(Powerpoint available--email author)
9.11.01 REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
9.11.02 7pm
Instrumental Music
Welcome (video clip interviewing people with question “Where Were You?” From NAMB)
Remember Sept. 10—Last Day of Normal? (see NPR.org)—No? But remember where you were and what you did Sept. 11? YES! (Discuss my experience receiving call in church office from my son Shaun, etc.)
Opening Prayer (Max Lucado author)
At the September 15, 2001, satellite broadcast of "America Prays," author Max Lucado read the following prayer that he wrote in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America.
Dear Lord, we’re still hoping we’ll wake up. We’re still hoping we’ll open a sleepy eye and think, What a horrible dream.
But we won’t, will we, Father? What we saw was not a dream. Planes did gouge towers. Flames did consume our fortress. People did perish. It was no dream and, dear Father, we are sad. There is a ballet dancer who will no longer dance and a doctor who will no longer heal. A church has lost her priest, a classroom is minus a teacher. Cora ran a food pantry. Paige was a counselor, and Dana, dearest Father, Dana was only three years old. (Who held her in those final moments?)
We are sad, Father. For as the innocent are buried, our innocence is buried as well. We thought we were safe. Perhaps we should have known better. But we didn’t.
And so we come to you. We don’t ask you for help; we beg you for it. We don’t request it; we implore it. We know what you can do. We’ve read the accounts. We’ve pondered the stories and now we plead, "Do it again, Lord. Do it again."
Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us. Do it again, Lord. Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We have children, too, Lord. Do it again. And Sarah? Remember her prayers? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord. Do it again.
You changed Daniel from a captive into a king’s counselor. You took Peter the fisherman and made him Peter an apostle. Because of you, David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again, Lord, for we need counselors today, Lord. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.
Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw here last Tuesday, you saw there that Friday. Innocence slaughtered. Goodness murdered. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the smoke eclipsed our morning, so the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our towers were shattered, the very Tower of Eternity was pierced. And by dusk, heaven’s sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.
But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do it again, Lord. Grant us a September Easter.
We thank you, dear Father, for these hours of unity. Christians are praying with Jews. Republicans are standing with Democrats. Skin colors have been covered by the ash of burning buildings. We thank you for these hours of unity.
And we thank you for these hours of prayer. The Enemy sought to bring us to our knees and succeeded. He had no idea, however, that we would kneel before you. And he has no idea what you can do.
Let your mercy be upon our President, Vice President, and their families. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe. And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you’ve used her to heal a hurting world. Do it again, Lord. Do it again. Through Christ, Amen.
Choral Song: “For Such a Time as This”—words in bulletin--Choir
*Song: “ A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
(Words printed in program to verse one for Congregation to Sing
Choir continues singing)
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7
….for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Song: “It Is Well With My Soul” Choir
Message: “Memory and Hope in the Face of Despair”
(part of this message adapted from ideas in Chris Talton’s sermon on “What Makes a Hero” on sermoncentral.com)
When do the people need a leader the most? The answer is, in times of uncertainty. When is it the most difficult to lead people? The answer is, in times of uncertainty.
Often in times of crisis and uncertainty, the tendency is for people to freeze - they stand still. They basically say, "I don’t know if I want to make a decision." On the other hand, leaders must constantly be leading, even in times of uncertainty.
One of the best examples I can use to illustrate how to lead in times of uncertainty is Rudy Giuliani because of his outstanding leadership in New York City during the 9/11 crisis.
Here’s a passage from Time Magazine, which named him the Person of the Year for 2001.
On the morning of September 11th, primary day of the New York City, Rudy Giuliani was paddling along with all the other lame ducks into oblivion. The tower of strength had become an object of pity: the iron man’s cancer made him vulnerable, the righteous man’s adultery made him hypocritical, the loyal man’s passions - for his city and its cops and its streets and its ballplayers - divided the city even as he improved it. After abandoning Gracie Mansion, his marriage in flames, he was camping out with a friend on the Upper East Side, and now it was time to choose his successor, and the end was in sight.
The end was, in fact, just a few blocks away. Having raced to the scene at the first news of the attacks, Giuliani was nearly buried alive. In the hours that followed, he had to lock parts of the city down and break open others, create a makeshift command center and a temporary morgue, find a million pair of gloves and dust masks and respirators, throw up protections against another attack, tame the mobs that might be looking for vengeance and somehow persuade the rest of the city that it had not been fatally shot through the heart.
It was an occasion to discover what we already were. "Maybe the purpose of all this," Rudy Giuliani said at a funeral for a friend, "is to find out if America today is as strong as when we fought for our independence or when we fought for ourselves as a Union to end slavery or as strong as our fathers and grandfathers who fought to rid the world of Nazism and communism." The terrorists, he argues, were counting on our cowardice. They’ve learned a lot about us since then, and so have we.
But at the dawn of the new millennium, New York mayor Rudy Giuliani emerged from the ashes of the smoldering World Trade Center rubble to calm a frightened and anxious nation. And by leading the city through a crisis of unimaginable horror diabolically designed to cripple the most powerful country on earth, Giuliani staked his claim as this century’s first great leader.
God turned into good what you meant for evil. Genesis 50:20
A good thing that came out of the evil and that is what we discovered--that there are heroes all around us. Rudy Giuliani was one of them.
In the hours following the attacks, we began to hear stories -- stories of heroic actions, not only by the mayor of New York, but by ordinary people. Firemen who raced up the stairs to get into the WTC even as employees raced down the stairs to get away from the WTC. Port Authority Policemen who became trapped by falling rubble as they were trying to help coordinate rescue and evacuation efforts. Stock brokers who slowed their escape from impending doom in order to help others make it out safely and ended up losing their own lives.
Most of the heroes of 9/11 remain nameless to us, but we know at least the names of 4 airline passengers who took matters into their own hands and thwarted the efforts of hijackers to crash United Flight 93 into the Capitol building or the White House.
They were
· Jeffery Glick, 31, a sales manager for a technology firm,
· Thomas Burnett Jr., 38, a California businessman,
· Mark Bingham, 31, a former college rugby player from California and
· Todd Beamer, 32, a sales rep., loving husband and the father of 3.
They were heroes in the real sense of the word.
What makes a hero? In the book of Hebrews, the eleventh chapter, God records for us the names of some men and women who God would regard as human heroes. And recorded in the stories of these men and women are many character traits that help us to define a true hero.
That account of the heroes of faith begins with this introduction:
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. Hebrews 11:1-2
As we come here tonight to remember the events of last year, I want to help you find hope in the events of last September 11. I think one way to do that is to recall the heroic actions of some the persons caught up in the events of last nine one one. And I want to encourage you to look at yourself and explore how you have been a hero or can become a hero in the midst of all of life’s tragic events.
So what are some characteristics of a hero?
1. A HERO IS SOMEONE WHO ACTS.
As the Nike commercial goes—“Just Do It!”
As you read through Hebrews 11 notice that every person who is mentioned was a person of action:
Abel brought (v. 4)
Noah built an ark (v. 7)
Abraham went (v. 8)
Abraham offered (v. 17)
Isaac blessed (v. 20)
Jacob bowed in worship (v.21)
Moses refused, chose and left (vv.24-27)
The Israelites passed through (v. 29)
The people of Israel marched (v.30)
Todd Beamer was a man of action.
(Play video clip of Lisa Beamer—Discusses Todd’s “Let’s Roll" Call; Conversation with GTE Operator, Todd’s recitation of Lord’s Prayer, Lisa’s struggle with forgiving Terrorists, her efforts to fight back and give back through Todd beamer Foundation)
Todd Beamer and the others on Flight 93 had a choice to make. Sit by and watch it happen, or take action. You all know what choice they made. After Todd had recited the 23rd Psalm and asked if the other guys were ready, they headed into action with the words, “Let’s roll!”¨
Jesus had the same choice to make. He saw that the world that He had created had been hijacked by sin and evil. He knew that the world was hurtling toward utter destruction. He could have sat by and watched it happen. But instead, He chose to act. He left heaven behind and was born as a little child.
Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:7-9
Jesus’ life was filled with action--healing the sick, righting what was wrong and bringing people back into right relationship with God. Jesus was a person of action.
Are you a person of action? The White House and the city of Washington were saved from destruction because of hero’s actions. The world was saved from ultimate destruction because of Jesus’ actions.
Now are you ready to roll and bring hope to an anxious, fearful world?
2. A HERO DOES WHAT IS RIGHT.
If you want to be a hero, it is not enough just to be a person who does something. You have to choose to do what is right.
Every biographical account in Hebrews 11 begins with the same two words: “By faith:”¨.
Almost a year ago now, some men did something. They took control of 4 planes and plowed them into the WTC, the Pentagon and the soil of Pennsylvania. You could argue that they did something by faith, but they did not do what was right.
To someone out there, they are heroes. To a group of people out there, Osama bin Laden is a hero. These men were men of action, yes. But they chose not to do what was right. They chose to take the lives of innocent civilians.
Jesus always chose to do what was right. The Bible records that
Jesus was tempted in all the same ways that we have been tempted, yet without sin.
Jesus had every right to destroy mankind, but instead, He chose to act in such a way to bring about the salvation of all who will put their trust in Him.
A hero takes action to do what is right.
3. A HERO DOES NOT MAKE EXCUSES.
Those firemen and rescue workers on 9 – 1 - 1 could have made all kinds of excuses for why they could not have done those things for they did for the people in the WTC and at the Pentagon. Todd Beamer could have made all kinds of excuses for why he should not be the one to fight off the terrorists. It wasn’t Todd Beamer’s job to fight terrorists. He was just a passenger who along with several others did what he didn’t have to do but foiled a terrible evil that might have been done to his country.¨
Jesus could have made excuses for why He shouldn’t come to earth. He knew that we would reject Him. He knew that with all that He had done for mankind since the beginning of creation, they had rebelled against Him. He knew that the situation that we found ourselves in -- headed for destruction -- was a situation of our own making. He knew that no matter how many miracles He did, how many prayers He answered and how many lives He changed He was still going to have to suffer on cross.
Yet with all those potential excuses, He still came. Why? Because heroes don’t make excuses. Heroes find ways to love people.
Lisa Beamer, along with several other people have set up the Todd Beamer foundation, as we saw on the video. Their web sight lists this as their mission statement: To equip children experiencing family trauma to make heroic choices every day.
Beamer had the option of allowing her circumstances to turn her into a victim. But she chose instead to be a victor over her circumstances and become a hero.
You know, Todd Beamer’s actions would have made a lot more sense if they had been able to land the plane safely. That’s what was supposed to happen, isn’t it? That’s what happens in those disaster movies about airplanes: The good guys win, and they go home to their families to celebrate?
It doesn’t always happen that way. Read the stories of some of the heroes of faith recorded in Hebrews 11:
But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. Hebrews 11:35-37
We like to hear the part about victories being won and people being raised back to life. Heroes do what is right even when it doesn’t make sense. They realize that they are part of a bigger picture and there are bigger issues at stake. They understand that they don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle. And in trust toward God, they leave the unanswered questions in the hands of God.
Jesus said, “And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.”¨ John 15:13
That’s what Todd Beamer and the other heroes did on September 11, 2001. He laid down his life for his friends. That’s what Jesus did for you and for me almost 2000 years ago.
I love the way the Bible explains it all in Hebrews 12:1-4, The Message paraphrase:
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Let’s pause now to say the Lord’s Prayer together—the last prayer recited by Todd Beamer on September 11, 2001—the words are printed in the program if you need to follow along:
Lord’s Prayer—
PRAYER [adapted from 9.11 resources at Episcopal church.org] (Alan Yeo):
Let us pray.
God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, have mercy upon us.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy upon us.
O God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the faithful, have mercy upon us.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, one God, have mercy upon us.
We pray for those who have died: for those in the four hijacked airplanes,
for those in or around the World Trade Center, for those in or around the
Pentagon. May their souls and all the souls of the departed rest in peace.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who may still be trapped in the rubble, those who are
injured, and for those whose loved ones have not yet been accounted for. We
pray for perseverance, and strength, and hope.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose vocation it is to serve in times like these; for
those who work on the streets as police officers, rescue workers,
paramedics, and firefighters; for those in the armed forces; for those who work with the
Red Cross; for those who work in hospitals and blood banks; news rooms and
communication centres; churches and mosques and temples.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those in positions of leadership all over the world. We pray
for President George Bush and his advisors, for Congress, for the Mayors of New
York and Washington.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for peace in our world in the days to come, peace between races and
cultures and religions.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for those who orchestrated this attack.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
We pray for ourselves. Calm our fears, comfort our sorrow, guide our
response. Set us to the difficult task of forgiving those responsible for
this violence, and for being ministers of peace and reconciliation.
Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Accept our prayers, all loving God, as our best offering to you in these
days. We ask these things in the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Amen
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO DIED—Dr. Alan Yeo
Lost, September 11, 2001
May the world never forget the price they paid.
WORLD TRADE CENTER VICTIMS: 2,829 people
F.D.N.Y/N.Y.P.D.: 343 New york City Firefighters;37 Port Authority; 60 police officers
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11 (from Boston to Los Angeles): Crashed into the north tower of the WTC—92 people
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77 (from Washington to Los Angeles): crashed into the Pentagon—64 people
UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 175 (from Boston to Los Angeles): Crashed into the South Tower Of the WTC—65 people
UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93 (from Newark to San Francisco): crashed in rural southwest Pennsylvania—44 people
PENTAGON ATTACK: 125 people
And we remember the 19 HIJACKERS—God help them; may he bring their colleagues in terror who remain to repentance
JESUS SAID:
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)
Play Video Clips—End of Lisa Beamer interview where she thinks everyone on Flight 93 should get Congressional medals, not just Todd and show Clips of introduction and conclusion of “Heroes of Flight 93”
(Don Continues)
You may ask: “How can I be a hero? I’m just an ordinary person.”
Todd Beamer would have said the same thing. Moses gave that same excuse when God called him to be a hero. But what you have to realize is that heroes are ordinary people that allow God to use them in extraordinary ways.
If you’re not a hero now, pray to God to help you. If you have spiritual questions, if you are someone who is seeking for meaning and purpose in life, I challenge you to let this first anniversary of 9.11 be a turning point in your life. If you will complete the response tab on tonight’s program and leave that in the basket in the lobby, someone will contact you and we will give you a free Bible and other material to help you get started on the journey of faith
This is the message of hope for you as you remember tonight the heroes of September 11, 2001.
Song: “The Ones Left Standing”—words in bulletin Choir
Recognition of Those Ones Who Protect, Defend, and Serve Our Country
As we remember the great acts of heroism in New York we are reminded that these types of acts are repeated in our community. Romans 13 tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. It is our desire to thank and honor those who serve our community as fire fighters, police officers and those serving in the military. Please stand with your families and let us honor you tonight.
*Patriotic Song “America the Beautiful”
*Closing Song—“God Bless America”
*Closing Prayer
