WEBVTT - A Sermon to Remember

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<v Speaker 1>And we continue with our American stories. The bombing of

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<v Speaker 1>the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on

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<v Speaker 1>April nineteenth, nineteen ninety five, was the deadliest act of

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<v Speaker 1>homegrown terrorism in American history. In mere seconds, a rider

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<v Speaker 1>rental truck packed with nearly five thousand pounds of explosives

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<v Speaker 1>tore off the building's entire north wall, damaging three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>nearby buildings and incinerating hundreds of vehicles. When rescue efforts

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<v Speaker 1>were completed days later, the death count was one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and sixty eight, among them nineteen children, most of whom

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<v Speaker 1>were in the building's daycare center. The youngest victim was

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<v Speaker 1>four months old. Hundreds more of all ages were hospitalized

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<v Speaker 1>or injured. On April twenty three, a memorial service was

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<v Speaker 1>held at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena in honor of

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<v Speaker 1>those who lost their lives. Speakers included the Mayor of

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<v Speaker 1>Oklahoma City, the Governor of Oklahoma, and President Bill Clinton,

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<v Speaker 1>who had these words to say to the people gathered

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<v Speaker 1>there and to a national TV audience as well.

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<v Speaker 2>If anybody thinks that Americans are mostly mean and selfish,

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<v Speaker 2>they ought to come to Oklahoma. If anybody thinks Americans

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<v Speaker 2>have lost the capacity for love and caring and courage.

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<v Speaker 2>They ought to come to Oklahoma.

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<v Speaker 1>After President Clinton, the Reverend Billy Graham came to the podium,

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<v Speaker 1>the most trusted pastor in America, came to address the

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<v Speaker 1>question human beings have been asking since the beginning of

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<v Speaker 1>time about unexplainable acts of evil. Here was Billy Graham's response.

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<v Speaker 3>I have been asked the question several times, many times.

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<v Speaker 3>Why does God allow it? Why does a God of

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<v Speaker 3>love and mercy that we read about and hear about

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<v Speaker 3>allow such a terrible thing to happen. Over three thousand

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<v Speaker 3>years ago, there was a man named Job struggled with

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<v Speaker 3>the same question. He asked why, because he was a

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<v Speaker 3>good man, and yet disaster struck him suddenly and swiftly.

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<v Speaker 3>He lost seven sons, three daughters. He lost all his possessions,

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<v Speaker 3>He even lost his health. Even his wife and his

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<v Speaker 3>friends turned against him. His wife said, curse God and die.

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<v Speaker 3>And in the midst of his suffering, he asked this question. Why.

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<v Speaker 3>Job didn't know? Why did I not perish at birth?

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<v Speaker 3>He cried, this is the way you feel, and I

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<v Speaker 3>want to assure you that God understands those feelings. The

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<v Speaker 3>Bible says in Isaiah forty three to two, when you

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<v Speaker 3>pass through the waters, eye will be with you. And

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<v Speaker 3>when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.

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<v Speaker 3>The flames will not set you ablaze. And yet Job

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<v Speaker 3>found there were lessons to be learned from his suffering,

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<v Speaker 3>even if he didn't fully understand it. And that is

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<v Speaker 3>true for all of us as well. What are some

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<v Speaker 3>of the lessons that we can learn from what has happened? First,

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<v Speaker 3>there's a mystery to it. I've been asked why God

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<v Speaker 3>allows it. I don't know. I can't give a direct answer.

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<v Speaker 3>I have to confess that I never fully understand. Even

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<v Speaker 3>for my own satisfaction, I have to accept by faith

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<v Speaker 3>that God is a God of love and mercy and compassion.

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<v Speaker 3>And even in the midst of suffering. I can remember,

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<v Speaker 3>many years ago, lying on a dirt floor in a

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<v Speaker 3>field hospital in Korea and looking up into the face

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<v Speaker 3>of a soldier suspended in a frame who was horribly wounded,

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<v Speaker 3>and the doctor said he'll never walk again, And I

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<v Speaker 3>ask myself why. I can recall standing at the bedside

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<v Speaker 3>of children who were dying, and I've asked myself, Lord,

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<v Speaker 3>why I recall walking through the devastation left by hurricanes

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<v Speaker 3>in Florida and South Carolina, and typhoons in India and

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<v Speaker 3>earthquakes in Guatemala and California. And I've asked myself why

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<v Speaker 3>the Bible says God is not the author of evil,

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<v Speaker 3>and it speaks of evil, and first Thessalonians as a mystery.

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<v Speaker 3>There's something about evil we will never fully understand this

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<v Speaker 3>side of eternity. But the Bible says two other things

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<v Speaker 3>that we sometimes attempted to forget. It tells us that

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<v Speaker 3>there is a devil, that Satan is very real, and

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<v Speaker 3>he has great power. It also tells us that evil

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<v Speaker 3>is real, and that the human heart is capable of

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<v Speaker 3>almost limitless evil when it is cut off from God.

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<v Speaker 3>The prophet Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful above all things,

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<v Speaker 3>and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's your heart

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<v Speaker 3>in my heart without God. That's one reason we each

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<v Speaker 3>need God in our lives, for only he can change

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<v Speaker 3>our hearts and give us the desire and the power

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<v Speaker 3>to do what is right and keep us from wrong.

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<v Speaker 3>Times like this will do one of two things. It

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<v Speaker 3>lies will make us hard and bitter and angry at God,

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<v Speaker 3>or they will make us tender and open and help

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<v Speaker 3>us to reach out in trust and faith. And I

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<v Speaker 3>think that's what the people of Oklahoma are doing that

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<v Speaker 3>I have met since I've been here these past two days.

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<v Speaker 3>I pray that you will not let bitterness and poison

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<v Speaker 3>creep into your soul, but that you will turn in

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<v Speaker 3>faith and trust in God, even if we cannot understand.

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<v Speaker 3>It is better to face something like this with God

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<v Speaker 3>than without him. But the lesson of this event has

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<v Speaker 3>not only been about mystery but we've already heard. It's

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<v Speaker 3>a lesson of a community coming together. Some of you

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<v Speaker 3>today are going through heartache and grief so intense that

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<v Speaker 3>you wonder if it will ever go away. Privilege of

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<v Speaker 3>meeting some of you and talking to you, but I

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<v Speaker 3>want to tell you that our God cares for you

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<v Speaker 3>and for your family and for your city. The Bible

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<v Speaker 3>says that the God of all comfort who comforts us

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<v Speaker 3>in our troubles. Jesus said, Blessed are they that mourn,

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<v Speaker 3>for they shall be comforted. I pray that every one

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<v Speaker 3>of you will experience God's comfort during these days as

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<v Speaker 3>you've turned to Him. For God loves you and He

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<v Speaker 3>shares in your suffering. Difficult as it may be for

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<v Speaker 3>us to see right now, Yes, there is hope. As

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<v Speaker 3>a Christian, I have hope not just for this life,

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<v Speaker 3>but for the life to come. Someday there will be

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<v Speaker 3>a glorious reunion with those who have died and gone

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<v Speaker 3>to Heaven before us. And that includes all those innocent

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<v Speaker 3>children that are lost. They're not lost from God.

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<v Speaker 1>Just days after that Memorial Day service, the wheels of

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<v Speaker 1>justice began to turn. Two suspects were arrested, Timothy McVeigh

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<v Speaker 1>and Terry Nichols, and not long after that, in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety seven, both were convicted. Terry Nichols was sentenced to

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and sixty one consecutive life terms without the

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<v Speaker 1>possibility of parole. In December two thousand, Timothy McVeigh asked

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<v Speaker 1>a federal judge to stop all appeals of his conviction

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<v Speaker 1>and asked for a date to be set for his execution.

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<v Speaker 1>The request was granted, and on June eleventh, two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and one, McVeigh, at age thirty three, died by lethal

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<v Speaker 1>injection with the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He

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<v Speaker 1>was the first federal prisoner to be put to death

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty three. The Murror Building was demolished for safety

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<v Speaker 1>reasons in nineteen ninety five, and the Oklahoma City National

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<v Speaker 1>Memorial Museum later opened in its place. On this day

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<v Speaker 1>in history. In nineteen ninety five, the victims of the

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<v Speaker 1>Oklahoma City bombing were honored with the memorial service. This

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<v Speaker 1>is our American Stories.