Good morning, Dearest Friends,
We will never forget the events of that clear Tuesday morning twenty-two years ago today, the day that terrorists launched the horrific attack on our country on September 11, 2001. It was a day like only a few others in our history and it became one of the days that will live on in infamy. In some ways, it remains a day that serves as a dividing point between the “before” and the “after.”
What none of us could ever imagine happening within our borders had actually happened. The shock, grief, anger, and disbelief were deep and profound. That night, I offered to hold a Service of Prayer in a Time of National Crisis in the church I was serving at the time, and though we didn’t have much opportunity to get the word out, we still had nearly 300 people to attend. Throughout the rest of that week, there would be folks in the sanctuary who came to pray at different times. I told the staff to expect the church to be filled to overflowing the next Sunday, September 16, and it was.
It is in times of great calamity and crisis that we are most propelled by our faith. It is then that we turn back to the assurance that God has final control and judgment on our world and on all of creation, that we will not be left comfortless or alone in our devastation. Those seem to be the times when Americans return to church in record numbers because we are, in our heart of hearts, people of faith. Disaster and death and doubt sometimes overtake us. But we are never without hope.
Our trust is instinctively in God, who divided the waters of chaos at creation. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, who stilled the storms, raised the dead, and vanquished the demonic powers. Our faith is in the Holy Spirit who gives us strength and grace to overcome adversity.
In a time of great division, animosity, bitterness, and rancor in our country, I once again appeal to “the better angels of our nature,” as Abraham Lincoln has said, that we may turn our faces once more toward God. May we lift into God’s heart our intercessions for all whose lives have been forever altered, or shattered, or taken by violence of person against person. Let us lift up into God’s heart those whose anger leads them to disregard those God created in God’s own image. Let us lift up into God’s own heart our national leaders, including our President, even if he is from a political party other than our own, and the leaders of other nations who are called upon to fashion a peaceful world community. Let us pray also for ourselves, our families, friends, and colleagues, and let God touch and heal our angst, our pain, and our fear.
On behalf of us all, our nation, and our world, I humbly offer this prayer: Most holy and gracious God, hear our prayer for our world, our nation, ourselves. Grant us comfort. Tame the violent forces that seem to defy control and shock us by their fury and senselessness. Help us to trust Your mercy and to remain steadfast in our faith. Loving God, into Your heart we lift all whose lives are currently filled with confusion and fear. Take them into Your loving heart and give them peace. May we all turn back to You, O God, because You are alive, You have saved us, You have made us free, and You will never let us go. To the glory of Your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
In the name of Christ our Savior,
Bruce Jones, Pastor Imagine Church
