Another controversy was brought by American Atheists who do not want the huge steel cross found in the ruins of the WTC to be a part of the memorial or museum.
Which brings me to what I want to talk about today. Russell D. Moore, writing in the latest issue of Christianity Today, has pointed out the connection between the WTC site and Calvary. For Calvary is the real ground zero. It is where man sees the full impact and the results of sin and death. They do not relent until there is shedding of blood.
And whether an Atheist or a Christian, it is really difficult for us to look directly at the suffering of Christ in this way. Today, some want us to avoid seeing the terrible images that happened 10 years ago. In the same way, Peter could not envision his master going to the cross, even after Jesus tried to explain to him it had to happen. Peter and the other disciples feared the despair that seeing Jesus die would bring them. Denial is sometimes an attractive alternative to despair.
But denial and despair are what Satan wants. They are his weapons, his tools. Satan, you see, is the real terrorist. He wants us to fear him, to cower and hide.
But on the cross, Christ overcame Satan and made powerless all his weapons.
When we are baptized, it means we look straight on at the reality of the human condition, and share in Christ’s death. When we receive the Lord’s Supper, we are receiving into ourselves the torn body and splattered blood of Christ.
That is why the American Athiests organization is wrong to prevent the steel cross from being a part of the memorial, and why Mayor Blumberg is wrong to keep clergy from being a part of the ceremony. The presence of the cross and the clergy remind us that we are involved in a real battle. We are engaged in spiritual warfare, not against Islam or muslims, but against otherworldly principalities and powers, against spirits who want to see us dead, both physically and spiritually. Ephesians 6:12.
Some have criticized the United States for going into Iraq, that it was the wrong war to fight. Regardless of one’s position on that point, unless we understand that we are in a spiritual battle, we are indeed fighting the wrong war. If, like the Atheists and others, we ignore or deny the supernatural nature of our enemies, we will have to find scapegoats to call our enemies. This is the real danger to muslims and others, if we don’t recognize the real enemy is Satan. Either that or we will be paralyzed into inaction.
We as Christians recognize the real enemy and are on the front lines; we are first responders, when Satan attacks. We know that the true Church, with its focus on Word and Sacrameny, is the real Department of Homeland Security. And we are confident, because we bear witness that the cross, whether at Calvary or at ground zero, is a symbol of the victory that Christ has won for us already in this war against evil. AMEN
