Attack on America: How Do We Respond?
An open letter from Jack Voelkel
September
12, 2001
Dear Friends:
Most of us in the U.S. are still reeling from what appears to have been terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11th. It has been an experience of shock, confusion, and deep sorrow. How do we as Christians with missionary hearts respond to these events?
On the evening of the 11th as I meditated on the terrible events that had happened during the day, I felt that the Lord led me to a very significant series of verses in the rarely cited Old Testament book of Lamentations.
You will remember that this book was composed by the prophet Jeremiah following the cataclysmic siege, fall, and total destruction of the beautiful capital city of Jerusalem in the 6th Century BC. He sits among the ashes and weeps out his lament for the city he loved so much.
How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become, she what was great among the nations!...
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks (1:1,2).
Unexpectedly, right in the middle of his book, he shares with us a helpful word that I think can guide us all as we face our own contemporary tragedy. Let me quote his words:
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope;
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion" says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord....
Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
For he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone....Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.
We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven (3:21-42).
Allow me to underscore some of his ideas:
1) God is on the throne (note also 5:19). These events have not caught God by surprise. He knows and he cares. Although the mighty walls of Jerusalem did not hold the enemy out (to everyone's surprise! - note 4:12 ), God is an impregnable source of security and his reign will last forever. His faithfulness is great. He wants all peoples to come into His Kingdom. Here is Jeremiah's missionary supposition!
2) God invites his people to seek him. These are moments when we do well to be quiet and to seek God; to ask him how we should respond.
3) God gives his people hope and comfort. Jeremiah recognizes God's immense love, mercy, and compassion, in the midst of the chaos he sees all around him. In fact, it is God's character that is Jeremiah's only source of comfort and hope as he experiences the pain of his people and faces an uncertain future. God invites us to be our source of comfort and hope today.
In these days when many Americans are seeking scapegoats, it is an opportunity for God's people to share his love with minority peoples who may wrongly be accused of supporting the attacks.
4) Not vengeance but self examination. Although he and his people have suffered terribly, Jeremiah does not immediately plead for vengeance. Rather (verses 40-42) he recognizes the sin of his people that has contributed to God allowing this terrible experience to happen.
We in America need to recognize our sins of materialism (symbolized by the Trade Center) and arrogance of power (as symbolized by the Pentagon) which on occasion have been used to take advantage of weaker nations. Although America is not Israel and we may not have the Lord's word as clearly as did Jeremiah, we do recognize that God judges sin sooner or later wherever it may be and here in America we need to be open to what the Lord may want to say to us as a nation in these difficult days.
While leaving open the privilege of self-defense, God calls us today to examine our ways which would include asking ourselves as a nation why others hate us so much.
My prayer would be that as you meditate on these verses, that the Lord would use the terrible events of yesterday to draw you deeper into his heart, guide you in your prayers, and help you reach out to comfort and encourage others.
Blessings on you all.
Jack Voelkel
See the Ask Jack column on urbana.org
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