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Philippians 4: 4-9 Five years ago tomorrow, Sargeant John McLoughlin led a group of Port Authority police officers in response to a call related to a major emergency at the World Trade Center. As the men approached the scene, it began to dawn on them that something unprecedented had happened, and that they would be asked to undertake a dangerous mission. Sargeant McLoughlin asked for volunteers, and a small team stepped forward. With scarcely an idea what was happening, the team entered World Trade Tower One.
About twenty minutes into the mission, when they had completed securing the equipment they would need, and prepared to go up, a terrible sound came - louder than anything they were prepared for. In a split second, it was evident that part or all of the building was collapsing, and they were rained on by debris. McLoughlin yelled for his men to run for the elevator shaft, knowing it would be the strongest part of the building. The fall of the building was terrible beyond words, and the men were helpless to even begin to dodge the debris. When everything settled into a terrifying silence, feeble voices called out. One was John Mcloughlin, whose legs were pinned. Another was Will Jimeno, who was pinned by the chest. After the second tower fell, the two were still left there pinned but conscious, twenty feet apart, not able to see each other, but able to talk and encourage each other to hold on until a miracle could happen.
Far away, in Wilton, Connecticut, an accountant named David Karnes stood with his fellow workers and watched the television in disbelief as the World Trade Towers collapsed. Probably there in that office in Connecticut there were many heroes standing beside Karnes. Perhaps they gave blood, sent money, maybe joined volunteer teams later on. But Karnes, a retired staff sargeant in the United States Marines, knew he had to go immediately. He went to his church and prayed, and then he donned his Marine fatigues, and drove his car to Manhattan. He got as close as he could by car, and then he got out and walked. His uniform and ID got him through checkpoints, and he arrived at Ground Zero just as exhausted rescue crews were drawing back for the night. It would not be safe for them to continue their search through the rubble until daylight.
But Sargeant Karnes went past them, obsessed with the idea of survivors left in that rubble and, flashlight in hand, began his own search through the fallen building. He was joined by another Marine named Thomas, and they began to yell and search.
Over 2600 people died in the World Trade Center on 9-11-01. Only 20 were pulled from the debris alive. Two of those rescued were John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno- they were found by those two Marines who had continued searching through the night. Once they heard the faint voices of the police officers trapped far below, they were joined by others in the response - a former medic named Chuck Sereika; rescue experts named Scott Straus and Paddy McGee, who crawled down into the dangerous holes with rescue equipment; dozens, hundreds of others who joined in the rescue, passing the two policemen on their stretchers down a cheering, weeping snake of rescuers whose energy had been renewed by the chance to save these lives.
The story of these men has been told now many times - most recently in Oliver Stone's powerful movie World Trade Center. No less heroic were the wives and children and families waiting for phone calls, going to the hospitals, holding one another, the way people across America and around the world did that day.
I'm not sure just when the thought came to me - I wasn't thinking about 9-11 at the -time - but when I wondered what to say on this Sunday when all of us would be returning from our summer schedules, and getting back to real life, the idea of greatness kept corning to me. Just what is it that constitutes a great life?
A couple years ago, the business teacher Jim Collins wrote a bestselling book entitled Good to Great, and it examined companies that had made the transition from being ordinary and competent, to becoming among the very best at what they do. They had gone from good to great. And I think the idea of that has to be part of who we are as Christians. We hope we are good people. But I believe God calls us to be great people. With all the unbelievable things that Jesus did in his lifetime on earth, he told his followers, "Greater things than this will you do." And I don't believe God wants us to settle for anything less than great.
We probably get certain images when we think of great people, and most of them are famous and powerful people - the Bill Gates's, and the President Bush's, and the Tom Cruise's and the Tiger Woods's and the people who simply rule their field. The movers and the shakers; the big winners; the elite.
But one thing that came loud and clear after 9-11 was that there were great people
doing great things simply by doing what had to be done to the very best of their abilities - people like McLoughlin, Jimeno, Karnes, and so on. These were not people who longed to be on a reality show, or in the spotlight. They were people who longed to do the right thing for the right reason. And we honor the ones we now know by name, and we honor the ones whose names we will not know, because when the time demanded unusual courage and compassion - when the time demanded greatness - they stood up.
It seems to me that Philippians 4: 8 in the Bible invites a contemplation of just what greatness might look like - and as you listen to the words in these lists, you might think of the heroes of 9-11. But you might think of others you have known - maybe who never rushed into a burning building; maybe who never drove hundreds of miles to rescue someone - but people living in quiet greatness, serving God and the cause of right where they are, to the best of their abilities. Here's the list from the apostle Paul:
“. .. whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
On this fifth anniversary of that horrible national experience on 9-11, thousands of words will be written and spoken about what we should remember, what we have learned, and the incomplete tasks of bringing the mastermind behind the attacks to justice, and of deciding just what should be built on the spot where the towers stood.
But let's honor the great people who stood up that day. Let's remember all that was true, that was honorable, that was just, that was pure, that was pleasing, that was commendable, that was excellent, that was worthy of praise. Thousands, maybe millions, of good people stood up in a great way when it counted. That's the definition of greatness. And all of us are inspired by their example to consider the potential for greatness that I believe God has built into each one of us.
Someone has said, “Every person has an equal chance to become greater than he/she
is.” Maybe you don't see yourself as an earthshaking person. Maybe you don't see your life as extraordinary. Maybe you don't feel especially talented or resourceful or even ambitious. But every person has an equal chance to become greater that they are. And God sees something much different than you see in yourself. God is like the sculptor who sits in front of the huge, shapeless rock that the quarry has thrown away. Most everybody would see it as just a big obstacle. But the sculptor sees the great work of art that lives inside the stone. And I believe God sees a great work of art in each one of us here today. I believe everyone here has the potential to do great things. I have been so blessed by heroes in my life - Sunday School teachers, mentors, people who stepped forward to tutor, to build, to learn, to do honorable and good things with their lives - not to be held in high esteem, not to be praised, not even to get to heaven. But to please the God who made them by offering the seeds of greatness God gave them. They are in every one of us. And this world is changed whenever one of those seeds is watered and nurtured to grow and bring fruit to God's table.
It's back to school time. Not just for children and youth, but for all of us; maybe every age and circumstance has a chance to start new today - to make this a new start to grow toward spiritual greatness. I heard someone say, “The older I get, the greater I was.” That's heading in the wrong direction. I believe God has a better way for each one of us here this morning. Paul gives us the checklist, the marks of a great life; how would you do on this test: is your life true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise? As you set your fall schedule, what will move you toward a life that is more than just getting by - more than just taking care of business? A Bible study? A spiritual gifts class? A mission opportunity? A prayer ministry?
We're here in the name of God, who sent his Son into this world in lowly, extraordinary surroundings, and then through Him accomplished nothing less than the salvation of the world. We're here in the name of God who raised shepherd boys, and fishermen, and prostitutes and insane people into great messengers of hope and power.
We're here in the name of God who has planted seeds of greatness in you. How are you nurturing them? What is God calling forth in you that is true, honorable, just, excellent, worthy of praise? Are you ready for life that is nothing short of the greatest?
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