Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross

by Mark S. Heim

Andre Trocme, the legendary pastor of the French village of Le Chambon, led its people in the rescue of thousands ofJews during World War II, and went on to lead the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He stated concisely the conviction that animated his work: "Basic truth has been taught to us by Jesus Christ. What is it? The person of any one [hu]man is so important in the eyes of God, so central to the whole of His creation, that the unique, perfect being, Jesus, (a) sacrificed his earthly life for that one [hu]man in the street, and (b) sacrificed his perfection [by taking the blame for his sins] in order to save that single [hu]man."16 The strangers who fled to Trocme's door were people whose worth had already been established by the cross. He and his neighbors would risk going to the cross themselves to save them.