Where are you God?

How young Christians should understand the terrorist attacks on America

By Rev. Scott Stiegemeyer

Most of us will always remember what we were doing on September 11, 2001...the day terrorists attacked New York City and the Pentagon. The scene has been played over and over again of skyscrapers on fire and people running for cover. If this were a summer action movie, it would be a blockbuster. But this is no Hollywood flick. It’s for real.

Many people are wondering how God could allow this to happen. Where was He that day? Was He sleeping late or just not paying attention? It’s hard for us to understand how this could be God’s will.

But let's be very clear...God hates death. He is opposed to those who cause the death of precious men, women and children. But since we believe the Triune God is all powerful, we must admit that none of this could have happened unless He allowed it. Why?

One thing to remember is that God permits things like this to happen to get our attention and call us to repentance. We could even say, as Martin Luther once said, "The devil is God’s devil." Even when the devil is doing his worst, God is still active to bring about His final purpose.

Here’s an illustration. A very rare condition exists that causes a person’s nerve endings to be insensitive to pain. You might think that would be cool to have a condition like this, but people who have this condition almost never live to reach adulthood. Why? They endlessly bump and bruise and damage their bodies, oblivious to the harm they're causing until finally their injuries are so severe that they lead to death. You see, pain serves a necessary purpose in this fallen world. It provides a warning that something is wrong. It alerts you to trouble, so that you stop what you’re doing and seek help.

We are a world full of pain and death. It’s unfortunate that often it takes a terrible tragedy to wake people up to their need for God. We are no more helpless, pitiful, sinful and needy now than we were before this tragedy happened. But the pain that our nation is experiencing has made us realize that something is very wrong. Everything is not OK. Simply put, we need God because we cannot make it by ourselves.

God's kindness has already become evident with sympathetic worshippers in church, and with supplies and blood being sent to those in need. The kindness of God will become even more clear in the days ahead as men and women lay down their lives for one another.

These are only a glimpse of God’s kindness that we can’t truly understand apart from the cross. God’s greatest kindness was shown "when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6 NKJV). This means Christ died for sinners, like you and me. Jesus Christ is the solution for man’s warring madness. He is the antidote for death. God used angry, self-righteous Jews and Gentiles to falsely arrest, torture and murder His Son, and out of that criminal act came salvation for us all. He allowed Himself to be brutalized and humiliated to make things right. By dying on the cross for us, Jesus paid the penalty for all sins. That’s right. Every insulting remark, hateful thought and act of terror can be absolved.

If God can use the devil to kill His Son and bring about the salvation of the world, He can use these terrorist attacks to draw us back to His loving embrace. That is the only way Christians can understand the recent terrorist attacks and find peace.

The Rev. Scott Stiegemeyer is pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Brentwood, Pennsylvania. He is the secretary of Higher Things.

WHY DO THEY HATE US?

We have to make sure that we don't lump all Arab people or all Muslims into the same category with these terrorists. It would be wrong for individuals to act out in anger to Arab Americans or to vandalize people's property solely on the basis of their ethnic heritage. As individuals, Christ calls us to treat all people as we would like to be treated.

But there are some in the Muslim world who do hate the United States. The reasons for this are complex. We have to keep in mind that Islam is not Christianity and followers of Islam, in some parts of the world, are even strongly anti-Christian. At times, this attitude is transferred to our nation as a whole.

Another reason is this: American movies, music, style and culture are known and imitated around the world. We may identify America with such values as freedom, equality and opportunity. Some in the Arab world, however, have identified America with greed, lust and materialism. Our government also has angered many on account of our support for the state of Israel. None of this is easy to sort out. As Christians and citizens of the kingdom of heaven, our duty is to pray and labor for the conversion of all people, regardless or country or race, so that everyone may know Jesus as their only Savior, be baptized and enter the Christian Church.