The text for this morning’s sermon is not from the back of the worship folder, as it usually is. However, it is only one
short verse long, and not that hard to remember. It is from the 13th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, the 8th verse: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever.”

Intro

“Things will never be the same again.” That’s been a common refrain since Tuesday, September 11, 2001, as stunned Americans watched the horrific images on their televisions. The coverage began after a plane slammed into the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center shortly before 9 a.m. Then, with the cameras showing the scene live, a second plane followed 15 minutes later, scoring a direct hit on the south tower.

Minutes later came reports of a third kamikaze style attack,this time on the Pentagon, the symbol of U.S. military might, and of a fourth hijacked plane that missed it’s intended target and crashed in a wooded area near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Then came the unimaginable scenes of terrified people fleeing the mayhem as the twin 110-story towers - the symbol of U.S. financial might - imploded one at a time sending a massive plume of dust and smoke billowing over the city, destroying
everything and everyone in the vicinity. As the world watched, an estimated 68 hundred people were dead or unaccounted for.

There were a few bright spots in the darkness of this tragedy. Christians all over America have been praying as never
before. In this time of pain I am told that all over the country neighbors and parishioners are flocking to our churches; that the hearts of people are open to hear the Gospel in record numbers!

And many of our fellow Missouri-Synod Lutherans at “ground zero” escaped. Some of them were in Towers One and Two when the planes hit, and escaped from even the upper floors of the buildings prior to their implosion. One was five months pregnant
with twins; her husband was called into active duty with The Marine Reserve unit later that day.

The building that housed Lutheran Social Services located just a block from Tower Two, was totally destroyed when the
debris from that tower came through the roof. Fortunately, the staff and clients escaped with their lives.

Yet, there were just a few bright spots, because many did not escape the effects of this vicious terrorist attack,
including the co-workers of those I've just described. Countless families within our Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
congregations have been devastated as relatives, friends, and co-workers are missing. Firefighters, police, office workers, executives, food service employees, maintenance staff - all members or friends of our Lutheran family - are presumed among
the rubble.

“Things will never be the same again.” That’s been a common reaction since the tragic events of Tuesday, September 11, and there is a lot of truth to this statement.
Our conception of war and of peace will probably never be the same.
Our assumptions about safety and security in the air, on the ground, even in the workplace will never be quite the same.
Our understanding of the nature of freedom and how to protect and preserve it without sacrificing it or compromising it will never be the same.
And the list goes on of the ways that the events of this one day have changed irreversibly our lives and perhaps the whole course of human history.

I

At the same time, from another perspective, we might say that the events of Tuesday, September 11 have demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing has changed.

In the 1st chapter of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, we read these inerrant words of God: “What has
been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can
say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time” (1:9-10).

It’s the same old story. As we were reminded last week,this church was founded in the wake of another surprise attack on
our country. Up until now, the worst attack on American soil was when Japanese war planes bombed the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, killing 2,280 military personnel and 68 civilians, forcing the United States into World War Two. What
happened September 11, was worse in that it killed almost 3 times as many people - almost all of them civilians - and we watched as it happened on our televisions. But basically, it’s the same old story.

We also learn from Scripture of incidents that caused similar concern in Jesus’ time. In the 13th chapter of the
Gospel of Luke, we have the report of how the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had murdered some Jewish worshipers from Galilee
while they were offering their sacrifices in the temple.

At the same time we also have the report of “the tower in Siloam,” one of the watch towers which protected Jerusalem,
collapsing - killing some 18 people that were standing beneath it.

Even back then Jesus was being asked questions like: “What did these people do that God did this to them? In what way did
they offend Him? Why did God allow this to happen?”

Jesus’ answer includes a message for us: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans
because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when
the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Today, whenever disaster strikes, people still ask: “Why did God allow this to happen?” There is no completely satisfactory
answer to this question. The only answer that Jesus gives us is:
“Repent.” It’s the only thing that we can do to spare ourselves and others suffering. The world that we live in is insecure.
The way we live is dangerous. Our chosen way of life has suffering built into it. There is only one way out. To turn our lives around - to “Repent.”

II

In his statement last week, the newly elected president of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Gerald Kieschnick observed: “The monstrous attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. are an astounding example of mankind’s fall into sin and the forces of evil at work in this world. The fall was not [merely] a one-time event. It continues to happen. It is an ongoing process, a downward trajectory, that shapes every moment of our lives.”

Although we are rightly shocked and deeply saddened by the horrible events of recent days, we who know what God’s Word
teaches ought not be shocked at the depth of human sin and depravity, or the capacity of fallen human beings to think and act in ways that are so contrary to God’s good and perfect will.
It’s really the same old story - the story that goes back to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and Sarah and Hagar and Isaac and Ishmael and Jacob and Esau and on down through the generations of all those born in the image and likeness of Adam.

And we know that story so well not only because we read about it again and again and again in scriptures but because we
see it and feel it again and again and again in our own hearts and in our own lives and in our own families and in our own church and in our nation: pride, envy, anger, greed, hatred, hostility, jealousy, and lust for power and position and control.
The stubborn, hard-hearted refusal to love and forgive and live together in God-pleasing harmony and humility and unity and
diversity and peace.

As Americans, we puff out our chests at a time like this to show the world how much our country means to us - and well we
should. Flags are being displayed nearly everywhere you look across our nation.

Yet, even as we puff out our chests as Americans we beat our breasts as Christians. Even as we sing, “God, bless our native land,” we cry out “Kyrie Eleison: Lord have mercy on us all” and, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Lk. 18:13).

God is calling America to repentance. We are living in a sinful world. Sin is the ultimate cause of all disasters and death.

It’s the same old story - the story of human sin and its awful consequences, the story of our desperate need for repentance.

III

But it’s the same old story of a savior who came to rescue a world gone wrong. Tuesday, September 11th, changed everything, and yet, Tuesday, September 11th, changed nothing, because, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

What does this mean? It means that when we are horrified and terrified by the sin and evil of this world, we turn and run
to where God’s people have always run: to the shelter and safety of Jesus Christ. We go to the one who knows more about the
horror of sin and evil than anyone who has ever lived, because He took it all upon Himself when He hung on Calvary’s cross. When we feel crushed by the effects of sin, we cry out to the one who became sin for us on the cross.

We go to the one who through His resurrection has given us the victory over sin, death and the power of the devil, and who promises: “...He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die..” (Jn.
11:25,26).

We go to the one who assures us that, no matter what we suffer in this life - even death - all those who trust in Him for
their eternal salvation will live with Him in heaven forever.

We go to the one not only tells us to repent, has also given us His Holy Spirit through His word and sacraments to help us
turn our lives around, and to respond as God’s people have always responded when they are overwhelmed by human need and pain and
grief unlike anything we have ever seen before: with simple acts of love and kindness that reflect God’s loving-kindness toward us in Christ. For in Christ, “God has said: ‘Never will I leave
you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, “The lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
(Heb. 13:5,6).

Martin Luther once said: “Christians are wise when they persevere in believing God’s promises. His promises are dependable and lasting...”

Yes, our earthly towers have fallen. But our tower and strength remains! “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today
and forever!”

Con

Some things, it is true, may never be the same again. Other things, the things that matter most, have not changed at all:
Our need for God.
His love for us in Christ.
The stability and reliability of His word and His promises.
The responsibility and opportunity that we have as God’s people to share His word and His love with all people everywhere.
These things have not changed! Nor will they change until that day when we are assembled with that great multitude beyond
counting from every nation, tribe, people and language, worshiping the lamb on His throne as He wipes away every tear from our eyes. For the Bible tells us that then, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:4).