[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            GOOD GOVERNMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2001

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring this great chamber's 
attention to another sermon I recently heard. People across the United 
States of America are still trying to figure out why these men carried 
out their terrorist attacks on September 11th. I believe this sermon 
may help those people deal with this tragedy. I recommend everyone to 
take a moment and read the sermon below.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place a copy of this sermon into the 
Record.

                           ``Paul's Advice''

   (By Pastor Carol Custead, Zion Lutheran Church, Hollidaysburg, PA)

       I can't imagine a more well timed lesson for this week than 
     this second lesson which was appointed for the 16th Sunday 
     after Pentecost, from St. Paul's First Letter to Timothy. 
     Here we find scriptural affirmation of what I said last 
     Sunday was Luther's understanding of the role of government 
     in this world--``It is the God-given vocation of good 
     government to maintain order, peace, and safety so that 
     civilization can function.''
       We also find here a scriptural calling, issued by St. Paul, 
     to prayer for our governmental leaders--something that we 
     have seen much of in these last twelve days. People all over 
     our nation & all over the world, of varying religions, have 
     been flocking into churches, synagogues and mosques to pray--
     and especially to pray for God to guide the leaders of the 
     nations in wisdom and discernment in this time of crisis 
     following the terrorist attacks on September 11.
       So let's start this morning by having a look at this 
     scriptural passage. Here in 1 Timothy, Paul commends 
     intercessory prayers for everyone, but most especially for 
     ``kings and all who are in high positions''. Why does he 
     single them out? It is ``so that we may lead a quiet and 
     peaceable life in all godliness and dignity,'' St. Paul 
     explains. In his context, we might expect that Paul is 
     trying, by using these words, to assure the civil authorities 
     that the Christian movement does not subvert or cause trouble 
     for civic stability. Roman officials worried about that, 
     especially since it became clear that the Christian movement 
     was no longer a sect within Judaism, and that some Christians 
     were refusing to sign the annual loyalty oath affirming the 
     divinity of the Roman Emperor.
       But there is more reassurance in these words of Paul--
     reassurance which pertains to our world situation today. As 
     biblical commentators have frequently attested, across the 
     centuries, the Christian movement, except in its most radical 
     fanatic fringe branches, values a stable political order 
     where justice is enforced, and injustice is appropriately 
     restrained--a political order where people can expect to lead 
     a quiet and peaceful life.
       Moreover, when the stability of political order is 
     threatened, Christians must participate in efforts to regain 
     that stability. Otherwise we are left in a Darwinian jungle 
     where the survival of the fittest is the rule, and that means 
     sheer power with both the threat and practice of violence. 
     Therefore, Paul's advice about intercessory prayer for those 
     in authority is more than a formality. It is a persistent 
     reminder in our liturgies and life of prayer that a just 
     political order is a necessity if individual rights are to be 
     secured and opportunities for fulfillment accessible to all.
       In a society that has been increasingly cynical about 
     government, about all institutions and people in authority, 
     where professional wrestlers or entertainers are excessively 
     admired and voted into office because the are not 
     politicians, it is especially important for churches and 
     individual Christians to keep up a lively intercessory prayer 
     life for those who hold political positions of authority. It 
     will not only keep us a bit less tainted by that cynicism; it 
     might also lead us into greater participation in public life. 
     It is also the case that when we pray for everyone, 
     especially those in authority, our lives become more quiet 
     and peaceable not just because the effect of our prayer is 
     that the state will be governed in greater justice, but also 
     because we will be more quiet and peaceable in spirit if we 
     have prayed truly. As we have so greatly seen these past 
     twelve days, intercessory prayer has that effect. It calms us 
     down. It delivers us from the agitation of not being able to 
     control events. It enables us to live and act with the 
     conviction that this is God's world, to be guided according 
     to God's purpose, not according to our own purposes. To pray 
     with all our might, and to trust--that is the good advice we 
     have from Paul.
       We have seen all of this at work in recent days. Never 
     before in recent history have those in high positions asked 
     us to pray so straightforwardly. We have seen how prayer can 
     also be a unifying force in our nation and world. It has 
     united Christians in an unprecedented way. Last Sunday 
     evening we hosted a community-wide Prayer Service here at 
     Zion. Approximately 320 people were packed tightly into these 
     pews--people from many different congregations. There were 
     Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, United Church of 
     Christ, Methodist, and of course, Lutherans. It was a feeling 
     of great comfort to know that in such a time of crisis we can 
     come together in unity of purpose in prayer, for it is the 
     same God that we pray to.
       It is also an amazing feeling to know that people all over 
     the world are praying for America in this time of great 
     need--to see that also Jews and Muslims are praying the same 
     prayers we are praying. While they do not pray in Jesus' name 
     as we do, it is still the same God to whom they pray. These 
     three great monotheistic religions have come together in 
     unity of purpose in an unprecedented way. The terrorist 
     actions of a fanatic fringe group of Muslims have been the 
     shame of so many Muslims worldwide. We should remember that 
     we also have been shamed in the past by our own fanatic 
     fringe groups such as the incident in Waco, Texas and mass 
     suicide of Jim Jones and his followers. Therefore we can 
     treat our good Muslim brothers and sisters with grace and we 
     can pray with them and for them. We can pray with them for 
     deliverance from the threat of militant Muslims, that those 
     who have used violence as a means to grasp control in places 
     such as Afghanistan might amend their ways or be ousted from 
     their tyranny and murderous fanaticism.
       When we pray we dare not do so with an attitude that God is 
     on our side as the fanatics have done. How presumptuous! 
     Rather, let us pray that we may be given the wisdom and 
     strength and insight to discern God's way in all that lies 
     before us so that we may properly be on God's side in His 
     ongoing war on evil.
       And when we pray, ``God bless America'' we dare not do so 
     with an attitude of superiority to other nations of this 
     world. For we believe that God does bless America--indeed 
     that is our annual theme in this Harvest Home celebration. 
     But that does not mean that God does not bless other nations 
     and peoples also. As we pray for God to bless America today 
     in this crisis let us remember that good people all around 
     the world join us in that prayer.
       When we pray we dare not forget Jesus' teaching to pray for 
     our enemies. Perhaps that is most difficult in this crisis. 
     But this prayer is so important because it helps us to keep 
     our focus and perspective. As President Bush said in his 
     speech Thursday night, our enemy is not Islam. Our enemy is 
     not the Arabs. It is not even the majority of Afghan people. 
     But our enemy is all those, wherever and whoever they are 
     throughout this world, who would inflict terror and violence 
     on innocent people. To pray for these enemies means neither 
     to cover up the conflict we have with them nor to downplay 
     it's enormous seriousness, but rather to endure the tension 
     of our conflict with them without succumbing to their level 
     of hatred--indeed without succumbing to hatred at all. We do 
     not need to hate the person but only the terrible evil acts 
     that they commit. To pray for one's enemy in this way means 
     that despite our conflict with them we recognize this enemy 
     as a creature of God who has had a right to live--but not the 
     right to commit an unjust act! So we earnestly pray for them 
     to turn from their evil ways for the sake of the whole 
     civilized world. Our purpose, then, for bringing them to 
     justice, is not for the sake of vengeance, but for the sake 
     of restoring order to our world so that people everywhere may 
     once again expect to live in peace, quiet, safety and 
     dignity.
       Finally, when we pray for our President, our government 
     leaders, our military personnel--and those of all the nations 
     who join us in our cause in this time of crisis, we ask God 
     to give them insight, wisdom, and guidance in all that lies 
     before them--in each decision they will need to make--
     especially the difficult ones where the lives of poor, 
     innocent people may be at stake. While it is inevitable that 
     in our efforts to root out terrorism from this world some 
     innocent people will likely be harmed, let us pray that that 
     number be minimal and that the actions we must take will be 
     effective in meeting the overall strategic goal. In the words 
     of President Bush, ``In all that lies before us, may God 
     grant us wisdom, and may God watch over [us].'' Amen.