9-11 Ten Years Later the Lessons Remain

Sunday evening I gathered with a collection of fellow residents of Monticello and Jasper County as we observed the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 tragedies.

While the crowd certainly should have been larger it is wonderful to see our community come together not as Democrats or Republicans, White or Black, rich or poor, but as Americans.

Words of inspiration were spoken, names were read, bells were toned, candles were lit, and taps were played. We took time to remember those who lost their lives and gave thanks to God for their memory.

Earlier in the day we worshiped in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Monticello. We too remembered the fallen of 9-11.

We began our service with the stirring classic hymn “God of the Ages.” I must confess that I blinked back a tear as the hymn was sung and the flags were brought into the sanctuary in a processional.

{{more}}

I blinked back more tears as we sang the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “God Bless America.”

We heard scripture readings that spoke of God as our ultimate hope and that Jesus Christ is King over all the world’s nations.

I always approach preaching with profound sense of humility because I speak God’s words as someone who has often failed to keep them.

Sunday brought an additional spoonful of humility as I felt called to pay homage to those who gave their lives on 9-11 and also pay homage to the young men and women of our armed services who gave their lives in response to that day.

There is one line from my message Sunday that I offer to the readers of this column for consideration and that is, “Evil does not attack what is bad; rather evil attacks what is good.”

Jesus said it more eloquently than I when he said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” (Matthew 5:10 NRSV)

The truth is that our nation was attacked on 9-11-2001 by those who were evil. However, we were not attacked because we are evil but rather because we are good.

The truth is that Americans are good people. Does God love us more than he loves anyone else? Absolutely not. However, since our inception as a nation, though we have not always been a perfect people, we have been a people who have sought to stand for justice and righteousness.

When we’ve had our flaws we have worked to fix them and when freedom was threatened we have stood to defend it.

We are a good people who from the very beginning have understood that freedom is a gift from God and God alone. Because we understood that there is something greater than ourselves in this world we could not be defeated 10 years ago.

Our greatest memory from 9-11 should be a memory of triumph. We have triumphed because we are still a free people.

Evil did not win the day and cannot win the day because God is on the throne.

Our nation rose from that day invigorated, determined, and united. We faced the challenge of the day head on and we emerged the victors. The American people cannot be defeated as long as we remember that God is the source of our freedom.

In the end it is important that we accept our freedom not with arrogance but with humility.

There is one thing that is more important than defeating our enemies and that is that we remain a shining light showing the world how to live in freedom.

Though it is sad to think that it took a calamity to make it happen, 9-11 reminded us of what is really important in life.

During my sermon Sunday I told the story New York resident Bill Hewitt who at the time of the attacks was living in Manhattan with his wife and six month old daughter.

Many associates of his were killed in that attack on the World Trade Center. Hewitt sat down and wrote a letter to his daughter to be given to her at a later date describing the day and giving his thoughts at the time. He closed his letter to his daughter saying:

“We may yet learn how to treat ourselves and our children with love and respect. We may yet learn how to live with some peace, prosperity, and harmony. I, for my part, am not going to wait for your generation to grow into adulthood to see if it happens. I will be trying harder than I ever have to help bring the world to a better way of living. I think that on September 11, 2001, many millions of people in the world made the same decision.”

Now, ten years from the day may his words still be true.