DAY 181: 9/11 Where were you when?

DAY 181

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic         

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-six    Friday 11 September 2020

9/11

Where were you when?

Today marks the 19^th anniversary of what is simply referred to as 9/11, a date already increasingly fading into history for younger generations. There are certain dates that become indelibly written in our memories - the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a tragic accident, a suicide. These are all intensely personal. Then there are dates etched permanently in our memories and in our minds of a national or even a global nature, and 9/11 is one of them.

Where were you when …

Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941? VE Day ended WWII in Europe on 8 May 1945? President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963? Man first stepped onto the surface of the moon on 20 July 1969? America was attacked by terrorists on 9/11/2001?

Where were you when …

You first remember thinking about God? You first started to read the Bible, as an adult or in a children’s version? You made a commitment of your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? The last one is a sensitive one: some people have a date they remember, a conversion ‘event;’  others, while not having a specific date, nevertheless have reached a point over time where they can honestly say they have turned their life over to Jesus Christ and know Him in a personal, life-changing way. The date is secondary to knowing Him.

When we leave this life and stand before God, church membership, being baptized, being confirmed, being a church officer, teaching Sunday School, tithing – these will not count, these will not provide an entry ticket into heaven. In the classic question of Evangelism Explosion created by Presbyterian pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy, “When you stand before God and He asks you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what will you reply?”

Reflective question: Indeed – what will you reply?

Reflective Scripture: Philippians 3:10 – ‘…that I may know him…”

Reflective hymn: ‘O Happy Day” – Philip Doddridge (1702-1751)

O happy day that fixed my choice on Thee, my Savior and my God!

Well may this glowing heart rejoice, and tell it’s raptures all abroad.

Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!

He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing ev’ry day;

Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.