wfn.org | Pastor offers answers to hard questions posed by attacks

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 18, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.     10-21-71BP{406}

NOTE:  A photograph of the Rev. Adam Hamilton is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/00/0050.jpg .

A UMNS Report
By Tom McAnally*

Shepherds of United Methodists congregations throughout the world - large
and small - stood in the pulpits of their churches Sunday, Sept., 16, and
tried to help their flocks make sense out of what happened five days earlier
in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Already, many members had turned to the church for special services of
prayer and times of support. By Sunday, some of the initial shock, anger and
numbness had subsided a bit, but difficult questions remained: Why did this
happen? Why did the terrorists hate us so much?  Where is our security?
Where was God? How should the United States respond? 

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of one of the largest and fastest-growing
United Methodist congregations in the United States, sought to address these
questions as he preached to more than 9,000 people at one Saturday service
and five Sunday services.

Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the
Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., and author of Confronting the Controversies,
in its third printing by Abingdon Press. The text of his sermon was quoted
in the Kansas City Star, and the local NBC TV affiliate broadcast his
message on Sunday morning. Thousands of audio and videotapes were sold over
the weekend, according to Constance E. Stella, director of the church's
audio/video ministry.

Hamilton began with the individual believed to be the mastermind behind the
terrorist acts.
"For Osama bin Laden, what is at stake is the future of Islam," he said. "He
and his followers and the Taliban of Afghanistan ... believe that America is
a threat to their faith. We have got to understand this! As Americans we do
not have the sense of history to make sense of what is going on. But in many
ways, bin Laden is interpreting the political events of the last half of the
20th century through the lens of the Crusades."

The Crusades were wars waged by European Christians in the 11th through 13th
centuries, aimed at gaining control of the Holy Land from the Muslims, who
had controlled it for the previous 400 years.

Hamilton noted that bin Laden, a devout, extreme and fundamentalist Muslim,
turned his attention against the United States in the early 1990s. "It was
at this time that American troops were stationed on Saudi soil and became
more heavily involved in direct military action in the Middle East."

Hamilton quotes bin Laden, who said in a 1999 interview that "there was an
attack on Islam, especially on the holy shrines and on the al-Aqsa Mosque
... and then the aggression continued with the Crusader-Jewish alliance
being led by the United States and Israel. Now they have taken the country
of the two holy mosques."

In a video of bin Laden's training camps shown on television in recent days,
Hamilton noted that dummies set up to represent the enemy had giant crosses
on them, not U.S. flags.  

"For bin Laden, a form of the Crusades is still going on: the most Christian
nation on the face of the earth helps Israel maintain control of the Holy
Land," Hamilton said. "Our troops are now stationed on Saudi soil. We have
had operations going on in a host of other Muslim countries, including the
Sudan, Egypt and Kuwait, with regular Air Force flights and bombings on
Iraq.  For bin Laden and for his followers, this is a war to prevent Islam
from being destroyed by America! Unless we understand this mindset, and
address it, there will be others who will be willing to die to preserve
Islam from American Crusaders."

Hamilton noted that bin Laden represents Islam no more than the Ku Klux Klan
represents Christianity and called on Christians to stop any hostility
against people just because of their ethnic backgrounds. 

"Even given the distorted perspective that bin Laden and his followers have
on American intentions in the Middle East, his actions are a reflection of
his picture of God," Hamilton continued. "His picture of God is a God who
sanctions the 'Jihad' - the Holy War -- and the use of force to accomplish
God's purposes. His picture of God is one who accepts bloodshed and the
death of innocents as a means of accomplishing his purposes.

"The picture of God we have as Christians is the person of Jesus. When we
look at and listen to him, we see a God who conquers by love and not acts of
hate and war. We see a God who influences and transforms people by his
willingness to sacrifice himself for us. We see a God who calls us to love
our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and to, in the words of the
Apostles Peter and Paul, 'not return evil for evil, but blessing instead.'
We see in Jesus a God who did not destroy the Romans with the sword, but who
defeated them with ideas and by his own suffering and cross."

After addressing some of the political and religious tensions, Hamilton
turned to questions being raised by his members and others around the world.

Will we ever be safe again?

Recognizing anger, Hamilton pointed to Psalm 137:7-9, written after
Jerusalem had been destroyed, the Temple had been razed, and the Jews had
been taken away as slaves to Babylon.  "In this context, we find one of the
most startling sentiments expressed anywhere in the Bible - a sentiment most
un-Christian," he said. 

"Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how
they said, 'Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!' O daughter
Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have
done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them
against the rock!"

Hamilton said he believes the ancient Israelites and the Holy Spirit
specifically included these verses in the Bible to affirm that it is OK to
experience anger and hate in the midst of deep pain. "It is normal, but the
rest of the Scriptures provide us the balance, teaching us that hate and
pain are not meant to be the final resting place in our hearts."

In response to questions of security, Hamilton declared, "The only real
security comes from knowing Christ - knowing that your life belongs to Him.
Today, that is where our safety will come from - knowing that, come what
may, God will either deliver us, or invite us into the home he has prepared
for us in heaven. I cannot live my life in fear of what might happen." 

Where was God at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 11?

Beginning with the story of creation, Hamilton said human beings have been
given the freedom to choose to do what is right or wrong.  

"If you asked the average American what our greatest treasure is in this
country, the answer, upon reflection, would be 'freedom'," he said. "We are
willing to die for it, and we would rather die than live without it. This is
the very thing God has given us - freedom. We are free to follow him or free
to spurn him. This gift of freedom is wonderful, and terrifying. It means
that young men can be misled by a captivating religious zealot into dying
for their cause while killing thousands of people along with them."

Even the evil of recent days will ultimately be bent to serve God's purpose,
Hamilton said. "He will not strip us of our freedom, but at every step, when
evil seems to prevail, God forces the evil act to serve him, which is what
we have seen this last week -- Americans coming together like never before."

"I believe Jesus was in the back of those four planes, huddled with the
passengers, telling them not to be afraid," Hamilton said. "I believe he was
prompting the hearts of his people to help and hold and care for those who
were injured and those who were dying. And I believe he was standing in
heaven welcoming his children home."

For those who question the existence of God, Hamilton said recent events
have confirmed the truth and necessity of the Gospel. "Whether God exists or
not, the tragedy still happened," he said. "But through the Gospel, I
understand the human condition. I have the law and the Gospels to help me
know how to live. I have hope in the face of death that I will see my loved
ones again and that they are with Christ. I have confidence to know that God
will bend such evil and force it to serve his purposes. And I know that,
whether caught or not, those who perpetrated such a crime will be brought to
justice before the throne of God. This what I have as a Christian, but for
those who reject God, there is nothing but tragedy, hopelessness and
despair."

How should Christians respond?

Hamilton expressed concern that decisions made during grief are often not
well thought out.  "Clearly something must be done to stop Osama bin Laden
and other terrorists from acting in this way again. But this action on our
part cannot be simply an attempt to satisfy our need for blood and
vengeance. It must be to save others from being hurt in this same way."

He expressed concern that military force and retribution may increase the
likelihood of terrorist attacks on the United States rather than diminish
them. "This will be particularly true if we bomb sovereign nations as we
have in the past. And if non-combatants, including women and children, die
in our attacks, suddenly we will have become no better than those who have
done this to us.

"If these extremists believe that America represents Christianity and the
Crusades, how do we help them see Christ and the way we wish he had been
portrayed in the Crusades? Is it possible to act in such a way that all
would-be terrorists see the truth of who we are and the greatness of our
national character so that they are shamed by what they have done - so that
they are cut to the heart? How do we demonstrate the superiority of our
ideas and our way of life?"

Hamilton said the United States is on the brink of another crusade. "We have
a chance to reverse this one - to demonstrate that, as a nation of
Christians, while we had the power to utterly destroy entire countries, we
did not. Instead, we sought to understand why such people have acted in this
way, we have sought to have reconciliation with those who were our enemies,
and we pursued justice carefully and in accordance with our laws so that we
protected other innocents from being slaughtered."

Hamilton reiterated his belief that the United States must respond to the
tragedy by apprehending those who committed the terrorist acts and
preventing them from doing it again. "But as your pastor I am obliged to say
that God has already told us how we are to live and the kind of strength we
as a nation of Christians are called to demonstrate to the world -- it is a
strength of character, of resolve, of righteousness, of love."

A form to order audio or video tapes of Hamilton's sermon can be found at
http://cor.org/devsite/aboutus/savinggrace/tapeministry/tape_orderform.htm.
Print out a copy of the form, write  "Attention: Tape Ministry" at the top,
and fax to (913) 897-0361. Those who do not have access to the Internet may
call (913) 745-2298.
#  #  #
*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, the church's
official news agency with headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., and offices in
New York and Washington. 

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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