The Shaking of the Foundations Jeremiah 4:11-28 September 16, 2001 ***** I didn’t want to preach this sermon this morning. I really wanted to preach a message of love and assurance. Little did I know when I decided to preach the Old Testament lections weeks ago that we would be confronted with a passage such as the one today and events such as the ones of this past week. Like a loving parent though, sometimes God has to tell us things we’d rather not hear. ***** Tuesday morning was a morning like any other morning. I awoke to a beautiful sky...  to the hooting of the owl To the cry of the loon on the lake... To the gentle quacking of the ducks on the creek below my home. All was serenity, peace and joy.  After a normal breakfast of oatmeal toast and juice, I went as usual to the office, Shortly after that, I received a call from my daughter. Her voice was shaking... "Dad!  Have you seen TV?" "No." "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center in NY. A passenger plane." "Oh no!" At first I thought it was simply an accident... a terrible accident but an accident. Then came the word...  "A second plane..."  This is no accident! I rushed home and turned on the TV and sat there glued as they played and replayed the picture of the second plane flying into the building the resulting explosion... and then came the news about the pentagon... The morning hurried on! Planes falling out of the sky... columns of smoke rising... buildings collapsing.... people dying...  sirens wailing... threats of harm to the President. In my mind, came the Tim LaHaye Left Behind series of stories on the rapture... The day had changed!  Life as we know it had changed forever! I had just read the week’s prescribed  passage from Jeremiah. Quickly I reached for my bible again... Jeremiah’s symbolic words screamed from the page... "A scorching wind blows from the desert towards my people..."  "... And this is not a breeze to winnow or cleanse..." not simply to separate the wheat from the chaff... No... this is a wind too strong for that.  A scorching wind!  A hurricane wind! The time for breezes is  past. "Now," says the Lord, "I pronounce my judgments against them!" Against whom?  Against God’s people. Jeremiah says that the time for play is over... God is getting serious! God’s judgment for Jeremiah’s people is the triumph of the pagan Babylonians over the Israelites... But why?  Why would God use a hated enemy to judge God’s own people? Listen to it: "O Jerusalem," cries Jeremiah. "Wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor evil thoughts?" And in verse 18: "Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you." There’s more... in verse 22: "My people are fools; they do not know me." Evil hearts... Evil thoughts... your conduct AND actions... God’s people.. Fools! Strangers! God was fed up with what was going on in Jeremiah’s time. Like the other prophets, Jeremiah condemned the sins of Israel. His prophetic voice warned of what was going to happen to the people if they didn’t repent. But what has this to do with us?  What has it to do with the events of Tuesday? The question I want to raise with you, the question I’ve been struggling with since Tuesday is whether this is simply an act of some rogue nation or even a man named Osama Bin Laden who is angry with us and who is leading a holy war against us, Or whether it might indeed be an act of God. You see, we can read any event as an act of God, or as an act of mankind. What we believe about God and what we believe about the world is what will guide us to make the choice. Now, I suppose that there are many who will assume either. Some will read it as an act of man...  Some will read it as Jeremiah would have read it. As a judgment on the nation for our behavior. You can read it as an action by evil people who need to be punished or you can read it as a serious warning to us to change our ways. It seems to me that perhaps there is need for both.  Of course, its always easier to blame someone else... To find some enemy to point at than it is to accept the fact that we are being judged... Called to explain and justify the actions of a nation. Called to change our way of living. If you look at it this second way,  that is... as God’s judgment on us... (And I think we should at least consider that... ) then perhaps we ought to first look at the attack as a kind of sign... A message from God.What might God be saying to us? Consider.... Where did the first attack happen?  On the World Trade Center... Two towers.  Two buildings 110 stories high... Two structures that reached almost to the heavens... Like the tower of Babel... A monument to mankind’s ability to tame nature.... surrounded by smaller buildings but part of the same complex. The Wall Street environment. What does the center represent?  The hub of commerce for much of a nation... and in fact the world.Its the emblem of business... Twin towers built by and sustained by money, power, wealth and prestige. Towers that are a sign to a nation and indeed a large part of a world which says we don’t much need God... because we can afford to deal with our problems  on our own. We can buy and sell people, land, buildings, equipment...all the means of production... We can hire and fire, we can sustain and punish, we can lift up and put down... People in all parts of the world are subject to this great economic might. In fact perhaps especially people in so-called third world countries. Is it any wonder that other people as well as God would find that center a place for the worship of things other than God. If you are going to attack a symbol, what better one to attack??? Except perhaps the other ... on the pentagon.  As we well know from studying scripture, as well as by our own evaluations... a nation which relies on its military has little need of God. We are clearly the strongest nation in the world today.  We have the biggest, most powerful military service the world has ever known. We have "Smart" bombs.  We have vision that allows us to see at night. We have missiles that allow us to attack virtually any nation on earth from the safety of many miles of distance or the darkness of the sea. We say "In God We Trust" but we don’t much believe it nor do we mean it. Sure, we trust in God, but give us a star wars defense just in case. Well friends, I believe that whether this was an act of God or of man... we are going to be given an opportunity now. We are going to be given the opportunity to trust in God. Because much of what we know is going to change. Much of what we have come to rely on will be different. The change at the airports is but a early warning sign. Our nation’s economy, and in fact that of much of the world is in trouble. I would not be at all surprised to see the stock market looking a little bit like those twin towers collapsing tomorrow when it opens. I would hope that my prophetic abilities are considerably less than Jeremiah’s. I hope and pray that I’m wrong.  But I would not be surprised. I would also not be at all surprised if our war against terrorism will not also have to overcome a deep recession if not depression. Here’s the problem: Our nation has become,  as we said last week, one that is self-centered, self-seeking and competitive beyond any measure of sanity. For me this is a sign that we are not interested in peace and justice, and pleasing God, but rather in pleasing ourselves. Furthermore we’re a nation which has lost sight of morality... and what it might possibly mean to live a life that is beyond reproach. From misguided and promiscuous sexuality to sexploitation of our children... From dishonoring our parents to coveting our neighbor’s possessions... From our TV shows to our movies to our music to our sports indeed to our churches... We have dishonored God, and held God up to ridicule among the nations. A nation whose motto is In God We Trust really ought to try trusting a little more! But wait!  All is not lost! There have been signs this week that we can rise above this... Many thousands of people have rushed to help... to donate blood or money. Radio and TV have forgone commercialism to report the facts.... Thousands upon thousands of people who have not seen the inside of a church in years have shown up for worship services... There has been little sensationalism that has marked much of the recent past. That is good news and hopeful news... And let us  pray that it will continue into the weeks and years ahead. Meanwhile, there are going to be many calls to go forth into battle... To take our mighty military and economic strength to demonstrate to all the people of the world just how a sleeping giant reacts when awakened. As I said, some of that is needed... But vastly more important to my mind is the war that we must wage internally. Our nation and each of us have a lot of that to do. The events of this week must stand as a wakeup call to Christians. There’s another thing: The lives of many, many people were shattered this past week. The events happened on a clear morning with no warning. People went to their office just as they usually did. They got on planes just as they usually did. They never suspected that before the day was over, they would be either dead or dealing with death in a way that almost couldn’t have been foretold. Very often death strikes us in that way. Even people of great faith have trouble dealing with events such as this... Imagine how it must be for those who have no faith! Imagine how it must be for those whose only belief is in this life. Let us be in prayer for all who are dealing with these losses. And finally this: God loves us.  I’m convinced of  this... even when events such as this take place. I know that many of us must be questioning ....saying "How can a loving God allow such a tragedy to happen?" You name the tragedy... From a child who dies a senseless death to a man like Hitler... to planes flying into the World Trade Center... We always ask that question... Fortunately it is not we who have to answer it. I’ve learned long ago not to ask such questions concerning events of the world and God’s will... What I know, what I absolutely know... is that God does take such events and make good come from them. In any case, what we need most is faith... Faith is the most powerful ingredient in getting us through such times. The earth shakes... the world changes... the rules no longer hold. The things we have built our lives on have ceased to exist... There is only one thing that holds in such days... The creator of all that exists. God! Amen!