And Where Was God
9/16/2001 Psalm 24 Hebrews 11:32-40
Three eleven year old students, Bernard Brown, Asia Cotton, and Rodney Dickens were the envy of many of their classmates. It’s one thing to go on a field trip, but to go on a field trip that takes you all the way across the country, that’s something to be excited about. They probably talked about it for weeks. Imagine if you had been one of their proud parents, wouldn’t you have found a way to let people know, your child would be one of only three kids who would be flying cross country for a field trip with three other teachers.
When the airline gave the boarding call for those with small children to board first, they probably saw 3 year old Dana and 8 year old Zoe get on board with their father Charles Falkenburgh. That same boarding call had been heard and responded to in Boston in which 3 year olds David Brandhorst, Christine Hanson and 4 year old Julianna McCourt, got on board another plane. What began for each of these children as a day of great possibilities and excitement, very quickly turned into a nightmare in which all 8 of them were to be among some of the youngest victims enclosed in planes which literally became bombs.
In less than an hour of those children boarding the planes, our nation experienced it’s greatest loss of life in a sixty minute span of time. We were thrown into confusion and turmoil wondering what was going on. We looked on in horror and disbelief, not even wanting to truly consider the massive amount of pain and suffering which had been inflicted into the hearts of many in the nation. Many of us immediately began to pray. As a church, we joined our brothers and sisters across the country and had a prayer service for the families of the victims and for our leaders.
Some people wanted to know, “And where was God when those planes were crashing into the towers.” It is amazing how this tragedy will affect the lives of many when it comes to God. Some will say, there must not be a God, because how could God allow something like this to happen. Others will say, “well if there is a God, then God must not care about us.” Still others will say, “there is a God, and we must continue to hold on to God’s unchanging hand.”
Few things will harm us more when tragedy enters our lives than a poor understanding of who God is and how God operates in the lives of His people. Psalms 24:1 tells us, The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; The first thing we need to understand about God, is that God has a global perspective on everything.
Contrary to what we believe, “God is not an American, nor is God pro-American. God is God. The Scriptures tell us that all who live in this world belong to God. It does not matter whether they know it or not. They are all loved by Him, whether they be in America, the Middle East, and anywhere else. Jesus died for the world and no single nation has a claim on God or on God’s favor.
When we ask the question “where was God when this happened”, are we doing the same thing as Martha did. Do you remember how after the death of her brother Lazarus, she told Jesus, “Lord if you had of been here, my brother would not have died.” Did the thought cross our mind, “Lord if you had of been in New York City, or at the Pentagon, or in that field in Pa., this would not have happened.” Let me ask you this question, do you think God was more obligated to do something to spare the lives of 10,000 Americans, than God was obligated to stop the slaughter of 500,000 Tutsis in Rawanda in Africa a few years ago? Were those Africans somehow less important or not quite as righteous as the Americans in the eyes of God.
Jesus asked a similar question when people were trying to decide why some people had tragedies happen to them when they were innocent. One day a tower collapsed in the city of Siloam killing people below. Jesus said, “Luke 13:4-5 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Jesus appears to be telling us is that tragedy should lead to repentance because it reminds us of how fragile life truly is.
Unfortunately, our nation is being called to prayer, but not to repentance. Let us face it, part of what has us where we are, has been our own false sense of power and pride. How often have we heard in the past few days, “we are the most powerful nation on the face of the earth.” Where is God when we make these proud and boastful statements, for the word God tells us, Prov 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Our call is not to repentence, but to be prepared to go to war. 40,000 reservist are being called up to active duty.
When we demand that justice be done to capture the people responsible for this terrible act, do we really want justice or revenge. What if the people responsible for planning this attack and carrying out all died on the planes. Surely if there were more than 18 terrorists involved there would have been leaks in their plans. Are we so arrogant to think, there had to be a master organizational mind to defeat our superior intelligence system. We would have to be mighty meek to admit, that even though we spend billions on security and defense, a small group could bring us to our knees.
What if all the terrorist responsible are all dead, will we still find a target to pay somebody back. When President Bush says, “we will make no distinction between terrorist and the countries that harbor them,” is he not saying that we are willing to kill 3 years olds, 4 year olds, 8 and 11 year olds if they happen to get in our way. If they are blown to pieces as our own children were on our planes, will we ask the question “and where is God now” as their cities burst into flames.”
How many lives are worth 10,000 American deaths if it reaches that number. Will killing 50 terrorist even the score or will it take the destruction of an entire city for us as Americans to feel we have demonstrated our military power. How many innocent lives are willing to take in the name of defending America’s honor?
God is calling us to repentance and humility. Maybe we are supposed to examine our nation and our policies and ask, what are we doing that contributes to the hatred of others of our nation. Maybe we are to think twice about pouring more money into space missile systems, when our own senior citizens cannot afford prescription drugs.
Maybe we ought to look and see if we are a nation that is patterened after the church in Laodicea. Jesus said of that great church, “Rev 3:17-18 You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Could it be that God is offering a rebuke to us as a nation through this tragedy. We forget that in the Old Testament, God judged the nations. God has not given up His authority over the world, nor of his promise to judge the nations of this world. God can exalt any nation He desires to exalt, and God can humble any nation God desires to humble.
Whenever judgment comes, it means that some innocent lives are going to be taken. When we read the bible, we learn that when tragedy comes, it affects both those who are living for God and those who are not. Both groups may cry out to God but that does not stop the events which have been set into motion. Part of it is due to God’s eternal view of life. Even though all the people who died from the attacks died together, they did not all share the same fate.
Also there will be testimonies of how people were miraculously spared from getting on the plane, or going to the World Trade Towers, or going to work that day. But that does not mean God loved them anymore or any less than those who perished on that day. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, we find the hall of fame of faith, in which many people are listed because of the way God used them to change a situation or of a great deliverance that God worked on their behalf. We all think we know where God was when David defeated Goliath, when Moses parted the Red Sea, when Shadrach Meshak and Abenego withstood the flames, when Daniel was thrown to the lions, and when Deborah led the armies to defeat Israel’s enemies.
In Hebrews 11:35b, there is a shift in what happened to those who also had great faith in God. It said “others” and these others were not named. The word translated “others” in this verse means “others of a different kind”. These were people with a faith, that held on to God’s unchanging hand in the face of personal tragedies which left them as widows, orphans, martyrs and destitute.
The passage reads, “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.11:37-40
Where was God when, when these faithful saints were being killed? God was working something out that we do not understand. God was seated on the same throne as when, Joshua fought and won the battle of Jericho.
Could God have stopped this tragedy from happening? Yes He could have. How much evil is too much evil to allow to happen? Should God have taken the lives of the hijackers before they got on the plane? Should God take the life of the drunk driver before he or she gets behind the wheel.? But what if it was your Mom or your Dad, or your son, or daughter behind the wheel, would you still feel the same way. If God started to immediately judge evil by destroying those who are about to practice it, which of us would be left alive by the end of the week.
This tragedy is not the last tragedy we are going to experience either on a personal, national, or global scale. You see when God created the world, God created it with the potential for evil to occur. God created angels and human beings with the power of choice. God could have made us all robots to worship and praise Him, but He chose to give us free will because we were created in God’s image. When Adam and Eve were created, Satan told them, if they disobeyed God, they would be like God knowing good and evil. They disobeyed, and evil entered the human race and has been with us ever since.
Where was God when they chose to disobey? God was seated on the throne where He always was, is, and ever will be. Where is God when we choose to do our own thing? Nothing catches God off guard, not even evil. We do not understand the all the ways of God, but God is going to work out all tragedies for His own will and purposes. God did not have to turn on the TV to learn about the tragedy that had come upon this nation. He knew about it long ago. If He not of known, He could not have been God.
There is a passage in Isaiah 45:7 that says “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.” God is not some grandfatherly figure just doing things we think are good for us. God makes it clear that He is in charge, through both the good times and the bad, and that He creates both according to His own will and purpose. We are never going to understand all the reasons for why those four particular planes crashed, and why that group of people died. Our walk is a walk of faith.
We do not even know who is alive today, because of the people on the flight that crashed in Pittsburgh were willing to die fighting rather than allow the terrorist to duplicate what they had already done. Only God knows. Perhaps God rebuked Satan, and held forth His hand as He did with the death angel when many were dying in Jerusalem and “said it is enough, withdraw your hand.”
The attack struck at the heart of what we as Americans care the most about-our money and our power. Neither of them were able to deliver us in our time of crises. There were people who were going to work for the very first time. They had been thankful for their new jobs. There was Mike Marchola who was only two shifts away from retiring. There were tourists going to see what the World Trade Center looked like. There were teachers taking their students on field trips. There was a family headed to Australia for a wonderful two-month adventure. There were soldiers learning how to defend this country. There were people doing the same thing they had done many times before, sitting at the same desk, answering the same phones, and working on the same projects.
They all had plans for what they were going to do at lunch time. Most were probably too busy to think about dying in an hour or so. But lunch time never came. They slipped from this life into eternity in a moment of seconds. Some of them never knew what had happened. They went into bathroom and the next thing they knew they were standing in the presence of God. None of them were wondering where God was, because they could see God for themselves.
Death comes to us in the midst of our everyday lives with our plans, goals, and dreams left unfulfilled. If death came upon us today as unexpectedly as it did for thousands on September 9th, would we be ready to give an account of our lives to Jesus Christ. Would we be going to the place He promised to go and prepare for us. Death itself is not a tragedy. The tragedy is in not being prepared for it when it comes.
Where was God? In the same place God is right now. Looking at you, loving you, and waiting for you to decide to come into a right relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
6. God Makes It Clear He Is In Charge At All Times
7. Not A Grandfather But Almighty God
8. Our Walk Of Faith—Never Will Understand It All
9. Why Those 4 Planes And Those Group Of People
10. Who Is Alive Today Because Of Act Of Others
11. Did God Reach Out And Stay His Hand As With
Death Angel
J. The Attack At Our Idols—Money And Power
1. Neither Able To Deliver In A Crisis
2. People Work-First Day, Mike Marchola 2 Shifts
3. Tourist To See WTC, Teachers Field Trips
4. Family Adventure To Australia, Soldiers Learning
5. Same Thing, Same Desk, Same Phone,
Same Project,
6. All Had Plans For Lunch Time
7. Too Busy To Think About Dying In An Hour
8. Trip To The Bathroom—Entrance Into God’s
Presence
9. Not Asking Where Was God Any Longer
10. Death—Everyday Plans, Goals, Dreams
11. Unexpected Guest on 9/11 What about 9/16
12. Jesus Made A Promise To Deal With Death
13. God Seeks To Lead All To Repentance
14. Death Itself Not The Tragedy—God Can Help
15. Being Unprepared For Death
16. Where Is God Now?
17. Looking, Loving, Waiting –Come Home
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 9/16/2001 GNLCC
And Where Was God Psalm 24 Hebrews 11:32-40
A. Meet The Children On The Trip
1. 11 yr Bernard Brown, Asia Cotton, Rodney Dickens
2. The Great Field Trip, Plans, Parents, Boasting
3. Boarding Call –Dana 3 Zoe 8 Falkinburgh
4. Boston Boarding 3 David Brandhorst, Christine
Hanson, 4 yr old Julianna McCourt
5. Day Of Great Possibilities, Excitement, Turns
6. Youngest –Plane That Turned Into ….
B. Within An Hour Of Boarding
1. 60 Minute Span—Nation’s Greatest Loss Of Life
2. Confusion, Turmoil, Horror, Disbelief—
3. Massive Pain, Suffering, Prayer ---Service
C. The Question—Where Was God When---
1.Tragedy Will Cause Different Views Of God
2. No God , God Does Not Care, Hold On To
D. Tragedy—Demands The Proper View Of God
1. Psalm 24: The earth Is The Lord’s….
2. God Ha A Global View Of The World
3. God & America---God Loves All— Know Or Not
4. No Claim—Jesus Died For All US/Mideast
5. Martha—Like Her—Lord If You Had Been…
6. If In NY, Or Washington, Or Pittsburgh
7. God More Obligated to 10,000 than 500,000
8. Americans & Rwandans From Africa
9. Jesus Ask Question—Tower Of Siloam 18
E. The Call To Repentance
1. Called To Prayer But Not Repentance
2. Here False Sense Of Power And Pride
3. We Are The Most Power Nation—Where God
4. Prov 16:5 The Lord Detests The Proud Of Heart
5. Call Not Repentance But War—40,000 Reserves
F. Do We Want Justice Or Something Else
1. What If The 18 Dead Are All Responsible
2. Arrogance And Pride Demands A Lot More
3. Not Our Billions On Security & Defense
4. If Dead Will We Yet Find A Target
5. President- No Distinction Terrorist/Harborers
6. What About Killing 3, 4, 8, 11 year olds
7. Cities Bursting Into Flames—Where Is God
8. How Many For 10,000—50 terrorist—City
9. Innocent Lives—Name Of Defending Honor
G. God’s Call Is To Repentance And Humility
1. Examine Our Polices---Why Do They Hate
2. Examine Our Priorities—Missiles Vs Seniors
3. Examine Our Attitudes—Like Lacodicea
Rev 3:17-19 You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
4. God’s Rebuke---OT Judgment Of Nations
5. God Not Surrendered Authority Exalts/Humbles
6. Innocent Lives In All Tragedies
7. God’s View More Eternal Than Hours
H. Disaster Does Not Affect All Equally
1. Dead Not All The Same Fate
2. Testimonies Of What Prevented Being Present
3. God’s Love Is The Same
4. Hebrews Chapter 11 Hall Of Faith People Listed
5. David, Moses, Shadrack, Daniel, Deborah
6. Shift in 11:35b—others—others of a different kind
7. Knew How To Hold On To God’s Unchanging
Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
8. Where Was God Then—Working Out Something
9. God—Same Throne As Joshua At Jericho
I. How Much Evil Should Be Allowed
1. God And The Lives Of Hijackers/ Drunk Drivers
2. Your Relatives----If Evil Was Judged Now?
3. Not The Last Tragedy—God Created World With
Potential For Evil—Gave Freedom Of Choice
4. Choice To Disobey—Where—Our Choice
5. God Not Caught Of God—Did Not Turn On TV
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
