Nine Eleven

Lamentations 4: 17

Romans 14: 1-12

Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Matthew 18:21-35

Nine Eleven

This is a poem that has been read on TV this week, and written in stories commemorating 9/11.

"God hath not promised

Skies ever blue,

Flower-strewn pathways

All our lives through;

God hath not promised

Skies without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

"But God hath promised

Strength for the day,

Rest for the labor,

Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy,

Undying love." - Annie-Johnson Flint

Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is also the first day of official NFL Sunday afternoon football. I confess to you this morning that I am not up to the task of giving you words that will address the horror and heritage of 9/11 in any way that is consoling or convincing.

With all that has been, and will be, on TV this past week and today about 9/11, with many replays of the crashes, the collapses, and all the various services and specials and interviews, it would be redundant to show any slides or video clips. And, for many of us, the images are indelibly imprinted on our minds. If you are like Myrna and I, you have already shed tears for those lost, not only on that day, but also in the wars since. I really do not want to see any more video or photos of the crashes, or the falling towers, or the burning hole in the ground in Pennsylvania. I don’t want to open Time Magazine and look at the photos and read the stories there about how terrible it all was.

What has stayed with me the most however, is not the images of destruction. It is the images of the first responders. It is the courage of those who moved toward the danger, putting their lives out there to help others. So many came in on their time off when they heard the need.  So many died doing so. Many, many would have died if they had not done so. And the passengers on Flight 83, who chose to respond, willing themselves to die if necessary to avoid that plane killing hundreds more.

Not all who died that day were Americans. Citizens from 90 countries died in those horrible attacks. Not all were Christians. Some were Muslims, along with many other religions. And all socio-economic levels were among the dead. There were persons in $1000 suits, and persons in jeans. Waiters and stock brokers and janitors, soldiers—so much diversity. And there were homeless persons, who lived in the tunnels under the Trade Center. But what strikes me most about that day, and those first responders is they did not distinguish between any of those victims. To the first responders, it made no difference, they were all human lives, all equally deserving of life, of rescue if possible.

To the first responders, they were all persons in need. They saw them the way Jesus sees us all. God does not make distinctions the way we tend to do every day. Nine eleven brought the nation together for awhile. The churches were full. We were unified, and the world was with us.  Briefly.

In the decade since we have become a nation divided. We live in times of violent words, violent actions, all of our own making. Last year Americans murdered five times more Americans than all the people who were murdered by Al Qaida on that day. So soon we forgot. So soon we became divided, more than ever.

In Romans Paul tells us that God can bring good out of all tragedies and terrible incidents. But God works through us, those of us who believe in Christ, accept his teachings, and live according to his commands. We are told by Paul in his writings that we are the body of Christ, his hands, his feet, his voice.  Are we?

In Matthew we have the words of Christ, telling us we must forgive. Does he really mean we are to forgive those who brought destruction to us on 9/11?  We recite the Lord’s Prayer, saying “…forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us….”. Do we understand what Christ is teaching us in that prayer? What Christ teaches but we do not understand, is that forgiveness is not condoning the actions. Forgiveness is not for the sake of those we forgive. As Christ said, they along with us will all answer to God. Forgiveness is for our sake, because it lets us let go and move on and live our lives forward on God’s path, rather than dwelling in a past we cannot change. If we do not forgive, we are the ones likely to be destroyed. Do we believe Christ?

Today is a day to remember all the innocents who died on that horrible day. Do we honor the memory of those victims and those first responders who died saving lives by the life we live, by living as Christ has taught us? Christ forgave those who put him on the cross. Christ died for you and me. Do we honor what he did for us by the way we live?

Do we truly remember?