The Dirty Little Secret of 9/11

As I watched various news programs about that horrific day, I found myself, yet again, choking back tears. Ten years ago I went on a crying jag that lasted the better part of a week. The images and stories of heroism and senseless massacre burdened my soul. I still remember weeping and weeping. I also remember the point where I disengaged from the television coverage and started trying to live in the world outside the tragedy. Yet the raw emotion and sadness at the evil of that day are never far away.

Today I spoke with the parents of a young woman, married to a navy Seal in the war. She shared the constant worry and the difficulty this precious woman has as she waits for the next phone call from her beloved husband. The endless death and destruction continues. Young and old, all precious to God, are touched by the evil of that day.

In the Romans reading and Gospel I was given to preach on this weekend, the theme of forgiveness is central. (The actual sermon is on line at our church website.standrewscollierville.org) What I want to share is one shocking thing which I realized in prayer and study preparing the homily. It is like the dirty little secret which no one ever mentions. The horror and evil which we witnessed that day, which we remember ten years later, is but a small, even miniscule amount of the evil and sin perpetrated on that day. As I shared in my sermon, on 9/11 ten years ago, around the world, hundreds, even thousands of other people were mudered, or raped. Thousands of children were destroyed in the womb. Thousands of children were in sex slavery or other forms of bondage. Around the world, thousands on that day were poisoned by waste, starved by evil governments, ripped off by businesses. Thousands of spouses were cheated on. Millions were physically or emotionally abused. The list goes on and on. Each sin, each act of evil, was a personal affront to God. Each sin, each evil, was a cause of the Cross.

We are blessed by a God who in His mercy has forgiven such a huge debt of sin. I pause to think, I cannot bear the pain of the 9/11 horrors, much less entertain the millions and billions of sins committed that day and every day. The sheer number is unfathomable. Yet God, in Christ, absorbs all the sin. He takes it on Himself and forgives. He wipes clean the debt. A debt so huge no one could ever pay.

Our task is to forgiven the unforgivable. Jesus is clear on that. In practice that is very difficult. Perhaps, at times, even impossible. Yet we stand before God (or better kneel) and beg "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Wow. More that I can handle and I have spent two weeks thinking, praying, studying,  writing and preparing to give that message. How I wish Jesus would take control of me, to make me like Him. I guess He is, but He is doing it slowly.

Forgive us as we forgive. That is a covenant we make with God.
Help us forgive others as we have been forgiven by YOU, Merciful Lord!