Some Reflections on 9/11/2001,

Some Reflections on 9/11/2001,

Beginning with Scriptures about Judgment and Forgiveness

Romans 14:1-12: Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. . . . Who are you to pass judgment. . . ? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?  Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Matthew 18:21-35: Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.  "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.

Sept. 11, 2011 Revisited

We all have stories to tell about 9/11/2001 and where we were and what we were doing when we saw or found out that planes were flying into and through buildings in New York and Washington and into a field in Pennsylvania.  I was in a Hospital room at Baptist Hospital in New Orleans to pray with and anoint Norma Salinger before her early morning surgery.  The television was on and a 12 year old girl from Lafayette was playing the fiddle.  All of a sudden the screen switched to the world trade center with smoke pouring out of it.  As we watched, a second plane flew into the other tower.  And the rest, as they say, “is history.”  When I left the hospital I went to the Bluebird Café for breakfast, and heard people talking about planes flying into the Pentagon and, of course, I corrected them.  “No,” I said, “it was the World Trade Center,”  And the rest, as they say, “is history.”

            I know all of you here, if you are old enough, have your own stories as well and I hope you will share them with your friends and loved ones.

            What I pray that we can do today with our time together in worship is to remember those who died on that day and those who have died in the ten years which have followed, both from the United States and from other places around the world.  I also want us to reflect on who we are as Christians, and how we as followers of the prince of peace can help bring about justice, peace and reconciliation around the world.

            When evil happens in our world we need to recognize it for what it is and to bring it to an end.  What happened ten years ago today was evil by any standard.  Over 3000 people died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.  Today we remember them and their loved ones in our prayers.  It is also important for us, as Christians, that we remember the almost 8000 U.S. service men and women who have died fighting terrorism.  As followers of the prince of peace, we are also called to remember the 16,000 plus civilians who have died in Afghanistan since 2001 and the over 150,000 Iraqi civilians who have died since 2003.

            War is hell and even when it is necessary, we as Christians should approach it on our knees with tears in our eyes.  This is the Christian posture of repentance and humility before God.  This posture can allow us to see all people, including our enemies as children of God.  This posture may help us to see that all Muslims do not wish to do us harm any more than all Christians wish to do harm to all Muslims.  It may also help us as a nation to use our military power judicially and to remember that we have other tools as well.  I am not offering easy answers; I am saying that life is “just simply complicated,” and that our faith and our relationship with God can assist us in our relationships with others of God’s people.

            In the days, weeks, months and years since 9/11/2001 we have found strength and unity in singing “God Bless America.”  As important as that is, I would like to suggest an alternative song for us as we remember the past and look to the future.  You may have heard it.  It was written by English Slave Trader and sometimes Anglican Priest, John Newton, in the late 1700’s.

                        Amazing Grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

                        I once was lost but know am found, was blind but now I see.

                        ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!

The Lord has promised good to me, his grace my hope secures;

he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;

‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

This hymn reminds us that we depend on God not just to bless us, but to lead us and guide us and protect us.

            Emma’s Pennies: Theologian and Church Historian, Dianna Butler Bass tells the story of her then four year old who, after 9/11, came to hear as she was dressing for work and asked for some pennies.  Emma then went to her dad and asked for pennies and then back to her mom for more pennies.  Getting irritated, Dianna asked, “why do you want all this pennies?”  Emma responded, “I want to send them to the dead people in New York to help them feel better.” 

            Butler Bass tells one more powerful story about Emma, post 9/11.  Emma asked about Osama Bin Laden and why he did what he did.  Dianna’s answer was, his heart is filled with hate, but God Wants’ it to be a heart of love.  Emma did two things.  First she asked why his heart was filled with hate, to which Dianna tried to explain free will to a four year old.  Then she told her mother that she was going to pray every day that God give Osama Bin Laden a heart of love.  Emma frequently asked her mother, has the man’s heart change yet?

            A four year old understood that praying for one’s enemies is central to Christianity and essential for God’s forgiveness. 

Conclusion

Earlier this week I saw on YouTube, this short homily by Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and want to share it with you.

“In July of this year, 76 children were killed at a summer camp in Norway.  The Prime Minister addressed the nation and the world that day and the following evening.  This is what he said:  ‘This was an attack on innocent people, young people at camp. It was an attack on all of us.’”

The Prime Minister went on to say, “those who did this will not destroy us or our democracy or prevent us from brining about a better world.  They cannot bomb us into silence or shoot us into silence, and they will not frighten us.  Tomorrow we will show the world that rather than destroying democracy, that democracy will grow stronger.” 

“We will bring to justice those who carried out these evil acts and we give thanks to the first responders who made this less of a disaster than it might have been.  We must never give up our values and we will show the world that our open society will pass this test too.  WE OWE THIS TO THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES”

Then Bishop Curry shared what he had shared with this congregation of St. Philips in Durham on 9/11/2001 when he had been present for the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation:

“When the whole world falls apart, we, the church, continue to do what we do; we baptize new people into the Body of Christ; we continue to form new disciples who will follow in Jesus’ footsteps to bring about God’s will in this world so that this kind of horror will never happen again.  We Christians join with other people of good faith to show the world that the way of God’s love becomes the way of life.”

“The Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah said it better than can I: ‘The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together and A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM.  The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the vicious snake, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the snakes den.  They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’”

“GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS US ALL, AND KEEP THE FAITH!!”