Job 1:1-3, 13-21
At 8:45 am on September 11, 2011 our world changed. Our nation would never be the same. So many questions confronted us; so few answers were available. How can people be so evil? Where was God?
Questions are hard to answer in tragic times. Yet, we keep asking questions, because on this 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, we relive the horror.
If you take a tour of The Bible you will find that one book has more questions than any other, the book of Job. Job has over 330 questions; Genesis, only 160; Matthew around 180. Job has more questions because the book deals with tragedy.
Job is a righteous man, blameless and upright, greater than all others. Suddenly without warning, for no reason other than his goodness, Job’s family and businesses are wiped out. It was swift.
It was unwarranted. It was unconscionable.
In many ways, the events of September 11th echo the story of Job. For in thousands of years, life, the things that make life meaningful -- faith, home, and friends -- have not changed. Job was silent when he received the reports that his businesses had been destroyed. When Job received the news that his children were dead, he got up, tore his robe, fell on his knees and cried,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.” (1:21a)
Everything that had meaning in his life was gone. Just as he came into this world, so Job felt he was leaving it -- barren, without hope.
From the news reports since 9-11, and the anniversary special editions in the papers, TV and Youtube, we are reminded of the many children our country lost: dads, moms, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. We saw their faces. We heard their stories. Grief has rolled across our country once more. We mourn people who died so horribly. We mourn the deaths of our service personnel, much too aware, that many more will die, before this war is over.
Does mourning demoralize our people and paralyze our country?
No, it reveals our soul. While Job had a fence to protect him, his soul was hidden. When the protection was taken away, allowing Satan to have his way with Job, only then do we see Job’s true self, the depths of his soul.
Just because we are good does not mean we are protected from bad events. This is the message in Job. It is the Old Testament’s way of saying that even the most righteous and best of this earth are not immune to evil. The writer of Job understood this. Job did not. He was too caught up in his grief & loss.
Job’s friends could not comprehend what happened. His three friends come to him and say, in effect, only those who have done evil, perish. Those who are righteous are never destroyed. They thought Job had done terribly evil things for him to suffer so much.
I was struck by a journalist’s comment made shortly after the attacks:
“We thought we were impervious to attack because of 2 great barriers -- the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Those are no longer barriers. They have been breached and our protection is gone.” (I don’t remember who wrote this)
I heard a Christian politician say that 9-11 was God’s Will. We need to have faith that something good will come out of this. Sisters and brothers, you cannot blame terrorist attacks on God. There is evil in this world! As good & great as America is, we do not have an exclusive and closed relationship with God. No person does. No country does. There is a third party in this world who at any moment can intrude.
Satan and all the evil he inspires intruded on September 11th through the hearts and minds of ruthless people.
Where, then, is God? Where is God when terrible tragedies befall us? Job wants to know why he has suffered. Why God allowed evil to happen? Job gets his answer when God visits him from out of a storm
and interrogates Job. Listen to some of the questions:
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you understand” (38:4)
“Do you have an arm like God’s and can your voice thunder like the Divine?” (40:9)
“Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?” (39:19)
After 86 questions from God, Job is silenced. He realizes he is only human; only a creature before the Creator. Job cannot possibly comprehend the meaning of the events around him. Finally, Job repents in dust and ashes.
Where was God during the terrorist attacks? God was not crashing those four planes. I’ll tell where God was. God was in the firefighter’s gear, behind police badges, holding a scalpel and a syringe. God is in churches listening to prayers. God is near the hearts of all, who in the face of tragedy, love their neighbor, and turn to God.
God continues to be with us, as we remember our tragedy, placing our hope in the triumph of God’s love and grace. Jesus says:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
“Come to Me all who are overburdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
”I am the Resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live, and everyone lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
There is our hope. When the world changes, we still have Jesus. Because Jesus lives, we, too, will live. We may live to be 100 or we may die in a terrorist attack. As the Apostle Paul wrote:
"whether we live or die,we are in the Lord.” (Romans 14:8)
Our hope is in Jesus, the Son of God. Our hope for healing the suffering of our nation. Our hope for healing the grief we have over a war we didn’t want to fight. Our hope for healing the pain in our souls over our own brokeness, our own hurting soul. So, what should we do?
Look for Jesus here, now. Jesus will never forsake us.
Jesus is waiting to give you the hope, love and salvation that was prepared for you on the cross. Amen.
This sermon was preached from
the pulpit of Ginter Park United
Methodist Church, Richmond,
Virginia, on September 11th, 2011
by the Reverend Dr. Dorothy
McNeer O’Quinn.