MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
(Immediately preceding the message the Church Choir sang “If We Ever Needed” by Amy Susan Foster & Jeff Lippencott, arranged by Lori Goss. Pub. by Prism Music. Copyright: Centergy Music & Jeff Lippencott Music)
“If we ever needed love, it’s now;
If we ever needed strength to give our hearts to someone else,
Sharing joys and sorrows as we walk life’s lonesome road,
If we ever needed love, it’s now.
If we ever needed hope, it’s now;
If we ever needed wings to soar beyond what we despair,
Into a new tomorrow, much brighter than today,
If we ever needed hope, it’s now.
If we ever needed Jesus, it’s now;
If we ever needed a Savior to meet us at our need,
With tender hands of mercy, to brush away each tear;
If we ever needed love, If we ever needed hope,
If we ever needed Jesus, it’s now, it’s now, it’s now.”
A. Last Tuesday morning our nation experienced a tragic attack that may have forever altered our thinking & our way of life. Thousands are dead, & millions more have been affected. What many, & perhaps most, Americans thought would never happen, did happen. We were targeted, we were hit, & we have been hurt deeply. America will never be the same again.
ILL. Three 11-year-old students, Bernard Brown, Asia Cotton, & Rodney Dickens were the envy of their Washington classmates. It’s one thing to go on a field trip, but to be one of just 3 students chosen to go with their teachers on a field trip that would take them all the way across the country, that’s something to be excited about. And they were excited!
And when the boarding call for those with small children to board first was given, they probably saw 3-year-old Dana & 8-year-old Zoe with their father, Charles Falkenberg, getting on board too. At about the same time, & boarding a plane in Boston were 3-year-olds David Brandhorst, Christine Hanson & 4-year-old Julianna McCourt.
For these 8 children, what began as a day of joyful adventure quickly turned into a nightmare of terror as men filled with hatred for our land & our freedoms seized their planes & turned them into weapons of mass destruction & death.
And this is no dream – it is a nightmare from which some, without God’s help, will never awake, prisoners of grief, bitterness, anger & hurt. And for them we must pray - earnestly & intently - we must pray.
We pray for the families of the victims, & for the rescue & recovery workers, who have worked so tirelessly to recover any who might be found. We pray also for the eyewitnesses whose minds will replay over & over the images of terror they saw firsthand.
Pray for our national leaders as they seek to bring the guilty to justice. Pray also that the unity this tragedy has brought will continue & increase, & that all those who turned their eyes toward God this week would stay focused upon Him, realizing that He is our one & only hope to guide us through both times of crisis, & times of calm.
B. But even as we pray, our hearts cry out in confusion & pain. We don’t understand why it happened. We don’t understand terrorism at all. How could they possibly have done such a thing? Don’t they have fathers & mothers & families that they loved? How could they so deliberately kill thousands of innocent men, women & children in such a callous manner?
Well, we can find part of the answer by understanding their faith, what they have been taught & what they believe.
1. First of all, as fanatic Muslims they have been taught to consider all the rest of the world to be infidels. We are unclean. Our lives are valueless in their sight. If anything can be gained by our destruction, so be it! And if we are considered to be their enemy, then they have a sacred obligation to oppose us.
2. Secondly, their own lives are of no real consequence, either. In fact, fanatic Muslims have been taught that if they die fighting infidels, they will immediately be transported to a Paradise where they’ll enjoy every pleasure. So they’re willing to kill & be killed. After all, "It is the Will of Allah."
Now, of course, not all Muslims share that attitude. And there are many Muslims who recoil in horror at the atrocities that have been committed in the name of Allah. But the loudest & most intimidating voices are those of hatred & death. And sadly, for years now, their voices have prevailed.
That is why our television screens can show scenes of wild rejoicing, of children, women & men shouting in jubilation at the news of the pain & suffering & massive lost of life that has been inflicted upon our people & our country.
I. IF WE EVER NEEDED LOVE, IT’S NOW!
But that is not the way we have been taught. Because of Jesus, all our lives we have heard a message of love. We are told that God is a God of love. And the first Bible verse most of us can ever remember hearing is the one that proclaims,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” [John 3:16-17]
And again Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind. This is the first & greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” [Matthew 22:37-39]
The apostle John wrote, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God… Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love… Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” [1 John 4:7,8,11]
ILL. How come, when the world thinks about someone caring for the old & poor & sick, the name of Mother Theresa comes to mind? Why, when we hear of hospitals & orphanages throughout the world, do we discover that the majority of them began through the efforts of Christians seeking to help the helpless? How come, when famine arises & people are starving by the hundreds of thousands that the Red Cross, Church World Relief, World Vision, & IDES are names that pop up over & over again?
Why? Because Jesus Christ is our Lord, & He has told us to “love one another.” In fact, He even went a step further & said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor & hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” [Matthew 5:43-45]
And of course, there is the great “Love Chapter” in the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13.
“If I speak in the tongues of men & of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy & can fathom all mysteries & all knowledge, & if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor & surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking … Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always, perseveres. Love never fails…
“And now these three remain: faith, hope & love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Truly, because of Jesus, the world will know that we are Christians by our love.
II. IF WE EVER NEEDED HOPE, IT’S NOW!
Secondly, if we ever needed hope, it is now. Listen to Psalm 43:5, “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior & my God.”
The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, & His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary & increases the power of the weak.
“Even youths grow tired & weary, & young men stumble & fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run & not grow weary, they will walk & not be faint.” [Isaiah 40:28-31]
The song that the choir sang said, “If we ever needed love, it’s now. If we ever needed hope, it’s now. Listen to these words. This is God speaking, & Jeremiah is writing down what God said.
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future. Then you will call upon me & come & pray to me, & I will listen to you. You will seek me & find me when you seek me with all your heart.’” [Jeremiah 29:11-13]
ILL. Did you see that interview early this morning of a man who was working in his office on the 92nd floor of the second building of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit the other building? He saw the impact, & the desks & bodies flying out of the shattered windows. When that happened, he started going down, & he survived. He came out alive from those buildings in which so many others lost their lives.
But in this interview he was saying, “I don’t know why God let me live. I don’t know what purpose He has for my life. But I’m sure going to find out.”
Peter wrote these words, “Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, & into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade …” [1 Peter 1:3-4]
ILL. I heard also a report about a man who knew that he was going to die – that there would be no escape for him. But he had time to make one call, & He did. He called his son to express his love, & to say “goodbye.” And the last thing the son heard his father say was, “I’ll see you in heaven.”
Will you please stand? (At this point one of our men led in prayer, followed by the congregation singing together verses 1, 3, & 4 of the hymn, “My Faith Looks up to Thee.” Then we sat down & the sermon resumed.)
III. IF WE EVER NEEDED JESUS, IT’S NOW!
If we ever needed love, it’s now. If we ever needed hope, it’s now. If we ever needed Jesus, it’s now.
There are many beautiful hymns & choruses. One that I think is among the most beautiful is found in our hymnbooks on page 528. May I just read the first verse & chorus of that hymn entitled, “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus."
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus
Since I found in Him a friend so strong & true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely
He did something that no other friend could do.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin & darkness from me
O how much He cares for me!
ILL. I can still remember something that happened when I was 6 years old. Most of you know that at that time I was living in China - my folks were missionaries. We were on the border of China & Tibet – the last Chinese-controlled town in an area where the people were 90% Tibetans.
My father was a medical missionary. We were 5 ½ days away from the next nearest white person. Most of the people where we lived had never ever seen anybody with our color of skin before. And, of course, they wanted to know, “Why are you here?” that was just the question father wanted them to ask – so that he could tell them about Jesus & His love.
But this particular day was to be a very special one because representatives from the governor of the Chinese province of Yunnan & representatives of the paramount Tibetan chief of that region were coming to ask my father that question. And, of course, when dignitaries come from other places, the local officials invited themselves to the meeting also.
So it was going to be quite an impressive group meeting with my father that evening at our house. I was 6 years old, but for some reason I wanted to be in that meeting. And Father allowed it. He probably figured that I would fall asleep, so he had me sit on a bench in the very back of the room.
After they presented their official inquiry father responded by speaking about Jesus – telling them that it was because of Jesus that he was there – that we have a God who loves everybody, & cares about everybody. And that’s why he was there.
As a medical man, in their eyes he was a miracle worker because he was doing things they didn’t understand. By & large the village people didn’t know about germs or disease. One half of the boys & girls there died by the age of ten from simple things that were no real problem to us. But you see, to them sickness & death were caused by evil demons sent by the gods because the gods were angry with them.
But father was telling them that his God loves them – & that he was there to show that love, & to tell them about Jesus. And he did. He told them about Jesus – the old, old story that you & I have heard, & told, so often. But most of them had never ever heard the name of Jesus before – even as a curse word.
Now in that back row, sitting by me, was an old Tibetan man – probably the oldest man in the room. And as father was telling about Jesus, the man began muttering, muttering something under his breath. Then he got a little louder, & at first I was probably the only one who could hear what he was saying.
Then his muttering got louder, & a few others were beginning to hear him too. Finally, father heard him muttering, & paused to listen & understand what he was saying. What he was saying over & over again was this: “It’s not true. It’s not true. It’s just not true. It’s not true. It’s just not true.” Again & again he said those words, getting louder & louder.
So father turned to him & said, “Jesus Christ did live upon the earth. He is God, & He came to live among men. He was arrested & crucified, buried & risen again. We have the testimony of eyewitnesses. And their witness has been written down that we might know. And since that day His followers have gone all over the world to tell the good news of His coming.” Well, father said more than that, but he finally ended up by saying to this old gentleman, “Sir, it is true! How then, why then, can you say that it is not true?”
I’ll never forget the answer that old man gave. He said, “If it were true, we would have heard about it a long time ago!”
Didn’t Jesus tell us nearly 2,000 years ago, “Go into all the world & preach the gospel, the “good news” to every creature? And we still haven’t done it. So an old Tibetan man could say, “I don’t believe it. I’ve never heard it before.”
And people today in the Mid-East can rejoice with shouts of glee at what has happened because they have never really heard the “good news” of Jesus. There was a chance. The Muslim religion did not begin until 600 years after Christ. But you see, we have yet to go into all the world & preach the gospel to every creature. And what a terrible price we have had to pay!
Now I have a question to ask you: “Are you a part of the problem, or a part of the solution?” I’m going to ask the choir to sing one more time.
“If we ever needed love, it’s now;
If we ever needed strength to give our hearts to someone else,
Sharing joys and sorrows as we walk life’s lonesome road,
If we ever needed love, it’s now.
If we ever needed hope, it’s now;
If we ever needed wings to soar beyond what we despair,
Into a new tomorrow, much brighter than today,
If we ever needed hope, it’s now.
If we ever needed Jesus, it’s now;
If we ever needed a Savior to meet us at our need,
With tender hands of mercy, to brush away each tear;
If we ever needed love, If we ever needed hope,
If we ever needed Jesus, it’s now, it’s now, it’s now.”
INVITATION:
