WATERS OF JUDGMENT AND OF BLESSING
In the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sept. 2005
Genesis 8:13-9:1
I Peter 3:13-22
St. Luke 8:19-25 and 13:1-5
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of our neighbors in New Orleans east, St. Bernard parish and points south, and all along the Gulf Coast, I would like to share with you this morning some communications pertaining to the damage to the church buildings and ministry of the Presbyterian Churches in greater New Orleans: (read texts of e-mails from John’s expeditions to NOLA area churches)
I would like to juxtapose upon this scenario three portions of scripture this morning. The first two, we have already heard: from the eighth chapter of Genesis, we have read of the aftermath of the Great Flood, and God’s renewal of His gracious covenant promise with Noah and his family; and from the eighth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we have read of the personal intervention of Our Lord Jesus to still the raging power of the wind and the waves.
The third text is one which we read on the Sunday following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It is also from the Gospel of St. Luke, the thirteenth chapter, verses 1-4, which you can find on page 76 of the new testament in your pew Bibles. It tells the story of two great tragedies that happened in Jesus’ time: the slaughter of thirteen Galileans at the altar, and the catastrophe of the fall of the tower of Siloam. From each of these two disasters, Jesus drew the same two conclusions: First, that the two disasters did not happen because the victims were worse sinners than anybody else; and second, that we must all repent and be ready to face our final judgment at any moment, because we never know when disaster — natural or human in origin — may befall us.
Together with our text this morning from the 8th chapter of St. Luke, I suggest that these scriptures leave us with another two distinct truths to upon which we should focus our attention:
First, from Genesis chapter 8 and from St. Luke chapter 8, we understand that God — particularly the second member of the Trinity, God the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ — this God is in personal control of the forces of nature. The movements of the earth and its weather, the winds, waves, and floods, are under the sovereign personal control of Jesus Christ our Lord. As hard as it is for us to confess it, and as much pain as it brings us to say it, God was involved in the hurricane and the flood and the fires that followed Hurricane Katrina. It hurts to say these words, and it hurts to hear them; but they are true, and they are the words that our faith teaches us to say, and requires us to hear.
But just as we need to speak and to hear about the sovereignty of God in the forces of nature, our faith also requires us to hear of the purposes of God. This is the second truth, which we learn from both St. Luke chapter 13, and from the story of the flood in Genesis chapter 8.
I have not heard anybody say it yet, but I feel certain that, sooner or later, some demagogue in the political arena or in one of the churches of our land, will say that the people of greater New Orleans and the Gulf Coast got what they deserved. What an arrogant, self-righteous, un-informed judgment this is! When you hear somebody, whether preacher or politician, saying this — know and say that they are wrong.
What Jesus told His disciples about the tower of Siloam holds true here. Many people suffered in the fall of that tower — some notorious sinners, but also some good people, friends and relatives of the disciples of Jesus. What did Jesus say about them? He said that the tower did not fall on them because they were worse sinners than everybody else; but that everybody needs to remember that bad things happen, and be ready for judgment.
What did God say about the great flood? This was for the judgment of the world. But what did God say after the flood? He promised Noah that He would never again judge the world by flood. He did not promise that there would never be any more floods; but He did promise that any future floods would not be in judgment, and that the natural order of the world and its weather, seasons and life, would go on.
These are words we need to hear today. Life goes on. Nature goes on. God has promised that the seasonal changes of wind and water, ebb and flow, life and death, will not cease until the end of days; God is still the God of nature and of His people.
But He has also promised that when these forces of nature become brutal and even lethal, it is not the sign of God’s judgment. It marks a reminder of the power of the natural order, but it does not mark the judgment of a particular region or group of people.
Where was God when the hurricane winds blew? God was there, working out His unknowable eternal plan.
Where was Jesus Christ when the levees broke? Jesus was there, interceding for His people, pouring out His Spirit.
Where was the Holy Ghost when the Superdome ceiling fell in, and the basement and streets flooded, and power, water, and hope all failed? He was inspiring heroic acts, invoking and answering prayers, prompting acts of courage, saving lives, giving new and more substantial hopes.
If the waters of Hurricane Katrina were a flood of judgment, they were so only for those few who resolved to seize an opportunity to do harm, to rob and ravage and steal, and to hurt and kill their enemies.
But to others, they were waters of blessing; a means of grace, by which they were set free, washed away from the confining shores of an old way of life.
Which will they become for us — waters of judgment, or waters of blessing?
This will prove to be the really tough question. What will be our answer? Where was the Church when the winds blew and the rains fell and the floods rose? What are we doing now? How will we respond in the next few days, weeks, and months?
For us, too, the dirty waters left in the wake of Katrina can be waters of judgment; or they can be waters of blessing, renewing our baptismal vows to follow Jesus — even if it means taking up a cross and going the uncertain way that leads to many risks, and possibly even to death.
They can be waters of blessing if we choose to be servants of God, offering the cup of cold water in the name of Jesus to a family who’ve spent the morning in hazmat gear, drenched in their own sweat, picking through the smelly wreckage of what were once a dear home, prized possessions, and treasured memories.
Many of the displaced have moved on now to other homes; but many have not. Do you have a spare bedroom that you can offer to a young family? Can you offer a hot meal, or a cool shower and air-conditioned refuge from the daily heat?
We may not all be able to offer such immediate help; but we can help in other ways. We can support public agencies, and voluntary organizations like the Red Cross in their efforts; and we can also support the work of our own church.
Did you know that the Presbyterian Church (USA) has a permanent structure for long-term relief to disaster victims? It’s called the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team. Within the PDA structure, there are three separate funds which we can support to help our neighbors recover from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The first is a fund for humanitarian needs, disaster relief in the traditional sense; but the other two are focused on relief within the church, and relief to the church itself: one fund for repair and restoration of church buildings and property, and the other for the work of ministering and counseling to pastors and church staff in the affected area. These funds represent something we all can do. Are we going to do it, or will this be our judgment?
If these waters are to be of blessing and not of judgment to us, then we must also learn the second lesson of the great disasters of the flood, the massacre at Galilee, and the Tower of Siloam: that we must examine ourselves, and always be ready to come face to face with our Lord. “Be always ready to give an accounting to anyone who should ask you, regarding the faith that is in you,” St. Peter wrote in our epistle reading for today. From the devastation of the waters of Katrina, we should learn to be ready to measure our lives not in terms of perishable possessions, but in terms of character and action — the kind that reveal a life of faith as the driving force and deciding factor: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” As St. James wrote, “You say you have faith: You do well….I will show my faith by my deeds.”
These are the opportunities presented to us in the aftermath of Katrina. With the uncertainties that still await us in our careers, our homes, our churches, and our health care, we can still live the kind of lives that show us to be people of faith in Jesus Christ: people who are ready to have their lives put on trial; people who by their actions show where their treasure is, and where their affections and their trust and their values lie.
These are the people for whom the waters of Katrina will not be a flood of judgment, but waters of blessing. May God make us such, and to God be the glory. Amen.
