Katrina Disaster
INTRO: 2nd Half of the Question… “And What Year did it Happen?”
The 2nd Half Answer will be: 2005 and the first half answer will be: Hurricane Katrina.
The statistics are numbing…
The pictures are horrifying…
The suffering is incomprehensible…
The Stories are heartbreaking…
The people are at our doorstep…
As I’ve thought about this week…my mind has gone back 2600 ago…600 years before Jesus was born…to the time when a man named Jeremiah watched Jerusalem be ransacked by her enemies. Thousands upon thousands were killed. Thousands more, just like with Katrina, were being exiled away, and as Jeremiah walked through the ruined streets he kept asking God, “Why?” “What now?”
His sorrows are recorded in the little book called Lamentations…
I. This is a Time to Reach Out
The world has come to Grapevine. Over 600 have been placed in the Hilton hotel for the last few days. We were told last night that over 4,000 were sitting on buses in Mesquite waiting for a place to go. Our church will be hosting 100 evacuees…who will arrive this afternoon. We don’t know how long they’ll need to stay here, but we’ve agreed to host them for at least a month.
ILL: Story of Obadiah… “You stood aloof…”
1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
We need to understand… “It will be disruptive…” (Our schedules may change; new demands will be placed on us.)
It may be disappointing… Not everyone may appreciate it. Some will take advantage.
It will get dirty…
Proverbs 14:4 (NKJV)
4Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.
It will be healing for many of us…
II. It is time to Reflect
· Your Life is Much Better than You think…
Today upon a bus I saw a girl with golden hair;
she seemed so glad, I envied her, and wished that I were half so fair;
I watched her as she rose to leave, and saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed - a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two legs - the world is mine.
Later on I bought some sweets. The boy who sold them had such charm,
I thought I'd stop and talk awhile. If I were late, t'would do no harm.
And as we talked he said, "Thank you, sir, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk to folks like you because, you see, I'm blind."
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes - the world is mine.
Later, walking down the street, I met a boy with eyes so blue.
But he stood and watched the others play, it seemed he knew not what to do.
I paused, and then I said, "Why don't you join the others, dear?"
But he looked straight ahead without a word, and then I knew, he couldn't hear.
Oh, God forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears - the world is mine.
Two legs to take me where I go,
two eyes to see the sunset's glow,
two ears to hear all I should know,
oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I'm blessed, indeed, the world is mine.
· No one is Exempt from suffering.
People want to say, “I’m a Christian. Nothing bad will happen to me.” Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’ll never lose your house, etc.
ILL: These TV Preachers… “Just send us a seed gift…and we’ll send you a handkerchief and if you have this handkerchief, you’ll have all the money you need.” And then they say, “Now, beloved, if we do not hear from you, we will be forced to go off the air…” (Maybe they should’ve kept some of the prayer handkerchiefs for themselves!)
III. It is Time to Return to the Lord
EXP: Jeremiah came to the conclusion that:
1. We are spiritually sick…
Why this Looting? It is a theology lesson in living color.
ILL: A few months before my father died…Doctor “Going to Raise Alfalfa…”
Luke 13:1-5
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Your Conscience; Your Teaching; Your Salvation…But without that…this will always happen…
2. Even though God is loving, (v33) He is also the Judge and He must and will punish sin.
ILL: People have been appalled…One man satirically said it was God’s judgment for bad environmental policy…
Another, making fun of President Bush, had the audacity to suggest that if this was “Intelligent Design” that the Designer owed an explanation…
Another scoffed at the idea which was put forth by one group that it was God’s way of preventing a gay pride celebration.
I do not propose to say I know…but I’d be careful before too quickly saying that this was not an expression of God’s judgment…Not just on New Orleans, but upon the country. There are more than a few examples in scripture where destruction was God’s judgment…
(1) Egypt…
(2) Sodom and Gomorrah
(3) Jerusalem
The Cross is an expression of God’s judgment…
3. Returning to God is our only hope…
Sins of Commission
Sins of Omission
Sins of language
Sins of attitudes
Sins of Relationships
Sins of Self-Rule
As a nation, we have rejected God and His laws for our own self-rule, but deep in our hearts, we have known it was wrong.
Look where we have turned in this tragedy…not to the strip joints; not to cabaret…but to the churches.
And the Bible says it clearly in Lamentations 3:40…
And today, it’s a good time to return to the Lord…