9-11-2005

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

"In the Midst of Turmoil: New Hope"

September 11, 2005

Good Morning!
    As Christians of a compassionate God, our hearts continue to be broken and disappointed by the endless reports of human suffering and government mismanagement both at home and abroad. Thank God that heaven is not run by our world leaders.
    Today, the Spirit of God looks over the Afghani and Iraqi countrysides. The Spirit of God looks over the broken buildings and spoiled waters of New Orleans and our Gulf Coast. The Spirit of God looks over the barren earth still remaining from the loss of the twin towers in New York, the rebuilt Pentagon, and Field Memorial in Pennsylvania. God sees, God understands, and God declares to all creation-"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is healing and hope always present." God calls on all his people to rise up and serve their fellow mortals, for they, as we, are the very children of God.
    Last week we spoke about the great tragedy brought about by Hurricane Katrina and the equally devastating after-effects. We spoke about how our hope and reassurance is found in the Spirit of Christ and in one another. We also continue to witness the activity of God both at home and abroad - through the examples of his presence found in the generous and compassionate acts of many.
This very day is the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on our country. This is a day that we pause to remember those who lost their lives on that fateful day in 2001-remembering victims, rescuers, heroes, and survivors.
    In terms of loss of life and uprooting, we are told that Hurricane Katrina surpasses the 9/11 attacks of 2001. We, therefore today, recall the tragedy of both, remembering that the pain of loss is not easily forgotten among those who are left with only memories.
    This is also a day to express our undying gratitude to all who have responded to each of these tragedies with their drive and commitment to save and serve people. We remember with grateful appreciation, the police, fire persons, Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Methodist Committee on Relief, and our proud Military, which includes our National Guard. We are grateful, also, for individual acts of heroism and the collective work of our churches and other volunteer organizations. The compassionate, healing work of God is accomplished through the hands and feet of God's people.
    Last week, we were reminded that one of Jesus' greatest desires is to calm and still the storms and upheaval within our lives. As Luke tells us that he stopped the raging storm, he demonstrated his desire for peace and calm in the lives of people.
    Notice, however, that he did not say that there would no further disruptions, storms, or unexpected dangers, because the world is just naturally a dangerous place. But when there is trouble, Jesus has promised his Spirit will be with us, spiritually strengthening us and assuring us that we are not alone, and reminding us that there is always hope, no matter how desperate and tragic a situation may seem.
    We might ask, why does the world have to be a dangerous place? Why must there be storms, terrorists, and war? The answer to "why" is found in at least three significant principles that God built into this current creation. First, people are not puppets of God, but rather all people have freedom of choice, which always provides for the properties and potentials of danger. Second, this creation is based on biological and mortal factors-life has a beginning and an end, and is fragile in between. Third, we are not to mistake the earth for heaven; one is mortal, the other spiritual.
    According to Scripture, God is Spirit and exists in the spiritual reality that is around us and through us. We, on the other hand, live on the physical side of creation, and do not float around or through anyone.
Many universal laws also known as causes and effects run the physical universe. For example, if you drop something-it will fall downward because of the law of gravity. If you stub your toe - your vocal chords respond, reflecting the pain experienced. If you are exposed to a bacterial or viral component, your body takes on a whole series of responses all in an effort to fight it off. If you do not eat or drink-you experience hunger and thirst. In this mortal existence, we can experience joy and happiness, or sorrow and depression, brought on by either events, or biological components.
    Although our Scripture says that we mortals have been made a little lower than the angels, we have a very distinct advantage over them. We have experienced all that mortal life has to offer-the wonderful feelings of good and the painful feelings of bad.
    Therefore, when we are transformed for heaven, we will have experienced good and bad, and can appreciate a more perfect life. The angels, on the other hand, can only begin to imagine these things, since they have never known mortality through their own experience.
    God believes that our heavenly experience will be enhanced and enriched by our mortal experience. When we enter into the state of heaven, we will be able to look back on our mortal life and thus be able to experience higher levels of joy.
    So the question of "why" could be answered by saying that we live this life in preparation for our heavenly destiny-in order to enhance its enjoyment and fulfillment as God desires.
    At some point, however, we need to put questions aside, and just trust God to be the all-knowing creator, redeemer, and sustainer of life. As old biblical Job discovered, it does us no good to debate whether or not God has made a wise choice in creating as he did, because it is as it is, and we are told that it is the best that it can be-for this life.
    Changing or modifying mortal life, is really quite impossible anyway. After all, the total elimination of hurricanes would necessitate the elimination of wind and warm breezes, warm fronts, cold fronts, warm tropical waters, clouds, and ultimately rain. We simply cannot eliminate one thing without it profoundly affecting another. The beautiful conditions of weather that we often are able to experience always come with the possibilities of weather going amuck.
    On this September 11, 2005, let's be realistic and honest. God didn't ask Osama Bin Laden and other Fundamentalists to fly planes into buildings killing innocent people. God didn't advance the war into Afghanistan and Iraq also killing innocent people. God didn't prevent us from strengthening the levies or building up the earth of New Orleans in order to prevent the catastrophic flood that took innocent lives.
In this life, God has designed us that we have freedom of thought, freedom of action, and freedom to experience their consequences. But God also gives us choice to alter our future. We need not be stuck with deficient national priorities. We can and should be about the business of representative democracy - regularly contacting our leaders so they will know beyond doubt-the directions in which we desire to be taken.
    It seems to me that when it comes to policies at home and abroad, we have been "penny wise and pound foolish." As a consequence, we have begun paying the piper overseas, and now we are about to pay him in New Orleans.
    As a Vietnam veteran, I have always said that the best tribute that you could offer to my fellow veterans, and me, would be to insure that we, as a nation, do our utmost to avoid the circumstances of an unnecessarily protracted conflict. This was done in the Persian Gulf War of '91.
    The same is true of those who served and those who perished in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, Afghanistan, Iraq, New Orleans, and our Gulf Coast. We must strive to build a future that prioritizes people, families, and lives, over any other policies because this is what God wants for us-so why shouldn't we have it? Let us commit ourselves this day to people and life, over and above all other so-called priorities.
    May the lives of those lost in 9/11 and our present tragedies, not be lost in vain nor have their pain of loss go for nothing, but rather for a better and more compassion-ate America. And may those who fight and work so diligently for us in the midst of tragedy and loss, do so with all the resources and timely responses that this nation can muster.
    As we stand before God, let us commit to God our earnest determination to bring about a better prepared, more alert, and more compassionate United States of America. Let us ever be more vigilant for the cause of God's people-for they are the very ones for whom he sacrificed his son. Amen.

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