THE IMAGE OF ONE OF AMERICA’S GREATEST SYMBOLS OF FREEDOM, THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, STOOD ENTWINED IN PLUMES OF SMOKE AS THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDING COLLAPSED AFTER TERRORISTS’ PURPOSELY FLEW TWO AIRLINERS OPEN-THROTTLE INTO THEIR STRUCTURES.
THIS BARBARIC AND HATEFUL ATTACK GAVE US A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF LIBERTY ITSELF UNDER ATTACK. SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, WILL NOW BE FOREVER ETCHED INTO OUR MEMORIES AS AMERICA’S SECOND DAY OF INFAMY AS THOUSANDS OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS - INNOCENT VICTIMS - LOST THEIR LIVES.
THAT FATEFUL TUESDAY MORNING CHANGED OUR WORLD. JUST AS THE PREVIOUS GENERATION OF AMERICANS WAS IRREVOCABLY ALTERED ON DECEMBER 7, 1941, SO THIS GENERATION HAS BEEN FOREVER CHANGED. NOW, WE HAVE QUESTIONS.
SO MANY QUESTIONS TO SORT OUT ONLY TO FIND THAT THERE REALLY ARE SO FEW ANSWERS AVAILABLE. AS ALL OF US SAT BEWILDERED BY THE IMAGES COMING ACROSS OUR TELEVISIONS AND STUNNED BY THE SOUNDS IMINATING FROM OUR RADIOS, WE WERE TRAUMATIZED, IF NOT HORRIFIED.
QUESTIONS RACED THROUGH OUR MINDS: WHY DID THEY DO THAT? HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO EVIL? WHO IS TO BLAME? WHERE IS GOD? WHAT CAN I DO? AND ARE WE STILL IN DANGER? ARE WE GOING TO WAR?
QUESTIONS ARE SO HARD TO ANSWER IN TRAGIC TIMES. BUT WE ASK QUESTIONS ANYWAY. IF YOU WERE TO GO THROUGH THE BIBLE YOU WOULD SOON FIND THAT IT IS FILLED WITH ALL KINDS OF QUESTIONS.
THERE JUST HAPPENS TO BE ONE PARTICULAR BOOK THAT CONTAINS A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS THAN ANY OTHER BOOK IN THE BIBLE.
WHICH BOOK IS THAT? IT IS THE BOOK OF JOB. JOB HAS OVER 330 QUESTIONS IN ITS 42 CHAPTERS. GENESIS, ONLY HAS 160 AND MATTHEW HAS AROUND 180. EVEN THE BOOK OF PSALMS WITH ITS 150 CHAPTERS HAS ONLY 160.
SO WHY DOES THE BOOK OF JOB HAVE SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS? THERE IS A VERY SIMPLE REASON. IT IS BECAUSE THE BOOK OF JOB DEALS WITH HORRIBLE TRAGEDY.
JOB IS A RIGHTEOUS MAN AND HAS A HEDGE AND A BARRIER SET AROUND HIM, HIS FAMILY, AND HIS BUSINESS. THEN SUDDENLY, WITHOUT WARNING, AND FOR NO REASON, HIS FAMILY AND BUSINESS IS WIPED OUT AND DESTROYED.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUSINESS OF EVERYDAY LIFE TWO TERRORIST GROUPS CONDUCT A COLD-HEARTED ATTACK BY STEALING JOB’S LIVESTOCK AND KILLING HIS SERVANTS.
THEN, OUT OF THE HEAVENS, FIRE RAINS DOWN AND DESTROYS THE REST OF HIS LIVESTOCK AND HIS SERVANTS. THEN HIS FAMILY IS KILLED IN A FREAK ACCIDENT WHEN A MIGHTY WIND SWEEPS IN FROM THE DESERT COLLAPSES THEIR HOME UPON THEM. ALL OF JOB’S CHILDREN ARE LIFELESS BODIES AMONGST THE PILE OF RUBBLE.
IT WAS SWIFT. IT WAS UNWARRANTED. IT WAS UNCONSCIONABLE. JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK WHEN OTHERS LOST THEIR FAMILIES. JUST LIKE WHEN WE LOST OUR OWN SERVANTS WHEN FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE WERE KILLED TRYING TO SAVE THOSE TRAPPED IN THE TWO TOWERS.
AMERICA, AS WE KNOW HER, HAS BEEN HIT AND HIT HARD.
QUESTIONS. SO WHAT DO WE DO IN OUR TRAGEDY?
WE DO WHAT JOB DID WHEN HE LEARNED OF HIS LOSS. WE MOURN. HE WAS SILENT WHEN HE RECEIVED THE FIRST TWO REPORTS THAT HIS BUSINESS AND LIVESTOCK WERE COMPLETELY WIPED OUT.
BUT WHEN HE RECEIVED THE NEWS THAT HIS CHILDREN WERE LOST… HE GOT UP AND TORE HIS ROBE. THEN, HE FELL ON HIS KNEES AND MOURNED: “NAKED I CAME FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB, AND NAKED I WILL RETURN.”
IN OTHER WORDS, EVERYTHING THAT HAD MEANING IN HIS LIFE WAS GONE. AS HE CAME INTO THIS WORLD SO JOB FELT HE WAS LEAVING IT: BARREN.
WE LEARNED AS THE NEWS POURED IN, THAT MANY CHILDREN WOULD NOT BE PICKED UP FROM DAYCARE OR THE BABYSITTERS. LOST WERE DADS, MOMS, GRANDPARENTS, AUNTS, UNCLES, COUSINS, AND FRIENDS.
I HAVE NO DOUBT WE ALL FEEL A CONNECTION TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE STORIES ON THE NEWS OF SOMEONE WHO LOST A LOVED ONE. THE NEWS HAS SHOWN US THEIR FACES AND TOLD THEIR STORIES AND THE MOURNING HAS SOAKED THE FABRIC OF THIS COUNTRY.
WE MOURN FOR EVERY FAMILY LOST. EVERY FAMILY TORN APART. WE WEEP FOR OUR NATION NOT BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN WEAKENED BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE OF OUR LOSS.
MOURNING DOES NOT DEMORALIZE OUR PEOPLE NOR PARALYZE OUR COUNTRY. RATHER, IT UNDERGIRDS OUR STRENGTH AND REVEALS OUR SOUL.
AS PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH SAID, “THESE ACTS OF MASS MURDER WERE INTENDED TO FRIGHTEN OUR NATION INTO CHAOS AND RETREAT. BUT THEY HAVE FAILED. OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG. A GREAT PEOPLE HAS BEEN MOVED TO DEFEND A GREAT NATION. TERRORIST ATTACKS CAN SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR BIGGEST BUILDINGS, BUT THEY CANNOT TOUCH THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA. THESE ACTS SHATTER STEEL, BUT THEY CANNOT DENT THE STEEL OF AMERICAN RESOLVE.” WE MOURN OVER OUR LOSSES.
NOW, WHILE WE MOURN, WE COMMIT OURSELVES NOT TO BECOME CONSUMED WITH ANGER. WE REFUSE TO BECOME DESTROYED BY HATRED WHEN THE WORLD STARTS ASKING THE QUESTION “WHO IS TO BLAME?”
BLAMING GOD HAS BECOME TOO EASY. IN A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE TREAT THEIR PETS WITH GREATER RESPECT THAN THAN THEY DO GOD, WHY SHOULD WE BE SURPRISED WHEN PEOPLE CURSE GOD AND ACCUSE HIM OF NOT DOING ANYTHING TO STOP THE MADNESS?
YES, JOB HAD A HEDGE OF PROTECTION. THIS WAS A BARRIER THAT GOD ESTABLISHED BUT LATER TOOK AWAY IN ORDER TO LET SATAN HAVE HIS WAY WITH JOB.
YET, THROUGH IT ALL, JOB DID NOT ALLOW THESE TRAGEDIES TO MAKE HIM BITTER WITH ANGER. HE DIDN’T ACCUSE GOD OF CRUELTY NOR DID HE CURSE HIM.
WE ARE NOT IMMUNE TO EVIL. LIVING AMONGST IT WE ARE BOUND TO EXPERIENCE IT. BILLY GRAHAM HAS SEEN HIS SHARE AS HE FIGHTS THE EFFECTS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE. THE POPE TOOK A WOULD-BE ASSASSIN’S BULLET!
BUT, BILLY GRAHAM STILL PREACHES AND THE POPE FORGAVE HIS ATTACKER. BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN GOOD PEOPLE BUT GOOD PEOPLE ARE NOT OVERCOME BY THE BAD. EPHESIANS 4:26, “BE ANGRY AND DO NOT SIN.” WE MUST NOT ALLOW OUR ANGER TO CONSUME US.
ANOTHER QUESTION IS: IS IT ALRIGHT TO ASK “WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?” JOB COULDN’T QUITE FIGURE IT ALL OUT. WE SHOULDN’T TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT EITHER. CONTINUING TO LOOK FOR EVERY POSSIBLE REASON FOR OUR TRAGEDY ONLY LEADS TO MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
JOB’S FRIENDS THOUGHT THEY HAD THE ANSWERS. THEY MADE A MATTERS WORSE BY PSYCHOANALYZING ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED. THEY WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CATEGORY JOB’S SIN FELL UNDER.
THINKING THEY HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT, THE THREE FRIENDS COME TO JOB AND TRY TO CONVINCE HIM THAT HE HAD DONE SOME TERRIBLY EVIL THING AND THIS IS WHY HE WAS SUFFERING.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY WERE TRYING TO GET JOB TO BELIEVE THAT “GOD DID THIS ON PURPOSE TO PUNISH YOU.” WE SHOULD REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS IT IS WHEN WE TRY TO PUT WORDS IN GOD’S MOUTH.
MATTHEW 7:1, “STOP JUDGING OTHERS, AND YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED…WHATEVER MEASURE YOU USE IN JUDGING OTHERS, IT WILL BE USED TO MEASURE HOW YOU ARE JUDGED.”
WHEN FACED WITH UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY, WE SHOULD NEVER TELL ANYONE THAT IT IS GOD’S WILL OR THAT IT IS PUNISHMENT FOR SIN. WE MUST LEARN THAT THERE IS A THIRD PARTY IN THIS WORLD SEEKING TO DESTROY US.
1 PETER 5:8, “BE CAREFUL! WATCH OUT FOR ATTACKS FROM THE DEVIL, YOUR GREAT ENEMY. HE PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION, LOOKING FOR SOME VICTIM TO DEVOUR.”
INSTEAD OF WASTING TIME TRYING TO FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT, GIVE EVERYTHING OVER TO JESUS WHO IS ABLE TO HANDLE IT. 1 PETER 5:7, “GIVE ALL YOUR WORRIES AND CARES TO GOD, FOR HE CARES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU.”
THERE IS A FINAL QUESTION. WHERE IS GOD? WHERE IS GOD WHEN TERRIBLE TRAGEDIES BEFALL US? JOB’S FRIENDS GIVE UP BUT JOB CONTINUES TO SEEK AFTER GOD.
HE WANTS TO KNOW WHY HE HAS SUFFERED. WHY GOD HAS ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN? HE FINALLY GETS HIS ANSWER WHEN GOD VISITS HIM FROM OUT OF A STORM.
GOD ASKS JOB 86 INTERROGATING QUESTIONS. LISTEN TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS: WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? TELL ME IF YOU UNDERSTAND. DO YOU HAVE AN ARM LIKE GOD’S, AND CAN YOUR VOICE THUNDER LIKE HIS? DO YOU GIVE THE HORSE HIS STRENGTH OR CLOTHE HIS NECK WITH A FLOWING MANE?
JOB IS SILENCED AND HE REALIZES THAT BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY AND EVERLASTING FATHER HE IS ONLY A MAN. KNOWING THAT HE CANNOT POSSIBLY COMPREHEND THE MEANING OF THE EVENTS AROUND HIM HE REPENTS IN DUST AND ASHES.
SO, WHERE WAS GOD THIS WEEK? HE WAS THERE IN THE LAST MOMENTS AS LOVED ONES CALLED ON CELL PHONES TO SAY I LOVE YOU. WHO DO YOU THINK ALLOWED THOSE PHONE CALLS TO GET THROUGH?
HE IS THERE IN THE FIREMAN’S SUIT. HE IS THERE BEHIND POLICE BADGES. HE IS BEHIND THE SCALPEL AND THE SYRINGE OF THE HOSPITAL WORKERS. HE WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THOUSANDS WHO DONATED BLOOD, FOOD, AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES.
HE IS NEAR THE HEART OF ALL WHO IN THE FACE OF THIS TRAGEDY LOVE THEIR NEIGHBOR AND TURN TO GOD IN REPENTANCE.
HE IS NEAR TO THOSE, WHO IN THE ASHES OF THESE LAST FEW DAYS, LOOK TO HIM, NOT FOR ANSWERS, BUT BECAUSE, IN THE END, TRAGEDIES TEACH US THAT WE ARE MORTAL AND FULLY DEPENDENT UPON GOD.
AS REV. BILLY GRAHAM STATED, “IN TIMES LIKE THIS, WE REALIZE HOW WEAK AND INADEQUATE WE ARE, AND OUR GREATEST NEED IS TO TURN IN REPENTANCE AND FAITH TO THE GOD OF ALL MERCY AND THE FATHER OF ALL COMFORT. IF EVER THERE WAS A TIME FOR US TO TURN TO GOD AND TO PRAY AS A NATION, IT IS NOW -- THAT THIS EVIL WILL SPREAD NO FURTHER.”
MAY WE CONQUER EVIL WITH GOOD, REPENT, TURN BACK TO GOD, AND PLACE OUR FULL DEPENDANCE UPON HIM ONCE AGAIN. GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
