Where Was God When The Muslims Boarded Those Airplanes?

I finished preaching two hours ago at a church about an hour from my home.  I’m presently sitting at a Starbucks sipping some lukewarm Pike.  And like many others scattered around this floating ball of cursed dirt, I’m wondering the following: “Where was God on 9/11?”

Regardless of which radio station I listened to while driving, the topic was only about 9/11.  And rightly so.  But even as I drove, praying about my sermon, confessing my sin, begging God to “show up” so I don’t just outright fumble His holy Word, I slapped my hand over my mouth, so to speak.

Show up?  Did I just pray, asking God to show up?  Shame on me.

On both 9/11 and this very morning as I stood behind the pulpit, God was where He always is and where He will always be.  He was seated on His glorious throne, ruling over the universe with absolute and unqualified sovereign control.

What exactly was God doing when those airplanes hit their targets, you ask?  He was making sure nothing went beyond what it should, busily orchestrating the billions of untold events so that many people would be spared, allowing people the opportunity to call their loved ones to say their final goodbyes, and holding up the steel rafters so that many could escape with the borrowed breath of life surging through their lungs.

That’s where God was on 9/11.  That’s exactly what He was doing during it all.  And we should be incredibly thankful that He was so very merciful to us all!

This morning I preached about the sovereignty of God and His adoption of those whom He predestined before the foundation of the world.  The Lord is in complete control over everything in this universe.  Nothing is outside the reach of His omnipotent hand.

Could God have stopped 9/11 from ever happening?  Yes.  Could God have killed the terrorists before they ever boarded those planes in the first place?  Yes.  Could God have allowed them to murder and destroy countless more people?  Yes.

God is not the author of sin and He never condones it.  Some wonder why God allows sin to exist, or even come into existence in the first place, if He is, indeed, omnipotent.  I don’t claim to know the answer to questions like that, but I do think that God allowed sin to occur so that He would destroy it once and for all at the Cross.

That might not be the answer you’re looking for, and that’s okay.  I’m certain there is a lot more to it than just the pithy answer I’ve provided.  However, I also know that God loves people infinitely more than we love even our closest friends and family members.  I am convinced of that.

Many radio and television programs of late have asked for the living to remember the ones who fell that wretched day ten years ago.  I’m all for that.  I love to hear the many stories about the brave heroes who raced into flaming buildings, carried the injured out to safety, only to race in once again and forfeit their lives for a greater cause.

Let’s always remember those people and never forget their sacrifice for others.  Never.

But if that is as far as we take, particularly for those of us who name the name of Christ, then I believe we have missed something more important in the greater scheme of it all.

What I mean is that something similar to 9/11 happened during the days that Jesus ministered on this earth, though on a much lesser scale, of course.

In Luke chapter thirteen a group of people came up to Jesus and told him about a bunch of Jews who were offering their religious sacrifices to the one true God, but were slaughtered by Pilate’s guards, thus having their own blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.  That was a terrible desecration for the Jews, both then and today.  To help you understand it a bit more, it was as if the local police department had entered your worship service this morning and walked up and down the pews cutting the throats of everyone who took communion.

That’s pretty much what those people were complaining about to Jesus.  Why did God let that happen, Jesus?  Why would God let Pilate murder all those innocent people?

But how did Jesus respond to this news?  Here’s how: “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-3).

Not exactly assuring words of comfort.  But Jesus usually spoke that way.  He never pulled punches, saying it like it is.  Jesus Christ was no beat-around-the-bush kind of Savior.

No doubt the people expected Jesus to bad mouth Pilate and condemn the incident publicly.  That would certainly have been the politically correct thing to do, especially for someone claiming to be the Jewish Messiah.

But what Jesus said next is what I think ties in some of the loose strings today with 9/11.

You see, there weren’t any “innocent” victims on 9/11.  Everyone who died that day was a sinner.  Bar none.  Some immediately entered God’s very presence as they exhaled that last breath and others awoke only to be cast into eternal torment due to their rebellious and unrepentant hearts.

Jesus said, “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3-4).

In other words, Jesus didn’t downplay the two tragedies.  (Not at all, and neither should we with 9/11.)  What He did do, however, was elevate the responsibility of every person who ever dies in this world.

Death is all our fault.  Death is my fault.  It’s Adam’s fault.  It is your fault.  It’s the terrorist’s fault.  We’re the ones to blame–not God.

Death happens everywhere and, frankly, there are far worse tragedies occurring daily around this planet that are more heinous than what happened on 9/11.  The only remedy, according to Jesus, is for each person to repent of their sins.  Period.

Repentance is necessary for forgiveness of sins, and having forgiveness of your sins is far more important than making sure towers don’t fall on you or that police don’t murder you while worshipping.  There’s nothing else that matters that much.

No doubt you’ve seen posters and advertisements everywhere saying, God Bless America.  But is God blessing America?  Is He?  While we abort millions of babies made in His image, rob, slander, fornicate, and call evil good and good evil in just about every corner of this nation, will God truly bless America?

No, He won’t bless any nation bent on willful rejection, rebellion, and the love of anything other than Him.  We shouldn’t be asking God to bless this nation, but to have mercy on America.

God Have Mercy On America.

We need mercy, not blessings.  Our money says, “In God We Trust,” but do we really trust God?  Don’t we actually trust in ourselves, in our silver, and mock God instead?

Many might have a problem with this blog post, and that’s okay, because I do too.  Maybe I’m being too brash, too insensitive, and overly religious.  I’m certainly not trying to, but there’s a real sense that I also don’t care if I am.

I’m tired of people around me dying without surrendering to Christ.  I’m tired of loved ones rebelling against God.  I’m sick of the idolatry that is all around me (and in me).  And what sickens me even more is that I’m partly responsible for it all.

And so I plan on clicking the Publish button right now.  So here it goes…