Though I grew up on the Texas Gulf coast, and lived here most of my life, except when I was in the Navy and the first 12 years I was in the ministry, this was the first time that I evacuated for a hurricane and it actually hit, leaving real impact close to where I lived. Living in Houston and Pasadena, we never evacuated for a hurricane, though some of my earliest memories were leaving home in a boat during Hurricane Carla. I just didn’t seem necessary. When Rita came three years ago, we did evacuate from Santa Fe, still, in many ways for Santa Fe, being on the “clean” side of the storm and the strike being even further up the coast, the impact on us was minimal.
Friday of last week, as we were watching coverage of Ike’s approach on either channel 11 or the Weather Channel, and seeing the rising storm serge on Galveston Island, and even more at Surf Side, it was very surreal. I knew my home, my work, and Cindy’s work were all there and yet we were miles away in Katy. I was concerned about things, but not so much about what I might find when I came home. I was concerned for people, for you folks and for folks Cindy and I know on Galveston Island and over in Galveston County. I wasn’t worried, I was concerned. At least for me there is a difference.
For perhaps the first time in our married life, Cindy was worried. That is one of the things that made things so surreal. I am the worrier, not Cindy. And friends, Cindy doesn’t worry often, but when she does worry, she really worries.
The night the storm hit, we both slept through most of it. That surprised me. I usually don’t sleep through things like that, but this time I did. When I got up the next morning, we still had power at Jay’s house, though it went off within an hour and we began listening to storm coverage on the radio. The next thing I knew I was waking up in a recliner and everyone else was eating breakfast.
It wasn’t long before the storm passed and the power came back on. We ventured outside. There were a few downed tree limbs and lots of pine needles all over the place but things weren’t bad in Jay’s neighborhood. We went up to his church and did some light clean-up work there. They had a few roof leaks, but that was the extent of it.
Sunday afternoon Cindy and I came down to check on the parsonage and both churches. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found. Though we didn’t have power, everything else seemed to be in order. There was light damage, but nothing bad.
We went back to Katy to make a plan. On Monday we went and bought a few things not knowing what we could get here and we came home. As I was driving home, knowing that when I got back to Freeport I was going to still have a house and my things were still going to be there, both of my churches and the communities where they are seemed to be in good shape, I started thinking about how blessed I am, how blessed we all are, following Ike’s visit on our area.
By that point I had seen news pictures of Galveston Island, the Bolivar Peninsula, and the Golden Triangle. I kept thinking, we are without power, but things could be so much worse. We are blessed. Oh, how we are blessed.
When we got back home we were blessed again. When I walked in the front door I heard the hum of the refrigerator. I knew we had power once again.
Tuesday I went out, by myself at first, but later in the day Cindy went with me, to check on many of you. No, I didn’t make it everywhere, but I did make it out I think to most of the communities where we have members. As I visited with folks, and even more folks since then, I heard time after time, people saying exactly what I had been saying on my way home on Monday, “we are so blessed.” They were echoing the same thoughts that I had said to myself and to Cindy the day before.
I can’t argue with that at all. I understand those sentiments but since that time, since I have watched more television coverage, since I have heard more stories of people who have lost everything, I have been plagued by a thought again and again. “Why in such a tragic, devastating event am I and those around me so blessed and at the same time so many others so devastated by these events. They, it would seem, are anything but blessed. In particular, when I consider the people of the Bolivar Peninsula and over into the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, Ike isn’t the first storm to hit them in recent years, or for that matter, even this year. For some, it has been their fourth hit in the last three years. Think about that for a minute. There was Rita three years ago. There was Humberto last year. This year there was Eduard just a few weeks ago and now Ike. I don’t think those folks feel very blessed. Some of them might even shout out at the top of their lungs, “I don’t need any more blessing.”
We have seen pictures from places like Crystal Beach and Gilchrist. What you may not know, the United Methodist Church in Sabine Pass had 3 feet of water in their sanctuary. Imagine if that were us here. The parsonage was almost complete after a total rebuild from Hurricane Rita. Now it must be rebuilt again. The congregation at Bridge City is in the process of relocating since Rita. They had poured the slab for the new building. Water got underneath the slab and moved it. Now it has to be jack-hammered out and poured again. The Methodist Church in Seabrook had three feet of water in the Sanctuary. Insurance has already declared the sanctuary at Cedar Bayou a total loss. And, the storm tore the steeple from the roof of the sanctuary at Crosby. That might not have been so bad, but it wasn’t just laid down beside the church, Ike picked it up and slammed it back into the roof, leaving major roof damage as well as damage from leaks that came as a result. Closer to home, the Baptist Church out in Jones Creek had major damage after a tree fell on the building, collapsing a wall of the senior adult Sunday School room.
I understand that we are blessed. But, the thing that has kept going through my mind is, in the midst of such tragedy, and yet these others, who are suffering so much seem anything but blessed? Please understand friends, I am not trying to say that God isn’t blessing me. I am not saying that I am not thankful for these blessings. That is far from the case. I am both blessed and thankful. I know that I am blessed, but why didn’t God bless these other folks as well.
When Cindy’s friend Susan and her husband Rick got home he was complaining about some of the things that were broken and would now have to be fixed. Susan said my favorite quote that has come out of all of this. “Minor damage to stupid stuff.” And, in comparison to what other folks have experienced, she is absolutely correct. For most of us around here, that is what we have experienced it and that is a blessing.
But, why are we so blessed in the face of such overwhelming destruction in the lives of our neighbors, even neighbors not so far away in Surf Side and down the Blue Water Highway? Why didn’t God just keep that Hurricane out in the Atlantic, away from anyone, where no one would get hurt or have their lives turned upside down? Why didn’t God bless these folks too? Why didn’t God bless them just like God blessed me?
It is one of those great perplexing questions of faith. Some might even call this a paradox. Who among us, if we were given the power, wouldn’t have done better for our neighbors? Yet, God, with His infinite power, for reasons we don’t understand, let the storm come in and totally disrupt the lives of folks who are just like us. I don’t claim to understand it. I am not blaming God, I have not lost my faith in God, I am not saying God is the bad guy here, I just wish that He would give me a better ability to understand why the world works as it does.
As I have been thinking about all of this an answer of sorts did come to my mind. I found it in the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12. God was making Abraham several promises. First God says that He would bless Abraham. He would make Abraham’s name great, and Abraham would be a blessing for others.
Think about that for a minute. God would bless Abraham and God would make Abraham a blessing for others. In other words, God was saying to Abraham, I am blessing you to be a blessing.
Who here in this room feels blessed today? I would say that most of us probably do. If you don’t then perhaps you need to re-evaluate the events of the last week and half.
Could it be that God is telling those of us who have been blessed so much in the past week that we too are blessed to be a blessing? I cannot help but think that such an idea might just be the case. Perhaps those of us who find that we are blessed are being called to dig a little deeper in our wallets to help those who are struggling right now to rebuild their homes and their lives.
Our bishop has asked all the congregations across our annual conference to collect an offering for Ike recovery. The monies that we collect through this offering will stay within the bounds of our annual conference. We will collect that offering in this congregation next week. Perhaps through this storm God is calling our congregation to extravagant generosity.
Or, perhaps God is calling our congregation to risk-taking mission and service. We have some things to hand out this morning. I am going to ask that the ushers hand them out now. On one of these pages you will find the contents for flood buckets and health kits. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has already sent 12,000 flood buckets to our annual conference. They arrived on Friday in LaPorte and distribution will happen from that location. That being said, UMCOR needs more flood buckets for the next time disaster strikes, and it will. Those 12,000 may not be enough and even if it is, there will be a need for more. The same is true for the health kits. I ask you to please give prayerful consideration to being in ministry this way.
Possibly as early as tomorrow, we will be housing a mission team here that will be doing work in the area with removing trees, patching roves, and other clean up, particularly in Surf Side, but also through out our area. First, if you know folks who need help, let the church office know. Second, if you could help provide food for these folks, that would be a nice thing as well. Again, it is a way to be in risk taking ministry and service.
But also, could it be that God right now is calling this congregation to be in risk-taking mission and service by calling us to roll up our sleeves, get some dirt under our fingernails, and go to work. The second piece of paper you have is a brochure that was given at the town hall meeting at First Baptist last Thursday night. It has a place on one side for you to tear off to volunteer to help in our community. But, I also think that God could be calling us as well to form mission teams of our own, to head into the effected areas to be about God’s work, to be God’s hands and feet in those places.
I know that there are things that we the blessed can do to be a blessing to those that are in need. Friends, I am blessed to be a blessing. How about you?
