Remembering 9/12

Remembering 9/12

Psalm 46

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http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Remembering912.html

Yesterday was 9/11, and today is 9/12. This weekend we remembered 9/11 for the 9th time, as we should. But I believe God wants us to remember 9/12, and how we woke up different that day.

Some events in human history impact us so greatly that we will forever have engraved in our minds where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. I’ll never forget that I was sitting in my eighth grade classroom when we heard the news that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded on its ascent. Many here know just where they were when they heard that the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. 9 years ago yesterday my wife was watching the news when it happened…I was dropping our oldest off at pre-school when she called me…I made my way quickly home and then saw the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. Where were you?

Every time we watch that footage we relive it. How many can feel it the same right now as we did that day? We said, "Never forget," and most of us never have. But it seems that America at large has forgotten, politicians have forgotten, but the terrorists remember it well, and continue to celebrate -- now building a monument and memorial to their ’victory’ in the form of a mosque on location, just as they have built in the past on many of their conquered sites. They celebrate to have such a friend in the White House. They rejoice at each Ramadan Dinner and each time we minimize the National Day of Prayer and take our shoes off and bow to the east for political correctness. They feel the victory again each time another establishment installs foot baths and when traffic comes to a halt in lieu of their prayers broadcast over loudspeakers. [slides of full streets, traffic blocked, each Friday for prayers from 2-4 PM] Their victory continues in America because they have achieved not only the equal status they demand, but preferred status. We need to go back to 9/12...but instead, we’re back to 9/10 in our thinking. How can we avoid another 9/11 that is looming?

Today I want to ask and attempt to answer some questions that no doubt have puzzled so many since that horrific day 9 years ago: How can this happen on our own soil, and why are we inviting them to return and do something even worse? Where were we on 9/11 and where was God on 9/11, and where were we on 9/12 and where are we today?

“Where was God on 9-11?”…

1. The same place He was when Adam rebelled in Eden – He was waiting to cover his sin. (Gen 3)

Where was God when man first raised his ugly head of defiance and rebellion? Couldn’t He have stopped it before it began? Oh, it is not a matter of whether or not He could have. It is a matter of His design for humanity and His plan of redemption. He designed us with a freedom of choice. In His sovereign foreknowledge He made provision before the world was ever created for man’s redemption; knowing full well that man would make disastrous choices from the beginning. When Adam and Eve finally “fessed-up”, He was there with a covering for their nakedness and shame; exacting the ultimate punishment on an innocent victim to cover man’s sin. But, He was there!

“Where was God on 9-11?” …

2. The same place He was when Noah built an ark – protecting him from disaster. (Gen 6-9)

Sadly, man’s rebellion did not end with Adam and Eve. Their sons, and their son’s sons for every generation followed in their rebellious path. Until such time that the wickedness of man filled the whole earth and its stench rose as an offence to the Holiness of God. Yet in the midst of such ungodliness, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8). Here was a man, not a perfect, but a righteous man, who faithfully proclaimed the righteousness of God. (2 Pet 2) And when God, grieved by man’s wicked rebellion, determined to wipe man from the face of the earth, He furthermore determined to spare Noah and his family, and from their stock re-populate planet earth. So in mankind’s greatest natural disaster, God was on His throne protecting His own.

“Where was God on 9-11?” …

3. The same place He was when Job lost everything he had {except his nagging wife} – proving Himself to be God despite unfortunate circumstances. (Job 1-2)

Just as Noah’s generation experienced earth’s greatest natural disaster, Job would surely rank among the top in man’s history as experiencing the greatest personal disaster. Again we see a man, a good man, a godly man standing for what is right and hating what is wrong. Did being “blameless and upright” immune Job from problems, or even disaster? Of course not! Job lived on a planet that at times experienced natural disasters such as tornados, earthquakes and fire. There were evil men in his day, too, who were willing to kill and steal to get what they wanted. And, he became the special target of Satanic fury. As a result, Job lost everything of value; even his precious children. Where was God? Had He turned His back on Job? Would Job return the favor by turning his back on God? No! No! and NO! God had not deserted Job. And Job would not curse God, even though he was urged to do so by a less than faithful wife.