Remembering our Affliction

The Scriptures repeatedly call us to remember, to revisit our suffering, the cause of it, and the One to whom we turn for comfort and deliverance. On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Homiletics offers a service of remembrance to help us remember those who perished, and to renew our commitment to follow in the paths of righteousness.

Looking back, I realize it was the beautiful day that killed us."

These are the words of Richard Picciotto, a grizzled and grieving New York City fire battalion commander. His book, Last Man Down, tells the story of Picciotto's four hours trapped in the rubble of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Picciotto believes that if it had been gray or foggy or overcast on September 11, there's no way the terrorists could have flown those planes. Not on that day, anyway. All up and down the East Coast it was the same: still winds, blue skies, not a cloud in sight. Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. ... all enjoying an absolutely gorgeous, late-summer day.

How well we remember. The beauty of the day, and the horror of the events.

We gather together today, on the first anniversary of September 11, to remember: to think back, to recollect, to memorialize, to analyze and to pledge to one another that we will never forget. But as Christians, we do not gather to remember in the sense of...