Some Thoughts on September 11^th

by The Rev. Dr. Kipp W. Zimmermann

2 Kings 5:9-14; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; John 9:1-11

Since the day of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and failed attempt on the nation’s capital that crashed in Pennsylvania, we have been trying to get over what happened to us. I listened last night to a woman left to be a single mother of three small children after that day. Her husband never made it out of the south tower. She expressed the nagging reality that she still cannot grasp the fact that her husband is not coming home. Her daughter still asks for daddy and cannot remember what he looked like. We have tried to carry on, business as usual and in some ways, we have done that. Business has returned to a great degree and we have carried on as usual.

There are however, significant signs that we have not gotten over it. The pain and the fear still lurk beneath the surface. One cannot look at the skyline of New York City and not see the empty space that remains unfilled. The deep hole has become a landmark when driving down West End Street. The hole stands as the silent reminder that not everything has gone back to “normal”. We still live with the silent hole in our cityscape and in our lives.

Naaman bore in his flesh the deep hole of his disease. He sought help from many sources when eventually he heard of a prophet in Israel who might bring some help. He traveled far with ample payment. At the prophet’s door a servant who bore instructions to wash in the Jordan met Naaman. Could it be that simple? Could it be just a simple bath in the Jordan that would solve the problem and take the agony that he bore for so long? Would there be no prophet song and dance, no waving of the arms, no incantations? Could his time of suffering come simply to an end by dipping himself in the water as he was instructed? He was soon to find out.

John reports a blind man that came to Jesus. He was blind from birth. Isn’t this a familiar story? What made him blind? Was the sin his or his parents’? Such questions are asked frequently. Why has this happened? It seems to be part of our human makeup to want answers to these perplexing questions. Yet, it was not the question that lay at the center of importance, but the man’s exit from the dark hole. Through his touch, Jesus brought light into this man’s life. Jesus made a little mud and then commanded him to wash and suddenly the blind man could see.

Vision is vital. It took a servant to open Naaman’s eyes to the simplicity of following the instructions that lead to his healing. It was not the place or the water that was used. Sight came from another source. It took the faithful touch of Jesus to give sight to someone who had never seen. What vision followed was the sight of Jesus walking along the path that would lead to his cross. It was not a vision that people wanted to see. Some ran from it. Others simply could not comprehend the meaning of it. It was not until after the resurrection that his disciples finally understood that God had entered the ground zero of human existence. They saw God sustain the blows of human cruelty and torture without looking away. They saw Jesus enter the darkness wherein both terrorists and victims dwell. They saw him live in the dark and love in the dark and they saw him bring light in the darkness, even the darkness of death on the cross. Not even death could stamp out the darkness of his light.

We are standing at the precipice of the hole left on September 11, 2001. In five years neither the hole in the city nor the hole in our lives has been filled. We stand looking down into the emptiness while still looking over our shoulders waiting to see if another attack will come. Some dare to look. Some try to forget. Yet for those who dare to gaze into the darkness of ground zero what we find there is nothing less than the cross of Christ. We find there the gaze of one who looked up into the darkness of the heavens and uttered the words, “It is finished.” Not done, but accomplished. The darkness that appeared to swallow him up was the completion of the work that God had brought. The darkness of Christ’s death has brought light to the world.

Vision is vital for us. Our healing is in the gaze into what happened. We see tonight in the hope of Chris’s presence that the hole does not go away. Yet, as we let the sight in we come to find also our way out because there we find the crucified Lord looking back at us. Jesus bade us “be washed,” and so we have been. We have been washed in the water of our baptism and bound eternally with the Christ who has entered our darkness. Our journey is not around the hole, but through it as Jesus walked and our promise is to see the other side, in Jesus’ name. Amen.