UNITED WE STAND
1. Play the song “We Pledge Allegiance” (Lee Greenwood: American Patriot)
2. My Brothers and Sisters, the unthinkable has happened. That which we never, in our wildest imaginations, would ever have dreamed could take place on U.S. soil, has ripped into the very soul and psyche of this nation.
· Within the space of an hour to 90 minutes on September 11, 2001 the lives of every man, woman and child in the United States, and indeed on planet earth, have been for ever changed. We can never be the same again.
· Something of the reality of the cosmic conflict between GOOD and EVIL, has been thrust upon us in a way that we cannot ignore.
· All the nightmarish horrors with which Hollywood and Nintendo and the video arcades have bombarded us over recent years have suddenly moved from VIRTUAL REALITY right into GLARING, STARK, COLD, LIFE-SIZED REALITY
· How we wish we could just wake up and say, “Wow, that was a bad dream!” OR get up from our movie seats, dump our empty popcorn buckets and with a sigh of relief, go back to our comfortable, cozy, unruffled world. But sadly, that is not so.
3. For some of us, especially those more immediately affected, around GROUND ZERO in New York City and Washington DC – the families who have lost loved ones, the children who have had parents suddenly and forever snatched away, huge and influential financial companies that have lost their brightest and best men and women, airlines that have lost fine pilots and flight attendants, our military that has had some of its finest personnel right inside what should have been the safest place for them to be, the various rescue departments that have had to say a sudden and unprepared farewell to firemen and police officers doing their level best to save others, those who are still walking in a daze from hospital to hospital and shelter to shelter hunting and hoping to find a dear one – it is understandable if all these feel as if they had themselves received the sentence of death.
4. The Apostle Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians about a time where he and those working in the cause of the Gospel felt the same way.
· Read 2 Cor. 1:3-11
· His response in that situation, where all his own props had been pulled out from under him, was to deliberately cast himself on the mercy of the Lord, to trust in Him, and to call on the Corinthians to back them up in prayer.
· I believe that is exactly what God is calling us to do in response to this devastating tragedy – to cast ourselves anew upon Him, and to support in prayer all those who are on the front lines of this battle.
· We did that here on Tuesday evening at 6.30pm, we did so again on Friday as we joined the nation at 12 noon, and this sanctuary will continue to remain an open place of prayer for as long as necessary.
5. How do we make sense of all that has already happened and all that may yet lie before us?
· Who among us can fully comprehend the Satanic depths of iniquity? No one but the Lord God Himself.
· But there are some hints in His word that give us hope and strength and comfort in a time like this.
6. In the 50th chapter of Genesis, Joseph, now prime Minister of Egypt, came face-to-face with his brothers who had tried to kill him, had thrown him down a well and left him to die, then sold him off as a slave to Arab traders and took his coat of many colors back to their father Isaac, having dipped it in goat’s blood, and told him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
· He now had every right and reason and power and opportunity to exact revenge on them for what they had done to him years before.
· But listen to what happened: (Read Genesis 50: 15-21)
· Note verse 20: As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
· What you meant for evil, God took it and used it for good.
· In Nehemiah 13:2 we read how the Ammonites and Moabites hired Balaam to curse the Israelites – “Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing”.
7. And that is the power and the greatness of our God. He is the One who can turn all curses into blessings if we will let Him.
· After all, He did so in the most dramatic and ultimate way when He took that “Old Rugged Cross, the symbol of suffering and shame” – and the OT scripture says “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree” and He turned it into the source of eternal blessing for all who put their trust in His Son – so that old rugged cross has now become the sign and symbol of the VICTORY and TRIUMPH of GOOD over EVIL and of LOVE over HATE.
· And He will do that transforming work in this nation and in this community and in your life and mine if we will let Him.
8. This nation was founded on the overarching principle of being ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’. And so long as His Lordship over this nation was publicly recognized and acknowledged, this nation has prospered and been a means of enormous blessing to countries and nations and people everywhere.
· Freedom and liberty and justice and prosperity have been passed on to those who associated with this country
· Many of us have come to this country to escape gross evils and brutality, injustice and poverty in our own countries and America has graciously opened the door and put out the “Welcome” mat.
9. But in recent times this nation has been inclined to forget who has been the true source of its wealth and abundance. It needs to hear again the words that God spoke to the nation of Israel before they crossed over into the Promised Land.
· Read Deuteronomy 8:11-20
· The events of this past Tuesday are a wake-up call – a call to repentance – a call to return again to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
10. How heartening it has been to see evidence of such a return all across the land. Yesterday morning in Albuquerque I counted at least 20 marquees proclaiming unashamedly “GOD BLESS AMERICA”.
· On radio and television and from the President himself there have been calls for us to pray and even a national day set aside for that purpose.
· I have seen leaders in congress who only recently seemed bitter political enemies, standing arm in arm and singing on national television, GOD BLESS AMERICA.
· And they are doing so, not because they are in full agreement on every issue they might ever discuss, but because there looms before this nation a common enemy to us all and it will only be as a result of a united front that we will defeat and annihilate this enemy.
11. Dear people of God…surely there is an unmistakable lesson in that for us here in this little community of Estancia and in this congregation!
· We may not have seen eye-to-eye with everyone else in this town on every issue. We may have had serious differences of opinion with others on a number of issues. We may even have said or done things that have caused others deep hurt and pain.
· But for God’s sake, we together are facing issues that unite us as human beings, as members of this community, as citizens and residents of this great country, and above all as believers in One Lord God Almighty – before whom each one of us is going to stand one day and give an account.
· And how petty, how small, how insignificant all the issues will look in light of the bigger picture.
12. So I am asking us all, in light of the mercy of our God, this day, to lay down and never again pick up whatever grievance we have held in our heart against another brother or sister. To never again hold each other at arms length, but to forgive and accept each other’s repentance and then join hands and arms and feet and resources, and in full and total reliance on God, to focus our attack on the common enemy of our souls – the devil and all his works.
13. Let us commit this day to never again speak a negative and destructive word about a neighbor. Never again to partake in any such conversation.
· But by the grace and power of God to honor and respect each other and do all in our power to build each other up. To speak well of each other and contribute to each other’s success in every way and to make of this community a place where Satan knows without a shadow of a doubt that all landing strips and occupation rights and dark hiding places for him and his minions have been effectively removed and revoked.
· If we can learn this lesson here today and communities across this land can learn the same thing….then those who died in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania will not have died in vain….and our God will turn the curse into a blessing.
· God bless this congregation. God bless Estancia. God bless the U.S.A.
Amen.
14. Invite all to stand and partake in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian Flag
