Terrorism in the US: A sermon from the Special Service of Prayer and Hearing God’s Word

Archbishop Peter Jensen | 10 July 2002

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We have witnessed once again an act of malice, wickedness and gross evil perpetrated against the innocent. Our first response was a sort of stunned disbelief, as though we were watching a disaster movie from which we would soon emerge, entertained and smiling. But this is the real world, not a make-believe one.

In the face of this reality, we are going beyond our first, numb reaction. We are now appalled and horrified; and then horror has been succeeded by anger, anger at those who are so callous and hate-filled.

There is fear as well, for if the economic, political and military centre of the world’s greatest power can be struck with such force, who can stand? What limits are there to human depravity? Who is safe?

There is an even deeper fear - fear of the neighbour. Both the U.S. and Australia are great migrant countries. We welcome the peoples of the world in all their differences. We rejoice in the differences while we recognise the unique dignity of every human being, their preciousness in the sight of God and their equality before the law.

But it also seems possible to hate the neighbour when we imagine a conspiracy, when their language is not the same, when we suspect them of evil designs. Fear has hit our nation, and we must handle it properly, committed as ever to justice, fairness and compassion.

What sense can we make of this awful carnage? Where can we turn for help at such a time? We need wisdom to explain the situation and strength to cope. Human helpers and counsellors offer genuine help. But there is a limit to human resource. In the end we do not know; in the end human aid fails us. We come to an end of ourselves and must look beyond.

Our culture has made it a habit of setting aside the wisdom of the past, especially the Bible. Words from of old cannot help us - or so we think. But in the midst of catastrophe, when we reach the extreme point, when we are confronted with the great realities, suddenly the Bible’s words come through with immense power and wisdom. Suddenly there is nowhere else to turn to bind up the broken-hearted, salve the sick, comfort the bereaved, and give wisdom to the simple. Appropriately, the President quoted the Bible, and it is to God’s word that we should turn.

The book of Psalms reminds us that in the midst of such extreme events, our only hope is to turn to the Lord God for his help and to his word for his wisdom. If human resource cannot cope, we are left with the resources of the living God himself. When we turn to the Bible, what do we find to say and to do?

First, the Scriptures teach us that the victims, their family and friends, are our neighbours, worthy of our love. We therefore reach out our loving and sympathetic arms to all those who have been directly affected by this terrible deed, sharing something of their grief and pain, entering their sorrow with them. We wish to say to them, and to all American people, how deeply we feel for you and wish to stand with you at this time.

Second, the Scriptures teach us to condemn all wicked violence, all taking of innocent life, all attempts to work God’s righteousness by ungodly means. We condemn such activities, whether in ourselves or in others, and we condemn the perpetrators of these deeds. With the Bible’s help we know evil when we see it.

Third, the Bible makes us confident of God’s righteous and sovereign power. God is the judge of the whole earth, and he is the one true and righteous judge. If we do not experience his judgement now, it is because he withholds his hand, waiting for sinful men and women to turn to him in repentance.

But of this we may be absolutely sure: that evil men will not triumph, that God will vindicate the innocent and glorify his own name. His judgement may be slow as we count time, but it is very sure.

God judges often through human agents. The Bible tells us that the lawful authorities are God’s servants… ‘to bring punishment on the wrongdoer’ (Rom. 13:4). For their part the justice of human agents must be entirely fair. They must not lapse into the methods of the unjust and villainous; they must not punish the innocent or act from ill-considered rage. They, too, must answer to God.

We need to remember this as we long for justice and vindication; that we, too, are guilty before God; that the roots of evil are intertwined; that we benefit from sins committed in our name; that God’s judgement is righteous and without discrimination. He may act through human agents; he may act himself at the end of time. But that his judgement day lies before all men and women we may be very sure, and we need not despair that sin will go unpunished.

Fourth, the Bible calls on us to remain confident in our sovereign God, despite the circumstances. ‘In God we trust....’ are no empty words. The Bible says that God is the Lord of all things in space and time. But it does not pretend that his power creates perfect peace and security - at least, not until the end of time, when ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away; (Revelation 21:4). In our time, however, Psalm 46 says that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging”.

In other words, the Bible knows all about suffering and evil, especially human evil and its devastating effects on this world. It does not make God’s presence independent of such evils, or abstracted from them.

It sets God in the midst of them. The Bible is the book which tells us about human evil. It expects wickedness, and we should never be surprised at how far into evil men and women will go. We live in a world in rebellion against God, and we must expect the consequences. But God has not abandoned his world. He is present in it, and we may turn to him with perfect confidence that he will hear us and uphold us, despite the awfulness of our experience.

This remains the testimony of Christians. ‘There is a river’, they say with the psalmist, ‘whose streams make glad the city of God....God is with her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day’. It is natural to ask ‘why’ such events may occur. At one level we can explain them in human malice and sin. But why does God permit them? Christians no more have the answer to this than anyone else does. We have no direct access to the purposes of God in specific events.

When Bishop Frank Retief’s church in Cape Town was bombed, the Christians were continually asked ‘why’ and they were not able to answer. But the believers found that they were not troubled by this question. Their experience of God was such that they did not need to know ‘why’ - they were prepared to trust God and to believe that he had his purposes which would in the end be for good: ‘Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolation he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” ‘ (46:8-11)

What gave them this assurance? It could only be the sheer reality of the Bible, which leads you in the end to Jesus Christ. God is in charge, but his Son was crucified. If those two things are true, then somehow we can still believe that goodness will triumph, that God will be exalted, that righteousness will be vindicated. A world in which the Son of God was both crucified and resurrected is a world in which it is possible to have hope even in the midst of the thickest gloom and sorrow.

You can turn to God. Even if you came here tonight with a broken heart and in deep pain, you can turn to God. He, too, knows suffering from within, and he will not fail you or forsake you.

Fifth, the Scriptures teach us to take the practical steps of love, to find and do the good works that a day like this lays upon us. What is there for us to do? These three things:

Firstly, refuse to engage in racist attacks on others. There are people in our community who are being harassed and vilified on religious or racial grounds. They do not deserve this, and the offenders are displaying ignorance. This will only breed further injustice. The Christian way is that of love. Let us give ourselves to that path.

Secondly, sympathy and concern. There are a number in our midst, especially American citizens or Australians with friends and relatives in the U.S. who are fearful, bereaved, suffering. It may be that you simply do not know what has happened to someone you love. It may be that the worst has happened. It may be that as an American you simply shrink from the experience of being apparently hated and insecure.

We want to assure you of our love, sympathy and care. We have gathered to pray for you and with you. In fact, there are people on hand tonight to offer you specific help; to pray with you personally, to share with you as they listen to your story; to offer you expert counselling of you have need of it. These are simply tokens of the response of our community to you at this dreadful time - and I am sure that Australians as a whole are wanting you to know that we care for you.

Thirdly, and most practical of all, prayer. God is sovereign over all, and he listens to our prayers. We can do little from this distance to offer gifts or support. But we can pray, and that is the most practical gift of all.

In particular, we need to pray for our leaders, local or international. They are merely human, but they carry great burdens on our behalf. Pray that they will have the Lord’s wisdom and that they will behave in godly and righteous ways. Pray for peace and pray for justice; pray that God’s kingdom will come and his will may be done on earth as in heaven. That at least we all can do.

Our hold on life is tenuous. The Bible knows this, too. No matter how strong we are, how clever, how wealthy, the sleep of death may come upon us in an instant, when the Lord says, ‘return to dust, O sons of men’, (Psalm 90:3). And so for us, as for all, there remains one hope alone - the Lord ‘our dwelling place throughout all generations’ (Psalm 90:1). Trust in him, even now, and his promise is sure: ‘the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.’ (Psalm 46:11)

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