Swamped
I tried to think of a single word to describe what we are going through
with Hurricane Katrina. The one word that comes to mind is “Swamped.”
Katrina swept ashore with a 30 foot storm surge and swamped Gulfport.
The levee broke on the Ponchetrain side and New Orleans was
swamped with water. People were stranded on houses and at the
Superdome and we were swamped with a massive rescue effort. The
storm shut down refineries and the economy is swamped in an oil crisis.
I came across this picture of an honest gas station. Unleaded is an arm,
super unleaded is a leg.
1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at
the painful trial you are suffering, as though
something strange were happening to you. NIV
This disaster is larger than normal but it is still natural. And so the
question isn’t “why is this happening?” The question is, What can we do
about it? What will God do through it.
That’s the focus of the Bible. We will have troubles in this life.
People Respond to Swamps Differently
This is so obvious while watching the new Orleans tragedy.
Some stoop to new lows
We turn on the TV and we get swamped with images. Day after day.
People are now streaming out of New Orleans and we are swamped with
human needs.
What do you do when you get swamped?
Getting Swamped is Part of Life
Nobody likes to get swamped. And when we get swamped we tend to
want to blame someone. Who is responsible for this hurricane?
German press said it’s our fault, global warming. RFK Jr. blamed the
governor of Mississippi. He supported the energy policies.
Last Wednesday they called from KTVE and asked if I would do a live
interview. So I went down. The anchorman asked me, “Why would God
allow something like this to happen?” I don’t remember exactly what I
said, but it was something like this, “The bigger question is why do we
have troubles? Is it normal to have trouble?” Jesus said that we can
expect troubles. So this is a natural part of life. That’s why they call it a
natural disaster. You could take out the word natural and replace it with
normal. It’s normal to have disasters. Hurricanes are a normal part of
life. There have been hurricanes on the gulf coast as long as there has
been water in the gulf.
This disaster is larger than normal but it is still natural.
Things like this are a part of life.
I’m ashamed at what I see happening in New Orleans. Gangs raiding
the stores and roaming the streets. Shooting at helicopters.
Threatening the very ones who are trying to save them. Why would you
shoot at someone trying to rescue someone else? I thought about this
and I truly believe it is evidence of the spiritual warfare. For two
hundred years this city has invited in every form of demonic spirit.
Voodoo, witchcraft, hedonism. You name it and New Orleans has
welcomed it, embraced it and nourished it. Now the spirits are
being flushed out and they don’t want to leave.
The Times-Picayune newspaper reported that the
gun section at a new Wal-Mart in the Lower
Garden District had been cleaned out by looters.
Staff members at Children's Hospital huddled with
sick youngsters and waited in vain for help to
arrive as looters tried to break through the locked
door,
That’s a new low. To me looting in times of this sort of crisis is about as
low as it gets. But to make it worse, looting a children’s hospital and
placing children in danger.
The historic French Quarter appeared to have
been spared the worst flooding, but its stores
were getting the worst of human nature.
"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter
has been attacked,"
Interesting note on the looting in the French quarter. “spared the worst
of the flooding but got the worst of human nature.” You see this when
there’s a crisis. Sad but true. It brings out the worst in some.
How Must We Respond to the Swamp?
Get involved with the suffering.
When Your Neighbor Gets Swamped, So Do You
Others rise to the challenge
I saw one story where a man stopped on a flooded Alabama highway to
pull two senior adults from a flooded car with alligators circling the car.
Hurricane Katrina is shaping up to be one of the worst disasters in US
history. As in all disasters people tend to respond in a variety of ways.
Some stoop to new lows, looting and shooting at rescuers. Others rise
to the challenge. We’ve seen so many stories of heroism. One of my
favorites involved this good old boy and some senior citizens. I saw it on
CNN. A 90 year old man and his wife were driving down a flooded
highway when their care stalled. The reporter doing the story stood
beside a white Buick. In the background, an alligator farm. Bad luck
stalling out on the flooded highway in front of the alligator farm. The
camera panned to a large alligator in the ditch filled with water not far
from the car. The reporter introduced the hero. This good old boy from
Alabama. He started to tell the story, “I was driving along and seen this
couple stranded, guy was 90. Alligators swimming all around the car
waiting on them to die. One really big gator was hanging close. Belly
this wide. Bigger’n that one there in the ditch. I threw something at it
and he sank. Couldn’t see him. But knew I had to get them out, so I
walked over like this. . . he walked to the side of the car, the reporter
said, “I am not coming over there . . .” The fellow kept talking, I pulled
him out with them gators all around, folded him up and carried him to
safety in my truck. Then I got his wife out the same way. The report
asked, “How deep was the water? The fellow said, “Four feet! It was
just starting to come into my truck.” I laughed out loud. That’s one
jacked up truck. The senior adults were saved that day because some
red necked risked his neck.
Coast guard helicopters worked tirelessly sending men up and down on
wires to pull people out of their homes. Here in Monroe people are
pouring out love and support. One guy called me from Texas. He was
flying here in an airplane to bring supplies. Last night the church just
opened it’s doors and fed 155 evacuees. Amazing outpouring of love.
That’s the American way isn’t it. When we get into trouble we rise up.
We got it from Jesus. He’s the one that taught us this.
Jesus wants his people to respond to other people’s troubles. That’s
what we do. That’s what identifies us as who we are.
Matthew 25: 31 "But when the Son of Man
comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 "And all the nations will be gathered before
Him; and He will separate them from one another,
as the shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the
goats on the left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me
something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me
drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and
you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to
Me.’
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed
You, or thirsty, and give You drink?
38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and
invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 ‘And when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and come to You?’
40 "And the King will answer and say to them,
‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to
one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of
them, you did it to Me.’
41 "Then He will also say to those on His left,
‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal
fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to
eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to
drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in;
naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in
prison, and you did not visit Me.’
44 "Then they themselves also will answer,
saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or
thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not take care of You?’
45 "Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I
say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 "And these will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
There are 40 people at seeker springs. They desperately need financial
resources to take care of them.
We have a family in need. We need a house. They told us last night
that several families need a place to stay. If you have an RV or a camp
or some extra room at your house you could help.
The hotel folks told us that the meal was a blessing. We could use help
with preparing a weekly meal for them. We also need volunteers to take
care of their children.
Seek God’s face
Sheep and goats become obvious though this one key identifying mark,
“What they do, and do NOT do. I believe that it’s imperative that we find
ways to get involved in this crisis.
2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by
my name, will humble themselves and pray and
seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their
sin and will heal their land.
This is a natural disaster with a spiritual purpose. God wants to use
it to teach us. To challenge us. To change us.
I said that to a friend, and he said, “there are a lot of people watching
us.” I think that’s true. As a church we cannot dig a mote and buy an
alligator and say, “No Vacancy.” People are watching us to see if we will
live up to our creed.
This is a temporary problem that God wants to use for eternal
significance. In a year the south will be well on its way to recovery. The
question will be, what did God do to us through this process that will last
forever.
But even more important, Jesus is watching us. And some day I will
stand before Jesus and hear him say, 'I was hungry, and without shelter,
and sick and in need . . ." And I want to hear him say, "And you took me
in and clothed me and sheltered me and fed me." This could be the
worst natural disaster in American history. And we are two hundred
miles from the epicenter. It would be a horrible crisis if we didn't get dirty
in this. What a tragedy for us to go on as if life were normal. When your
neighbor gets swamped, so do you.
When this water recedes back into the gulf of Mexico New Orleans will
be covered in mud. When these people go home to rebuild their broken
lives we should be covered in mud.
How can you help?
The red cross is caring for 2000 at the civic center. They need
volunteers and money to take care of those folks. They don’t need more
clothing or material. It’s easier to use money. They did say they need
soft drinks and shoes. If you can help with that.
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Humble yourself. This is no time for pride.
Pray. Cry out to the Lord.
Turn. We need to learn a lesson in this. We cannot
harbor and nurture the evil that we nurtured in New
Orleans.
Trust. God will hear and restore.