9/11 - Ten Years Later

I was with my family the morning of 9/11 when the phone rang and it was my associate pastor's wife saying, "Have you seen the news this morning...." Everything changed that day. Everything changed in my family, in our church and in our world. It was a defining moment for a generation. Past generations can remember where they were when they heard that JFK had been shot. Past generations can remember when the shuttle Challenger blew up. This generation will be defined by the 9/11 attack and America's longest running war post 9/11.

I believe Jesus wept when the 9/11 tragedy unfolded. I believe that He continues to weep as he sees the struggle continue in family member's minds as they ponder today the loss of their loved ones on that day. I believe he weeps when he thinks about the continued loss of all life in the middle east as the battle continues to rage on and on. What is the answer to all of this? Where do we go from here? How do we move? Do we move on? Should we move on? What is the answer?

The answer is in the cross. Jesus, incarnate God, died on a cross to save you and me. No one understood the cross. All wept. Yet, He died to save those who lost their lives in 9/11. He died to save anyone who was involved with the 9/11 tragedy and for those who died in the ensuing war beyond. All of us face all kinds of tragedies and disappointment every day. And those disappointments, like the cross, are huge. They are the valley of the shadow of death for us as found in Psalm 23. We can walk alone through those valleys, or we can walk through them with God. The cross was the pinnacle of God's process of salvation and it's direct answer was the resurrection - hope beyond the tragedy.

In other words, Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead and conquered death. "Oh death, where is your sting!" God turned the tragedy into something wonderful.

God can take the tragedy of 9/11 and turn it into something positive. We might not understand that, even now, 10 years post 9/11. But we can certainly trust that He has made other tragedies positive before. We can trust that the tragedy of the cross was turned around by the ecstasy of the resurrection. So, there are two ways to ponder the tragedy of a decade ago - with God, or without.

Today, as we remember, I will remember that God is at the center of this all, and I will trust him to turn this into something of resurrection quality someday, in His timing. God, in His timing will bring it all together in the ecstasy of the 2nd coming someday. Today, on the anniversary of 9/11 - as we remember heroes, tragedy and terror - I long for that day, the day when Jesus comes again!

roger walter
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Senior Pastor - http://bit.ly/qO3Vg
Adventist Community Church
www.VancouverAdventist.com