Responding to the 9/11 Call

July, 1988. Our family has lived in New York for 10 years. Before moving to Ohio, my wife and I decide to take our three children to see the sights one last time. We spend a sunny summer day riding on the Staten Island Ferry, visiting the New York Stock Exchange and the Statue of Liberty, walking through Chinatown. In lower Manhattan, we take the elevator to the top of the World Trade Center.

From the roof, I gaze down at the city streets where yellow taxis and silver busses scurry around, but the people are too tiny to see. I've spent 10 years trying to bring the gospel to people who live and work in this city. I wonder, Has it made any difference? I look down at the brochure in my hand, which the attendant gave us when we paid for our tour tickets. The cover of the brochure says, "The World Trade Center, New York. The closest some of us will ever get to Heaven." Silently I pray for the Christians in New York.

September 11, 2001. A coworker sticks his head into my office. His wife called to say that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We turn on the TV and stare in disbelief as smoke billows from both towers. Trying to describe the indescribable, stunned reporters start using words like "hijacking" and "terrorist attack." Suddenly another reporter breaks in. A plane has crashed into the Pentagon. Another hijacked plane has crashed in Pennsylvania. The president, stern but composed, appears on television to tell the American people what has happened.

I quickly call together the members of our staff. Uncertain about the extent of the damage, we pray for the rescue workers, the victims, the president, and those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Returning to my office 45 minutes later, I turn on the TV again. By now, both towers of the World Trade Center have collapsed in an enormous cloud of dust and smoke.

That evening a large group of solemn, dazed-looking worshipers gather in our church building. We pray for comfort. We ask God for wisdom. We read from the Psalms. We pray for our nation's leaders. We reaffirm our faith that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38, 39). On Friday of the same week, in response to the president's request for a national moment of prayer, hundreds more come to church for a noon-time service that is simple but sincere. A local TV news crew shows up. I am amazed that prayer is suddenly such big news.

December 2, 2001. Five days from now, America will mark the sixtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Patriotism is popular again. The flag is flying high again. Soldiers are risking their lives again. Americans are praying for our leaders again, and remembering the price of freedom again. Many are afraid. Where shall we turn?

September 11 (9/11) should remind us of Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." The psalm continues, "His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday" (Psalm 91:4-6).

How should Christians respond to these difficult days? With faith, not fear; with trust, not terror. Our world may have changed forever on September 11, but the Lord our God will always be the same.