The events of Sept.11 in New York and Washington will be fixed in my mind for as long as I am alive. What can a preacher do in the face of such horror? Like many of you, I went to a church service of remembrance and hope last night. As I listened to the words of the preacher, I must admit that I was listening only with half an ear. The very fact that we were all together, crying and pleading with the God of us all, was far more important to me than whatever "great wisdom" a preacher can devise. I know of no one, most of all me, who could possibly say anything of enough profundity to match the unspeakable and monstrously graphic images that flickered on TV over and over and over...and are now flickering in my mind forever.
That said, the preacher will probably preach. What can she say? Note, I did not say "should" say. No one of us can presume to say to others what should be said; I am not pastor to your congregation. Still, comfort can be foremost. Reach for the psalms--46, 139, and others that focus on God's stability in a literally tottering world. Then one can focus on the heart of the Gospel. When people feel completely helpless in the face of such hatred, then they can hear the Gospel that we are in fact not in control, but God is. The Gospel, of course, can be found in both testaments. Also, the preacher can clearly make the point that God's mercy reaches out to all without exception, even those who perpetrated the terrible acts. The epistle text in the common lectionary for this Sunday is I Tim. 1:12-17. This pseudo-Pauline epistle has within it the famous vs.15, that many can quote, but the memorized quote stops before the end of the sentence. Christ Jesus has come to save sinners, and the writer goes on to admit "of whom I am the foremost." And just to make sure we get the point, the writer repeats the claim in the next verse.
I find this crucially important. Unless I keep uppermost in my mind at this time that I am sinner, I might easily begin to point fingers, to search for scapegoats, to demand a justice that seeks to "get even". The search for the perpetrators is certainly not wrong, but if it becomes a way to avoid the ways I have been "a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a person of violence" (vs.13), my demands for justice will be little more than a smokescreen for my own evil.
The preacher might also make clear to the congregation that at the heart of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity lies the same notion that all human life is sacred. All significant Muslim leaders quickly condemned the attacks as being flatly "Un Muslim," as the leading Iranian cleric had it. All religions have their lunatic fringe, but no religion should be condemned en masse because of them.
I repeat that comfort is the initial word to be heard. Closing with Isaac Watts' "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" would be very good, too.
When I rise to preach this Sunday, I will probably share my own emotional journey with my congregation as I tried to absorb the news of Sept.11. And along the way, I will try to point to the biblical resources that led me on that journey.
I pray for each of you a double portion of the Spirit of God as you preach in this time. It is a terrible to time to preach, but it is a crucial time to be called to preach the word of life to people, many of whom will realize, perhaps for the first time, how desperately they are in need of it.
May God bless your preaching, and may God receive the praise for it.
Faithfully, John C. Holbert