we are the Lord's

From the worship service on 9/11 from Romans 14:7-9

Welcome to this worship service on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. In worship we hold ourselves before God who holds us.

I want to address the children first. Boys and girls, something happened 10 years ago that made some of us very sad, and mad, and fearful. You have no memory of it at all. You may have heard of 9/11 and how many lives were lost that day. Today, I am asking you to pray for those of us who do remember. You may use words, you may pray silently, you may use touch, you may cry. One way of praying is to use that sheet of paper we gave you. I want you to write the word God in the center of that paper. Then around the word God write or draw a picture of others you may pray for—parents, firemen, police, EMS, neighbors, friends. No matter what else happens, I want you to remember that God is in the center of everything.

Now you adults, I bet you can remember how you first heard about the tragedies of 9/11. I invite you to hold those memories before God in worship today. I will tell you about my day to prime your memory pumps.

It was a Tuesday morning. I was awakened very early in the morning by a phone call. One of my leading church members in Portland had died. W. C. Andrews had been the superintendent of schools for 25 years. He was now retired, but still very active in the community and in his mind. He was a pillar of the church, Mr. Credibility. When we did our capital campaign to relocate the church, I asked W. C. to stand up before the church and say, “It’s going to be OK. We need to do this.” He did that for me, and it was OK. After visiting and praying with the family, I went back home to shower and to shave. A little later I was in my office when the secretary came in and said, “You not going to believe it, but a plane has just hit one of the twin towers in NYC.” We turned on the TV and another plane had hit the other tower. It was no accident; this was intentional. I was driving over to the Andrews house to make the funeral plans, listening to the radio of a plane hitting the Pentagon, and then another plane crashing in Pennsylvania. There are no words to describe the horror. What are your memories?

(silence)

I stumbled through the day. I was supposed to lead a workshop that evening on “Futuring for the Church” for the Corpus Christi District for some 25 leaders. The program director for the district called me and asked, “Do you want to cancel?” “Absolutely not! If we ever needed to work on the future of the church , it is today! I will not let terrorists determine what I do or who I am! I will not operate out of fear but faith!”

My associate pastor led a prayer service at the local church. I did the presentation for the district. I did this because I believe God is at the center –not just of that piece of paper, or this message, but of our world. Boys and girls, hear me. God did not want this tragedy to happen and God did not cause it to happen, but God was right in the middle of it trying to bring healing out of it.

The scripture we read says, that whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. We belong to God. We can see the presence of God everywhere.

Where did we see the presence of God after 9/11? On that Sunday, the churches were full. People needed something…Someone bigger than themselves to believe in. The Church has been doing this a long time, finding hope in the midst of hurt. All down through the millennia we can see God right in the midst of tragedy. For some of you, you remember Dec. 7, 1941. My generation may remember also the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Nov. 23, 1963.

At these times, we ask where are you God? I saw God after 9/11 in the many folks who responded in faith by donating blood. Many gave generously to help those affected by the deaths. Some volunteered to serve in the military. Some Christians made a point to stand by Muslims and go to mosques to say that 19 terrorists don’t define a world religion or a great people. Many helped at ground zero in NYC. I will address the sacrifice of the first responders in just moment.

I know that after 9/11 I will never be the same, our world will never be the same. Today, as you go to board an airplane, you take off your shoes, you show your laptop, you have no more than 3 oz. in fluid containers, you may go through a body scan. We bear it as a small sacrifice to pay for the good of the whole.

On that 9/11, a plane flew into the Pentagon. One plane headed for the Capitol building was taken back from the hijackers and plowed into the ground in Pennsylvania. At the World Trade Center…I want to emphasize that word “World,” people from more than 70 countries lost their lives. Every major world religion was represented in those losses. This was not just something that happened to Americans or Christians; it was a world event. Some 2,977 lives were lost in these terrorist acts.

On that 9/11 many first responders rushed to the scene. As people were running out of the Twin Towers, they were running in. On that day 411 first responders died. They made Ground Zero into Ground Hero. Today we are recognizing first responders here in worship and at a reception afterwards. Few can be here today, because so many are still out on the front lines of fighting wildfires in our area.

I see the presence of God in their heroic actions.

God is right in the middle of all our lives, even in the wildfires. I got an email from Danika, one of our moms caught in the fires of last week. I share it with you now.

I must share with you a story of this weekend and let you know kids do listen and learn during Sunday School.

This Labor Day Weekend with the brush fires in our neighborhood and mandatory evacuation was very scary and intense. All we could do was pray. At one point the fires were getting very close to our house and I can’t even begin to tell you what that felt like. We knew this because from time to time we would get reports of where the fire was heading and how far away it was from certain sections in the neighborhood. The kids were scared but we did our best to keep them calm. (We were worried sick because our dog was in the house. We were not at home when they made everyone leave and our neighbors couldn’t get him out.)

Once we got into a hotel, we found some paper and crayons for the kids. Dawson told Kaylen about the Prayer Paper he learned in Sunday School. Explaining you put GOD in the middle and then write words, names, etc. of those you are thinking about. Examples of things they wrote around GOD, family members names, firefighters, friends, teachers, rain, pets, safety, protection, schools, TEXAS, BASTROP, homes, etc. They had been praying but to have a physical piece of paper to hold and look at really helped!

Just wanted to share to make sure you know that teachers and Sunday School programs do make a difference. Even though it was scary, we never felt alone.

Thanks for all you do,
Danika


God is right in the middle. We belong to God. Whether we live or whether we did, we are the Lord’s. Did Christ live? YES. Did Christ die? YES. Did Christ rise again? YES. So Christ is the Lord over life and death and eternal life. He is the ultimate judge of all. He is our hope. We have no fear. We are the Lord’s.