9/11 Anniversay – Remembrance in Prayer

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Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. Psalm 69:1-3

Turn on the TV! These were the words as I answered a call from Connie. We had just moved from Nairobi, Kenya to Richmond to take on a new assignment with the International Mission Board. September 11, 2001, a day forever etched in time. Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 that is still as fresh in our memory as if yesterday.

We joined that night with other believers at our church to pray. Across America, thousands of other churches opened their doors for prayer. For the next several Sundays there seemed to be a spiritual awakening as churches were filled to capacity. Millions were looking for hope, assurance that everything would be ok. People sought the fellowship of others in the midst of tragedy. The words of William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury after World War II said it well, “The church is the only organization that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it.” It was those outside that also sought the comfort of the church.

Yet as quickly as our nation turned to God in fear and confusion on that bleak night, just as quickly people went back to their pre-911 lives. R. C. Sproul wrote that the very last sermon that Martin Luther preached was on people departing from the power of God. “Luther preached with passion about his concern for Germany. He observed that after the gospel had been rediscovered—after light had dawned and pushed aside the darkness that had eclipsed it during the Middle Ages—people were now becoming somewhat jaded to the gospel. They could hear it from virtually every pulpit in Germany, but it was no longer something that ignited fire in their bones.”

As our nation commemorates the 20th anniversary, we find our nation deeply divided, less respectful of others, civility forgotten, fear increasing and anxiety prevalent. Instead of our nation focused on God, we find an increasing number rejecting the church. Janet Denison writes that “People will continue to blame religion for what is wrong in the world. It’s the job of every Christian to glorify God for all that is right. If we will take the time to “be prepared” and use every opportunity to share the “hope” that we have with “gentleness and respect,” we will change the culture one conversation at a time.”

As a firefighter was sorting through the rubble and remnants of the south tower he made an unbelievable discovery: A Bible fused to a chunk of steel. Pages from the “9/11 Bible” remained with a portion of Jesus Sermon on the Mount showing, as if God speaking to America, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” (Matt 5:38-39)

Joel Meyerowitz, the photographer assigned as record keeper of ground zero received the Bible, said, “It totally mesmerizes me that amidst the burning destruction of 9/11 and the remaining rubble, this fragile yet powerful piece of parchment was able to endure and send a lasting message to us all: Our fleshly nature urges us to repay evil for evil, but God calls us to press on in forgiveness and love, while leaving vengeance to Him.”  https://youtu.be/VV6BtdNaI8E

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11 I hope we set aside a time for prayer and reflection. Let it serve as a renewed time of prayer for our nation’s citizens to again be humble and willing to return to God. Pray that our nation would be used of God to touch the world for good. Let our churches be a place of healing and spiritual renewal. “When the unchurched, the lost, and those away from God enter our churches, they need to see us believing in the power of prayer and the power of God.” — Ronnie Floyd

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8

God is great,
Lynn

Sent_Living our lives daily on mission.

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As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:18

Followers of Jesus are never left to wander hopelessly in a desert, trying to find their way. Rather they are the sent ones, going into the world on mission for and with God. No two lives look the same or assigned the same God-given task.  Yet in the going, they are on mission – a mission that brings hope, life and presence.

Henri Nouwen wrote that “Each of us has a mission in life. Jesus prays to his Father for his followers. We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we have to choose how, where, and with whom to live. We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.”

Jesus understood living life on mission. His prayer in John 17 reveals the depth and purpose of his mission. He understood and accepted the task that God had given him. Now He is at the point of completing His task and praying for His disciples. The tasks will be unique but each will undertake to carry out their God-sized task of being the sent ones.

Past generation Olympic runner Eric Liddell grasped his mission for God. He shared that “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Liddell channeled his running glory into his missionary calling to China and ultimately dying in a concentration camp to glorify God.

Current Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel is finding his life mission in that “It’s the reason I’m in the sport—not just to go fast times, but to inspire people and show them where I find my happiness with what God’s given me.” “Swimming is my life, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is what I’m supposed to be doing, and God gave me the talent, and I’m going to do that for him…”

Finding one’s mission in life may not be through Olympic glory but the dark nights of cancer. Liberty University graduate Jane Marczewski, who goes by the stage name Nightbirde found herself on America’s Got Talent stage. She probably wouldn’t have chosen to battle cancer yet in this God-sized moment she was able to sing her original song, It’s Ok and through singing encourage and inspire thousands. “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy,” going on to say, “I have a 2 percent chance of survival, but two percent is not zero percent. Two percent is something, and I wish people knew how amazing it is.”

“In the daily rhythms for everyone everywhere, we live our lives in the marketplaces of this world: in homes and neighborhoods, in schools and on farms, in hospitals and businesses, and our vocations are bound up with the ordinary work that ordinary people do. We are not great shots across the bow of history; rather, by simple grace, we are hints of hope.” – Steven Garber

Living our lives daily on mission comes with the promise and provision of Jesus’ closing words of unity.  Let the years of our lives always be lived as years on a mission.

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

God is great,

Lynn