Not sure why these thoughts are running through my brain today, maybe something to do with the Memorial Day that just passed. My wife and I drove our three children around a local cemetery and mused about all the American flags and what they represented. Our daughters (age 6 and 5) were surprisingly keen to the sacrifice these brave men and women had made on behalf of our enduring freedom. Anyway, a few moments of musing today… remember…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 “a day that will live in infamy.” I continue to be challenged, motivated and reminded of the ideals of the American heritage when I read the historical accounts of that day. Of course, I do not have firsthand experience from which to draw, having not been born until 1974.
I do remember, however, pulling out of the McDonald’s drive through around 9 o’clock the morning of September 11, 2001. I had turned my radio off to order my medium coffee from the kind lady that I saw virtually every weekday morning on my way to the office. I turned my radio back on to the sound of Bill Wills, from WTAM 1100 AM, a Cleveland talk radio station, in a calm, yet obviously concerned voice saying something about what appeared to be a small plane running into the World Trade Center in New York City. Immediately, I was skeptical. I had been in the city recently. I had scene the skyline numerous times. “The World Trade Center doesn’t just appear out of nowhere”, I thought. There is almost no possibility that this was an accident. I drove into the parking lot of my office at Millersburg Baptist Church and sat in my truck to listen to the continued coverage. Just as I put my truck into park, the voice on the radio screamed with panic insisting that another plane just ran into the second tower of the World Trade Center. At that moment, along with rest of America, I understood our country was under attack on our own soil for the first significant time since 1941. The questions remaining were, “How big and far reaching would the full attack be?” “What was the next target?”
I went through such an unbelievable array of emotions sitting in my truck over the next 20 minutes. I was angry! How could anyone do this to our country? I was appalled that our government didn’t protect us. I was thankful that George W. Bush was president and not Al Gore. (This was ACTUALLY one of my first thoughts – and one of the first comments from my wife when I reported the event to her.) I was motivated. I was frustrated that my 8 years as an Army reservist were over, because I wanted to go get whoever did this. But after going through the 20 minute gamut of emotions, I realized I had a wife and a two daughters at home that I had to get back to and take care of. I turned my truck around and drove quickly back to my house.
My wife was at first pleasantly surprised to see me walk back in the door, assuming I had forgotten something and she would get another hug before I returned to the office. Then she saw my face, which apparently was still in a bit of shock. As I scrambled around looking for a portable radio (we had no T.V. in our house) I filled her in on the details. We finally got a radio station to come in when we held the radio in certain position in our bathroom! It was one of the first times I actually wished we had cable television. We spent the rest of the morning listening to the newscasters speculate as to what happened in New York and Washington D.C. Then by late morning, I remembered… I was a pastor and I would have to address the congregation on Wednesday and Sunday regarding these horrible events. I had just started a series on Nehemiah. Do I proceed with the scheduled study or do I address the pressing issue of the day? It didn’t take me long to decide the priority of addressing the issue that would consume everyone’s mind.
As I sat at my desk that afternoon, I prayed intently that God would afford me wisdom from Him to know just how to address our folks regarding these horrible events. Do I address the sovereignty of God? Should I focus on the total depravity of man, the profound fact that each of us naturally have the capacity to carry out such a heinous act as this? Perhaps the focus should be the mercy and grace of God, looking at the tower that fell in Shiloam? I really didn’t know.
Through a period of earnest prayer, God directed my thoughts to Psalm 64. I was amazed as I studied these comforting words. I decided I wasn’t going to do a normal exposition of the text; rather I simply wanted to capture the heart of the psalmist and then spend some time as a church family in prayer. The message David communicates to us in Psalm 27 is Confidence in God through Communion with Him. We take courage, not in America, not in self, but in God alone. In the midst of contemplating the approaching attack of his enemies, David declared in v13, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord.”
Do you have confidence in the goodness of the Lord in the face of overwhelming despair? Whatever it is we face that seems to place the weight of the world on our shoulders, we must hold fast to the goodness of God, the attribute whereby we gain confidence in the outworking of His divine plan.
The lessons September 11 have for America are deep and far reaching, indeed still being learned today. But the lessons for us as believers in the sovereign hand of Good God are exponentially more profound. God is always in control and God divine plan of love and redemption will never be thwarted.
Some folks put together a nice tribute to the heroes of September 11. Follow the link to watch, but as you do, remember the fallen heroes, but also remember the Good God we serve!
http://www.fdnylodd.com/BloodofHeroes.html
Grace to you!
2 comments:
I was at that service on Sept.16, 2001, and I remember that Psalm 64 sermon, and how fitting it was. It's rare that you remember a sermon from 3-4 years ago. That evening we had testimonies, and I remember all the opportunities 9/11 gave to our congregation to share the Gospel. Thanks for letting the Lord use you in that instance. If anyone reading this doesn't know anything about Dave Mullins, know this: this man is a tremendous student and expositor of God's Word.
I find a diffuculty in what you say. In the first part you say that God is in charge of everything. So that would mean that God had something to do with the Tower tragedy. Did God approve the Towers being destroyed? Did the people in the Tower sin more than others. I don't think a merciful God in charge of everything would let all those people suffer like that. Unless of course he was not playing a role in their specific lives right now. Perhaps, they were not like Job who needed to learn a lesson, but were just victims of time and chance, not being part of God's plan, and God not hearing their pleas to save them? Because if God heard their pleas, wouldn't he had have to save them from their tragedy? The message of the Tower of Siloam is that God is not involved in everyone's lives, not right now in this life.
The other part about being thankful Bush was in office is a tragedy in itself. We now know Bush's government botched the job, and did not listen to the warnings of the Clinton administration about Bin Laden, nor did they listen to their own people about Bin Laden. And then after 9/11 Bush and his band of Hawk croanies decided to topple Sadam and go after the money they could milk off the American taxpayers in this "freedom" plan nonsense. It isn't working, and it can't work. Democracy is a great evil to the people of Iraq. They believe in mono-theistic government. One day we will have an even better insight on how Chaney'r intelligence filtering office pushed us into an unneccessary war with a beaten government.
To be blunt, YOU have let down the people of your church. First for not understanding the truth about God, and second for being blinded to governmental politics to where you can't distinquish truth from fiction. Jesus taught to come out of the world, not be a republican. My only regret is that like the man of Siloam whom Jesus opened his eyes, I have not the power yet to open yours. One day, when Jesus takes an interest in you personally, he will open yours. I hope you remember me, and that I cared about you, and your lack of understanding. If I could help you I would. I love ya man, I just don't have the ability to help you now. The best I could do is give you a big hug, and tell you the truth. It will get a lot, lot worse before it gets better. But it will get better when Jesus sets up his kingdom in Jerusalem and beats the nations into submission. Say hey when you see me in the happiness of that time.
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