Brown's Daily Word 9/11/14

It was 13 years ago that America the beautiful was attacked.  The attack was barbaric and brutal.  Each one of us can remember the exact place where we were and what was happening on that brilliant September 11, 2001 morning.  I had just finished praying with someone over the phone that morning.  I was about to leave the house that morning I turned on television to check the weather channel and I saw the first plane fly into the first tower.  Praise the Lord that He has restored and is restoring His people.  New towers are being built.  The place that was turned into a mass graveyard, with hills of ash and debris, are the places where we see the signs of full restoration.  As I pause and reflect on the day I can identify much that can be learned from 9/11 – heroic sacrifice, unity revived, love expressed.  Not only do we see volunteers and random heroes from the street show up to do what they can to help, but we also see businessmen and women turn into Emergency Exit Guides, directing people out of the towers down the stairs calmly and coolly, saving lives, while they stay inside to help the last people get out.  We see our police force, our fire fighters, our military leaders, and our fighter jet pilots putting their lives on the line.  These heroes dared to go in when everyone else was going out.

    To many of us, heroic sacrifice seems absurd.  It’s out of the question – why would you do that?  Still, such sacrifice is what the Apostle Paul spoke about.  He said, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”  Paul's words indicated that, “this is rare; it’s certainly possible that for a good person, for a fellow American, someone might dare to die, but it is rare.”  On 9/11 such rare people dared to die for others – others they didn’t even know.  The only thing many of those officers and firefighters knew was that they weren’t coming out alive.  They knew someone might need them.
    We also see unity expressed in their actions, we see love in action, and we give thanks to God for them.  God established government for just such a purpose: not just law enforcement, but public safety.  The gift of people who are trained and willing to sacrifice themselves for you is a rare and precious gift from God.  With that in mind, Paul brought up a comparison between such a rare sacrifice for you and the sacrifice Jesus made, which is more important, because it serves as the real basis for our hope.  He said, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
    Jesus didn’t dare to die for a righteous or good person.  Jesus didn’t die for those who didn’t know either.  What made and makes Jesus unique is that he died for all people in the world, though He knew we were still sinners.  In the face of tragedy we are invited to look for our strength (Psalm 46-11).  In this psalm David encourages believers in times of trouble.  Psalm 46 is famous as the inspiration of Martin Luther’s great Hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”  When David said, “God is our refuge” what he meant was that our sense of security is not derived from our nations defenses but that it rests in our faith in God.  God and God alone is our refuge in times such as these.  As believers we need to remember that our feeling of security goes beyond the measures of homeland defense, metal detectors, security checks, military power, political alliances, or the strength of our economy.  Our faith must rest solidly on a relationship with a living God.  Security is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of confidence and courage in the midst of trouble. 
    David's words in the psalm remind us that God is not only or refuge but our “strength.”  Strength is the ability to rise above tragedy even with tears in our eyes and go forward.  God is not just some far off source from whom we can seek advice but this psalm tells us that he is “a very present help.”
    David ended this great psalm by reminding us in verse ten that it is when we are overwhelmed that we need to allow God to move. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.”
 In Christ,
  Brown
http://youtu.be/AhlnProP8o0

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children." -President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

“One of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans’ history. We'll always honor the heroes of 9/11. And here at this hallowed place, we pledge that we will never forget their sacrifice.”
—President George W. Bush at the Pentagon in 2008