Today is the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, a day and date that is stamped on the national consciousness of our nation. The cry of America is, “We will never forget!” Like most Americans, we will never forget the pictures of those two planes flying into the World Trade Center. We will never forget the pictures of the first responders arriving at the scene and moving quickly to help the victims. (I spent nearly a decade serving on the Hollywood Fire Rescue Department; those pictures stab at my heart to this day.) We will never forget the Twin Towers dropping off the landscape of lower Manhattan as they crumbled to the ground, taking nearly 3,000 victims with them. We will never forget Todd Beamer’s words, uttered just before he and other passengers charged the cockpit on United Flight 93: “God help me . . . Jesus help me . . . Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” We will never forget how a nation came together to mourn and then mount up against sin and evil in this world.
September 11, 2001 is to be remembered for many reasons. To be sure, one reason is that is provides a stark reminder of the fragility and brevity of life. None of those victims could have known that day would be their last day on this earth. And that reminder comes to us each and every day as we read about and personally experience this truth in our own lives. Nobody knows when their life will come to an end or how it will happen. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, death has been the debt all men must pay. When death comes suddenly and unexpectedly, it can rock us to our core. And 9/11 did indeed rock the foundation of our very world.
For many disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, that dreadful day lit a fire of faith deep within that would not go out. The shocking reality of that day and the loss of so many lives strengthened our understanding that we have been saved to serve. God saves us to serve Him and to surrender our lives completely to His control. The Great Commission became even greater than it had been in our lives before that day. Many church doors all across America remained open 24 hours a day in the days immediately following the attack, and people entered in, looking for comfort and community. We were confronted, not only with the importance of the good news of the Gospel, but the urgency with which we are called to share it today, because we may not have the opportunity of sharing it tomorrow.
Let us remember in prayer all those who were so deeply touched by the terror that forever altered their lives on that terrible day. May it be a source of eternal encouragement to go into all nations and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The great evangelist D. L. Moody learned this truth through painful personal experience. On October 8, 1871, while preaching at Farwell Hall, Moody asked his congregation to give serious thought to their relationship to Jesus Christ and return next week to make their decisions for Him. That crowd never regathered. Even as they were singing the closing hymn, the growing din of fire trucks and church bells scattered them forever. Chicago was on fire. The Y.M.C.A. building, church, and parsonage were all destroyed during the next 24 hours.
Thinking back on that fateful evening, Moody said, “Giving my congregation a week to think over in their minds their decision for Jesus is my greatest regret in life. Never again would I give my listeners time to go home and think about their response to the gospel.” And he never did.
May this be the confession of our lives today and every day that God is gracious to give to us on this side of the grave.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!
Grace for the Race 