REMEMBER 9/11
Joshua 4:1-7
INTRODUCTION: Today Across America, America remembers. America remembers the events of September 11, 2001 when our seemingly inviolable security was shattered as nearly 3000 people from 90 countries perished from terrorist attacks upon our soil. It is good for us to remember the events of that day. We should never forget what took place on 911. And we should never forget the lessons learned by these events.
As we reflect on that day let us remember...
I. Remember the Uncertainty of Life
A. On September 11, 2001 a series of four coordinated suicide attacks were levied against targets in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. When passengers attempted to take control of the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C.
B. There were a total of 2,996 deaths, including the 19 hijackers and 2,977 victims. The victims included 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,606 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. Over 3000 children lost a parent who was killed in the attacks or died in rescue operations.
C. The victims of the attack on September 11th didn’t plan on dying that day. When International trade consultant Melissa Harrington Hughes left her to her newlywed husband Sean to go to her office in the Twin Towers dying was the last thing on her mind. As Moises Rivas, a chef at Windows on the World, the renowned restaurant at the top of the North Tower, left for work he may have been thinking about the menu he would prepare for that day, certainly not of never seeing his stepdaughter Linda or his wife again. As American Airlines Flight 77 was taking off Barbara Olson a Pentagon political commentator and a passenger of the ill-fated flight may have wondered if the flight would be smooth but never dreamed that her flight would end in a fiery inferno as the plane crashed into the pentagon.
D. James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit." You don't even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.”
E. Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
F. Warren Wiersbe in his discussion of redemption asks an important question... How long will the rest of our lives be? We don't know; nobody knows. We may have many years, or we may have many days. We could be called home to glory before the day ends. We don't know. "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). It is an appointment, not an accident, and God knows when it is going to be.
G. Remembering how uncertain and how short life is we most make the most of the opportunities God gives us.
H. Ephesians 5:15-16 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
I. We need to live in the present. There are many of us who make the mistake of spending our lives preparing to do something but never doing it. We have intentions to talk to a friend about Christ but not this time next time we talk. We intend to start tithing – next week. We intend to get involved in Sunday School after the weather starts getting cooler. We intend... but we never.
J. We should be living each day as though it were our last.
II. Remember the Necessity of Preparedness
A. The events of September 11th not only remind us that life is uncertain, but it reminds us of the necessity of preparedness in light of its uncertainties.
B. The final messages recorded by the victims of the attacks are heart wrenching.
1. On Flight 93, 33 year old flight attendant Ceecee Lyles called home to an answering-machine leaving a message to her husband, "Please tell my children that I love them very much. I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could see your face again."
2. Fire Capt. Walter Hynes on his wife’s voicemail just before rolling out of Ladder Company 13 heading toward the Towers, "Honey, it's real bad," he said. "I don't know if we'll make it out. I want to tell you that I love you and I love the kids."
3. On United Flight 175 Brian Sweeney called his wife, got the answering machine, and told her they'd been hijacked. "Hopefully I'll talk to you again, but if not, have a good life. I know I'll see you again some day."
4. On that day, hundreds of messages were left on answering machines and cell phones by those in the planes and towers, and first responders on their way. Most said something like, “I’m sorry. I love you. Tell the kids I love them.” Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan said: “Life was reduced to its essentials. Time was short. People said what counted, what mattered. It has been noted that there is no record of anyone calling to say, ‘I never liked you,’ or, ‘You hurt my feelings’…No one said anything unneeded, extraneous or small. (Sept.9-10th, 2006, P14).
5. What stood out was the confidence of Brian Sweeney saying, “I know I'll see you again some day.” It spoke of being prepared for life’s uncertainties.
C. Because life is so uncertain we need to prepare for eternity. In all of life’s uncertainties there is at least one certainty. That certainty is that one day we are going to find death visiting each one of us. Death is certain.
D. Isaiah 40:6, 8 “All flesh is grass ... the grass withers, the flower fades...”
E. The few brief moments you live on earth will determine how you will spend all eternity.
F. Amos 4:12 “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
G. To the believer this means obediently living for Christ 24/7
H. Paul expressed this when he said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)
I. Gen. William Nelson, a Union general in the Civil War, was consumed with the battles in Kentucky when a brawl ended up in his being shot, mortally, in the chest. He had faced many battles, but the fatal blow came while he was relaxing with his men. As such, he was caught fully unprepared. As men ran up the stairs to help him, the general had just one phrase, “Send for a clergyman; I wish to be baptized.” He never had time as an adolescent or young man. He never had time as a private or after he became a general. And his wound did not stop or slow down the war. Everything around him was left virtually unchanged—except for the general’s priorities. With only minutes left before he entered eternity, the one thing he cared about was preparing for eternity. He wanted to be baptized. Thirty minutes later he was dead. Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, p. 26
J. For those who have never received Christ it means coming to Christ while you have the opportunity.
K. 2 Corinthians 6:2 “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
III. Remember the Unselfish Sacrifice of the Many Rescuers
A. Scores of emergency workers and civilians rushed to recue as many victims of the attack as they possibly could. Many of the brave men and women who first arrived on the scene on September 11, 2001 and worked relentless 12 and in some cases 16 hour days. Working without masks to protect their nose, throats and lungs from the dangerous chemicals in the air. An estimated 2,000 workers who mopped up the toxic dust of the pulverized World Trade Center that coated the buildings around the site are suffering illnesses linked to exposure to the site.
B. A total of 411 emergency workers who responded to the scene died as they tried to rescue people and fight fires. The New York City Fire Department lost 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics. The New York City Police Department lost 23 officers. The Port Authority Police Department lost 37 officers. Eight emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private emergency medical services units were killed.
C. They all had one mission. The mission was to save lives even if it meant their own life.
D. We too have been given a mission, a mission of saving lives. The church has but one mission: The saving of lost souls!
E. Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
F. Mark 16:15-16 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
G. In 1869, Fanny Crosby wrote these words :
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
