September 1 | Moments Almanac | Crowd

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Eighteen years later, on September 1, 1957, Billy Graham stood before an enormous crowd in Times Square to close his historic New York Crusade. One demanded surrender at the point of a gun. The other invited surrender at the foot of a cross. Two moments, one date — and two radically different pictures of power, conquest, grace, and the kingdom of God.

Keywords: Billy Graham, September 1, World War II, invasion of Poland, 1939, 1957 New York Crusade, Times Square, Christian history, evangelism, gospel, Moments Almanac

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Before sunrise on September 1st, 1939, tanks rolled across the Polish border and bombers appeared overhead. The war that would reshape the 20th century had begun. 18 years later, on September 1st, 1957, another crowd gathered, this time in Times Square, where wartime headlines had once flashed across the news ticker. They came to hear the 38-year-old preacher named Billy Graham close 16 weeks of gospel meetings in New York City. An invasion and an invitation. One demanded surrender at the point of a gun, the other invited surrender at the foot of the cross. That's where we're going today. Welcome to Moments Almanac, where every day has a story and every story has something to teach us. At 4 45, on the morning of september first, nineteen thirty nine, a German battleship opened fire on a Polish garrison at Westerplat, near the port of the city of Danzig. German forces were already moving. Aircraft attacked from above while tanks and infantry crossed into Poland. Hitler had manufactured a pretext for invasion, even staging a fake Polish attack on a German radio station. Now came what the world would soon call Blitzkrake Lightning War. Poland fought fiercely, but it was badly outmatched. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. But help did not arrive in time. Within weeks Warsaw had fallen. Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and a war had begun that would eventually reach across continents, destroy cities, produce the horrors of the Holocaust, and take tens of millions of lives. Now move forward eighteen years. New York City, nineteen fifty seven. Billy Graham had arrived in May for what was supposed to be a six week evangelistic campaign at Madison Square Garden. Graham was only thirty-eight, but he was already one of the best known evangelists. Still, New York had intimidated him. He later remembered praying, worrying, and weeping over the city. Some theologians dismissed his preaching as simplistic. Others criticized his methods, and segregationists were angered by Graham's insistence that the crusades not separate people by race. But the crowds kept coming night after night. Madison Square Garden filled, six weeks became sixteen. Television carried the meetings into homes across America, allowing millions more to hear Graham's simple message. Human beings are separated from God by sin. Christ died for sinners, and anyone can come to him by faith. Then on September first, the crusade moved outside. An estimated one hundred and twenty five thousand people packed Times Square for a closing rally. Think about that scene. Eighteen years later, Americans had gathered around radios and newspapers as reports arrived of armies moving across Poland. Now a crowd stood beneath the lights of Times Square, listening to a preacher holding an open Bible. September first had given history two very different pictures of power. One crossed a border with tanks, and the other stood in a city with an invitation. One demanded surrender at the point of a gun, and the other invited surrender at the foot of a cross. Hitler believed the world would be changed by force, and Billy Graham believed a human life could be changed by grace. And history remembers both crowds. And I think that's worth remembering when power looks irresistible. Armies move, empires rise, cities fall, but the kingdom of God has always advanced differently, not through coercion, but through invitation, not by taking life, but through a Savior who gave his life. The prophet Zechariah put it this way, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. On September 1939, we remember Europe heard the sounds of guns. And on September 1, 1957, we remember that Times Square heard the gospel. And that's Moments Almanac for today, September 1st. I hope you'll join me tomorrow. Until then, take heart. Notice the scattered moments and share the grace.