It is rare to find a commemorative plaque to a pigeon yet I noticed the one on the front cover when visiting Vaux Fort near Verdun in France recently.
The fort built in 1871 was on the front line for the battle for Verdun in 1916 and having given up all their artillery to send to the front line troops the garrison was besieged for 4 months. In June 1916 after the German forces had bombarded the fort with 2000 shells every hour they occupied the upper corridors of the fort with over 650 French troops trapped in the lower floors for several days with no food and little water. Having run out of water there was no other option but to surrender and so the fort commander sent his last messenger pigeon to the nearby town of Verdun advising their surrender. The pigeon delivered the message before dying from all the gas it had inhaled. His bravery was recognised with an award for gallantry which is remembered in the plaque to this day.
We don’t have specific stories of a pigeon (although they are mentioned several times as animals suitable for a sacrificial offering) in the bible but the appearance of the dove to Noah is often talked about as a sign that the waters had receded by bringing the olive leaf to Noah. For Noah and those on the ark after a year ‘under the siege’ of the flood this meant that their rescue was imminent. For the French troops the sending of the pigeon could not bring about their rescue it could only highlight and hasten their capture. For those desperate soldiers trapped in the fort, unable to see through the darkness, barely able to breathe through the fumes and without water how great was their need of a rescuer? It is a grim reminder of the spiritual darkness to which John refers in the opening lines of his gospel Ch1 v5 ‘The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it’. Jesus Christ is the light that shines through the darkness, he is the one who came to rescue mankind and he is the one who rescues us once and for all. It is He who rescues us from the dark places and situations which are beyond our control and it is He who takes us into His kingdom which is the place of light, the place where the price has been paid for our sins and our sins forgiven once and for all time. Paul writing to the Colossians puts it like this; For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:13-14)
During the coming weeks Calix will be leading us through John’s gospel on Sunday mornings with the theme ‘Come and See’ We have been handing out invitation cards to many people at Little Verse and as we knock on the doors in our neighbouring roads, yet for many those invitations will remain unheeded. It is as if they cannot recognise the darkness that surrounds them hidden by the bright lights of magazines, TV, films and other social media and they fail to see who Jesus really is – the Saviour who has come to rescue them. He was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. (John 1:10)
Perhaps you know someone like this – one who needs to ‘Come and See’, so if you are able, why not bring them along to one of our services and keep on praying for each new person spoken to this month that they also may come to hear the truth from the gospel of good news.
Amen
Stuart Beadle
May 2016
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