September 12, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Proverbs 1:20-23, 29-33; James3:1-6a, 9-10[1]
From the top of the towers, you
could see past the narrows,
Past Our Lady of the Harbor, to the broad, open sea;
See the curve of the earth on the vast, blue horizon,
From the world's greatest city, in the land of the free.
All the brave men and women that
you never would notice,
From the precincts and fire halls, were first on the scene
Storming into the buildings on the side of the angels,
They were gone in an instant in the belly of the beast.
We are children of slavery,
children of immigrants
Remnants of tribes and of tired refugees.
As the walls tumble down, we are stronger together
Stronger than we ever knew we could be
Strong as that statue that stands for the promise
Of liberty here in this city of dreams.[2]
These words, written by David Wilcox shortly after 9/11,
capture for me the essence of that day.
I was working in check processing for Wells Fargo Bank in
downtown Denver. Shortly after the morning shift started, our manager called us
all together to break the news. We were assured that upper management was
monitoring the situation, our building – one of the tallest in Denver – was not
a likely target, and we were to continue working the full shift. I remember
watching footage of the second plane and the collapse of the towers on a computer
in the manager’s office and, with a ball of ice in my stomach, thinking “we’re
going to nuke somebody.” It was a strange and lonely bus ride home that day.
You each have your own memories of that day. You may have
known someone working in the towers, in the Pentagon, or even on Flight 93.
Today we honor the nearly 3,000 people who died on September 11, 2001, and even
more who lost their lives in service to our country in the twenty years since.
What stands out for me, what fills me with hope from the days and years
following those events, is the courage shown by those who, when terrible things
happen, seek to help.
Fred Rodgers offered this advice to children, said by his
mother when something awful was in the news: “Look for the helpers.” That
advice, meant to help young people process tragedy, can be a call to adults to
be the helpers.
In his address the evening of September 11, then-President
George W. Bush framed it this way: “Today, our nation saw evil -- the very
worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America. With the
daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who
came to give blood and help in any way they could.”[3]
The best of human nature is in our desire to help others, to offer care and
compassion, to save and to serve.
Another former President, Barack Obama, remembers it this
way: “America has always been home to heroes who run towards danger in order to
do what is right.” He wrote these words yesterday:
For Michelle and me, the enduring image of that day is not
simply falling towers or smoldering wreckage. It’s the firefighters running up
the stairs as others were running down. The passengers deciding to storm a
cockpit, knowing it could be their final act. The volunteers showing up at recruiters’
offices across the country in the days that followed, willing to put their
lives on the line.[4]
It's not just Americans, either. I recall in the days
following 9/11 seeing photos of embassies all around the world piled high with
flowers, candles, and handwritten prayers and notes of solidarity. The Rev.
John Thomas, then General Minister and President of the United Church of
Christ, was in Germany meeting church partners in Europe. In a reflection
written last month, Thomas recalls: “From the members of the news media who
invited us to their studio to watch the unfolding events, from those who joined
in the vigils and memorial services we attended, and from the hundreds of young
people who gathered in central Berlin that night to sing, we experienced a
global solidarity the world desperately needs today.”[5]
That solidarity, that desire to help, was soon overpowered
by desire for revenge, the demand for a response that would show the strength
and power of the United States. Twenty years on we have only now ended our
longest war, our unity is frayed, and we are facing new threats to our society
with division and hostility.
When interviewed in Germany twenty years ago, Rev. Thomas
said, “The violence so many in the world experience on a daily basis has now
come to the United States. I hope that our response is to be drawn into a
deeper sympathy and solidarity with the vulnerable ones around the world, that
we will not retaliate by simply inflicting our own violence on others.”[6]
Sadly, we have in many ways turned away from sympathy and solidarity. We have
too often turned away from the gospel.
When our Muslim, Sikh, Arab, Indian, and Pakistani neighbors
are attacked because they look like the twenty men who took over the planes
that day, that is not the gospel. When people in the store are speaking
Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, or Arabic are told “this is America; speak English” or
“go back where you came from,” that is not the gospel. When people in our
communities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are blamed for
offending God or destroying families, that is not the gospel. “The tongue is a
fire. With it we bless the Lord, and with it we curse those who are made in the
likeness of God” (James 3:6a, 9).
God is love. God loves everyone. That is the gospel. Jesus
said, “Love one another” (John 13:34). That is the gospel. It is not too late
for us to turn back to love, to community, to recognize that we are all in this
together. It is not too late for us to remember that we are stronger together,
if we listen when wisdom cries out in the street.
Today, as we face another wave of coronavirus infections,
the helpers are still there. Doctors and nurses are exhausted, but they are
still doing what they can to save lives. Soldiers, some of whom weren’t yet
born 20 years ago, stayed in Afghanistan as long as they could to save
Americans and help refugees find a better life. Firefighters are battling
forest fires in the west, and first responders are defying flood waters in
Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York to bring families to safety. The best of
human nature is still within us, and that is what can and should bring us
together.
On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, let us consider
how we can still reach across barriers and find common cause with those who, in
the words of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, seek to “break down the dividing
wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). Let us undertake the journey that leads to
a new understanding of how we live in peace as a human, global community. Let
us find our unity again, not only as Americans, not only as Christians, but as
one human family.
The leadership of our denomination, the Elected Officers of
the United Church of Christ, have this challenge for the Church:
We… call for and invite a turning towards the ways that make
for peace between all peoples. Let us unlearn the ways of war. Let us no longer
cultivate fear for the purchase of political power. Let us be eager to know
both the conditions that make for suffering, and the requisite empathy needed
to alleviate it. …We embrace the hope that people of faith will unite in a
common love for all. That love is the only pathway we see to the vision we have
of a just world for all.[7]
In conclusion, I offer these words of prayer written by The
Rev. Ann Kansfield, a UCC minister and New York City Fire Department chaplain, for
a remembrance of 9/11 yesterday:
We pray for the fallen. They are the ones we love so dearly
and miss so deeply. We have entrusted them to you and ask you to continue to
embrace them in your love. We don’t really have to tell you, God, since you
already know. But we’ll say it again: the ones who have died and whom we
entrust to your care are some of the best people — wise, brave, compassionate,
joyful, whip-smart and really humorous. They are family, friends, neighbors,
and colleagues. They are your beloved children.
We also pray for the crestfallen. This day marks a time of so
much sadness and grief for so many. We ask for your care and comfort for the
living. Remind us again and again that you are with us and you always have
been.[8]
Amen.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2]
“City of Dreams” by David Wilcox and Pierce Pettis on Into the Mystery ©
2003 BMG Rights Management, Soroka Music Ltd.
[3]
George W. Bush, “9/11 Address to the Nation” delivered September 11, 2001. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm.
[4]
Barack H. Obama, posted on Facebook September 11, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10158872265961749.
[5]
John H. Thomas, “Are We Still of Any Use? Reflections on September, 2001 After
Twenty Years,” August, 2021.
[6] Ibid.
[7]
The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President; The Rev. Traci
Blackmon, Associate General Minister, Justice and Local Church Ministries; and
The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, Associate General Minister, Wider Church
Ministries and Operations; Co-Executive, Global Ministries; “UCC officers pray
for healing, understanding, unity in love on 9/11 anniversary” September 7,
2021. https://www.ucc.org/ucc-officers-pray-for-healing-understanding-unity-in-love-on-9-11-anniversary/.
