Still Here

Our home is in heaven and our stay here is temporary, so ideally, we are not to get too comfortable here in this world, but to live as those who belong to Christ - with a purpose in this world, yet a permanence in the world hereafter. Philippians 3 offers this insight:
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

As the people of God, bought by His blood and sealed by His Spirit, we have the confidence that we will live forever with Jesus our Lord.  But, we're not yet there, and since we're still inhabiting this planet, that means there is something for us to do - for one thing, we can seek to know God better, to enter into His presence and to rely on Him.  We are called to be obedient to doing His work, so that we fulfill and complete the mission He has called us to perform.

+++++

Our stay here on this earth is very, very short in light of eternity and we have a specific purpose for being here - to obey God and to glorify Him. He intends for us to accept and serve Jesus Christ. James 4 provides some perspective:
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

Jeff Hammond was a gridiron star for the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1970's.  He currently serves as Director of the Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families at the school, after returning to Hattiesburg in 2010 to serve as senior associate director of athletics, then as athletic director.  In between those stops at the university along the way, he served in the U.S. Army.  In a news story published by USM, he is quoted as saying this about his parents' influence:

"They were godly Christians who worked hard their entire lives to raise a family. To honor their wishes and expectations, I chose to earn a commission in the U.S. Army. I was blessed to be raised in a two-parent home full of love, care and accountability,” said Hammond. “My mom and dad experienced World War II, Korea and Vietnam and always instilled in me, my brothers and sister a grateful spirit to be living in one nation under God.”

In September 2001, retired U.S. Army Major General Hammond was in his office at the Pentagon. He was a colonel at the time, and was in his office watching the events in New York City at the World Trade Center unfold.  He was on his way down the hall to be part of a telephone call with the Army Chief of Staff in the basement of the building when the Pentagon was hit by an airliner.  The article says:

He recalls a loud, thud-like explosion that jarred his senses. Smoke began filling the hallway, debris fell from everywhere and people were running in all directions seeking an escape. He heard screaming and crying. He saw the look of fear and confusion on countless faces. Hammond knew he had managed to cheat death by mere seconds.

“Bottom line, had my lieutenant colonel deputy not, in haste, encouraged me to leave my office for the Operations Center, I, just like members of our staff, would have died on that day and at that moment,” said Hammond.

General Hammond says, "I lost wonderful people, both office-mates and others, whose lives can never be replaced,” adding, “A day doesn’t go by where I don’t ask myself, ‘why not me?’ and then quickly I realize God had other plans with my life.”  The article goes on to say that:

Hammond, a man of profound faith, prayed hard that day. In his 65 years on this Earth, no day has provoked more earnest prayer.

“I pray all the time and always have,” he said. “On 9/11 it was a series of non-stop conversations with God asking for mercy and love for the families of those we lost. It was a terrible day in so many ways, and I still relive many of those moments.”

Years later after the events of that day, in a Christian Leadership Lectures program at William Carey University, Gen. Hammond had this to say, according to the school's website:

“I asked myself, ‘why am I still alive?’ Turned out God does extraordinary things with ordinary people, and he had other plans for me,” Hammond told the crowd gathered at Thomas Fine Arts Auditorium.

“I couldn’t be just a leader. I had to be a Christian leader. When I served in Iraq, we weren’t there to kill the bad guys. We were there to protect God’s creation, to protect the people of Baghdad.

“Jesus said, ‘follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ When you lead people, and affect lives, it’s important to have the moral courage to do the right thing.”

The article notes that Gen. Hammond "served three combat tours and is best known for his leadership during the highly successful 'Surge' – commanding a division of 28,000 soldiers and their families at war for 15 months, resulting in long-term sustainable security across Baghdad, Iraq."

For thousands on September 11, 2001, their time had come - they exited this earth, many or most in a violent fashion, and this 20th anniversary of the events of the day gives us a chance to honor their memory.  It is hard to understand the ways of God, yet we can be confident in His sovereignty.  And, we're reminded that tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so it's important that we are ready to meet Him by having accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

But, there were many who survived.  As Charles Morris of Haven Ministries pointed out to me in that interview aired yesterday, there were those in New York City who inexplicably did not go to work that day.  A plane perhaps destined for the White House was taken down as the result of a confrontation between the hijackers and passengers in Pennsylvania. It has been reported that people were buried in the rubble of the twin towers and did not lose their lives.  There were those in the massive Pentagon building, like Gen. Hammond, who also survived. 

The general has come to terms that he is still on this earth because God still has a purpose for him. You could say that we have been deployed or assigned to this earth for a finite period of time, yet the believer can look forward to an infinite future with Jesus.  We have to recognize that is the case, and make sure that we are not only living day-to-day with a sense of that purpose in mind, but also realize that we are citizens of heaven and live in light of eternity.  We are not of this world, but we are called to serve our Savior in this world, seeking His will and following His direction.