The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
…
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.The Word of God from Romans 15, verse 13
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This is the Word of the Lord, you may be seated.
This was a very hard sermon to write. Let me admit that right up front. I anticipated quite a few people in church this morning, as I suspect is happening all around the country. I knew that I was going to have a very rare opportunity to stand before many more people than I usually do. People searching for answers, for comfort, for hope, for God. I pray to God that I do not disappoint this morning.
What happened last Tuesday was unprecedented. More Americans died in this one attack than in any other one attack in the history of our country. And for the first time since 1865, war has come to the American soil. For 136 years, Americans on American soil has been safe from the ravages of war. That has all changed in the span of a few minutes on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The closest thing that this country has endured was the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor almost 60 years ago to the day!
My generation has never experienced anything like this. The closest we’ve come was the Persian Gulf War. The generation before me endured two wars – Korea and Vietnam. And the generation before that fought and won World War II.
For most of us, outside of history books we have no reference point for what has happened to us. And I do want to emphasize that it has happened to us. This attack did not happen to citizens of New York City or Washington D.C. It happened to Americans and to the United States of America. What we are going through as Americans is very difficult to understand and cope with.
For Americans, by and large, don’t know how to mourn. Americans are very uncomfortable with the whole idea of grief. We take it as a sign of weakness or personal failure if we’re not happy. Sadness isn’t seen as a normal part of life. Rather, it’s seen as a reason to get a prescription for anti-depressants. Somehow, our right to the pursuit of happiness has been transformed into a requirement that we always actually be happy. Grief is almost unpatriotic. It calls into question our whole form of government. If democracy doesn’t guarantee constant happiness, then there must be something wrong! Look at our movies. American movies all have happy endings. You can have dozens of people shot, murdered, maimed, and knifed, but in the end, the good guy wins and everybody lives happily ever after (everybody that’s not dead, that is). Movies that violate the “happy ending” principle generally get good reviews, but lose money.
Now add to that the attitude that Christians should always be happy. If we’re sad, somehow it reflects badly on God. After all, didn’t Jesus come to make us happy all the time? No matter what happens, we have to put on a happy face; otherwise, it casts doubt on the truth of the gospel.
What I mainly want to say this morning is that it is ok to grieve. It is ok to feel sad. It doesn’t make us weak. It shows that we are human in need of a savior. It truly does.
I believe that the answer we are all looking for is in God’s Word. It is in one Word – Jesus!
Many people are calling for action, for a response to the attacks made on our country. I am one of those people. Which is why I titled this sermon “America Under Attack: Our Response.”
In preparing this sermon, I’ve been looking at a lot of other preachers’ sermons to see what the gamut of responses would be. Some of things I’ve read and heard have really broken my heart.
“This is God’s revenge on us for being an ungodly nation.” “This is God’s answer to us for allowing abortions.” I do not subscribe to these interpretations of these attacks – nor do the Holy Scriptures. I want to make that perfectly clear to you. God has not taken revenge of us. God does not do that.
Does God hate sin? You bet He does. Does God punish us sinners by destroying our buildings and killing thousands of people? No. This is not punishment. It is the consequence of sin in the world. It is the consequence of the rejection of the gift God has given in Jesus Christ. Many Christians died last Tuesday. They did not die in vain because God punished sin – once and for all – with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
“Why, then, did God allow this to happen?” This is a question that many, many people have asked. The attack of September 11 has brought this question to the forefront but it is a question that has been asked for thousands of years. There is no easy answer. I must admit that. I don’t know. I can tell you what the Bible says and really that’s the best thing anyway. At Romans 3:7-8 God’s Word says,
“Someone might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?’ Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—‘Let us do evil that good may result’?”
God doesn’t want us to do evil so that good can come out of it, and God doesn’t do that either. It all goes back to the Garden of Eden. The question keeps coming up in Bible Classes, “Why did God allow Adam and Eve a choice that could be made in favor of evil?” The answer is because God loves us. He wants us to have a choice, he wants us to want to love him. He could have made us without that choice – we’d have to love him. But that wouldn’t be real love. God doesn’t allow evil so that good comes. But he does work it so that when evil happens, good does come. It’s a bit tricky to understand, and takes time and study to come to this and ultimately it takes faith. I can’t answer it in one sermon, I encourage you to continue to study the Scriptures and strengthen your faith in God through the study of His Word and through worship.
So the final question for this sermon is “What can we do?”
We’ve done and continue to do the most powerful thing we can – prayer. But there is more.
I understand the feeling of anger among many Americans. I can understand the feeling of wanting to strike back. How do we reconcile this as Christians who are taught to “turn the other cheek” and “repay evil with good”?
I think it is important to understand that we are, at the same time, both Americans and Christians. As Christians, we will forgive those that attacked us. We will show them love. It will be hard, it will be difficult, we will fail and need God’s forgiveness for our failure – which He graciously gives us through the death and resurrection of His son Jesus Christ. Also through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are we given the power to love and forgive. As individual Christians, that is what we do.
But as a collective whole – a nation of Americans, God has given us the power to punish those who do wrong. Also from the Book of Romans.
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
As a nation, we are within our God given right to punish those who have attacked us. As Christians, you and I are also to love and forgive those who have done this to us. It will be very hard, but with God all things are possible.
And now I come to the text I chose for this sermon.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
This is why you are here. To find hope and peace amidst a very confusing and frightening time in our world. That hope and peace come from God alone. That certainly does not come from the things that we can build for ourselves. I’m glad you came here for that hope and peace because this is where you find it. In God’s Word, in Worship, here is where you will find hope and peace. And the result of your finding it will be that others will also find it. Your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your sins are forgiven by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those that believe in Him will live, even if they die. You who know that, I ask you to share that through your donations, through your prayers, through your speaking.
In closing, I will conclude with a prayer authored by Dr. Tom Lawson of Kentucky Christian College. I ask you to stand as we pray.
O God our help in ages past,
We did not choose this time, this moment. Like
generations before us we have lived in safety and ease, and have read of those beyond living memory who were awakened by the clarion call of a nation under attack. We did not choose this time, this place in the pages of history that will be remembered long after we are forgotten names etched in granite. Like those who faced the brutality of fascism, the tragedy of civil war, or the terrible struggle for independence, we feel unprepared, unworthy, and uncertain.
Thank you, Father. For our certainties were illusions, our security was imagined, and our self-sufficiency was a seductive lie. In You, and You alone rest the rising of tomorrow’s sun, and whether our eyes will awaken to see that dawn. On You, and You alone, rest the protection of our homes, the guarding of our shores, and hope for our children’s future. Thank you that fear can lead to faith, that uncertainty can bend our knees toward the everlasting certainty of Your Presence, and that our unimaginable sorrow, and the breaking of our very hearts, can be the open door for the coming of the Comforter.
Father, we acknowledge that you are no respecter of nations. You are not contained with only one border. You do not speak only one language. All the scattered sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are the equal goal of your redeeming love. We pray for all to whom these tragic days have brought or will bring pain and sorrow and death.
Yet, we also recognize that you have ordained civil government so that justice might be performed within the world, and that this authority does not bear the sword in vain. And we have come to see, with fearful certainty, that there are evils within the world so grievous that any nation will be united in terrible outrage. Like one watching the battering of a child by a bully, we accept that there are moments when anger is an expression of morality, and the lack of anger would be the attribute of a monster. In humility and fear, then, we see the awakening of the American people. As if from a long and lazy slumber, a giant stirs to waking. When we anticipate the terrible power of this republic, aroused and outraged, we pray for wisdom, discernment, and courage in our leaders, and we pray for Your protection for the men and women who will be drawn into harm’s way.
Kyrie, eleison, Lord, have mercy. We did not choose this moment. We hear, in rows of white crosses, voices long silent asking if we, like them, will endure even to the last full measure of our devotion. Will we stand against the foe? Will we bend our knees toward heaven? Will we set aside the toys of children and take up the mantle of sacrifice?
Only with You, only in You, only from You, can we meet the morning’s dawn. Only with You, only in You, and only from You can we find certain hope and unbounded faith. We did not choose this moment, Father. But You have chosen us through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, and You are our Lord and our God. And in that choice, God Eternal Ever-present, let the challenge of this moment be met. Let the morning come. Let the world pass away. We remain in the palms of Your hands because of the nail scares in the palm of Jesus’ hands. In His name we pray. Amen
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
