REMEMBERING 9/11

Sept 10, 2006

Remarks about vacation

Remarks about Susan Sparks, your new Pastor Elect

Now, to my brief sermon for the day.

On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, Frank and I were working on something in the church office when we heard on the radio that the north tower at the World Trade Center had been hit by American Airlines flight #11, with 92 people aboard.

We couldn’t believe our ears.

We rushed upstairs and turned on the TV and couldn’t believe our eyes.  

We had been watching just a few minutes when another plane…it turned out that it was a United Airlines Flt #175…crashed into the south tower.

We then made our way over to 5th Avenue and 31st St. and there it was in full view

We could see the hellish flames coming out of the south tower and both towers were covered in dark smoke.

We stood at 5th and 31st with many other stunned New Yorkers.  No one said much except things like…..O no!...and …..O my God!

I guess we had hopes that some kind of rescue could be made til each of the towers imploded into nothing but rocks, twisted steel and the what were living, breathing men and women..

Most of us remember exactly what we were doing the morning it happened don’t we?

Amazing pain was experienced on that day.

Love ones of those in the buildings where sledge hammered with the news.

Those of us more distant were shocked and saddened beyond words.

Folks throughout our land and throughout the world were horrified at the destruction and with the loss of so many.

In a sense we’ve never gotten over the pain of it have we?

Whenever we come to remember the event again, there’s something I do.  Maybe some of you do it too.

As the anniversary of the day approaches, I find myself trying to distance myself from it.

Articles start appearing in the newspapers and I don’t want to read them.

Promotions start appearing on TV about programs relating to the 9/11 and I try not to watch them.

I can think of at least 4 movies about 9/11 that are out right now and I’ve been very ambivalent about seeing them.

Because it stirs up all that pain again.

So we’re reluctant to get involved in it again.

But a lot of us end up reading the articles.

And we end up watching at least some of the TV productions and going to a movie or two.

I don’t know how you approach all of this and we’re all different, but I think we can all agree on at least this.

What happened is just about the most painful public tragedy that most of us have ever experienced.

The horror, the heart ache and heartbreak, the lives traumatized and tears shed are beyond understanding or describing.

So there is this part, this reality about the WTC disaster.

(Pause)

But there is another side, another part of this whole thing and it has to do with healing.

The heros that surfaced on 9/11 and the days that followed brought us some healing didn’t they?

How can we describe the bravery of some of the men and women down at ground zero.

One was a catholic priest, one Mycal Judge who was the Chaplain of FDNY.

Father Judge had been a pastor to small churches in New Jersey, then he came to New York in the 1980’s to work with the poor and homeless.

In the 80’s the AIDS epidemic hit our city and Father Judge began to work heavily with AIDS victims.

There are stories about how he used to have no qualms about holding the victims in his arms or massaging the feet of those with skin cancer.

Then he began to work with firemen and women and ultimately became the New York City Fire Dept Chaplain.

He loved the firefighters and they loved him.

When the planes crashed into the twin towers Father Judge was one of the first people on the scene.

While he was saying prayers with one of the victims in the midst of the hell of that scene, heavy debris from above came down upon him and took his life, probably immediately.

Aren’t we grateful for Mykal Judge and all of the other true heros who risked it all down there at Ground Zero?

Weren’t we touched?

Weren’t we moved and inspired?

Didn’t we experience some healing because of what they did?

And didn’t we experience some healing as men and women and children reached out to victim’s families and New Yorkers from all over the US and all over the world?

My God, there’s so many walls of separation in our land.

There are cultural walls.

There are social and educational walls

There are racial walls

There are walls built because of differences in sexual orientation.

There are thick  almost impenetrable, unsurmountable walls built because of religious differences.

When Sept 11 happened, regardless of the differences, people got instant clarity about what is really important in life.

And what is important,  like Jesus and the Apostle said is love, and it came to us from all over.

It came to us from children in kindergartens and from old folks in nursing homes.

Sick folks on their death beds forgot about themselves and wrote shaky notes of love and encouragement to the heros of Ground Zero and to all of us New Yorkers.

And when they reached out to us, didn’t it feel like healing?

And doesn’t it still feel that way today?

I want to say one more thing about healing and maybe this is a more personal thing for me.

When 9/11 happened, I was driven to the scriptures for strength…..and throughout that time period, I found healing in the wisdom and promises contained there.

Maybe some of you did too.

I remember coming upon this passage from the Psalms…..Psalm 102

Long ago (God,) you laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish but you endure;

They wear out like garments,

But you are the same and your years have no end.

And then I remember coming upon Psalm 46, the Psalm we read responsively today.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in the midst of trouble,

Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the midst of the sea.

Nations rage, dominions totter

God speaks, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us

The God of the nations is our refuge.

And then maybe the scriptures that brought me the most strength were from Psalm 139, my favorite scripture.

Where can we go from your spirit?  Or where can we flee from your presence?

If we ascend to heaven, you are there.

If we make our bed in hell, you are there.

If we take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead us, and your right hand shall hold us fast.

Well, I want to wind this sermon up by simply saying this.

We know that tragedies happen in this life, don’t we?

And some are so great that there is no way to comprehend them.

But people of faith, those who are seeking the humble path of Christ, know this too, sometimes with certainly.

There is such a thing as healing.

It is mysterious, but it is real.

For some it might come quickly.

For most of us it comes slowly.

But it can come if we seek it.

Oh, we might have deep scars from how we are hurt or traumatized………but down in our depths, we can know health and wholeness again.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said this:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will  be comforted

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

And the people said…..AMEN

.