“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27)

There are certain days throughout history that will always and forever become immortalized as they live on in the hearts and minds of those affected by them. Sometimes these days are joyful, celebratory experiences when the most beautiful events in the personal lives of individuals are celebrated. Other times they are widespread, perhaps even global, commemorations of events that altered the course of the world for the better. Far too often, however, these pivotal dates and events mark personal or public tragedy and live on in infamy in the hearts of those whose lives were torn apart because of them. Perhaps no other single day in modern history has sparked more global unrest, fostered more consuming fear or drawn more tears of anguish than the events of September 11, 2001. Twenty two years have now passed since that terrible day. For more than two decades the world has lived with the excruciating memories of fear, destruction and death pasted in our minds like the black smoke which stained a blue sky that day.

It has become common in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001 to say “We must never forget” that day, the lives which were lost because of it and the global confusion which ensued because of it. Surely it would be a profound disrespect to the thousands of our brothers and sisters, our fellow children of God, whose lives were stolen from them on that day. It brings tears to our eyes to think of husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and friends who were torn away from all they knew and from all who loved them in an abrupt and tragic moment. On this tragic anniversary my plea and invitation is for us to not only remember that day not so long ago but also to remember another day. A day, or more accurately seven days, more than two thousand years ago and the events which transpired throughout them which will always and forever be the answer for “the hope which is in us” (1 Peter 3:15). Beginning with the triumphal entry of a king amid shouts of “Hosanna'' stretching on to scenes of betrayal, rejection and conviction, reaching its crescendo in Gethsemane and on Calvary then culminating in a tomb with the stone rolled away, that week is the inextinguishable light shining through blackened skies and sorrowing hearts.

Those terrible events in 2001 immediately thrust the word “terror” into widespread public use in ways none would ever have wished for. Now entire generations are being raised with this ugly word and the even more horrendous acts which accompany it brazen in their minds like a revolting firebrand. Even children have a sense for this term and know far more than we wish they would of the wicked people who feed on the despair of others. Surely the adversary and father of lies must rejoice when the chaos he creates stifles faith and replaces it with fear. In this climate of fear I testify of Faith and Hope, not in the power of fostering such attributes but rather in a person, the Son of God, who is faith and hope personified. It was a common refrain for the Savior of the World to declare “Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36). He can implore, even command, us to do so because he has won the victory of all victories. Without armies or governments he has conquered the prince of darkness and the fear, even the terror, which threaten to smother our hope. Therefore, in the “age of terror” as some have come to call our time, I repeat to you the very same words our Redeemer said so long ago: “Be not afraid, only believe.” Yes, we live in a time characterized by chaos and yes, these are the latter days when all the world will be in commotion, but through it all there stands the Light of the World who in all times and in all things and in all places is pleading for us to “Be still and know that [He] is God.

I testify of our Father who matches with his own the tears his children cry. It is my personal belief that on that fateful day two decades ago the veil was profoundly thin. The world stood in need of angelic aid but also, especially, stood in need of a Father’s comforting and reassuring embrace. I have no doubt that our Father stood in his heaven and said once again “behold these thy brethren…they are without affection and they hate their own blood.” (Moses 7:33). I give my witness of that perfect Father’s limitless capacity to right the wrongs of mortality and the untold ways in which justice and mercy come to complete balance in him. I also testify of the Savior, our perfect elder brother, who stood beside his Father on that day and said “I have overcome the world”. I have overcome all this, I have planted the garden of hope through my suffering in another garden called Gethsemane. I testify of a tomb left empty in order that empty hearts may be filled. As the angel said to Mary “He [was] not [there] for he is risen” in order that he may stand beside us during any global tragedy or deeply personal night of darkness known only to us and to Him. He knows exactly what our pain is and the anguish of our soul at any moment. He knows it because he has experienced it, not a generalized type of experience to be applied to our situation but exactly the very situation you and I are in. I testify that towers may fall but through our Savior you and I, the victims of that fateful day and all others will one day rise in glory, never to face the cold abyss of death again.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.