Thursday, September 10, 2009

A New 9/11 Lesson - "Why didn't anybody tell them?"

A few days ago my seven year-old asked me "What's Flight 93?" He evidently had heard it mentioned on a news show the evening before and was curious. That led into a discussion about Sept. 11th, the courage of those on Flight 93, and I was a bit surprised at how much he knew. "Oh, like when those men crashed the planes into the twin Empire State buildings?" (Yes, we stopped and had a brief NYC geography and architectural lesson :) right then). As I explained a little (on what I thought was a 7 year-old level to be honest but not to scare him) he interrupted me with this question "How did they get on the planes to hijack them if they weren't Americans?" Hmmm...short answer to him, "Well, they were living in America as visitors". Then he looked at me with very wide, serious, tear-filled eyes and asked, "Then why didn't anybody tell them, Mommy?" I saw his heart breaking and being puzzled I said, "Tell them what, honey?" "Tell them that they didn't need to kill people to get to heaven, that they could go there because Jesus loves them like he loves us." Ohhhhhh...... out of the mouths of babes! May I never forget the earnest heart break that he felt because "nobody" had told them. May I always remember that I can be that "nobody" if I let opportunities to share the love of Jesus slip away. May I never forget Sept. 11th and may I never forget the need for Christ, not condemnation, in every life.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" -Romans 10:14-15