Message; Lessons of911, 21 Years Later
Today is a most hallowed day in the American consciousness. Granted it’s not like the other secular hallowed days of our nation, such as Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July. But it’s ingrained into our secular public discussions and based on 911 still residing in a large segment of our country’s memory.
In my own memory, I was instructing an F-16 aircraft class on that day. That morning an aircraft had crashed into one of the towers both were still standing with one tower on fire. It hadn’t collapsed or I had not heard anything so I took my class out to the Aircraft so that I could do some hands on with my students, and keep their attention on the class and not what so many others were speculating about.
A little later I had my class at the Egress Lab where we used a mock-up of the cockpit and a dearmed ejection seat to teach aircraft safety and Egress. At the Lab, the active-duty Airmen were watching TV where we learned of a second aircraft crashing into a second tower. I think I can speak for everyone that was in my class that day, we will never forget just how bizarre it was to be the only ones out and about as we made our way back to my classroom, where class was abruptly dismissed for the day. Each day after that horrific event, I don’t think most of us as a country woke up to the same sense of security that we had grown up with and probably taken for granted. That’s when we woke up to the fact that two oceans are not nearly a big enough buffer to go it alone.
By going it alone, I am not talking about our alliances with other countries or the treaties that our politicians love to dabble in. No, by going it alone I am referring to how our society has been creeping away from God to a point where there is not even a perceived need to creep in the dark. For 50 years our society has been in the process of divorcing itself from the One who has so richly blessed our nation, our Lord God!
I am certain that 911 was a wake-up call for more that the secular issues we face as a nation. 911, was and is a chance to step back, reflect, pray, and work on our relationship both individually and communally with our Lord. The first thing we should had done, and still need to do, is come unto our Lord and pray for forgiveness. So again, let me read today’s Call to Worship from Nehemiah 1:3-7, and again:
As I read this ancient prayer to the Lord, please try to compare it to our lives today. Instead of exile, think of survivors of the 911 attack, and instead of the walls of Jerusalem, think of the burned Towers of New York 21 years ago, and instead of God using the Babylonians to get Israel’s attention, think if God is using the mayhem to get ours today… And then ask yourself, did we pray!
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
Now, I do not believe that God hurts us to get back at us, because even though justified He represents all that is good in our lives. I think God is able to use our free choice to do bad, and He is so great that He can make something good out of it. That’s how the Babylonians served God’s purposes, even though they didn’t believe in Him, were Idol worshippers, and yet these nonbelievers cleaned house for God, when Israel chose not to follow God or to accept His help, His guidance, and His salvation.
Later in History, 70 years as foretold by Jeremiah, God would use another Idol worshipper Cyrus and his successors to not only free Israel from servitude, but allow them to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild its walls and Temple (God’s House), as again foretold by Isaiah, and depicted by Daniel.
Today’s trip through the Old Testament, brought to you by sin. The very sin of God’s people in fact, caused the Lord to pull back His life sustaining spirit, affording the hurt, sorrow, and pain that invasions and carnage cause. God came to a point where He turned people over to themselves, since God has the good sense to not dwell in the muck of humanity’s sin, unlike His children at times.
You see, when we focus on the innocence that is caught up in the maliciousness of anarchy, instead of blaming God… We must blame ourselves, our fallen nature, and our free choices that creates bedlam out of order, in this fallen world. That’s why Nehemiah’s prayer is an important example for us in scripture. Even though Israel had experienced untold hardship and pain, upon returning to Jerusalem, God’s children put the blame where blame was due, and chose to be, asked to be, in relationship in and with the Lord.
That’s how a nation might try coming to its senses, and choosing God after the free choice of evil chooses to inflict pain and suffering upon our very way of living. After 911, our nation briefly found sobriety in the Lord. Looking for answers and for someone or something to blame for the carnage. Unfortunately, we people seem to never want to take a good look at ourselves, and what we have done to contribute to the pain in the world, and more importantly, what we can do to make things better. I would say make things right, but only God can do that. And we get to be a part of that when we walk in and with Him.
Thankfully, through David’s sin, God provides yet again purpose and blessing for us through the sadness and pain of sin. When David was caught in his sin with Bathsheba, pain, death, and sadness resulted. Instead of giving up and saying all is lost why try, David repented. Instead of blaming God for his lost baby, David clung to God and wrote this Psalm of repentance and commitment for change. Reading Psalm 51:1-13;
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
If Nehemiah’s prayer for Israel is what we need for our nation today in the continual face of terror, then David’s approach for our personal sin is a very important step in addressing and rectifying our missing the mark in a life with God’s family.
This passage has been known by some as David’s 8 or 12 step program for dealing with Sin. And let’s face it, everyone in this place is addicted to the sin of something. Because if you are here just to give God or someone else a favor, you are not helping anyone. Especially yourself, because only the person who knows they are sick, are ready for the physician. Jesus!
That last verse (13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.), shows us that if we are serious about getting right with our Lord, we will also be willing to share that good news of the Lord’s love for us (The Gospel), with other people who do not know the Lord, or are in rebellion with God.
You see, our gift of reconciliation or in English; God creating a way for us to have a relationship in and with Him, is a gift offered to all of the creation made in His image. The offer to leave that life of sin is not just for those Christians we know, but even those that we believe do not merit God’s love, and that category include us in this room!
When we, or anyone made in God’s image comes into a relationship with and in Him and His family, it’s like a lost dear person, returned and reunited with those who love that person dearly. Reminding me of today’s Message Reading from Luke 15:1-10;
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
This passage has so much going on that sometimes we can lose sight on the fact that the Lord is available to walk with all of us. So perhaps in addition to our coming into a relationship or an even deeper walk in and with our Lord through prayer for ourselves and our community, there is more for us to pray for. How about the people we are in conflict with?
It’s so easy for us to be wrapped up in prayer for ourselves that we forget that our prayers for others, especially those who we struggle with are essential for our spiritual health. Maybe its politics, or the job, or your relationships with friends and family that is requiring you to pray for guidance. And as we learn to pray for those individuals, we need to pray that they hear what God has to say and not what we are saying. For the Lord and His Hosts of Heaven celebrate all who accept the invitation.
Or even a terrorist who is guilty as sin, and renounces their past ways, are welcomed into God’s real family. When that person finds their way and accepts the Lord’s invitation to something far better, angels rejoice. Yes, we should be praying for all of those who walk in darkness, and even hate. That they will hear God’s word. Does that change their guilt? No! And people are still accountable for their actions regardless. It means God will walk with any of us (terrorist, MS-13, or the person you don’t get on with), anyone willing to build or rebuild their lives with Him, are invited to do so.
Here is my thought, but that is all it is, my thought. You are charged with the heavy lifting of praying, studying scripture, and thinking for yourself with the Lord as your anchor; If we as a nation had prayed for God’s forgiveness of our individual sins, the sins of our society, and for those suffering, we would have been on a good start for rebuilding with our Lord. In addition, if we back then and in the here and now, find a way to let go of our hate, malice, and our urge for revenge… and pray for our enemies,… God will show us a better way to live.
This does not mean giving aid and comfort to those in open rebellion with God, our country, our ourselves. It means that we are not going to let Satan use such an easy crutch as the warped and deranged in this world to distract us and steal our souls. Because hate feeds on hate, revenge never is abated, and malevolence knows no end of desire to be fed.
Our intercessory prayers, praying for others, is our access to the greatest power in the Universe, since we can pray directly to the Father through the son, and be coached in the process by His Holy Spirit. It is only through an ongoing relationship in and with our Lord that I can begin to understand why there is so much pain and suffering in this world, and learn how I may be of help in bringing a little light into a dark hurting world.
The lessons, I continue to take away from the disasters of 911 are;
- We must not take for granted:
- Our prayer life
- Our Faithwalk in the Lord
- Our responsibilities for righteousness and mercy to other, humbly with Him
- That we are responsible for our little corner of society, we must be engaged by:
- Not giving in to fear
- Being joyful in our lives, and
- Surrendering our egos to the Lord
It is my hope and prayer that this week, you will have a chance to reflect alone with your Lord on all of the lessons you have and are still learning from the horrors of 911. To look deep and see if you can identify anything that God is trying to get your attention on, and then respond in kind.