Last week the gripping television series, Anzac Girls, saw Sisters Alice and Hilda working on a clearing station close to the front line in northern France. The gunfire is close as German aircraft bomb the makeshift hospital. Here, the nurses witness the real horrors of war.

The concluding episode of Anzac Girls raises some very challenging issues. One scene I cannot forget involves Sister Alice Ross-King. Alice is returning to her quarters after a grueling night shift when she passes a ditch full of seriously wounded Germans.

These German soldiers were recently left, dumped alongside the allied encampment a number of days ago. One of the Germans is gripping a Bible as he slowly dies an agonizing death.

When the Australian military commander is questioned, Alice is informed that the medico’s are pushed to the limits caring for wounded Aussies. There was no time to treat the enemy!

Yet, for Alice, these Germans were human. Moreover, they were like her – people of faith. Surely there was room for some compassion?

The incident deeply troubles Alice and, in a diary entry, she comes to the conclusion that, “I do not any longer believe there is a God.”

Friends Jesus makes it pretty clear that God has no favorites. Everyone is of great value to God. In God’s scheme of things, there are no “goodies” or “baddies” – only people who God deeply loves.

For you see, in our world of conflict and division, God doesn’t take sides. Rather God encourages and nurtures us to reach out to others in grace, mercy and compassion – even if it involves some significant cost – and even a loss of face.

So, like Alice, I cannot believe in a God who takes sides. I cannot believe in a God who favours one nation or one people above another. In that sense, there IS no God.

But I do believe in the God who is there for all people. I passionately believe in a God who is non-partisan, who is loving and who is gracious to ALL people.

And that’s a pretty big challenge for the world we live in today!