Can
someone tell me…?
I
want to try to help you in two ways this
morning. First, I want to again seek to
explain some of the events that have taken
place over the past 12 days. Then too, I
want to share with you some of the most
common questions that are currently being
asked and then I want to equip you to
answer them. I want you to be walking,
talking, believing month-pieces of God
Almighty. The Bible says that we are to be
able to share with others the reason why
we have hope in a hopeless world.
The
outline will focus on six major questions.
Question number 1: where was god when the four planes
crashed on September 11?
Before
I get down to specifics, I want to share
with you two statements that I gleaned
from others. The first one comes from an
E-mail that I received yesterday from Kath
Brinkman. While it isn’t bathed in deep
theology, I do think the piece has
something valid to say:
Where's God in all this?
Rev. Bob Rindfuss
I've
heard it asked over and over this past
week "Where's God in all this
tragedy?" I don't know about anyone
else, but I've seen God's merciful hand in
several places.
I've seen His hand at work in the fact
that the World Trade Center towers stood
long enough after impact for so very many
of those inside to escape down the stairs
and out of the buildings, instead of
falling down upon impact. I've heard civil
engineers question a couple of times how
the towers withstood the crashes since
they're not built to sustain an impact of
that magnitude. But yet, they did, meaning
the toll of dead and missing is estimated
to be 6,000 instead of 20,000 to 50,000 as
were sometimes in the towers.
I've seen His hand again in that the twin
towers imploded on collapse, falling in on
themselves rather than just toppling over
and obliterating the other buildings in
the vicinity thus keeping the
"collateral damage" to a
minimum.
I've
seen His hand of mercy in the fact that
the planes used for these attacks only
carried 285 people, instead of a full
compliment of over 1,000. And on one plane
it seems, the heroic passengers overcame
the hijackers and brought the plane down
in the middle of nowhere instead of it's
intended target.
Somehow His hand even got into the planes
the terrorists used. How did the plane
meant for the White House end up hitting
the Pentagon? And not only did it hit the
Pentagon instead, but it hit it in a place
just recently rebuilt to better sustain
attacks! Had it hit it anywhere else the
authorities tell us, the damage and death
would have been much, much worse.
I've seen God at work in the volunteers,
who simply refuse to go home. Thousands of
them. I saw a picture yesterday that says
it all. An obviously exhausted fireman,
laying on a semi-protected section of
sidewalk, sleeping with his
search-and-rescue dog, a huge German
shepherd, sleeping next to him. And
the Canadians, sending dog boots to wear
on the paws of the search dogs as they
climb and scrape through the metal and
glass to find anyone. Who would have
thought, in all this mess, about the paws
of search dogs? I think I see a little
glimmer of God in that too.
And I saw God in the way people pulled
together to help in this. He has been
mentioned much in the headlines and news
reports this past week, but I think a true
shining example of His hand at work were
the college students, generation X'ers,
who lined up for hours to give blood or
man Red Cross phones.
But I especially see Him in the ones in
New York who stood at the edges of
"ground zero" and simply shouted
out at the top of their lungs what
supplies the rescuers were in dire need of
and the people standing around raced to
the stores in the area and bought them and
brought them back. No one asked "Am I
going to be reimbursed for this?" or
"you mean, out of my own
pocket?" They just went and did it. I
know that there are literally thousands
more examples of how God was at work in
all this. But now that you've seen a few
examples, I think you'll be better able to
see the rest for yourself.
Pastor Sam Stover at Mason United
Methodist Church in Mason, Ohio, put it
this way: “Hear me: God was where God
always is. He was there in the seat with
every person who went down in the fiery
furnace. He was in the fireman’s suit
and behind the police badge. God was there
in the elevators and the stairwells of the
World Trade Center.”
The
point is, God is omnipresent. He is ever
present at all times in all places.
However, He was more than that. He was
being lived out in human form in the
heroic and good deeds of many, many
people.
·
He
wasn’t removed,
·
On
vacation,
·
Or
watching from a distance. God was there.
Perhaps, in fact, God was weeping.
The
fact that God was watching is not meant to
imply that God was passive. He wasn’t;
He isn’t.
·
He
watched for a while as the people prior to
the flood grew more wicked and more
violent – but in the end He did act.
·
He
watched for a while as Sodom and Gomorrah
became more vial and perverted – but in
the end He did act.
·
He
watched for a while as Israel turned away
from Him to worship a golden calf – but
in the end He did act.
The
story isn’t finished yet. I dare predict
that God is about to act rather decisively
in the hours, days and months ahead. In
ancient times He often exacted His
vengeance using the armies of Israel. I
would guess that He is about to use the
United States Army, Air Force, Marines,
Navy, and Coast Guard in the same way!
Romans
13:2,4 provides confirmation to this
teaching: “He who rebels against the
authority is rebelling against what God
has instituted, and those who do so will
bring judgment on themselves. For the
police and military are God's servants to
do you good. But if you do wrong, be
afraid, for they do not bear arms for
nothing. They are God's servants, agents
of wrath to bring punishment on the
wrongdoer.”
Question number 2: why would God allow this terrible
thing to happen?
When
we ponder human tragedy, we always seem to
want to lay the blame for inaction at the
feet of God -- we seemingly have this
great need to make Him the scapegoat.
Believe
me though when I say, God is not the one
that should be blamed. Who is, you ask?
1.
Mankind, due to his/her choices
A
week ago Tuesday’s horrific mass murder
of innocent Americans leaves all rational
people shocked, angry, grief-stricken, and
numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts
carry a deep ache. How could this have
happened in our nation? How could a good
God allow such evil to take place? If God
is so great, why does he allow human
beings to hurt each other so?
The answer lies in both our greatest
blessing and our worst curse: our capacity
to make choices. God has given us a free
will. Made in God’s image, He has given
us the freedom to decide how we will act
and the ability to make moral choices.
This
is one asset that sets us apart from
animals, but it also is the source of so
much pain in our world. People, and that
includes all of us, often make selfish,
self-centered, and evil choices. Whenever
that happens, people get hurt. Sin is
ultimately selfishness. I want to do what
I want, not what God tells me to do.
Unfortunately, sin always hurts others,
not just ourselves.
God could have kept the terrorist from
completing their suicidal missions by
removing their ability to choose their own
will instead of his. But to be fair, God
would also have to do that to all of us.
You and I are not terrorists, but we do
harm and hurt others with our own selfish
decisions and actions.
2.
Then, too, our leaders are to blame
due to their previous inaction
Somebody
once asked Jean‑Paul Sartre, the
French philosopher, "Where was God
when the Nazis were about to overrun
Europe?" Sartre replied, "Where
was man?"
I
suppose he meant, why didn't the Western
powers stop Hitler before he really got
going? Why didn't they take action sooner,
when they knew the danger but before the
Nazis could ravage the Continent? Indeed,
where was man?
On
a more sobering note, Benjamin Netanyahu,
the former Prime Minister of Israel, was
quoted last week in the Jerusalem Post as
saying: “In
1995, I wrote in my book, Fighting
Terrorism: "Extremist Islamic
terrorist organizations nullify in large
measure the need to have air power or
intercontinental missiles as delivery
systems for an Islamic nuclear payload.
The terrorists themselves will be the
delivery system. In the worst of such
scenarios, the consequences could be not a
car bomb but a nuclear bomb in the
basement of the World Trade Center.
"The
rising tide of Islamic terrorism is
qualitatively different from the terrorism
which the West has had to face until now.
The various strains of militant Islam see
their ultimate destiny as leading to a
final confrontation with the Great Satan,
the United States.
"What
this new terrorism portends for America
and the world and what can be done about
it has not yet been sufficiently
understood. The growth of terrorism has
been accompanied by a steady escalation in
the means of violence, including those
capable of bringing down entire buildings.
The very real possibility that terrorist
states and organizations may soon acquire
horrific weapons of mass destruction and
use them to escalate terrorism beyond our
wildest nightmares has not yet been
addressed properly by Western governments.
It
must be recognized that, barring firm and
resolute action by the United States and
the West, terrorism will expand
dramatically." I want to remind you,
that was written in a book back in 1995!
Netanyahu then went on to note last week:
“Ultimately, the explosion and collapse
of the World Trade Center was caused by
300 tons of jet fuel rather than by a
nuclear device, and this means that the
tragic horror we experienced this week was
not the worst possible scenario. Down the
line, a far worse catastrophe may be in
the offing: terrorist regimes like Iran
and Iraq wielding atomic weapons. No
longer will individuals or buildings be
the ones threatened by terror; entire
cities may be destroyed, entire states may
be held hostage. The world is on the verge
of an abyss, and most political leaders
have not properly gauged its depth.”
The
point is, we were warned. One expert after
another has pointed out that we were told
as a nation to prepare for some awful form
of terrorist attack – but we did not
take heed. Sad to say, we have now.
Some
may question the President’s right to go
to war in order to stamp out these
terroristic cells. Hear me, please.
Rudyard Kipling said: “Nothing is ever
settled until it is settled right.”
Good
men, just men are now committed to
settling the matter --
·
Before
these fanatics deliver a nuclear device to
America,
·
Before
they poison our water system,
·
Before
they dive bomb into one of our nuclear
power-plants,
·
Before
they release some form of biological
weapon upon another one of our major
cities.
Could
a human being actually do such terrible
things to other human beings? I do not
mean to frighten anyone, but one need not
look any farther than Nazism 60 years ago
to see in real and graphic terms man’s
inhumanity to man. Remember, Hitler
murdered 6 million instead of 6,000! Man
has a tremendous capacity to do evil!
While
here I want to point out another example
of man’s depravity to man: Matthew
2:16-18 reminds us, “When Herod
realized that he had been outwitted by the
Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders
to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity who were two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had learned
from the Magi. Then what was said through
the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
We
do not know how many baby boys were
slaughtered in this instance.
3.
Next, let’s place the blame
squarely on the shoulders of the Evil One
-- Satan himself.
John
10:10 flatly states that the devil comes
to “steal, kill, and to destroy”. If
that doesn’t describe what happened in
New York, Washington DC, and outside of
Pittsburgh, I don’t know what does!
1
Peter 5:8 adds, “Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil
walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour.”
Revelation
12:12 likewise warns, “Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For
the devil has come down to you, having
great wrath, because he knows that he has
a short time.”
I
understand that the context of this
passage puts this event in the Great
Tribulation. However, there is nothing
here that indicates that the devil can’t
start his awful raucous prior to the big
dance!
Question number 3: Was this God’s will?
Several years ago, I was called to the scene of an
infant’s death. Shortly after I arrived,
the young mother got home from work. Her
husband, the baby’s father, had been
sitting with the child. Of course, she was
beside herself with grief. A neighbor lady
then rushed into the house, hugged the
mother, and proceeded to tell her that the
death of the child was God’s will. I
don’t know who appointed her God’s
spokesperson, but I am sure it wasn’t
the Lord. She was wrong; dead wrong! God is not a murderer. God
did not kill that mother’s little baby!
In heaven, we see a clear picture of God’s perfect
will. That picture is one of no sorrow,
pain, death, or evil. Terrorist do not
high jack airplanes there. Murderers are
not allowed.
Having
said that, I want to be quick to point out
that God can and will use such a
situation. C.S. Lewis wrote years ago that
"pain is God's megaphone to a deaf
world." In that way some tragedies
may serve as wake‑up calls for
spiritually sleeping people.
A stubborn,
secular, and even blasphemous society
sometimes will be stopped short only when
a tragedy of national proportions takes
place.
From our
perspective, tragedies look meaningless,
senseless, and chaotic, but God knows how
to take even tragedies and bring good out
of them. Look at this full-page article
from USA Today. The piece shares
the Gospel. It also points out that
churches across the country enjoyed an
increase in attendance last Sunday.
·
How
many people have heard Billy Graham’s
message of a week ago?
·
How
long has it been since you have heard a US
President speak so much of God, prayer,
and the Bible?
God specializes
in taking evil and bringing good out of
it.
Question number 4: Is this the end of the world?
The
Society of International Law in London
reports that there has been only 268 years
of peace in all of the last 4,000 years of
recorded human history. This is true
despite the fact that there have been over
8,000 separate peace treaties signed
during that time. No period ever witnessed
the escalation of war as did the 20th
Century. The Red Cross estimates that over
100 million people have been killed in
wars in the last one hundred years alone.
Since
World War 2, the war that was supposed to
make the world safe for democracy, there
have been more than 130 wars plus hundreds
of rebellions and revolutions. The death
toll in conflicts since the end of World
War 2 has now topped 40 million.
War,
sad to say, is a normal part of
international affairs.
However,
this war will not signal the end of the
world. As I told the crowd last Sunday
night, there are at least two more major
wars foretold in Scripture.
·
Then
too, before the world shuts down, Jesus
has to return twice,
·
The
world has to go through the Great
Tribulation,
·
The
Antichrist has to be revealed, reign for
several years, and be defeated.
As
well as a number of other significant
events.
Luke
21:28 declares, “When these things
begin to take place, stand up and lift up
your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near.”
I
have heard people say that all of these
events of the last two weeks simply proves
that the world is about finished. Wrong.
In
my opinion, the next big event on God’s
prophetic calendar is the return of Jesus
Christ – not the end of the world.
Question number 5: what are some scriptures that would
provide comfort to a frightened friend or
loved one?
At 9:45 a.m. on September 11, Wheaton
College (the college that Billy Graham
attended) graduate Todd Beamer helped
rally his fellow passengers on a flight
headed to Los Angeles – a flight that
had been taken over by Arab terrorists.
His actions along with those of some of
the other passengers resulted in the plane
going down in a empty field Pennsylvania.
Let me tell now share with you the rest
of the story. There were at least three
other passengers making cell-phone calls
from the rear of the plane, but as Beamer
tried to call his wife of seven years with
the on-board telephone, his credit card
did not go through and the call was
intercepted by GTE operator Lisa D.
Jefferson. The strangers spoke for 13
minutes before the call was cut off.
During that time they swapped crucial
information. Beamer learned about the
other hijackings that had taken place that
morning and suspected that flight 93 might
also be used to kill great numbers on the
ground. He then relayed as much detail as
he could about the attackers who were now
controlling his flight. Beamer made
Jefferson promise she would relay the
message to his wife, currently pregnant
with their third child, that he loved her.
Before Todd Beamer and his fellow
passengers attempted to jump the terrorist
who guarded them, he asked Jefferson to
pray with him over the phone and they said
the 23rd Psalm together, “... Even
though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for
you are with me; your rod and your staff,
they comfort me ...”
Precisely what happened before the plane
crashed may never be known, but the last
words Jefferson heard from Beamer
constituted a charge to his fellow
passengers, "Let's roll!"
Our country will always be grateful for
the courage and resolve exemplified by
Beamer and his cohorts. They
represent the stuff of real live heroes in
a world that only sees that kind of
bravery in the movies.
Besides
Psalm 23, I would also suggest:
·
John
16:33, "I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But
take heart! I have overcome the
world."
·
John
14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not be afraid.”
·
Psalm
34:1-4 (King James Version), “I will
bless the LORD at all times: his praise
[shall] continually [be] in my mouth. My
soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the
humble shall hear [thereof], and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us
exalt his name together. I sought the
LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me
from all my fears.”
·
Psalm
91.
The Rev Martha Sterne, rector of St.
Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville,
Tennessee, made an interesting
observation. She said she had learned a
lot about her own prayer life this past
week. "I know some thing different
about praying for your enemies as an
obligation, a duty, but now I know it is a
matter of life and death. The
hearts of our enemies are poisoned and
hardened beyond recognition, and they are
feeding their children the poison too,”
she said. “Only God can reach in a heart
and change what’s there, so pray every
day for our enemies lost in some strange
hateful hell, that God may… bring them
home.”
Question number 6: will life ever return to normal?
I
appreciate what our President said
Thursday night. He promised that life
would return to “almost” normal.
·
I
dare say that taking a flight will always
be a little different now.
·
We
will probably always feel somewhat
violated as a nation,
·
We
might tend to hug our spouse and our
children a little longer.
·
Prayers
for one’s safety might be prayed with a
little more fervor.
·
Some
people will experience a Christmas this
year without a parent, a child, a husband
or a wife.
Nonetheless,
I can promise you that tomorrow is coming.
One of God's favorite promises
throughout the Bible is “I will be
with you.” He made that promise to
Abraham, to Moses, to David, and to scores
of other men and women throughout both
testaments.
It
is tremendously significant that Jesus'
last recorded words to us in the book of
Matthew are “Surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew
28:20).
God
has not changed.
·
He is still
on the throne.
·
He is still
aware of all the human suffering that is
taking place.
·
He is still
in control.
He
will be and is here for us if only we will
call.
