As I remembered this day twelve years ago (as well as the
same day last year), I debated whether or not to say anything to my children
about it. They had finished breakfast, gotten dressed and were waiting for me
to start homeschool with them. Just as my day started with such normality
twelve years ago before hearing the news so did their day begin today. Just as
I had gone about my morning as a newlywed believing life was great, my girls
were laughing and playing while oblivious to the pain currently being experienced
by so many.
I decided to tell my girls about the day so I called them
into my bedroom and allowed them to watch a few brief moments of news coverage
before turning the television off.
But what should I say to a five and a seven year old that
would not give them needless nightmares or fears about air travel or tall
buildings? What did I want them to understand and learn?
I didn’t go into detail about the terrorists’ religious
backgrounds or about exactly how they carried out their wicked plan, but here
is what I decided to explain...
Today is a sad day for many people
in our country because it is when we remember that twelve years ago there were certain
people who hated our country so much that they chose to murder people that they
did not even know. There were 2,977 people murdered, around 6,000 people
injured, and countless lives forever affected by the loss and pain.
Jesus tells us in the Bible that
hating a person is a sin just like murdering a person is a sin (Matthew
5:21-22). We are told that the hate in our heart is the same as if we were murdering
them in our heart even if we were not doing it in real life. “Anyone who hates
a brother or sister is a murderer” (1
John 3:15).
If we have anger in our heart
towards someone we need to evaluate our attitude to see if the anger is
honoring to God (righteous anger against sin) or if our anger is selfish and
proud. If our attitude is wrong we need to pray that the Lord would change our
heart so that we can honor Him. It is so important to pray for this help
because we cannot change our heart on our own. This change can only take place
by the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe in Jesus
Christ for their salvation.
[The girls have been memorizing a
catechism so many of these questions/answers are familiar to them. I intend to
blog about this in the future.]
John 3:3; Romans 8:6-11; 1
Corinthians 2:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14; Titus 3:5,6
John 3:5,6; 6:44; Romans
8:2,5,8-11; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; Galatians 5:17,18; Ephesians 2:4-6)
(Luke 11:9-13; John 4:10; 16:24)
Whom do you know in the Bible who
allowed his anger to turn into hate which spilled out of his heart into real
murder? Cain (Genesis
4:2-8). God saw Cain’s heart as the selfish anger began to grow and warned
Cain to bring his attitude into check so that the sin would not rule in his
heart and life. Cain did not heed the LORD’s warning but allowed the anger to
grow into sin leading to murder which resulted in the worst punishment of being
sent away from the LORD’s presence (Genesis
4:14,16).
So if hatred is a wrong attitude then
what kind of attitude should we have?
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking
to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
used to his own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even
death on a cross!" (Philippians
2:3-8)
Even though He is God, Jesus Christ
was willing to die for our sins because of His great love for us (Romans
5:8). This is the opposite attitude of the hatred that leads to murder or
destruction.
We all sin, and we all have bad
attitudes at times. When we do we need to allow the LORD to change our heart
and our thoughts.
“Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians
4:8)
God created us for His own glory,
and we can give glory to Him by loving and obeying Him (catechism
questions 1, 3, and 4). His rules are not to be mean, inconvenient or
burdensome to us. Instead He gave us these rules of how to act and what heart
attitude to have because He knows that it is the best for our lives. He knows
that obeying Him brings about blessing for us and that disobeying (sinning)
causes death and destruction for us and those around us…just as happened on
September 11, 2001.
I know there are countless other issues that can be brought
up as we reflect on the memory of this day in history. Our political and economic
landscapes have changed as a result of that day. Families and friends will
forever miss their lost loved ones. Freedoms have been taken away from the
citizens of our country as a preventative measure against future attacks, and
yet political correctness requires that we not give scrutiny to those groups
with which the terrorists aligned themselves. Questions can be raised about why
bad things happen and where God is when they do. There are practical lessons to
learn about how best to respond to catastrophic events in an attempt to save
lives and provide immediate relief to those hurting and long-term comfort for
those who continue to mourn.
There will come a time, as they grow older, when I will
teach my girls about the earthly results of the attack of September 11th
as well as about the deeper theological questions that are naturally raised.
However, for now I wanted them to examine the heart. What led to the
devastation? Was it Islamic terrorism or was it preeminently rooted in sin? Ultimately
I say sin. Sin is at the heart of each tragedy and sorrow regardless of what
form it takes. That same sin is in my heart, the hearts of my girls, and the
hearts of all of humankind except by the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ
who has the power and authority to forgive sin, cleanse us from all
unrighteousness and give us the hope of a sanctified life enjoying His presence
for all of eternity if only we have faith in Him as LORD (Romans
3:23-28, 1
John 1:8-10, Matthew
9:6 and Mark
2:10, John
17, Romans
5).