As we this past week experienced again the great tragedy of Sept 11, we are forced to once again deal with the question of why does God allow such hatred in the world. How can it be that on the doomed airplanes there were the terrorists giving glory to “Allah” and passengers pleading for mercy and protection from Jesus? We find in this event the great extremes of religion. On one hand, we have religion at its best and on the other hand, religion at is worse. We have people finding comfort and courage in the face of unspeakable horror and we have people inspired by a twisted version of their religion committing an act of murder and hatred.
As we remember this tragedy and the many others around the world, (Darfur for example) we remember that at the heart of our Christian faith is our belief in Jesus who suffers for the sake of the world. We come to these events knowing that in the midst of things we can’t understand, we trust the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. Jesus must suffer the cross to free us from violence and hatred. He must suffer the loneliness and isolation of the Christ to show is that we are never alone.
One of the pictures of Sept 11 that I will always remember is the Cross planted firm in the rubble. The towers fell, but the cross was raised. Hatred collapsed the buildings and fell planes from the sky, but God lifted up love and triumphed over it all.
This is our faith.
Remember: He must suffer
Pastor Tart
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