Sermon on the anniversary of 9/11

The text of a sermon I preached this morning at St Andrew's Rugby

I wonder if you can remember where you were on the 11^th September 2001? I can, vividly – I went into a meeting in Church House Wakefield just as the news that there had been an attack on the Twin Towers was seeping out;  by the time the meeting had finished colleagues were gathered round hastily connected TV’s watching the carnage. The images were particularly poignant for me as a few years earlier Annabel and I had stood on the top of one of the towers and joked about how unsteady it all felt, being blown about by the wind.

We all know the detail: four planes hi-jacked. Two attacked the Twin Towers, one was destined for the Pentagon in Virginia and the fourth, United Airlines Flight 93 was probably headed for the White House but passengers overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

The outpouring of grief was unimaginable before the attacks and some of you may have heard a radio programme on Friday afternoon in which survivors told stories of their conversations with loved ones above the point of attack in the certain knowledge of both people that the one marooned in the tower would die.

The political response was just as startling. Not since Pearl Harbour had the United States been attacked and the sense of outrage and also surprise was massive. I say surprise because neither politicians nor the ordinary people of America seemed to have any idea just how hated they were and indeed still are by significant numbers of Muslins across the world. The response of George W Bush was to adopt a phrase first used by Ronald Reagan “The War against Terror” to label an attack on terrorism in many forms. The on-going conflict in Afghanistan, the over throw of Saddam Hussein and other more minor conflicts in the Horn of Africa and the Philippines. Bush’s use of the word Crusade was particularly offensive to Muslim’s and he only used the word once.

Today, 10 years on I want to do to things. I want us to Remember. Remembering is a key Christian notion and something we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist – do this in remembrance of me. And by remembering we make real the presence of Jesus in our community. So in a few minutes we will stand to remember those who died in the attacks and the subsequent attack in London on 7^th July 2005 and by doing so we will re-member those who have been torn apart by these tragic events.

But first, I want to ask a question about our Gospel reading today. I did not choose this reading, it is the one set for today, but in it we heard Jesus tell his disciples that they should forgive 70 times 7, that’s 490 times. This forgiveness thing is not just a one off!

So lets try to apply that to 9/11 and 7/7.

First we have to acknowledge that for those intimately wound up with the events of these two days, forgiveness must be the hardest thing in the world. Some do manage to find it within themselves to forgive but for most it is impossible.

And for those who watch on, with no personal involvement, for politicians and ordinary people, can we forgive? Well some of the language used publically by our leaders suggests that forgiveness is not within their vocabulary. And you? How do you respond to seeing once again the images on our tv screen? Can you find it in your heart to forgive?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about forgetting. This is why we will stand to remember in a few moments, why Nick will play John Lemon’s Imagine, which has become an anthem of remembering 9/1. It is why during communion, with Cathy, he will play the Barber Adagio, another iconic piece in this day of remembering.

So if we are not to forget, what will our forgiving look like? I suggest that forgiving 490 times means never, ever, giving up the search and quest for reconciliation, for the re-binding of relationships between those of different faiths, races and opinions, between those who have been angered by bombings and those who have been angered, enough to bomb, by what they see as the imperialist west which refuses to see the deep values of both faith and culture in the Middle East.

Yesterday Tony Blair told us that the actions of the West had not radicalised young Muslim men in this country, who then travelled to Afghanistan and other places to take part in what they perceived of as a just war. There are those who disagree with him, Elisa Manningham Buller, formerly head of MI5 is among them. So it is not at all clear that we understand the impact of our actions in Afghanistan or Iraq.

But surely the call to forgiveness and reconciliation implies that we adopt a similar approach to the issues of the Middle East as have been seen to be successful in Northern Ireland where reconciliation and engagement with those who terrorised that community has led to peace.

Now of course there is one big difference. The leaders of the IRA came to see for themselves that negotiation was the only way to peace.

So, challenging though it may be, forgiveness has to lie at the heart of our response to the tragic events we remember today. Forgiveness that begins right here in our own church and community. Forgiveness which is that truly counter cultural vocation of the person who seeks to be a follower of Jesus.

But its also forgiveness and reconciliation that must lie at the heart of our response as a nation. I have peddled this approach from this pulpit before and found myself in the Daily Telegraph

Among all the foolish apologists for the murderers of Madrid, it was the Reverend Mark Beach who happened to catch my eye. Preaching at St Andrew's Church, Rugby, nine days ago, Mr Beach said: "The people of Madrid are reaping the fruits of our intolerance towards those of different races and religions. The war in Iraq was never going to solve the problems of that region but instead inflamed Arab people all over the world to new heights of anger towards the West."God Almighty. The sooner the Potemkin Church of England is sold for scrap the better. Almost every word of Mr Beach's is false.

Mark Steyn and I are clearly not going to agree. I stand by what I said then and believe that subsequent evidence is firmly on my side! The only way in which we can bring about the peace that is at the heart of God, is by forgiving those who have angered us 70 times 7 and living ourselves as those who are reconciled with each other and with God.