{"id":2400,"date":"2012-09-11T08:45:54","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T15:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=2400"},"modified":"2012-09-11T08:46:26","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T15:46:26","slug":"2400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=2400","title":{"rendered":"Remembering 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: a reprint from 2009<\/em><\/p>\n

On September 11, 2001, it was my second day of classes in my first quarter of studies at Concordia Theological Seminary.\u00a0 As I was leaving my class and heading to Kramer Chapel, people were talking about a plane accident where a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, a second plane crashed into the second tower.\u00a0 Needless to say, we were stunned by the morning\u2019s events.\u00a0 Our chapel service that day was led by Rev. Richard Radtke, then senior pastor of Saint Paul\u2019s Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.\u00a0 The following is his sermon which he preached that day.<\/p>\n

Text:\u00a0Luke 11:25-35<\/a><\/p>\n

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

The news this morning is very grim.\u00a0 A commercial airliner crashed into one of the buildings of the World Trade Center in New York City.\u00a0 A few minutes later, another airline crashed into the second World Trade Center building.\u00a0 Then another commercial airline crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C.\u00a0 Just a few minutes ago, we heard news that one of the World Trade Center building collapsed.\u00a0 There is a great deal of confusion and horror about all this.\u00a0 In the midst of this tragic news, we ask: How can this be?\u00a0 How can this happen in our own land \u2013 in America?\u00a0 Yet, this terrible tragedy shows the brokenness of this world, and how this world is truly a culture of death.\u00a0 This means that today we can see even more than ever the need for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This is why you are here \u2013 as professor, student, staff, or pastor.\u00a0 In his words of comfort before the service began, President Wenthe said that the work of the seminary will go on because of what has happened this morning.\u00a0 Nothing else can give us the true hope that we need other then the word of our Lord.\u00a0 And so, in my homily this morning, I will spend a few moments on today\u2019s Gospel, which is our calling to follow Jesus, and then apply our calling to this morning\u2019s tragic events.<\/p>\n

The call to follow Jesus surpasses all else.\u00a0 But on our own, who could qualify?\u00a0 Not one of us here, or anywhere, for that matter.\u00a0 Because of our sin, we are all not only spiritually impoverished, but the Scriptures call us spiritually dead.\u00a0 The call to follow Jesus is serious and severe.\u00a0 We must renounce all to follow Him \u2013 and not depend on family, possessions, works, or self.<\/p>\n

But the One who calls us is gracious.\u00a0 The One who is sinless became sin for us, and carried our sin in His flesh to the cross.\u00a0 In Jesus Christ we find our life and our hope.\u00a0 His gospel. is our invitation.\u00a0 He invites us to come to Him and find rest for our souls.\u00a0 He invites us to come and follow Him.<\/p>\n

The call to follow Jesus is especially meaningful for us today as we witness the horrifying events of this morning.\u00a0 We know that the evil one, satan, is working ever so hard to silence the word of God.\u00a0 He is working evil in this world to confuse and mislead all people, even the people of God.\u00a0 He wants us to take our eyes off the gospel and the Lord Jess.\u00a0 And so, we must trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The Lord our God has promised in His word: \u201cI will never leave your nor forsake you.\u201d\u00a0 Our Lord Jesus invited us to come to Him with these words: \u201cCome unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u201d\u00a0 The Scriptures are filled with words of comfort that remind us of the presence and power of our Lord at all times, and especially when we face these difficult and perilous times.<\/p>\n

Things will never be the same in the United States.\u00a0 More tragedies may yet happen this day.\u00a0 It will be \u201ca day of infamy.\u201d\u00a0 I would urge all of us to pray for our nation, for President Bush, and for all our leaders, that God would give them strength and courage for today and for all the days to come.<\/p>\n

In a few moments, we will have the opportunity to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion.\u00a0 We so need the strength that God gives in the true body and blood of His Son Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We so need the presence of our Lord among us as we struggle with questions about this national tragedy.\u00a0 Here at this altar we will be nourished, and we will receive the strength that only our Lord can give \u2013 strength for the moment and for the days that are ahead of us with all the uncertainties of these times.\u00a0 Therefore I commend you to our gracious and loving God, and I pray with you for His strength for our nation and all our leaders and for those who proclaim the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 May His peace be with you.\u00a0 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: a reprint from 2009 On September 11, 2001, it was my second day of classes in my first quarter of studies at Concordia Theological Seminary.\u00a0 As I was leaving my class and heading to Kramer Chapel, people were talking about a plane accident where a plane had crashed into one of the towers of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75936],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2400"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2403,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400\/revisions\/2403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}