The Power of One Man’s Sacrifice

There are moments in history that stir the soul, that remind us of both the depths of human cruelty and the boundless reach of love and sacrifice. It was 85 years ago this very week that the German Army swept across Poland, triggering the United Kingdom’s entry into the Second World War. The war impacted millions of lives, and today I want to reflect on just one man’s story—a story of sacrificial love that speaks to us all. 

This man’s name was Franciszek Gajowniczek. He was a Polish soldier, dedicated to his career and his family. He and his wife were raising their two sons during the dark days of the war, a time when the Polish army was soon overwhelmed. Realising the war was lost, Franciszek tried to escape to Slovakia. But fate took a different turn. He was captured by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz, one of the most infamous Nazi concentration camps. 

Now, when we think of Auschwitz today, we think of unimaginable horrors—over a million Jews perished in that one camp. But in the early days, it wasn’t the notorious death factory it became. At first, it was a former Polish barracks repurposed by the Nazis. Franciszek expected that, as a prisoner of war, he might endure the hardships but survive the war. But as we know, Auschwitz was not a place of survival for most. 

In 1941, the camp’s conditions became more brutal under new leadership, and executions for escape attempts were common. One grim day, after a prisoner escaped, the Nazi guards selected ten men at random to be starved to death as a deterrent. Among those chosen was Franciszek. You can imagine the terror that gripped him when his number was called. His thoughts weren’t for himself, but for his wife and sons, whom he feared he would never see again. He cried out in anguish, pleading for his life for their sake. 

And then something extraordinary happened. A fellow prisoner, a man with no personal connection to Franciszek, stepped forward. This man was Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest who had been arrested for sheltering Jews and resisting the Nazi regime. Kolbe offered to take Franciszek’s place. The guards, astonished at this unexpected offer, agreed. 

Maximilian Kolbe and the other nine men were locked in a bunker, left to die without food or water. Days passed, and one by one, the men perished. But Kolbe remained alive, praying and comforting his fellow prisoners. After two weeks, when the guards found Kolbe still breathing, they ended his life with a lethal injection. Maximilian Kolbe’s body may have perished, but his spirit of love and sacrifice continues to live on. 

How would you feel if someone died for you? Franciszek struggled to comprehend it. He survived the war and was liberated in 1944. For the rest of his life, he never stopped telling people about the man who saved him. In 1982, Pope John Paul II canonised Maximilian Kolbe as a saint, recognising his act of supreme selflessness. Franciszek was there to witness it. In his later years, he often said, “As long as I have breath in my lungs, I will tell the world about what Maximilian Kolbe did for me.” 

The story of Maximilian Kolbe is not just a historical event. It is a living parable of Christ’s love for us. In a way, we are all in the position of Franciszek. We may not be in a concentration camp, but we are prisoners of sin. Scripture tells us plainly in Ezekiel, “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Sin has a hold on each of us, and the price of sin is death. But just as Kolbe stepped forward to take Franciszek’s place, Jesus stepped forward for us. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:56-57, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus gave us victory over death, not by avoiding it, but by going through it on our behalf. Just as Maximilian Kolbe took the place of Franciszek, Jesus took our place on the cross. He bore the full weight of our sins and paid the ultimate price. 

In John 17, just before his arrest, Jesus prays for us. He says, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:1-3). This is eternal life—knowing God through Jesus. And that’s what Christ offers us. 

We read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the heart of our faith. Christ died not for the righteous, but for sinners—for people like you and me. And by his death, we are given the gift of eternal life. As Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

So, how will we respond to this great act of love? Unlike Franciszek, who was given a second chance in this life, we will meet our Saviour face to face. And when that day comes, what will we say? I know that when I see Jesus, I will fall to my knees, overwhelmed by the weight of his love and sacrifice. But I also know that Jesus will lift me up and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). 

This is our hope and our joy. Our labour for the Lord is not in vain. We are promised a glorious future—one where all the pains of this life will be gone. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap for joy. Our broken bodies will be made whole, and our sinful natures will be purified. 

As we prepare to take communion today, let us reflect on the cost of our salvation. Jesus paid a price we could never pay. Let’s commit ourselves to live for him, bringing every thought, word, and action into submission to his will. 

In closing, let me leave you with this from 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” 

Amen.