The world is remembering what has been called 9/11 that occurred at the beginning of the century on September 11, 2001. Twenty five years ago, two commercial passenger airplanes were flown into the twin towers of Manhatten’s World Trade Centre, one into the Pentagon, and one in a field in Shankville, Pennsylvania. That last airplane was United Airlines Flight 93, and was the only one of the four airplanes that failed to hit its intended target, likely the White House. What happened aboard UA Flight 93 has been called “an act of heroism” as passengers who were corralled into the back of the airplane by four terrorists decided to rebel.
Two simple factors gave the opportunity for the passengers to take action. The first was a 42 minute delay in departure of the airplane. It gave those who were on board the news that the other three airplanes had crashed into their targets as suicide missions, and the passengers realized that the lies they were told by the hijackers about a bomb being on board were untrue. The second was an extended phone call that one of the passengers, Tom Burnett, was able to make to his wife, Deena. As he relayed to the other passengers what was happening in New York (the Twin Towers) and in Arlington (the Pentagon), the other passengers came to their first realization that they had to take control of the airplane. Ultimately, passengers rushed the two terrorists in the cabin and subdued them. As they tried to breach the cockpit, the two terrorists inside crashed the airplane into that field outside the little borough of Shankville, population 140. No one in Shankville was killed, but sadly, all 40 passengers on board lost their lives. The victory? The mission of terror contemplated that day had categorically failed.
What turned the tide among the passengers that day from frightened people into valiant heroes? As we sift through the 37 audio recordings from UA Flight 93 that day, the most intrepid came from Tom Burnett’s last words to his wife before the passengers voted to rush the terrorists. “Don’t worry,” Tom told her, “We’re going to do something.”
Today, evil is rife in our world. Sin has hijacked billions of lives in a collision course with a Christless eternity. The fiery reminders of smoke and death that we saw in the 9/11 attacks are multiplied over and over among the lost as their lives are commandeered by spiritual wolves, demonic powers, blind guides, and total ignorance. My mind goes to the Bible. “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” Paul asks in Romans 10:14 and 15. “And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
The conversation that Paul is having sounds like Tom Barnett that day on UA Flight 93. We can answer him by saying, “Well, let someone else do it.” I hear Tom simply saying to us, “Don’t worry. We (not someone else) are going to do something.” Won’t we? Will we live and speak the gospel to those who need to hear? Will we invite them to events that give them opportunity to come to Jesus? Will we share Christ in any way we can? Will we just do something?
