Safe And Secure

SAFE AND SECURE

Prov. 3:5-6, 24-26

INTRO.- ILL.- A backwoods boy was about to make his first parachute jump. His sergeant reminded him, “Count to ten and pull the first rip cord. If it doesn’t work, then pull the second rip cord for the auxiliary parachute. After you land, our truck will pick you up.”

The paratrooper took a deep breath and jumped. He counted to ten and pulled the first rip cord. Nothing happened. He pulled the second rip cord. Nothing happened. As he headed toward earth he said to himself, “I’LL BET THAT TRUCK WON’T BE THERE EITHER!”

Brethren, Some people are afraid and some people should be afraid. Since the terrorism of 9/11/01 many things have happened to increase the fear of the American people.

ILL.- A Greyhound bus crashed in central Tennessee. At least six people were killed after a passenger slit the throat of the driver.

- Monday, Oct. 7 - A passenger tried to enter the cockpit of an American Airlines plane. A young man, described later by his father as having history of mental illness, was subdued by passengers (bless their hearts!) aboard the flight from Los Angeles to Chicago after trying to get into the cockpit.

- And there was/is the Anthrax scare. Many people are afraid in America.

ILL.- Jim Furlan and his wife, Cheryl, waited at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for the airliner that would take them home to Los Angeles. Jim was OK with flying, but "a bit queasy." There was no way Cheryl would get on a plane - except that their two daughters, ages 3 and 5, awaited them. "I feel sick," she said.

ILL.- Estelle Faryon, 64, of Winnipeg, Canada, a visitor to San Diego, was on a cruise when she caught herself looking over the ship’s rail and watching a fishing boat approach. "I was watching to make sure it didn’t come too close. I never did that before," she said.

ILL.- The calls for gas masks and American flags picked up again at the Ax-Man surplus store in St. Paul, Minn. Although the store stresses the gas masks they sell are novelty items and not intended for legitimate use, manager Kim Mourning said the place has a waiting list. "Everyone from mothers to older people have called," she said. "Some don’t even want to be on a list - they want it now."

In the aftermath of the terrorism of September 11, 2001, many people are scared to death. What about us? Should we fear anything at all? Is fear normal for human beings? Is fear normal for Christian people?

ILL.- A recent article asked the haunting questions, “Will we ever feel secure again? Or are we destined to become a nation of people, fearing a marketplace where jetliners fall from the sky and other yet-unknown horrors await us?”

Joseph D. McNamara is a research person at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is something of an expert when it comes to terrorism and how to deal with it. McNamara concedes there is a threat to be dealt with at home.

He said, “First, you have to realize there is no absolute protection terrorists,” he says. “You cannot prevent them. I doubt you can, even if you have the National Guard search every truck in the country.”

“When you have a huge crowd, and when you have people standing up and singing ‘God Bless America,’ this is a target,” he says.

“There is no way an average citizen is going to look around and say, ‘That guy looks like a terrorist,’” he says. “If you see someone put down a suitcase and walk away from it, go tell a security guard. Odds are about 1,000 to one that somebody absentminded just forgot their suitcase.”

Exhorting the public to be on guard can do more harm than good. “I heard a federal official say that every citizen who sees something suspicious should call 911,” McNamara says. “He just destroyed the capability of the 911 system.”

What is the appropriate role for average citizens? McNamara said, “The model for Americans has to be the British people during the bombing of London. Let the SOBs know you’re not intimidated. You’re going to work. You’re going to shop. You’re going to take the kids to school.”

Brethren, that’s rather blunt! While I don’t like that kind of language, I do believe that we have to go on with life as normally as possible. Some fear is inevitable, but our lives should not be controlled by fear.

PROP.- Let’s think about some ways to find safety and security in a seemingly unsafe and insecure world.

1- We must use common sense in all things

2- We must trust the Lord for safety and security

3- We must point people to the only true safety there is