Delivered September11, 2011
Two days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, a worker found a 20-foot cross of two steel beams in the debris. It immediately became a makeshift shrine. People who had access to the site prayed at it and left messages at it. After a few weeks, it was in the way of the cleanup so it was moved to a spot where it continued to be a focal point for visitors to ground zero. It was just a prefabricated part of the building, but it had the proportions of a Roman cross, and so people felt that it was symbolic. A Roman Catholic priest name Fr. Brian Jordan, a chaplain at Ground Zero, spoke at the cross and called it a "symbol of hope... symbol of faith... symbol of healing." A Protestant minister said of his visit to the site, "It was as if the cross took in the grief and loss. I never felt Jesus more.” The 9/11 cross has continued to be a spiritual symbol which has infused meaning into this terrible event in the life of our nation. But it has not been without controversy. Today there are plans to include this cross as part of a permanent memorial at the site. But there has been opposition. An organization called American Atheists has filed suit to stop the cross from being a part of the memorial unless other symbols from other faiths and nonreligious groups were also at the site. Today I would like us to ponder that Ground Zero Cross.
1. First, the cross is a symbol of death. When we think of September 11, 2001, we think of the 3000 people who died in New York City, Washington, DC, and in Shanksville, PA. The deaths of all these people are what makes this day different from all other days. All of us remember where we were when we heard the news of the attack. People of my generation remember when we were when we heard of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. September 11 is like that. It is a date indelibly inscribed on this generation like December 7th 1941 is a date remembered by the WWII generation. FDR called the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor "a date which will live in infamy." September 11 is such a date for this generation. It has shaped our country for the last ten years. Just as Pearl Harbor prompted our entry into the Second World War, so did the attacks of September 11 inspired the War on Terror. It inspired countless young men and woman to enlist in the armed forces and fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.
When death strikes, we pay attention. When it happens to someone close to us, we drop everything we are doing and attend to it. When it happens to 3000 Americans at one time then the nation pays attention. That is why the cross at Ground Zero is so meaningful. It is a symbol of death. Historically the Cross has been a Christian symbol of death for 2000 years. Jesus died on a cross at the hands of those who hated him. He was considered a traitor and a blasphemer by certain leaders at that time. They thought that his crimes deserved death. And not just any death but a ignoble and painful death. So they nailed him to a cross. It is no accident that Arlington cemetery is marked by rows and rows of white crosses. The cross is a symbol of death.
2.Second, the cross is a symbol of sacrifice. The Cross at Ground Zero tells us that these deaths of September 11, 2001, were not meaningless. These were not just victims of an act of terrorism. They are much more than that. This is especially true of all those who rushed toward the twin towers when everyone else was running away. When civilians were fleeing, fire departments, police departments, and emergency medical personnel were driving as fast as they could toward the towers. When people were running out of the buildings, they were running into the buildings. We rightly call these men and woman heroes. Many died as heroes that day. They are still dying today. The toxic effect of the clouds of dust from those buildings is still killing people. These people risked their lives to save others. They gave their lives just as certainly as any soldier on the battlefield risks their lives and sacrifices their lives. The cross is a symbol of that sacrifice.
According to the Christian gospel, Christ’s death was a sacrifice. Jesus said of his own death on the cross, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded." Christ’s death was a sacrifice in the sense that it was freely given. It was also a sacrifice in the sense that it was offered in place of another. There are stories from 9/11 about people who gave up their lives to save another’s life. Among those are the so-called heroes of the 88th floor.
Construction manager Frank De Martini and construction inspector Pablo Ortiz, both worked with the Port Authority on the 88th floor of the North Tower. Armed only with a flashlight, a crowbar and walkie talkies, the two men selflessly worked to rescue survivors from behind jammed doors on the upper floors of the North Tower during the 108 minutes between the attack and the collapse of the building. Both Frank and Pablo died when the tower collapsed, but their acts of heroism and courage saved the lives of 77 people and touched many more. Their bravery and sacrifice inspired those around them to step up and help others as they exited the towers, which in turn saved many more lives. They sacrificed their lives but in the process they saved other lives.
This is the heart of the Christian gospel and the meaning of the cross. The gospel says that Christ’s death on the cross was a sacrifice that saved us. What we are saved from might not be as readily apparent as the heroes of 9/11 but it is just as profoundly true. It is the heart of Biblical truth. The whole Old Testament is based on the idea of sacrifice. Chapter after chapter in the Torah talks about sacrifices offered in the temple. Those animal sacrifices were understood as taking the place of the one who was offering the sacrifice. That whole idea might sound kind of strange to our ears, but religious sacrifice was the mindset not only of the ancient Hebrews but practically every human culture that has ever lived. Sacrifice of some sort is present in nearly every religious tradition. The Christian gospel says that all those sacrifices offered in the Old Testament and on the altars everywhere from India to China to South America to Africa to the Middle East were communicating a spiritual truth known deep in every human heart. Jesus voiced it when he said, “No greater love has a man than this –that he lay down his life for his friends.” We know instinctively that it is a noble act to sacrifice your life for others. That is why we honor fallen soldiers.
It literally cost Jesus Christ his life to save us. And we see his sacrifice as an act of God. God was in Christ. In Christ’s death, not only was a man named Jesus sacrificing himself, but somehow God was giving himself. Self-sacrifice is the heart of the cross. The cross of Jesus was an act of heroism and sacrifice. In return we give our lives to God, just as God have his life to us. That is what eternal life is – receiving eternal life from God in the act of giving our lives to God. Jesus said, “"Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” That is why the cross is the symbol of the gospel, and why it is such an appropriate symbol for the memorial at Ground Zero. The cross is a symbol of sacrifice.
3. Third, the cross is the symbol of hope. The cross is not just a symbol of death and sacrifice. It is also a symbol of resurrection, of life that comes from death. The 9/11 cross came from the rubble. It emerged out of the debris. Like the mythological phoenix, it was born from the ashes. The Ground Zero Cross is a symbol of hope. It was such a symbol from the very moment it was found. Let me relate to you the story of the man who found this cross and how he found it. His story appeared in Guideposts magazine.
His name is Frank Silecchia, an excavation laborer and a member of union local 731. He lives in New Jersey, but is a New York City native from Brooklyn. After the Towers collapsed, he heard they needed guys with his skills for search-and-rescue work at Ground Zero. He couldn't get there fast enough. He'd seen the news coverage, but that didn't prepare him for the reality on the ground. It was like hell on earth. Fires burned out of control. Destroyed vehicles littered the streets. Everything was blanketed with dust; the air was filled with a choking stench. He soaked a bandanna with water and wrapped it around his head to cover his nose and mouth. He went to work wondering if he'd be able to get through this.
Six firefighters and Frank entered World Trade Center building six, which had been flattened by Tower One. They took a smoke-filled stairway down into the garage levels, searching for survivors. There were no cries for help, no signs of life. They spray-painted orange Xs to indicate where they'd searched and to help them find their way back. After 12 hours of searching, they had recovered three bodies. By then he was exhausted, but he decided to work a little bit longer. "I think I'll take a look over there," he told the firemen, motioning toward the remains of the lobby atrium. Picking his way through the massive piles of debris, he peered into what had become a sort of grotto. Illuminated by the pale light of dawn were shapes that looked like crosses. How did these crosses get here? The largest was about 20 feet high and weighed a couple of tons. He writes “In that little grotto I felt a strange sense of peace and stillness. I could almost hear God saying, “The terrible thing done at this site was meant for evil. But I will turn it to good. Have faith. I am here.” He says, “I fell to my knees in front of the largest cross. Tears came, and I couldn't stop them. I cried like a baby.”
The article ends in these words. He writes: “Ground Zero was not obviously a place of hope. But it was there that I learned we can always have faith. In fact, we must have faith if we are to go on. New life will rise from the ashes. I know that because the cross was a sign, a promise from God that he is with us even in the face of terrible evil and untold suffering. Especially then.” The Cross is symbol of hope
4. Fourth, the cross is a symbol of Strength. What we sometimes forget about the 9/11 cross is that it is really just a steel cross beam. The World Trade Center was built using prefabricated parts, which were bolted or welded together at the site and then lifted into place. This process dramatically reduces construction time and costs. Using this method, t-beams and other types of cross beams were created and used in each of the World Trade Center buildings. In other words the cross – along with many other crosses - was made beforehand and placed into the building. These were the crosses that Frank Silecchia saw in the grotto under the ruins of World Trade Center Six. I see significance in this. The 9/11 cross was a part of the World Trade Center before 9/11. The cross just was only revealed for all to see when tragedy hit.
The Cross is embedded in the heart of the world. There is a verse that I love that refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.” This verse tells us that the cross of Jesus wasn’t just an historical event that happened in the first century AD. It God’s heart, it happened from the beginning of the universe. It is an eternal reality. It is the nature of God. It is the foundation of the world. It holds the world together just like the steel crosses held the World Trade Center together. But it is hidden from human sight until the right moment, as the Bible says, “I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” The apostle Paul calls it “the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ,” “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”
The Cross of Jesus was not a mistake. God was not improvising when he saved mankind through the cross. The Cross was his plan from the very beginning. It is built into the heart of the universe. We only see it when the world crumbles around us. When the towers fall, the cross is revealed. When our lives fall apart, the cross is shown as truth. That is what I hope all of us can see today. It is our hope for the future.
The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is not going to be the last attack on our nation. I am no prophet, but it doesn’t take a prophet to see that the forces of violence, intolerance and fanaticism are still alive in this world and have not given up. There have been recent calls for more acts of terrorism to avenge the death of Osama Bin Laden. Life is dangerous and the future is uncertain. None of us knows that other dates in will live in infamy, dates that our grandchildren will remember as clearly as we remember September 11. But at the heart of all history lies the cross – a symbol not only of the inevitability of death, but also a symbol of heroic sacrifice in the face of death, a symbol of hope and resurrection. A symbol of strength that at the heart of the world and in the heart of God is the cross – the symbol of Jesus Christ, a symbol that is eternally true and cannot be destroyed by any weapon or any terrorist. It is this cross we are asked to carry. As Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
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