Like most everybody else, I rushed home from work to turn on the news and try to digest what had just happened. Was it an accident? Was it a terrorist attack? Those questions led to a flood of other, more pressing questions that I’m sure went through everybody else’s minds, too. How could this happen? What was going on? Is this just a piece of a bigger terrorist plot that’s about to unfold? How do I keep my family safe? I wonder what my kids are feeling now, watching this as adults? In 2001, they were so young. I wonder if this is hitting them differently this time? Do we know anybody in Boston? Who cares if I know them or not, what has that got to do with it? These people need help!

I stood in front of the TV and watched the footage over and over again, each time noticing something I hadn’t seen the first time. They played it again and again, and I watched until I got sick of seeing it and finally needed to give my mind a break. I watched in awe as the first responders were running right into the bomb area, tearing down any blockades in their way to get to those who needed help. What if they were running right into another attack? Like the first responders at the World Trade Center, they didn’t seem to care; their only reaction was to help. As I continued to watch, I thought how touching it was to see all those people helping each other. People carrying each other, people comforting each other, medical personnel attending to anyone they could find. Good Samaritans to the hundredth degree! There were no prejudices, no races, no social standings, just people trying to help. If anyone asked, “Where was God?” – I could easily respond, “He was right there, just look!” What better example of Christian behavior? That’s what God wants to see from us. That’s what the world needs to see from us. If I were there, how could I have helped? Could I help with first aid? Could I try to calm people down? Could I pray for a restoration of calm? I didn’t need to be there for that; watching at home, that’s really all I could do. I’m sure that’s what we all were doing. I began to wonder how long it would be until the shock wore off and people started to act like normal again.

As the hours passed, questions of a different sort began to pop into my thoughts. Will we ever really know the truth? What if we never find out who was responsible? Even worse, what if it turns out to be one of us? A right-wing, evangelical, born-again Christian. How bad would that make the rest of us look? That would make this whole thing even more difficult to take. Then I thought of something I never really thought about before. If it was, in fact, a Christian extremist, I would be feeling the same way any peaceful Middle Eastern Muslim must have felt after 9/11. Everyone looking suspiciously at you. Everyone questioning your motives. Not to mention the irreparable damage done to the cause of Christ! How could we effectively make a case for Christianity in the future?

How long would it be before people started to get cynical? Here come the questions again, “Why didn’t God stop this? Couldn’t He have done something?” The President said that justice will be served. Do people really understand what justice is? What about God’s justice? How many times have I preached on that topic? God’s justice demands that every one of us be condemned to pay the price for our sins. Yet God’s mercy allowed His Son to take our place and pay the price for us. How do we get people to finally realize that? We’ve got to be real with people – honest with them. We all need the security of Christ. We all need the security of knowing that God loves us… No matter what is happening around us. Psalm 91 says, “A thousand may fall by my side and ten thousand at my right hand but it shall not come near me.” What is the “it” described here? “It” is the “reward of the wicked” (those who choose to turn their back on God). It is those people who will sadly have to pay for their own sins because they have rejected the forgiveness available in Christ. Because we have put our trust in Christ, our future is secure in Him. If we remain true to Him, it is settled. It’s a done deal. At times like this, we must continue to pray that people will see how fragile this life really is. We pray for the victims and their families, and we pray that the spirit of compassion continues to live on long after the surge of this latest tragedy dies down… Keep praying… Keep praying.

Any thoughts?