Where are we and Where do we go from Here?

First, by now, many of you have felt the sting of it directly or indirectly. You've either known people or had people in your family affected by this thing, friends who have died, been injured. Perhaps, you know, people working in the rescue efforts. And we've all been inundated by a never ending report of images of death and destruction. I mean, the stories, the sad stories of grieving just go on and on.

I mean, just one story more sad than the next one about a child lost and a child and a mother and the child losing both parents. I mean, it's just, you think one story is sad, then you hear another one that's even sadder than that. And no matter where you go on the television, on the radio, you just receive more and more of this bad news. And of course, if this isn't bad enough, the nation is catching a first glimpse of a part of our society, hopefully, a very small part of our society that advocates anarchy and destruction. Bring down the governed.

You know, it almost seems like we're in some kind of war, but nobody bothered to tell us about it. It almost seems that there's some people who wanna destroy this country and we're just figuring it out. These events have made people feel, at the same time, you mix all these things together and people are feeling sad and then sick and then scared. All at once, you're sad, you're sick, and then you're scared. And people are asking themselves, Where are we?

I thought we were over here and now I don't know where we are anymore. And people are always that or also asking the question, Where do we go from here? Not only where are we, but where are we supposed to go to from here? And so this morning, because of this, I'd like to share a few ideas with you that hopefully will help us deal with these questions. Hopefully, we'll try to get some of this into some kind of perspective.

You know, I think people have given a tremendous effort in the last couple of days. But because we're human beings, I think people are getting a little bit tired as the body count grows, as the investigation becomes more bizarre. As far as where we are is concerned, I think we have to realize that as a community, we're in shock. You know, if Oklahoma was a person and I was a doctor and I was diagnosing that person and trying to figure out what's wrong with this person, I would say, You're in shock. You're in denial.

You're just coming out of shock. A terrible thing has happened to you. And you're beginning to realize the enormous damage that has been done. That's where we're at. We're in shock.

We're just starting to count up here what this is costing us. I mean, up to 200 people were killed. Now, you know, it's one thing, a tornado, a flood, a gas main explodes, 200 people are killed. That's a terrible thing. But it's not just the 200 people were killed.

200 people were murdered. That's the point. Cold blooded, first degree, calculated, malicious, evil murder in broad daylight in the middle of our city. And not only just people, anybody, any murder is bad, but the innocents. The innocent were murdered.

Little children were murdered. And it's just starting to hit home now. Over 500 people were injured. A lot of them people we know. And more than 500,000,000 some estimates say up to a $1,000,000,000 in direct damage and almost as much in lost trade and revenue.

And where, you know, they talk about this a 100, 500,000,000 about who do you think is gonna pay for all that? We're gonna pay for that. We're gonna, you know, federal aid, sure, and all that stuff. But you'll see somebody's going to have to rebuild. Somebody's going to have to pick up the trash.

Somebody's going to have to pay for all this. And we're the ones who are going to have to pay for it. Just like when your child has an accident, you don't think about those things. Boy, you get them to the hospital right away and get the best care, you know. But after everything is under control, the doctor Bill comes in.

The doctor Bill is going to come in for this thing. We're gonna have to pay for it. Not to mention the ongoing trauma and rehabilitation that will continue for a long time. You know, long after Geraldo goes back to wherever he comes from. Long after, you know, long after the media, you know, is interested in some other new tragedy, some other new spectacular story.

Long after the spotlight of national attention is taken away from the building downtown, we're going to still be picking up the broken glass and broken bodies and broken lives and ministering to people long after all of this is over. See, this is what's happening here. And we're just kind of coming out of shock and realizing that. And so I believe that it's important to acknowledge that something has happened that has changed our lives in one way or another. And as a community, you know, as a community we may have grown and we may have shown the world that Oklahomans have courage and Oklahomans have faith.

Yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this has been proven to people all around the world that the people of this community have tremendous faith and tremendous strength. Yes. But I want to tell you something. We need to realize that we will never be the same again. Okay?

No matter how it was before, no matter what happened before, no matter how we were before, we're never going to be quite the same again. And we need to accept that fact. That's part of coming out of a tragedy, accepting the reality, the new reality. There's also a lot of talk concerning fringe groups and revolution and anarchy and so on and so forth. And this can be very disturbing.

I mean, you know, are we in a national crisis here or what? According to the media. I mean, is our nation falling apart? Is it the end of the world? You know, well, certainly this is a disaster.

I'll never, you know, I won't say it's not a disaster. But let's keep it in perspective. When you compare what has happened to us to the civil strife going on in Bosnia or Sarajevo, when you compare what's happened here to what's going on in Haiti, for example, 75 percent unemployment, or in South Africa, or in Rwanda. You realize that in Rwanda last year in Africa, not a 100 people, not 100 of people were killed. 100 of 1,000 of people were murdered in their own country by their own army.

It's as if here the National Guard was let loose and they just walked in the houses and started shooting people in Chicago, and in Ardmore, and in Boston, and in Texas, you know, in San Antonio. Just the national guard was let go and they just started killing people. And the body parts count started to rise up to 400, 5000 people. That's what happened in Rwanda. And these other countries in the Middle East and in Africa, when they talk about a 1000000 people were killed.

You know, we go a 1000000. We toss it off. That's a 1000000 people, real people who had wives and husbands and children. So when you place what's taken place here and compare it to what is going on in other parts of the world, you need to say that America is still quite stable, not quite ready yet to fall apart. It's not quite anarchy.

And we need to keep that in perspective. You know, Jesus spoke of wars and he spoke of rumors of wars and all kinds of false prophets announcing for certain the end of the world. But he told us that no one knew when the end would be. Matthew chapter 24 verse 36. Those of you who are old enough to remember, you know, during World War II, people believed that things could get no worse, that Hitler was actually the antichrist and that the world was coming to an end.

And yet we're still here to this day. Now I'm saying this because we have to accept the fact that even though this is a terrible crime and a terrible disaster and we're going to pay for this thing, the moment will pass and we also must move on. We have to pass away from the moment. The problem is the media just keeps focusing on that gutted building day in and day out. And it's as if, you know, it's as if our child was hit by a car and we had to be brought to the scene of the accident day in and day out.

For 12 long days, we had to look at our child's body in the street where he was hit. Imagine what effect that would have on you. Well, that's the effect that this media coverage on this tragedy is taking place on us. We are brought back to the scene over and over and over again. And I think we're at the point where we need to accept what has taken place and begin thinking about moving on, leaving the scene of the crime, leaving the scene of the disaster and move to another point in our lives.

You know, I find myself continually drawn to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, where Solomon expresses this sentiment so eloquently. In this passage, he says, You know, there is a time, a time. And I've rearranged these but they fit our experience. He says, There is a time to hate, and there's a time to die and there's a time to weep and there's a time to give up as loss. And then there's a time to heal and then there's a time for peace.

And then there comes a time for laughing again. We've gone through all these times. And now is the time for peace. And now is the time for moving on. And now there needs to be a time for laughter again.

You know, if Solomon were here today, he would probably say that there's nothing new under the sun. You know, Solomon could be right here in this pulpit today, he said, Hey, there's nothing new under the sun. Evil men are still murdering the innocent. 3000 years ago in Solomon's day, evil men were murdering the innocent and 3000 years later, evil men are still murdering. It doesn't make it right, but Solomon would say, Nothing new under the sun.

The innocent are still victimized. But I think he would also say, There is a time for moving on from where we are at. And I believe that now is the time to begin doing that, to begin moving away from where we're at. Next question is, okay, where do we go to from here? You know, a lot of people are stuck because they don't quite know what the next step is And, everything seems rather different.

All of a sudden, the world's become a kind of a scary place. Well, where you go depends largely on who you are. The next step you take depends largely on who you are. Now, if you are a person who has no faith, if you are a person who has no relationship to Jesus Christ or no faith in him, you have a variety of ways that you can go. You can buy a gun and put up more security devices around your house and join a group.

You can do that. Or you can get involved somehow so you can influence the world for your agenda. You wanna influence the world for your agenda to the left or to the right? Go ahead, it's a free country. Or you can retreat into a fearful cocoon, suspicious of everybody, getting more paranoid with each new madman that appears on the scene.

You know, there's gonna be some other nut that appears on the scene. Do you think, you think this is the end? Don't you think some other madman is going to appear and do some other kind of atrocity somewhere in the world, if not even in our own backyard, it's going to happen? You can get paranoid about that if you want. Or you can just try to forget and get back to as normal a life as you can.

You can do all those things. However, if you are a Christian, if you have a saving relationship with Christ, then your next step is the same step that you were going to take before the bombing. The next step is to continue following Jesus Christ faithfully until he comes. That's your next step. You can do this for several reasons.

First of all, you can take the next step of faith and following Christ because you know who the real enemy is. You know who you don't have to get paranoid. You know who the real enemy is. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus acknowledges that those who can kill the body are not the ones we have to worry about. He says, Don't worry about those who can kill the body but then have no other power.

You worry about the individual who can kill your body and then has the power to send your soul to hell. That's the one you've got to worry about. In other words, we should be more afraid of God who can condemn the soul to hell forever. That's the one we have to be afraid of. You see, the real enemy is the one who could take us away from Christ here on this earth.

That's our real enemy. I'll tell you something. Think about it for a moment. The real enemies of those people who were in the building you know those people who were in the building, they were having coffee, they were visiting, they were talking, they're taking a bathroom break. They were doing whatever they were doing.

Their real enemy was not that person outside who drove that truck full of explosives in front of the building. That was not the real enemy. The real enemy of those people were those people and those things in their lives that prevented them from believing and obeying Jesus Christ. That was their enemy. That was the unseen enemy that ultimately destroyed them.

Not that guy with the bomb. So, if you have a relationship with Christ, you know what the next step is. Your next step is continuing to follow him. And you know that because you know who the real enemy is. Secondly, you can take the next step because you have the kind of protection that no bomb can penetrate.

You know the reading that we had this morning in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10? Paul says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, not against bombers, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. We have an armor that protects us against the real enemy.

We are protected against the power that can truly destroy us by an invisible force. As Christians, the Lord Jesus himself, through his gospel that saves us, through his grace that forgives us, through his Holy Spirit, not only who guides us but who will resurrect us in the last day. Through these things, God constantly watches over us so that the only damage that a man can do is to the body. Well, the body's going to die anyways. And all those people in the building, as tragic as that was, if the bomb didn't get them, cancer would have got them, a speeding train would have got them, a bullet would have got them, emphysema would have got them, old age would have something would have got them.

Just as something's going to get us. Paul says, Put on the armor that's, that's going to protect the soul, not the body. The body is a foregone conclusion. It's a goner. We know that.

We're just, you know, the clock is just ticking for us. No, he says, protect the soul. Because no matter how evil, man does not have the power to separate us from the love of God. No man has that power. We should not worry about that.

And then finally, you know, we've said, you know who the bad guys are, the real bad guys. You know what protection you need to protect what's really important, which is your soul. And then finally, you know where you're going. You know, I know what my next step is going to be because I know what my destination is going to be. If my destination is over there, it means my next step is going to be over here.

If my next step is going to be over there, well then my next step is gonna be over here. If I know the destination, I know the trajectory. Well, I'm pointed in the direction of heaven. And so I follow that path that takes me to heaven. Jesus says in Revelation chapter 2 verse 10, Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Whatever. Suffer a bad back, a bad neck, a bad stomach, a bad heart, a bad lung, a bad brain, a bad person shooting at you blowing. Don't be afraid what you're going to suffer, he says, that you may be tested. He says, Be faithful until death. Death is a foregone conclusion.

His point is, Be faithful until that time, whenever that time comes, and I will give you the crown of life. So, I lose my health. What's my next step? My next step is I continue being faithful to Jesus with whatever help I've got. My business goes bankrupt.

What's my next step? Oh, my next step is I continue being faithful to Jesus with whatever economies I have. A wife is rejected and divorced by a cheating husband. What's her next step? Her next step is she picks up whatever life she has and continues to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

The bomb kills one of the Brothers Brothers and sisters, Christians are passing through a dark and a dangerous world. Jesus has told us that. It's obvious it's a dark and dangerous world because the one who is perfect, who never sinned, who loved, who did miracles, who proved that he was divine, came into this dark and dangerous world. And what did they do to him? They killed him.

They murdered him publicly. I mean, could our faith be any better? We're on our way to another world. We do the best we can while we're here, but we don't stop anywhere along the road. We just keep on following Jesus.

You know, this is certainly a difficult time for everyone and please, please understand that I don't try to minimize the suffering that anyone has gone through with my lesson this morning. But I think that each of us need to find ways of dealing with the event. And so, as I finish my lesson this morning, I want to give you just a few final suggestions to help you move on from this point because I think that's what we need to do. We We need to move on from this point and continue following the Lord. First of all, I encourage you to establish your own way to honor the victims so that you can have a sense of closure.

You need to have a sense of closure. I don't know. Send a card, draw a picture, plant a tree, build or make some sort of memento that will honor the ones who have fallen during this time. A way to remember them. You know, one of the things that I'm doing is I'm leaving my headlights on.

You know, people leaving their headlights on. I'm leaving my headlights on. But I was thinking, man, when do I turn off the headlines? You know, am I going to be doing this in 1999? Or, you know, and I realized, oh, I know when.

When the last victim is taken out and buried. At that point, I will click off my lights. Until that time, I will leave my lights on as a way of saying to all those who are affected, I know that you're suffering. I'm praying for you. I'm with you.

I understand. This is just a small, visible way of saying we're together in this. But when they bury that last victim, I will also bury that last victim and click off my lights. Another thing that I encourage you to do is this, find a way to help or get involved. You know, this is so overwhelming and we feel rather helpless.

You know, all the rescuers are there and they've got blood on them and they're going in, they're getting massaged and food's coming in and it's the operation. And you know, us, a bunch of wusses, we're sitting at home watching TV, you feel that. You know, not everybody's a firefighter. Not everybody's a rescue expert. Not everybody's a nurse.

You know, not everybody can go down there. Some of you just gotta go out to work, earn a living, but still you feel I'm not doing anything. Well, you don't have to be at the crime scene to be doing something. Like I said, you can send food or supplies. You can call or visit a friend that's been affected.

You know, if someone said to me, in preaching, you know, preaching and doing ministry is not 300 people at a time. Successful ministry is 1 person at a time. You preach to everybody. Sure. But ministry is 1 person at a time.

Find that person that you can help or encourage. This morning after the lesson, brother Harold will come up and mention an individual in our community that needs help. And we're gonna take a contribution to help that person in a real way, you know, buying food and whatever that person needs. Perhaps you might be able to contribute to that as your way of helping. We can't do everything, but giving something in some way will help us feel part of the entire rescue effort and it'll draw us closer together as a community.

We'll be able to say, Well, I was part of that. I gave, or I sent the card, or I did something. And then finally, I encourage you to pray. Pray for the victims, pray for the rescuers, pray for Oklahoma, pray for the USA, pray for the bombers. If there's anybody that needs Christ, it's that hardened man that sits alone in that jail cell.

As you see, I believe that prayer is the thing responsible for all the courage that you're seeing on the TV. And prayer is responsible for the magnificent way that Oklahoma has responded to this thing. It's demonstrated, this is, these are Christian people. This is how Christians respond to that kind of tragedy. I also believe that prayer is responsible for the quick resolution of catching a lot of these people.

Now, Jesus prayed in the place of suffering and death And he gave us the perfect example to follow in times of tragedy, to pray. We have to leave where we're at and we have to move on with our lives. And hopefully, these things that I've given you this morning will help us deal with this particular event and this particular moment and give us a hand in moving along with our lives. So I ask you as we finish out, where are you? You know, they all say, where were you when the bomb went off?

I mentioned that last week, but where are you now? And where are you headed for? I guess that's the question I'm asking this week. Where are you headed for? If you were to draw a straight line from where you're at based on your beliefs and your actions, and you were to draw a straight line out, where would it take you?

Would the straight line take you to Jesus Christ? Would it take you to heaven? Would it take you to salvation? I encourage you this morning. Why not make a new start?

Why not point yourself in the right direction? If you need to confess Jesus Christ, put on that armor if you wish to protect the soul against death and evil, then I encourage you to come forward and to confess Jesus to be baptized, to come up a new man in Christ headed in the right direction. And if you've taken a wrong turn, and we all do, then I encourage you to come back and set your life straight once again if you need prayer of the church and if you're struggling with various things, whatever it is, if it's a health problem or a family thing or you just need the prayers of the church to be encouraged in your faith. Don't be ashamed. That's why we're here.

We're here to minister to each other. There's no shame in coming forward and asking the elders to pray for you. That's a biblical thing. No one will say, oh, that's a bad person. No.

I think most of us say, wow, that person has courage. That person has faith. So if you need the prayers of the church for any reason this morning, we encourage you to come forward now as we stand and as we sing.