A Prayer on 9/11

Our Almighty and Gracious Father, we thank you today for this opportunity to gather and solemnly remember the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. Your word tells us to mourn with those who mourn, and you also tell us that “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” As we lament the needless loss of life on that day, may we mourn for it, and may we find our comfort in you.

We are also reminded of your many gifts of providence, Father, that have made this nation so blessed. We thank you for the many freedoms we enjoy in our country, the freedoms that our founders ensured in the Constitution, including free exercise of religion, the freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly. Many people in our world risk torture, imprisonment, and even death in the pursuit of these freedoms, at the hand of political and religious tyranny. We pray for them, that their faith would not fail. And we thank you for the degree of freedom we enjoy here.

Even so, we acknowledge that all is not well in our country. We see injustices perpetrated against our fellow Americans because of the color of their skin, or because their lives have not yet extended beyond the womb. Wise and just Creator, may we as a nation realize the conviction expressed in our Declaration, that you have created us all—men and women, white and black, born and unborn—as equal in your sight. Have mercy on us.

Father, we also see religious liberty eroding or even being attacked in some parts of our country. Have mercy on us. We thank you that no law has ever extinguished the flame of true worship. We thank you that we are able to freely gather and express our faiths on this campus. May that always be the case.

Let what we say and do here cause us to not only look back on that fateful day in 2001, but also to look ahead to the day when you return, when you make all things new, when death itself will die, when mourning and crying will cease, and your peace, your shalom, will reign over all the earth. Let us prepare for that day by being people of peace. Your word says, “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:18).  And may we be people who do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, O God (Micah 6:8).

Father, we have gathered today to remember the nearly 3000 victims who died on that fateful day in 2001. Their sacrifice is a powerful and moving example. But it is not their sacrifice which gives us an audience with you today, but the sacrifice of your Son Jesus.