’s inception in 1856 it has only been awarded 1358 times to 1355 individual recipients. Many times, it was awarded after the person receiving it died in combat, they had died for their bravery and valour.
Private Beharry didn’t look to his own safety, he didn’t look to his own wellbeing. On two different occasions, despite being under fire from the enemy, despite the risk to himself, he acted without thought to himself, he acted with conspicuous bravery with no regard for his safety.
Beharry acted out of love, love for his fellow soldiers, his comrades in arms. He acted out of love for his friends who were at risk of dying, he thought, about others before thinking about himself. Now it may seem to be a strange thing to say that private Beharry acted out of love. But this is only because we tend to forget what love actually is. Love is not the ‘feeling’ of being in love. You can have these feelings and yet still be the most selfish person in the world. Love is a verb, it is about actions, it is about actions where you stop thinking about yourself, your own wants, your own desires and instead act in the interest of those around you, where you are willing to sacrifice yourself, for others. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
The Christian faith is based upon an ultimate act of bravery. The ultimate act of heroism, the ultimate act of love. And it’s in the shape of a cross, Not a Victoria cross, a medal worn by our most brave soldiers, but a wooden cross sat on top of a hill two thousand years ago in the middle east, in Israeli, only about 900 miles away from private Beharry’s act of bravery
it is about a God who, seeing his world so full of conflict, sorrow and despair resolved to save it. He knew that if he was going to save it, the ultimate sacrifice would have to be made, he would have to die himself to save humanity from the evil, the darkness and the sin that is in the world. And so he sent his son Jesus, God incarnate, to do just that and to bring salvation to the world. He suffered for us all, even though he didn’t have to, he did so willingly, so that we could be saved from our sins and all that separates us from God, our Loving Heavenly Father.
And we have that opportunity on this day of remembrance, to remember not only the sacrifice that that soldiers like Johnson Beharry made that won him the Victoria cross, or all of the other soldiers who were awarded the medal after they died, or all of those who have lost their lives in wars over the years, but it is an opportunity to remember the ultimate sacrifice, made for all by God himself, Jesus Christ on the cross, so that we can be saved.
Amen