Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
by Pastor Jeff Johnson
Tuesday, September the eleventh, began like any other day for the most of us. We rose according to our individual routines and began our daily tasks. Little did we know that before the morning was over nearly 5,000 of our country men, women, and children would be dead. Who could have foreseen that one national monument would be severely damaged, and one destroyed entirely? Even now we cannot predict the eventual repercussions of that day or what the future holds. Are we at war? If not, then surely we are not at peace, for what kind of a peace allows for our nation to be attacked in such a manner that 5,000 people have no chance to even defend themselves? We find ourselves in a twilight. We find our world has changed, but find we cannot necessarily define the exactness of that change.
The emotions we have experienced as a people have ranged from dark sadness to bitter rage to warm compassion. We have cried as we've heard the sad stories of loved ones lost, cheered the selfless efforts of firefighters, police, and volunteer rescue workers, and seethed as we watched strangers in a strange land dance with joy over our national tragedy. If we are honest, we may even admit a morbid fascination with the surreal footage of giant airplanes slamming into buildings and exploding into flames just like they do in some silly Hollywood movie. Yet this was no movie. These were real planes, real buildings, real flames, and most importantly, real lives and real deaths.
Surely no words we use by speech or pen can ever do justice to the blackness nor the heroism of that day. The terrorists, the victims, and the rescue workers stand opposed to one another like the lopsided sides of some bizarre morality triangle. Such a vivid contrast between light and darkness we may never see again in our lives as that between the terrorists--willing to die that they might kill; and the rescue workers--willing to die that they might save.
There is always a temptation, especially for those in positions like mine, to draw morality lessons from events such as these or to search for theological meaning in the apparent chaos. There is always a human tendency to try to figure out what went wrong; to ask "How could such a thing have happened?" or especially "Why would God let such a thing happen?" Answers to such questions are slow in coming--if they ever come-- even with the benefit of hindsight. We humans do not hold our own lives in our hands, much less the ends of eternity. As Christians we can but trust that God really does work "for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)." Since the lives of some believers are undoubtedly touched by this particular tragedy then we must conclude that God was indeed in those dark clouds of smoke and dust. As David says, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the grave, you are there (Psalm 119:7-8)."
In 1st Timothy 2:1-4 we are given the following instruction: "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." The most obvious group in need of our prayers this day are the many victims of this great crime and the families and friends of those victims. The sheer numbers involved and the fact that this event was a monstrous mass murder inflicted in time of peace makes these things in some sense unique. May it always stay that way, may murderers never again hatch and carry out such a horrific plot. But this murder has happened and we must intercede on behalf of the bereaved. We should plead for God's mercy to be revealed to those who remain, we should plead to God that he might comfort them and strengthen them in the coming days and months. We should plead God's eternal mercy on them all.
We should also pray for the rescue workers. Pray for their success. Even though it has now been several days since anyone has been rescued from the debris, perhaps God has another miracle or two in store. Pray for their safety in doing a very dangerous job. Thank God that some people have it in their hearts to do this kind of work, regardless of the danger to themselves. Thank God that many were saved through the selfless efforts of others.
Pray for our leaders and the leaders of other countries as they sort through all of this and face very difficult decisions. Paul said to do this so that we might "live peaceful and quiet lives" and Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers," but it is a certain paradox of living in this world that sometimes for there to be peace their must first be war. While many have spoken out through various forums as to what they think ought to be done, the reality is that most of those speaking now are not responsible for actually making the tough decisions and therefore not responsible for the results of those decisions. Nor will they have to live with those decisions the rest of their lives. So pray for leaders the world over that they might have wisdom to know the right thing to do and the courage to do it. Pray that the decisions and actions of world leaders will lead to a real peace and not toward more hatred. Pray for the "peace and goodwill" that was announced by angels at the birth of Jesus.
The final group of people that we should pray for in these events are the very ones who caused them. I know this is a hard one. These men have shown themselves to be enemies not only of our country but of the entire civilized world. We use words like "atrocity" and "barbarity" and "heinous" to describe their actions but know those words cannot even begin to do justice to the suffering these men have caused. In spite of all that we must remember whose we are. We are human and subject to all the human emotions natural in tragedy, but we are not "mere" humans as Paul would say in I Corinthians 3:3. We are people who belong to Jesus, and Jesus clearly calls us to love and pray for even those who set themselves against us. I beg you brothers and sisters not to be overcome by this evil, but to somehow overcome even this evil with good. The enemy of all men, the real Satan, will be the only victor if we give ourselves to hate. That is exactly what those guilty of this crime have done, and we see the fruit of their hatred in the wreckage of destroyed buildings and lives. Pray not that God would bless them in their evil but that he would turn them from it.
Where do we go from here brothers and sisters? In spite of the fact that there is much talk of things "never being the same again" the truth is that a new sense of normalcy will eventually rise out of all this madness. Solomon tells us that there is "nothing new under the sun." While the events of this past week are certainly unique in scope they are not unique in essence. People have been murdering others since Cain and Abel. There have always been and always will be people hurting and dying and killing and saving. Peace will always be elusive in this world. The smaller everyday tragedies are no less tragic than those colossal in scope. One obscure death in a lonely corner of the world is just as real a death as those suffered by thousands on international TV. The world remains the world, with it's abundance of both blessing and suffering. In short, life does and will go on.
Because this is so, then we too must go on. As God's people we must go on being God's people. We must keep loving the Lord with all our "heart, soul, mind, and strength." We must keep loving our neighbors as ourselves. That now our neighbors most obviously in need of love and prayers happen to be in NY and Washington and 30 other countries doesn't change the substance of what we are about, nor does it change the fact that we still have our everyday neighbors in need of our love and prayers. Maybe this colossal tragedy can (and I pray it does) bring our calling into a new focus for us, but the calling remains the same. It is the call to love, to be holy, to do right, to be strong, to be brave, to be merciful, to be gentle, to be honest, to be productive, to be generous, to forgive, to heal, to be faithful, to teach and example the word of God--to do all those things the Lord and his apostles instructed us to do nearly 2,000 years ago. This what we must do whether at war or at peace, whether the times are prosperous or poverty-stricken. This is the "heavenward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14)." So today we weep with those who weep but tomorrow we hope to rejoice with those who rejoice. Therefore fix your eyes on Jesus my friends--the author and finisher of our faith. The Father is still sitting on his throne, Jesus is still standing at his right hand, the Holy Spirit is still working in human hearts, and we still have work to do. God grant us the grace and the strength to do it.
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