Click on the image to listen to the sermon.
Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I
once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now – I see.
15
years ago on Tuesday on September 11, 2001 I got to my desk around 8:30 in the
morning. My office was on the corner of
Canal and Hudson Street – right at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel if you’re
familiar with getting into Manhattan from 95.
Like most offices in hip and trendy Tribeca it was an open floor plan
with desks, tables spread around, no cubes or walls. And the walls on the west and south sides
where floor to ceiling windows. Spectacular views across the Hudson to Jersey
and straight down past the end of the island through to Brooklyn.
Turned
on my computer – started checking email – when someone walked very swiftly by
my desk while saying – a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I got up and followed him to that south wall–
and stared at what looked like a movie.
That first building – where my parents had worked on the 98th
floor when I was in Middle School. It
was impossible to process as reality the gaping hole – and smoke – and debris of
I-couldn’t-comprehend-what - falling and fluttering through the air.
Next
thing I remember - one of my coworkers standing next to me asking – what’s
going on? A plane flew into the
towers. What? I don’t know – that’s what they said – I
didn’t see it. We were now maybe 15 of
us standing in a line at those windows. And
someone said - what’s that – and pointed right?
Why is there another plane? Why
isn’t it turning? Oh no – we all gasped when it happened. And there it was again – gaping hole – debris
– smoke. What is happening?
I
ran to my desk – tried to pull up the NYTimes on my computer – wouldn’t
work. Then back at that window and watching
the towers sway. Could they fall,
someone asked? No that’s the World Trade
Center – but then that’s what happened, we watched that tower collapse in on
itself.
I
remember our CEO shouting – I want everyone out of the building now. He pointed at some people saying, you, you,
you get your cameras and get to the roof – everyone else out.
My
friend Eliot looked at me and said – let’s go.
We all took the stairs – 9th floor – not too bad. We got outside – we joined a river of people
all moving north. This was like nothing
I had ever seen – it was a beautiful clear day.
We walked past people sitting in a cafe eating croissants – and I
remember thinking – do they know what’s happening? It got more crowded – more people.
We
had made it to the corner of 14th Street/Broadway, Union Square – and
were about to cross the intersection. It
felt like there were more people around us and moving – there was a feeling of
anxiety that was growing – the sounds of people were getting louder – it started
to feel stranger and scarier.
At
that time, my friend, Eliot – was engaged – and I was married. And as we’re
about to step off the curb he looks at
me and says - Arianne, I don’t mean anything by it but could we just hold hands
til we get where we’re going so we don’t lose each other? Huge smile of gratitude – grabbed his hand - we
ran across that street. Speaking for
myself - I wasn’t worried about losing each other – but I was terrified and scared
and very grateful for someone’s hand to hold – grateful to be connected.
There
are so many stories from that day 15 years ago and its important to remember
then. Stories that are small – and stories
that are big. Stories of tremendous
courage – whereby ordinary people filled with something they didn’t know they
had – reach out their hands to help others – reach out to sacrifice their lives
by saving the hand of another. Those stories
are worth remembering because they remind us of something we can forget– just
how connected we always are.
Rebecca
Solnit is a writer who documents the stories of people after the
disasters. She writes, “when all the
ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up to become their
brother’s keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness brings joy even
amidst death, chaos, fear and loss.”
Jesus
is trying to break the ordinary divides and patterns sitting at a table with the
Pharisees and the tax collectors and sinners.
That represents the far ends of the human spectrum and everyone
inbetween. And Jesus teaches – everyone
is found by God. Think about it – Sheep
and coins, they can’t sin – and they can’t be religious. Jesus isn’t saying – “if” you do this “then”
God will love you. “Then” God will find
and forgive you. Jesus is redefining
what it means to repent. Repentance is
to let yourself be found. It’s not about what you've done – because everyone is
going to get lost – its about letting
ourselves be found.
And
the joy of those moments – that connection – that joy propels the shepherd and
the woman to run out and call all their neighbors and have a party to celebrate. For in doing so we reflect the joy of God
with all the angels.
Jesus
is telling us – there are no lost causes – God doesn’t see us or the world that
way – so we can’t see the world or people that way either. And once we know, once we experience that
amazing grace in our lives – our joy
grows stronger – when we got out and grab the hands of others to share in that
connection.
The
event we remember this day isn’t only reason I would up here – but the moments
that I watched and lived through because of that experience moved me past the
fear of leaving that career towards the faith that I was called to this
vocation.
Church
is not a building. It is a community of
people who come together to hear, remember and give thanks for story of God’s
love for us – and then make that love
real in any and every way we can.
I
am a Christian and I don’t believe it is my job to convert people to
Christ. I am a Christian because I have
been found by God through Christ, again and again – and it is my deepest joy
(more powerful than a job) to connect with other people in the big and small
ways we all know amazing grace in our lives.
So
let’s remember the stories – give thanks for the stories – and invite our
neighbors to celebrate the joy of this
story - this community. The good news of
compassion and making a difference – through all the ways we connect with God –
with ourselves – and with others.
And
may we always give thanks to God – whose glory working in us can do infinitely
more than we can ask or imagine. Glory
to God from generation to generation in the church – and in Christ Jesus – the
good shepherd – forever and ever. Amen.
The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks
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