Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:46 — 10.8MB)
Twenty-five years ago Judith and I were living three short blocks south of the Twin Towers in Downtown Manhattan. I had received an invitation from Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church New York City, to set up a gospel-focused Anglican Church to complement the ministry of Redeemer Church in the city.
On Tuesday morning, September 11, we had awakened to see from our apartment clear blue skies and the sparkling waters of New York Harbor. But it was not to last. We felt the shock in our building when the first tower was hit from the north. We heard the scream of the second jet flying low overhead and what sounded like a sonic boom when the south tower was hit.
Later that day when we left our building, the scene of the inches of dust and paper was surreal. The silence was palpable.
It’s easy to forget the evil that cut short the lives of people going about their daily affairs. Commercial airliners were used as missiles to crash into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. And a further flight was intended for more destruction but was thwarted by the selfless heroic efforts of passengers. People on that flight prayed the Lord’s Prayer as the plane crashed.
That evening, George W. Bush, then President, called for prayers for all who had lost loved ones. He continued: “And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
In the Wall Street Bible talks I was giving at the time, I spoke on Psalm 46 which begins: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Creation in turmoil. The Bible is very aware of human evil and its devastating effects on this world. But Psalm 46 assure us that God continues his work even in the midst of the chaos. His supremacy and presence with his people is never thwarted.
The biblical epic records the intrusion of evil into God’s good creation as we read in Genesis 3. God didn’t create evil, but because he didn’t make us robots, he allowed it. However, as the biblical narrative unfolds, we become aware of the reality and the depth of wickedness.
As a side note, if we insist we’re here by chance and are nothing but atoms in an ordered cohesion bumping around in time and space, evil and suffering have no meaning for there is no transcendental moral compass.
That said, we dare to believe that goodness matters because the God who made the world intends to give his moral verdict on human history. Without judgment life itself is reduced to moral indifference. This is not an invitation to hatred and vindictiveness, for the Bible commands us to be concerned even for the best interests of our enemies and to pray for them.
The realities of the divine and of ultimate accountability have been integral to the life and practice of the US from its inception. The first president, George Washington, was inaugurated half a mile from what became the World Trade Center site. In the course of his inaugural address on April 30, 1789, he said: “[W]e ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained . . .”
The opening lines of Psalm 46 speak of the unchanging God who is our refuge and strength. In him alone we find a secure shelter and the power within to address any situation. Indeed, verses 2 and 3 exhort us not to fear, even if the world around us is undone, for God remains supreme over every facet of his creation – the earth, the mountains, and the seas.
Humanity in turmoil. Psalm 46 moves from the upheaval of the material world to human turmoil: There is a river, whose streams make glad the city of God….God is the midst of the city; it will not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
Psalm 46, verse 6 speaks of the instability of evil and human tumult: The nations are in uproar, the kingdoms totter… However, God has the last word, for when he utters his voice, the earth melts. Verse 7 is so reassuring: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord of hosts points to the mighty armies of heaven to which Jesus alluded when he was arrested (Matthew 26:53).
Be still! Verses 8 and 9 are an invitation to catch the vision of God’s ultimate intention – to make wars to cease to the end of the earth. It is a picture of the perfect peace that will follow on the other side of God’s judgement – the accounting that precedes the perfect righteousness of the new heaven and the new earth (2 Peter 3:12f).
The command ‘Be still’ is not so much a word of comfort to God’s people under duress but a command to every nation. Jesus’s word to the turbulent winds and waters, “Peace. Be still” display the power of God’s Word. Mind-bending though the idea is, at God’s command the nations will be called to order, confronted by God’s supreme and glorious power: “Know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations … and in the earth” (46:10).
In the closing words, the confidence in God in verse 1 returns with greater power: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge – our high stronghold!
With the coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God into the world, we now have a clearer picture of God. Jesus experienced suffering, injustice and grief in the extreme. Yet he could say, “I am the Good Shepherd; I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Through his suffering, death and resurrection we find freedom from sin, from fear and freedom from self. In Christ alone there is peace and joy, love and hope.
It is that through the lens of the New Testament we begin to learn how God’s people should respond to the evil of the world. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44f). Praying for opportunities to promote God’s good news is an aspect of this.
Furthermore, as Paul exhorts in First Timothy, chapter 2, we are to pray for governments, that they may impartially administer justice, restrain wickedness and vice and, with discernment and wisdom, uphold integrity and truth that we may live at peace.
Paul also writes in Romans chapter 12, verses 17 through 21: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all… None of this means that justice will not occur. Paul continues, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” On the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good, Paul exhorts.
In the midst of the chaos and evil of this present time, Christ calls on us to put aside anger and rage, vengeance and violence, for the day of perfect justice will come.
Prayer. We commend to your fatherly care, merciful God, all those who in this passing world are in any kind of trouble, sorrow, sickness, anxiety or need, especially we pray for… Give them patience and confidence in your goodness, and in your mercy provide their every need. Father, hear our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
© John G. Mason
