8 September 2002 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Pentecost 16 – Sept. 11 Anniversary Alexandria, VA
Jesu
Juva
“Only One Answer”
Text: Matthew 18:20 (Romans 13:10; Ezekiel 33:7-9)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
We are now three days shy of the one year
anniversary of September 11th.
TV, newspapers, radio, and all forms of the media are going to be
inundated with retrospectives, evaluating that day and the year that has passed
since. And to be sure, since that day
some things have changed, but much has also stayed the same. Some things in our world are better, but some
things are worse. Many still live with a
sense and feeling of pain and loss, while for others life has gone back to
normal. . . .
But what cannot be disputed is that since that day
there has been an enormous confusion – not new, but brought to light once again
by the horror of these attacks. And it
is an enormous confusion brought on by a multitude of voices all offering
different opinions, questions, answers, and reasons
for what took place, why it took place, the nature of man, the ways of God, and
what we can do to fix what has become of our world today. . . .
But take a look around – are we really “stronger now than we were
before?” Are we really “better now than
we were before?” Have we really fixed
anything? No. And we won’t, because we can’t.
What happened September 11th is not,
contrary to what you have heard so many times, an extraordinary,
once-in-a-lifetime event. Perhaps in magnitude,
yes, it was. I suppose only time will
tell if that’s a true statement or not.
But in reality, and more important, theologically, as we consider our
world, and what’s wrong with it, and the problems that we face everyday – both
big and small – September 11th was only another symptom of a much
larger and more serious problem that infects us all. And that is sin. And on September 11th we saw
sin – and not just because there were terrorist acts –
but because death is sin rendered visible. And on that day death came home to roost in a
way that most of us are not used to. But
as horrible and untimely as those deaths were, we must remember, so are the
deaths that happen everyday. The quick and sudden deaths
of loved ones taken by crime. The slow and painful deaths of loved ones taken by disease. The tragic deaths of those
taken by accident. . . . Death is not natural. Death was never meant to be. Death is the wages of sin. And so on September 11th, we saw
sin – only more up close and personal than many had seen it before.
And so since September 11th there has
been an enormous confusion in our country and in the world, evidenced by people
asking questions such as, “Why did this happen?
Where was God? Was God punishing
us?” I’m sure you heard those
questions. Maybe you even asked them
yourself. And I’m sure you heard a great
many and diverse answers to those questions.
But almost all the answers to those questions fell short and missed the
mark because people were looking not at the cause of all this, at the
disease, but only at the symptoms. And
most of the fixes and solutions that were suggested were aimed at treating the
symptoms and not the cause. It is the
same as if you had a great deal of pain because of cancer – you can treat the
symptom by taking pain killers to make you feel better, and you probably will
feel better, but you haven’t touched the disease. And isn’t that what we see has happened in
our country, not only but especially this past year? We’re trying to make ourselves feel better,
and to some extent perhaps we have – but the disease is still there. Sin is still there. Death is still there. We haven’t fixed anything. And we won’t, because we can’t.
Because sin is incurable! You can’t cut it out, it won’t go into
remission, there is no medicine that can make it go
away. It is the disease that you have,
and the person beside you has, and the whole world has. It is as we confessed in the liturgy this evening,
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” And you are stuck with this disease until you
die. And that’s the only time you will
be free from sin – when you die. When
sin reaches its conclusion and its wages are paid. . . .
But to a world that denies the reality and seriousness of sin, what we
saw on September 11th then defies explanation, and therefore creates
confusion.
But to this confusion of voices and opinion and
questions God has a message to speak, and therefore the Church has a
message to speak, and therefore you and I have a message to speak. And it is not a new message because it is not
a new problem! It is the same problem
that has been since Satan injected this disease into all of us through
Adam. And so our message is not about
how to deal with the symptoms, but how to deal with the disease; how to deal with
sin and death. It is the message of the
cross. For there too, sin was made
visible in death. There we see sin – our
sin – crushing the perfect, innocent, sinless, Son of God. There we see Jesus dying for the guilt of our
sin. . . . On September 11th you heard it
said that so many innocent people died.
Politically speaking, that is true.
Theologically speaking, it is not.
There was only ever one person who was innocent of all sin and yet had
to pay the wages of sin in death. And
that was Jesus. He was the truly
innocent one into whom Satan crashed all of His strength, and for three days it
looked as if that tower had fallen.
But on Sunday morning, when the tumult settled and the dust cleared and
the women went in to look for the body, they did not find what they
expected. They did not find a body. They did not find death. They found life! And death was defeated. It was as Jesus had said, “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
And so now there is a place of safety for us. A tower of strength that can withstand all
the assaults and attacks of the devil and will not fall, and that is in Christ
– in His death and resurrection. And so
He is calling to us to die with Him. To
die now, so we will not die later. To
get death over with so that we can now live our lives in freedom and with a
confident hope in the future. . . . For isn’t that what so many are looking for? So many, since September 11th, are
worried about the future, are worried about death, are worried about future
attacks and troubles and what lies ahead.
But in Christ death is done, the guilt of our sin is forgiven, and our
future is secure. In Christ we have the
confidence and security that so many are searching for! In Christ, we know that however and whenever
death comes upon us, and whether it is sudden or slow, that death will not, and
cannot, win. That it is not the
end. “For,” as St. Paul writes,
“if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly
be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”
And so we have a message to speak – a message of
hope and security. A message for even
when bad things happen to good people.
For the cross teaches us that we don’t always know how to judge whether
something is good or evil;
we don’t always know what should and shouldn’t be; we don’t know that much at all. . . .
For as we focus on the cross, we see the categories of “good” and “evil”
demolished. For how do you judge the
cross? Was it “good” or “evil?” Yes.
The evil of the cross is the good of our salvation. The miscarriage of Roman justice is God’s
justice for the sins of the world. The
rejection of Christ by the world is God’s reconciliation of the world. The innocent Sufferer is the sacrificial Lamb
who takes away the world’s sin. The
cross is both the cursed tree and the tree of life. The punishment for our sin
and the atonement for our sin.
The cross is both Law and Gospel.
The cross is “evil” used for “good.”
And so in the cross we see the God who hides life in
death, victory in defeat, power in weakness.
He buries His divinity deeply in our humanity, and then suffers, dies,
and rises to save the world. In the
cross, we see most clearly “God for us” – not in glory, but when He is forsaken
and afflicted in suffering. In the
cross, we see that through suffering and death comes
life. In the cross, we see that God’s
will is always a good and gracious will to save, even when it seems
otherwise. Evil is a problem for us, but
it is not a problem for God. He has
already defeated it. He has already won. It is not out of His control. Nothing is wrong with Him. No. If
we suffer now, it is for our good. If we
endure evil now, it is for our good. If
we die now, it is for our good. Even
though we do not have all the answers, even though we cannot understand all
that we see happening around us, faith and trust do not rely on understanding,
but rise above it. The cross teaches us
that there is life in the midst of death, and that God knows our suffering and
our pain. For on the cross He embraced
us in our suffering and pain, so that through it we might have eternal life.
And that is the strange and unique message that we
have for the world. That
faith that does not know all the answers, but answers the call to die and live
with our Saviour who died and lives for us. And so we are joined with our Saviour’s death
and resurrection in Holy Baptism, and we get death over with as we are
re-born to a new life in Christ that never ends. We are joined with our Saviour’s death and
resurrection in Holy Communion as we partake of the fruits of His
suffering and death, His very body and blood, and are sustained by Him through
the suffering of this world. And we are
joined with our Saviour’s death and resurrection as we fall before Him in repentance,
returning to our baptism to drown the old, sinful man in us, so that through
the free and full forgiveness of our Saviour a new man might arise and live
before God in righteousness and purity forever.
And living that life, for the Christian every day is a day of
death and resurrection in Christ, so that when that day does finally come when
we are taken from this life in death, it will be a day we have been practicing
for, and are ready for. It is a day we
need not fear. For we have already died
with Christ; therefore
we know that we will also live with Him.
And so this is the message that we proclaim to the
world. The message
that God told the prophet Ezekiel to proclaim. The message that if we
truly love our neighbor, we will proclaim. To not speak this truth and to
tolerate error and false religion is not love, it is the opposite. But to speak this truth is life and freedom
and love. And Christ is among us in this
proclamation of the truth . . . in this message of reconciliation . . . this
message of death and resurrection. “Where
two or three are gathered in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.” He is with us in our suffering. He is with us in our pain. He is with us with His grace that is
sufficient for us.
Feel good and feel better solutions don’t work! If 9-11 has taught us anything, it has taught
us that. The only answer is the
cross. Where we see
that God is not far from us, but has come to be with us. That God is not punishing us, but has
forgiven us. That God uses even what is
evil for His good. And that even in
suffering and pain, the love of God is working – for us and for our
salvation.
In the Name of the Father,
and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Amen.