9/11 Anniversary Service of Prayer & Remembrance
Psalm 46:7 Our Ever Present Help 9/11/2006
North Prairie Lutheran Church, rural Scarville, Iowa (ELCM)
In the last seventy-five years or so, there are certain dates that are frozen forever in the minds of many Americans, due to a significant event in the history of our country. For example, how many of you here tonight know the significance of December 7th? (Allow time for someone to acknowledge Pearl Harbor.) Yes, that’s right, on that day in 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an event that forced our country into active participation in World War II. Or, for those of you in my parents’ generation, do you remember what happened November 22, 1963? That’s the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Many of you here tonight might have watched the events of that day unfold on TV or by radio, or could tell me where you were when you heard the news that day. For my generation, the day in history that is forever etched into our minds is the day we are commemorating with this special service tonight, September 11th, 2001. Over the last few days, the TV networks, and print media have had special sections, stories, or programs about the events that unfolded in New York, Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania on this day five years ago. Where were you, what were you doing on that day? If we were to go around the sanctuary tonight and give everyone here the chance to tell their 9/11 story, we would end up having a prayer service that would last all night, like those of our Lutheran brothers and sisters in Christ in the Lutheran Fellowship of India. But, since we don’t have that much time this evening, I’ll share mine since it may be very similar to many of your experiences of that day.
September 11, 2001, began as a typical day would for me. I was a student at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, doing my pre ministerial studies there. I was fortunate that fall semester in that my class schedule didn’t begin each day until 1 p.m., so I had the luxury of sleeping in, which I took advantage of that morning. I overslept for chapel that morning, and I had an appointment to meet with Pastor John Dreyer, an admissions counselor from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I didn’t have time to turn on my TV set in my dorm room, so I just got showered, changed clothes, and made my way over to the Campus Ministry Center for may meeting with Pastor Dreyer. I made it as far as the classroom building, when I saw my friend, Andy looking rather distraught. His characteristic smile was gone, with a look of shock and disbelief in his eyes. He asked me where I was headed, and I said where I was going. He replied “Didn’t you turn on your TV this morning? Where have you been? Everything’s cancelled today, we’re under attack man! What are we going to do? Where are we going to turn?” I realized this was no joke, the halls, normally packed with students, staff, and faculty going here and there, were eerily quiet. I ran back to my dorm room, turned on the TV, and saw the footage of the planes hitting the Twin Towers. Those images are ones I, and most likely, you, will never forget.
Yet, another thing about that day I will never forget, and am reminded of with the anniversary today, are the emotions, questions that many people had. Just like my friend Andy, many people were asking “What’s going to happen next?” Some in the Twin Cities were fearful that an attack could happen in the city. The airports of our country were shut down. By evening, speculation grew that gas, and other supplies, would be in short supply. The line at the gas station across the street from my dorm room stretched for blocks until the station ran out of gas. Some parts of the city saw fights break out. We even heard rumors that gas would cost up to $6 a gallon or more! In all this time of uncertainty, people were wondering where to turn for comfort, for security. And it was at that time, churches opened their doors, allowing people to come, to pray, to find safety, perhaps even answers. Our chapel on campus was open 24 hours a day for prayer. Several prayer services, like the one we are hosting here tonight, were held. The Sunday that followed the attacks saw people flooding to the churches, looking for some sort of help, comfort, looking for answers. These images remained ingrained in me, and make me wonder, 5 years later, if this were to happen again, with all the grief, sadness, and loss that still accompany us today, where do we find a hope to cling to/ Whom to we turn to in times of great crisis, be it a terrorist attack, an ongoing war on terror, or in a time of natural disaster such as this country experienced last year with the hurricanes in the South? We find the answer in the words of the 46th Psalm, which we read responsively earlier tonight and sang about in Martin Luther’s great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God!” Just look at verse 7 in particular. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
This verse, this Psalm was the ongoing chorus of the people of God throughout the Old Testament. Even if they used different words, the theme was a constant refrain: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The people of God made this declaration with good reason, for they knew full well that they existed by the hand of the Lord. They were a nation because of Him, because the Lord of hosts had brought them out of Egypt. He had delivered them from Pharaoh’s hand and fed them in the desert. He had led them into the Promised Land, delivering city after city into their charge. It was the God of Jacob who raised up David and declared him King of Israel; and it was during the kingship of David that the Lord granted them a lasting victory over their enemies, breaking the bow and shattering the spear of longtime foes who wanted them destroyed. Oh, in remembering such times of deliverance and victory, it was good and right to declare, The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
It was still the refrain of the people of God after the glory days, when so many in Israel turned away to idols. Following faithless kings, many Israelites bowed to worship false gods and place their trust in them; but when the Babylonian armies attacked, these false gods had no deliverance to offer. The walls of Jerusalem fell, the city was destroyed; and the righteous people of God suffered death or captivity right alongside the worst idolaters of the nation. But for the people of God, the cruelty of their captors only confirmed to them the consequences of sin for this world; and the contrast all the more proclaimed the faithfulness of the Lord despite the rebellion of so many. Thus Jeremiah could write in his lamentation, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam. 22-23). You see, the faithful refrain continued among the people of God. Even as they sat on the rivers of Babylon and wept at the indecency of evil, they could also say with confidence and hope: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The chorus remained true into the New Testament. Never more true, in fact: For during the census of Caesar Augustus, the Lord of Hosts lay in a manger in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary and took on human flesh for one stark purpose: To redeem the world. Rather than turn His back on a world so torn and self-destructive from sin, God sent His only Son into the world, that the world might be saved through Him.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. It was true at the manger, and it was true at the cross. He hardly looked the Lord of hosts that day on Calvary, but the God of Jacob hanged on that cross to redeem His people. On that day, the Lord was not content just to break the bow and shatter the spear; He broke the reign of sin and shattered the sting of death. He destroyed those enemies there, so that He might deliver all who believe in Him to everlasting life.
Oh, the victory didn’t look like much of a victory, right there, right then; the Lord of hosts looked like an executed criminal, nailed to wooden beams. But appearances deceive: The Lord of hosts is with us even on the most dark and dreadful days.
Three days later the Lord of hosts rose from the dead, proclaiming His victory to the world. He ascended into heaven, but not before promising that He will return in glory to judge the quick and the dead.
In the centuries since, one can look at history and note many wars, disasters and devastations. Christians have suffered within these along with all others. But throughout these centuries, the refrain continues: The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. For while the Lord is not present in all of His glory, He is certainly present with His all-sufficient grace. To the Christian’s cry in trouble, “Come quickly, Lord!”, He declares, “Here I Am—in My Word, in My Sacraments.” This presence of the Lord has always been the consolation of Christians as they wait His return; for as St. Paul notes in our epistle for this evening, we will encounter tribulation and distress, famine and persecution; but none of these can separate us from the love of Christ.
Because even in the darkest of days, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
We speak of this refrain each Sunday as we speak of sin and grace. But the necessity of this truth becomes all the more important evident and, in some ways, all the more apparent on days like September 11, 2001. The images were shocking, and still haunt our minds, and perhaps will for years to come. The rescue efforts came at a great cost to the rescue workers. We have heard in the news of many illnesses and other health problems that are plaguing those who worked at Ground Zero in the rescue and recovery mission. We have once again heard the heart-breaking stories of individual casualties with images of funerals and memorial services. Some of the tapes of 911 calls of those who were trapped on the upper floors of the towers have been released. There’s now a controversial film in theatres about the events of that day. Although it’s been five years, the questions arise: Why did this happen? And where is God?
Dear friends, we have opportunity with all compassion to make clear that the terrorist attacks upon our nation do not raise doubt of God’s existence or love; rather, they confirm the Word of the Lord to be true, and they drive us to the Savior who, in love, has conquered death. The wars, and rumors of war, and natural disasters do not disprove the Scriptures. As we heard in the reading from Matthew, they only confirm what our Lord has to say about the condition of the world in the last days, and what must happen before He returns.
“Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned,” declares the Word of God (Romans 5:12). The events leading up to the attacks are complex, but at the root is this simple truth. Death is present in the world because of sin. Because of sinful rebellion against God, man follows his own selfish desires. He wants more than he is given and is jealous of his neighbor; he may even strike out against his neighbor to get what he has, or simply to deprive his neighbor of having more. This show of the sinful nature goes on in the preschool classroom; hideously magnified, it is played out by grown men in downtown Manhattan and Arlington, Virginia.
Sin and death seek to ravage this creation, and this elementary truth lies at the core of 9/11. God grant indeed that those events serve as a wake-up call: Not just about national security and the price of the freedoms we enjoy, but about the ever-present reality that death could be near to any of us at any time. God grant that many might therefore see their need for a Savior, for we do not know the day nor the hour that our soul will be required of us. Such is life in a sinful, dying world; and it is a testament to God’s patience and mercy that this life and world remain, despite the sin—for only because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions are new every morning.
Apart from the Lord’s mercy, this world is nothing but destruction. So declares the Law of the Lord. So confirm the events of September 11th.
While these events of 9/11 confirm God’s Word about sin and death, and our sinful hearts use these things to drive us to fear and despair, they certainly cannot deny God’s Word of Gospel.
The destruction of these attacks upon our nation cannot change the fact that Christ has died for the sins of the world. The malice and terror of the perpetrators cannot alter the truth that He is risen from the dead. No matter the devil’s dance, he cannot put the Lord back in the grave. The aftermath of these attacks and the horror cannot change the truth that the Lord of hosts is still with us, and the God of Jacob remains our refuge.
Do not for a moment believe that these acts of terror are somehow proof that God has forsaken this world; in fact, all the world would be engulfed in such things if the Lord did not hold them back for the sake of His people. And do not for a moment believe that God has forsaken His people who lie in the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. When they suffered at the hands of evil men, all this sinful world could give them was a tomb of cement and steel. But the Lord is risen from the dead, and He opens their tomb; He delivers His people to eternal life. They are wrenched away from their families now, it is true; but in their mourning, the comfort for their families is nothing less than the Lord’s promise: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand (John 10:28-28). You see, even when evil men and death tried to destroy God’s people in the destruction of those buildings, the Lord of hosts was with them and the God of Jacob was their refuge. Not even this peril could separate them from the love of Christ. Though deprived of life here, those who trust in Christ live forever: Because Christ has died, Christ has conquered death, and Christ is with them.
This is the Gospel that sustains us, too: The Lord of hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge. Death is always near, and it would destroy us today, if it could; but it cannot lay a finger upon us for the sake of Jesus, who has conquered this mortal enemy. And it will not lay a finger upon us until the Lord uses that conquered enemy to deliver us from this dying world to His kingdom of everlasting life. Until then, by His gracious provision, He sustains us and cares for us with His mercy and grace.
Sustained, we pray.
We pray for the families of victims of these attacks that the Lord would grant them peace in the midst of their grief, and the hope of the resurrection.
We pray for our rulers and leaders, that they would care for the suffering and bear the sword in godly wisdom and virtue. We give thanks that, for the sake of Jesus, we remain a nation under God.
We pray for our military personnel, that the Lord would grant them safety in their service to our country, be it here at home, or overseas in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or wherever else the war on terror may lead them into harm’s way.
We pray for our enemies, that they might be brought to justice—and to repentance.
We pray this night—not as if we pray because we can’t do anything more. No, we pray because the Lord promises to hear the prayers of His people; we pray, confident that our petitions arise before the throne of God. We pray, certain that our Father in heaven will hear our prayers and work all things for our good, because He has sacrificed His Son to hear us pray.
You see, in this dying world, nations rage and kingdoms are moved.
Not so the Lord: He utters His voice and the earth melts.
He utters His voice and His people are delivered.
He is as near as His Word.
The Lord of Hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
