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by Logan Ames

Tomorrow, many of our country’s citizens, politicians, and public servants will reflect on the significance of the date. September 11, 2017 marks 16 years since one of the most horrific single days in our country’s history. Thousands were murdered at the hands of terrorists who hijacked airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center buildings, the Pentagon, and a rural field in Pennsylvania no more than 50 miles from where I was living and going to college at the time. It is certainly not a day of celebration, but one of reflection and remembrance. You will likely hear some of the names of those whose lives were taken, as well as stories from survivors about some of the heroes they met that day. In some ways, it feels like it was just yesterday. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime ago.

I said that “many” will reflect on the date and that was intentional, because I also feel that many will not. With each passing year, it feels like more and more of a distant or fading memory. We’re now at the point where remembering the events of that day is a bigger deal on the anniversaries that happen every five or ten years, but less of a focus on the years in between. Have you thought much about it heading into tomorrow? How often do you remember what took place on that tragic day? If you do think about it, what specifically comes to mind?

For many, the reason we remember events like 9/11 is because they remind us of the presence of evil in our world, our own mortality, and our need for better vetting of potential terrorists. However, I feel we are missing the big picture if those are the only things we choose to remember about that day. In the Old Testament, God frequently told the Israelites to DO things to make sure they remember his goodness and faithfulness toward them. These included observing very specific instructions regarding Passover as a “lasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:24-28), remembering the Sabbath as a day to rest, stop, and think about all that God has given them (Exodus 20:8-11), and taking twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River after God stopped it from flowing temporarily so they could cross into the Promised Land (Joshua 4:1-7). Each of these things required the Israelites to be intentional. If they relied on randomly celebrating or commemorating God’s faithfulness, they’d eventually lose sight of it.

When I think back to the events surrounding 9/11, I believe it’s absolutely critical for us to remember not only that we are mere mortals who rely on God’s grace and protection every moment of every day, but also the positive things that took place in the midst of tragedy. Our nation was very divided politically back then, but suddenly 9/11 brought us all back to reality and gave us a greater purpose than arguing. We were reminded to band together, to seek unity, and to love unconditionally. As our nation has just recently watched the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, we are once again reminded of these things in the midst of our dysfunction and political arguing. We have also seen the heroes who risked their own lives to save others during the massive flooding around Houston, and I believe we should intentionally reflect on the sacrifices and bravery of the many first responders who rushed into the falling towers on 9/11 to save people they didn’t even know.

Think about the men and women on board Flight 93 that went down in Shanksville, PA. I had a chance to visit the memorial there last summer and it left me speechless. They have phones that you can pick up and hear the ACTUAL conversations that members of that flight had with their loves ones before they said good-bye for the final time. You can follow each step of the passengers’ plan to take back the plane from the terrorists, knowing that they might crash the plane and kill themselves while saving many more lives. I believe we should be intentional about remembering all of these heroes because God worked through all of them, ordinary people who, when called upon, did extraordinary things. We must remember them as examples for us, so that when we are called upon to do the extraordinary, we might trust God and be his vessels as they were.

While I’ve spent this post talking about reflecting on 9/11, remembering heroes is just as important in the Bible. Starting next week, I will be doing a long series on all the heroes of our faith listed in Hebrews 11. Why was it important for the writer of Hebrews to specifically talk about all of those people and what they were able to accomplish by faith? I believe it’s for the same reason that God emphasized remembering in the Old Testament. The word “remember” has roots that mean “to recall to mind." For the Hebrew believers, many of them were familiar with the stories that we find in Hebrews 11. But maybe they struggled to find hope and faith for themselves. Maybe as they faced difficult circumstances, they were unable to recall to mind how God had so mightily moved in the lives of others. They needed the reminder and the encouragement to stand strong in their faith no matter how dark or tragic things may appear.

The same is true for you and I. We need to think about and remember the heroes of our faith just as we remember the heroes who rushed into floodwaters in the past few weeks and into burning and falling buildings on 9/11. The heroes of our faith, referred to as “witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1, were ordinary men and women. They did not have some super-faith. They had average faith in a super God. Jesus Christ is the ultimate hero of our Christian faith, but when ordinary men and women trusted in him even when the odds said they would likely be destroyed by their circumstances, they prevailed in extraordinary ways. Through their faith, God gave them confidence and assurance of things that they couldn’t envision, and the Word tells us they were “commended” for that faith (Hebrews 11:1-2). Take some time this week to look over their stories as we prepare to dig into them one-by-one. Be intentional about picking out specific stories or details that most apply to whatever you’re currently going through. As we intentionally recall to mind how they prevailed in the faith, we can also find confidence and assurance of God’s victory in our times of need.

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