To begin today
I want to speak to you about events of 9/11 2001 that you may not know.
Most of us
remember that 2606 people died at the twin towers that day, this number
includes 71 law enforcement officers and 343 firemen.
The twin tower
memorial foundation states that on an average day there were 40,000 people
working in the twin towers, visitors could increase the number of people
in the towers upwards toward 100,000.
September 11,
2001 was the first day of school for many, there was a primary election that
day, there had been an NFL football game the night before, and a large
electrical storm. As a result, many
people were late for work that morning many offices did not open until 9:00 am and
visitors had not yet begun to arrive.
As a result,
when the planes hit instead of 40 to 100 thousand people in the towers there
were approximately 14,000 people in the towers. This means
almost 12,000 people escaped the towers that day nearly 6000 were injured but
most of these survived
A coincidence
maybe, but I am reminded of Romans 8 :28
We know that
all things work together for good……..
Our scripture
today is Luke 15:1-10
In one way or
another we have all lost something that we treasured. We are left to
grieve our loss,
As I researched
the events of 9/11 I read several stories of those who survived, everyone who
worked in the towers lost their jobs that day, all of them suffered post traumatic stress
issues to various degrees. When we lose
someone unexpectedly, before their natural life expectancy we mourn not only
the loss of the beloved person but the loss of the dreams of future joyful
times that will not be shared.
Today as we observe
the 15th anniversary if the terrible loss our country suffered that
day, the majority of us also experience the loss in
one way or another, as do the family, friends, co-workers and an army of
volunteers who raced to New York to assist.
Like one Red Cross volunteer here today who’s assigned task was to
compile a complete list of all the personal information on all of the fireman
lost that day, for use by charity organizations wishing to help.
Just as we
grieve us loses when we wander away from God he grieves for
us, and I believe he searches for us and calls us to return and draw close to
him.
I have shared
with you I am in recovery from alcohol abuse and 36 years ago this month God
spoke to me and I surrendered my alcohol problem to him I have no
trouble believing that the angels celebrated with Joy that day as I walked out
of the gates of Hell and into the life God meant for me to live.
Rob Bell in his book “Love wins” states that
he does not believe there really is a Hell, that we create it here on earth
when we wander away from God. I know from my experience when I did not
believe God Loved me I lost the Hope that radiates from his love and that truly
is Hell. God wants us to
be happy and joyful as we serve him and so the heavens rejoice when we are
found and return to his flock.
I am going to
share another little story of how I found my way back to God’s fold, when I did
not really know I was lost.
The second step
of the 12 steps of recovery is “Came to Believe that a power greater then
ourselves could restore us to sanity” This step is my
favorite and the word believe is the symbol that reminds me I must rely on God
for my recovery.
SO I see this soap dispenser one day with the
word Believe on it and home it comes.
Awhile later I
am in Walmart and I see there is a bathroom set that goes with the soap
dispenser so I decide to buy it for my birthday. I load the
toothbrush holder with the word Praise and the soap dish with the word Serve
and reach for the cup with the word
Trust.
I stand there
with the cup almost shocked…. I cannot take it home. My life story has pretty much removed trust
from my vocabulary. So I put the cup
back on the shelf and continue my shopping.
But I cannot get the cup out of my mind. And I
cannot seem leave the store. At last it
comes to me, yes I think the Holy Spirit
speaks to us in Walmart if there is something we need to know, as I returned to collect the cup with the word
trust on it, I realized I had trusted
God with my salvation, I had trusted him with my recovery, but I had not
trusted him with my life, the good and the bad. I could almost
hear the angels singing as I approached the check stand.
When I lost my grandson two years ago tomorrow
I was faced with my children’s grief and there was nothing I could do to
comfort them accept pray. And ask you to pray for them.
I watched them
fill the empty hole in their lives with their efforts to fight texting and
driving and knew it was God’s answer to our prayers.
I had lunch
with my daughter-in-law Lisa Thursday as I was leaving I said “my whole congregation
is praying for you and Jim every day.”
She replied people ask me often how I can cope with loosing Sam so well
and she tells them it is because lots of wonderful people are
praying for them and she knows they are loved.
I believe we
can trust that when we get lost be it due to anger, fear, hurt, sorrow and even just plain old forgetfulness
of how important it is to be grateful for God’s Love. God will come searching for us and when we are
ready to let him find us the heavens will rejoice that we are found.
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