911 Attack

Isaiah 43:1-7

Introduction:

                9/11/2001 will be a day deeply engraved in the minds of this generation. On 9/11, in the span of less than two hours,  the symbols of our military strength (Pentagon), financial strength(WTC) and freedom of movement(air travel) were attacked and paralyzed. We remember what we were doing and where we were when we first heard the news of attack.

                For the last several weeks, we have been studying about the spiritual warfare and the existence of Satan, who is evil, powerful and cunning. Last Tuesday, we saw the ugly face of EVIL. Facing this evil, we experienced those strong emotions of confusion, fear, anger and grief. Even as we sit here, many of our minds are still fixated on those horrifying images we saw on TV and the newspapers. How we wish it were just a bad dream. 

                As the entire world is fixated on this nation, I would like to bring you to another nation in another era. The time is about 700 B.C. The nation is the southern kingdom of Judah, which was plagued by idolatry, immorality and injustice. Through the prophets, God was warning his people about the coming judgment, in terms of wars and destruction, and calling them to repentance. One can imagine the fear, confusion and chaos in that society. 

                In the midst of warnings and chaos, God continues to assure and comfort his covenant people, urging them, ‘do not be afraid’. Even though we and the kingdom of Judah are separated by 1400 years, the message to the people of Judah is still relevant to us. In the midst of our chaos and confusion, we need to hear those assuring words. “Do not be afraid.”

I.  Our relationship with God provides us with a reference point in life. 

                This summer while vacationing in Michigan, our friend took me on his boat to fishing in the Lake. When we were about 5 miles from the land, he slowed the boat down to its minimum speed and started lowering the fishing lines. He asked me to navigate the boat. “turn a little to the right”, “No, its too far right, turn back to the left”, “No, too much, yes, that’s good”. I was at a loss as to how to navigate that small 24 ft. boat. Then he told me to look at the water tower on land and aim the boat in that direction. Once I focused on this reference point, navigation was not a problem anymore. 

                For 30 years the WTC has been a reference point for many Americans, especially New Yorkers. But within a time span of less than 2 hours, it was destroyed and disappeared. In its place we saw the entire nation turning to someone who is higher and greater than us. We attend prayer vigils around the country, and in different parts of the world, recognizing the need for a reference point in life. This reference point must be outside and greater than us. it is a reference by which we can navigate through the troubled waters of life. 

                In the midst of Israelites’ confusion and fear, God called their attention to himself. In verse 1 God tells them not to be afraid. Why? Vs1, “But now, this is what the LORD says, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” He created, formed, redeemed and had called them by name.

                As a creator means that, we originated from him. He is the one who maintains, controls and directs us. Where are we from? We are from God. 

                He formed us like a potter forming a pottery. The potter first has a picture of the end product in his mind. As he uses the pottery wheel to mold that lump of clay, he cautiously adjusts the speed and the pressure at different stages until the clay turns into the picture he first had. Being our potter, this creator God is also forming and shaping us into his image. He is using different situations to mold us into his likeness. 

                He is also the redeemer. The one who purchased the Israelites back from slavery in Egypt. With his son’s life, he purchased us from the dominion of Sin. He took full responsibility for all of our needs. He redeemed us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light. 

                He is the one who called the Israelites by name. Here we see a progression of intimacy in God's relationship with his people. First, the creator, and then the one who formed us and now the one who called our name. 

                You remember when you were in love. When you heard your name called by the significant other,”……” (how sweet it is). Calling one’s name expresses the intimacy of the relationship. In John 10:3, “the shepherd calls his own sheep by name ….”; 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me….” God knows and calls us by our name. 

                God is our creator, the one who forms us, who redeems us and calls us by our name. And he loudly proclaims that “You are mine”. We belong to him. This intimate relationship with God is our reference point in life. In times of chaos and confusion, we can come to him and we don’t have to be afraid.  

II. Our relationship with God provides us with security in life. V2.

                Vs2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Here we read about water and fire. Water and fire are the totality of trials in life; events that we would never have planned for ourselves. God tells his covenant people, that because they belong to him, when they pass the river, walk through the fire, they don’t have to be afraid. They can feel secure  Why? Because I am with you.

                These few days when we think of water and fire, we associate them with 9/11. Besides thousands of lives being lost, many more times that number of families and friends are affected. Imagine the grief and anger those individuals are going through. Sometimes just the thought of it makes our stomachs churn.

                Before this week’s attack, we are already in an economic down turn. There has been little good news coming out of Wall Street. We see the disappearance of our stock wealth in front of our eyes. And now, it makes us wonder how much harder it will be for the economy to bounce back.

                We feel that our immediate world is not under our control anymore. What we once considered as solid rock of security is gone before our eyes. We live in a country where we pride ourselves with its military power, financial power, and freedom of movement. Now, on 9/11 morning, the source of our pride and security came tumbling down. Like the smoke filled skyline of lower Manhattan, our entire nation is also covered with a dust of grief, fear, anger and frustration.

                And in the midst of such confusion, we hear these words, “don’t be afraid, for you are mine, I am with you.” Yes, the water is very deep and the fire is hot, like a burning inferno. So deep and hot that even lives are lost. But they cannot touch the souls of those who belong to him. They cannot touch our eternal destiny. And he says, “Do not be afraid, I am with you.”

                Often in such moments we want to find answers. We want to know why God allowed such things to happen. We want to know why he has allowed tragedies to occur in other parts of the world on a daily basis.

It is natural for us to ask Why? However, when we search the scriptures, we find God is rather silent on these calamities. Besides knowing that we live in a sinful world, sinful human beings can make sinful and evil decisions affecting many innocent people, we know little of why God allows them to happen. Even Job did not know the reasons for his suffering. We don’t know why God allowed all those atrocities to occur in the 20^th century. We certainly don’t understand why several thousand lives were lost on the morning of 9/11.

On Friday evening a young man in the Cantonese Student Fellowship commented that even if we knew the answer, it will do little to alleviate our fear and pain.

                On the other hand, the scripture is very loud and clear that as we walk through the waters and fire in life, he is with us. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. We know for certain that it also hurts him deeply when he sees the pain of his children. His heart hurts when he saw his only son dying on the cross for the sins of his people. His heart was aching when he saw the suffering of the Jews in those concentration camps. It hurts him deeply when the Jews and Palestinians are killing each other daily. It also hurts him deeply when over 5000 of his creatures died in those senseless tragedies. He hurts with our pain because he is an incarnate God.

Furthermore he says in vs4, “you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you…” While on earth, we may never know why God had allowed this and other tragedies to occur, but one thing we know is: The lord of the universe, the one who forms and redeems us, the one who calls us by our name, the one who loves us dearly is with us. He will never forsake us. He will never leave us alone. This is our security.

                We remember one time when Jesus was sleeping on a boat with his disciples and there came a storm. The disciples were terribly scared. After being awakened, Jesus said to them, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” You see, with Jesus in our boat of life, we don’t have to be afraid. Our relationship with this God provides us with that sense of security.

III.  Our relationship with God provides us with Hope.

                Vs5/6, “do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, “give them up……bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” God was telling the Israelites, in the coming days you will experience high waters and severe fires. There will be suffering and pain and even death. But there will come a day when I will gather you, my children from all parts of the world. The trials will not last forever. There is an end to them. In the midst of waters and fires, there is hope. There is hope in God's faithfulness and kindness.

                We also need to hear this same message. Yes, this week we saw the ugly face of evil. Evil is terrifying for a moment, but it doesn’t last forever. God's goodness and power will ultimately overcome evil. By God's common grace, he will enable the government, the city of NY and people of this nation to stand firm again. This nation will rise and rebuild. Yes, we are down and discouraged, but we will recover from this. However, this passage also points to us that even though we will experience physical recovery, this is not where our hope is. Our hope is not on what we can buy and build. Our hope is always on the one who loves and honors us dearly; on the one who created us, formed us, redeemed us and called us by our names.

                Furthermore, in the book of Revelation 7:9, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” There will come a day when all of God's children will be gathered together in his presence. As Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

                Our hope is not that the world will become a better place to live. We look forward to a day when our Lord will come again to bring us to where he is. It is a place where there will be no more pains, sorrow and tears. With this hope we are told not to be afraid.

Conclusion:

                I think of a father taking a walk with his son. The son walks ahead of the father. Suddenly there is a loud sound coming out of nowhere. The child is terrified, and what is his natural response? Running back to the father, holding him tight and not letting him go. 

                This Tuesday we have all heard the big bang. It had wakened us out of our complacency. The attacks have shaken the very source of our security: military might, financial might and freedom of movement. All of a sudden we recognized we are not in control. We also recognized how inadequate it is to put our faith on military, financial might and freedom. This is scary and unsettling.

                Where do you turn to? This past week many turned to synagogues, mosques and different kinds of churches. The one thing they have in common is to turn to someone higher and greater than us.

In our reading of the scripture, there is more than just a higher being. The one we to turn to is a very personal God. He loves and honors us. We are very precious in his sight, for he has created, formed and redeemed us. He is the one who first called us by our names. In the midst of water and fire, we don’t have to be afraid, for he has never left us. He is always there. He may be silent at times, but he is always by our side. He is our rock and our refugee. 

Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,  though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Rev. William Hsueh   Sep.16, 2001    Houston Chinese Church,  Houston, Texas