9/11 Where Was GOD?
Last Sunday, we read in Romans chapter 5 how tribulations bring forth perseverance, perseverance brings about character and from character, hope. Tribulation comes in many forms. I want to talk this morning about one of the greatest tribulations of my generation. This Tuesday marks the 17th anniversary of the attack against the United States known simply as 9/11. That day is a day that is ingrained into to each of us old enough to remember. Looking back, it is hard to believe 17 years have passed. I recall hearing of the first tower being struck by a plane. At first it seemed it was a horrible accident. It was not even clear what type of plane it was......(tell story) What is your story from that day?
On that day, the death toll from the four commercial aircraft, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Towers totaled 2,996 with another 6,000 injured. That is not the whole story. Nearly 10,000 first responders and volunteers have since been diagnosed with cancers caused by the toxic fumes & dust. Quoting the USA Today newspaper, “By the end of 2018, many expect that more people will have died from their toxic exposure from 9/11 than were killed on that terrible Tuesday.”
That day forever changed me. It may well have been the catalyst that set into motion the path that led me to be standing here today. Until that day, I knew basically nothing about Islam. The only things I knew consisted of Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabber, and the Muslim character Morgan Freeman played in Kevin Costners' Robin Hood movie.
Does anyone remember the commercial from the 70s' about littering along the roadways? An Indian steps out from the trees and looks at all the trash along the roadside. A car drives by throwing more trash out of the window. Then it shows a close-up of the Indian as a tear begins to fall from his face. As a kid, I always wondered how & why the Indian could care about something so deeply that it brought him to tears. After all, it was not his land, it was a public roadside.... Now I know.... I knew none of those people in the Towers or on those planes. I've never been to New York City, ...but my heart was broken for all of those affected by that day.
I had questions....... If we are honest with ourselves, ...I bet we all had questions following that day. Why would a religion that was supposedly built upon peace, teach and demonstrate that much hate & violence towards others? Do you recall all of the celebrating & parades shown from the Arab world? ….More importantly to me, and my faith, Where was GOD during this? .... Why does GOD even allow bad things like this to happen?
I was confused. I was hurt. I was angry, ...& I was scared. I had two young children and I didn't know what was coming next. I was questioning GOD....and I didn't even know if it was alright to question GOD. For all I knew, GOD might strike me down just for challenging HIM.
This morning, I'd like to share what I've discovered since. Maybe this will help some of you as well. The first thing I've learned is that GOD is big enough to handle our questions. HE has broad shoulders. GOD is not petty. HE did not give up on me, even when I was close to giving up on HIM.
The second thing I learned was that I wasn't even the first person to question GOD. In fact, the Bible offers several examples of this very thing. In Psalm 10:1, the writer asks Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? Jesus Himself asked this same question in Mathew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
The destruction of the Twin Towers was devastating to me, watching over & over the collapse of the buildings, the billowing black clouds of smoke, the ash collecting upon cars and on the faces of those on site.
There is an example, just as devastating to those involved, & eerily similar found in the Bible. We will start in the Old Testament with the Books of Jeremiah & Lamentations. The ending of Jeremiah & the beginning of Lamentations deal with the same time period. It describes the destruction of Jerusalem & the first Jewish Temple by fire from the Babylonians. This is modern day Iraq.
Jeremiah 52:12-14 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), {Remember we mentioned calendars before? Nebuchadnezzar did not know what year he was in, nor was B.C. or A.D. even thought about} Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
The Book of Lamentations is the very next book that deals with this same event. Traditionally, it is attributed that Jeremiah wrote this as well. Picture someone viewing the collapse of the cities iconic Temple complex through thick black smoke jumping above the flames from a distance, ...just as we did from the television. The shock & sadness we felt on 9/11 is very much like that of Jeremiah.
Lamentations 1:1 & 11-13 How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave! 11 All her people sigh,They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, For I am scorned.” 12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see If there is any sorrow like my sorrow, Which has been brought on me, Which the Lord has inflicted In the day of His fierce anger. 13 “From above He has sent fire into my bones, And it overpowered them; He has spread a net for my feet And turned me back; He has made me desolate And faint all the day.
9/11 was new for us. It was not new for GOD. GOD pulled Jerusalem out of the ashes, as HE did for New York. As bad as we see what is happening today, GOD knows our tomorrow. Lamentations 3:21-26 assures us of this. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. 26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
Most of us are familiar with the story of Job. The stories of Job that I typically hear are of a man that was tested & tormented, but of a man who never questioned or complained to GOD. I, however, am a complainer. I could not relate to Job.
Anyone who passes me while driving is a crazy person with a death wish. Anyone going too slow in front of me is a menace to society. Parking lot stripes are put there for a reason. There should be equal distance from your cars tires to the stripes. Toilet paper should unroll over the top, not backwards from the bottom. ...Turns out, Job was more like us than I imagined. He had questions. He was angry. He even wished he'd never been born.
Job 10:1-2, 8, 18-20 Job says “My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me. 8 ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. 18‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! 19 I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort...”
The last example this morning is found in John chapter 11. Please turn to it. It is the story of Lazarus. Each of the two sisters, Mary & Martha, came to Jesus separately asking the familiar question. Where were you?If you'd been here, this would not have happened. Verse 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Verse 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When those planes collided with the towers & the immediate aftermath, I am positive millions of people were asking the same thing. GOD, Where were you? Lord, if you had been here, this would not have happened. I now believe that God was there. I now believe HE was devastated, more so than we can ever comprehend. On that day, nearly 3,000 people died needlessly. Please read verse 35. This was Jesus' reaction to just one death. What does it say? “Jesus wept.”
Mankind was given free-will. Not everyone chooses to accept Jesus as their savior. Some people openly embrace sin and its evil influence. Bad things can & do happen to good people. Tribulations spring forth hope. Jesus is our only hope.
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9/11 poem. Author unknown.
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I. I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say ‘Good-Bye.’ I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, ‘Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK..I am ready to go.’ I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn’t coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. ‘I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!’ I said. ‘Of course I will show you the way home – only believe in Me now.’ I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name – though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor. Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn’t hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; ‘Come to Me… this way… take my hand.’ Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are ‘ready to go.’ I will be in the stairwell of your final moments. Love, GOD.
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