Two Towers and a Hill
My wife was visiting her parents and I was a youth pastor in my early twenties. So naturally I was still asleep when the phone rang. I can not remember what her words were, only the urgency in my wife's voice which prompted me to turn on the TV and see what millions around the world were now watching with horror and wonderment.A plane had just crashed into on of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. I remember my mind racing looking for the explanation. The news anchors were clearly doing the same. It could have been an accident. Maybe the instruments went wrong, maybe there was a medical concern with the crew. Searching for a reason, and moments later the reason became clear as a second plane crashed into the second tower. The reason was evil.Men had conspired with evil hearts to do evil things. Two more planes would go down that morning, one in the Pentagon and another into a field (thanks to brave men and women fighting back). All of those planes did their damage in obedience to the evil in men's hearts.Eighteen years ago evil killed nearly three thousand people in a matter of hours. Children born on that day are now old enough to vote. I am no longer a young man in my twenties. Many thing have been done and said for better or worse in response to the attack. In some things we will likely never know for certain which.One thing was on my mind this morning as I thought about this day before even getting out of bed. It could have been me.I do not mean I could have been a victim, though that is certainly also true.It could have been me flying those planes. The older I get the more I know the evil of my own heart and God's word is clear on this point.Romans 3:10-18 gets right to the heart:
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”“The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery,and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Evil has worked its way out in my life different than it did in those men on that day. In small pettiness, unkind words, silence, and in small daily choices which reflect this world rather than the one who created it. The same evil. Maybe not in magnitude, but certainly in source.
This is why Paul, after blasting the immorality of the Gentiles goes after the religious. While it is easy to condemn the visible acts of wickedness in others, the whole of scripture demonstrates there is not a man, woman, or child who does not in some way add to the evil in this world. Pretty encouraging, huh?
A quick glance down the page shows us our hope.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."
Romans 3:21-24
This theologically packed statement is the difference between me and a terrorist. It is not my goodness which differentiates me from him, but the gift of grace in Jesus Christ. How humbling those words, "There is no distinction". It would be easier to believe that somehow I am better than men who would take thousands of innocent lives...but I'm not. I'm blessed that my evil never emerged in that form. Even more, I am a grateful recipient of grace in Christ.
This means I can love and forgive those who committed those crimes. I can pray for those who still harbor these desires in their hearts, that they might be given grace.
We should never forget this moment in history. This moment where we saw evil at work. And we should never forget that day on the hill of Calvary where evil was utterly defeated and our hope was born.