A Message
from the Pastor:
Of course, the big news story of the
month was Hurricane Ike. Why I had a
feeling when it was ravaging Cuba that it was going to impact us here in
Southeast Texas I don’t know. But I
did. I worried and watched this one.
The night of the storm’s landfall, I, like many others, stayed up to
watch its progress. I was prepared
for the worst – the 75-100 mph winds they were predicting for us, tornados, etc.
I got my kids to bed and let my wife and her mother and grandmother go to
sleep, but I watched just in case we needed to move quickly to a closet or
something. However, it shifted
slightly east of Houston. At about 4
a.m. the weather man said it was tracking east, then I allowed my guard to go
down and my tired body to nap – at least for a couple of hours.
It had missed us. Not by
much, but the slight shift east pulled the worst away from us.
I gave a prayer of thanks for my family’s safety, and asked the Lord to
be with those in the path as I drifted off for a little bit.
In the
aftermath, of the storm, the questions began to run around my head, “Why were we
spared? Why did God allow it to miss
us?” The answer, though, should be
obvious: we weren’t blessed for our own sake, but for the chance to be a
blessing for others. In a way, we
were given the opportunity to help our neighbors in their time of need.
We had family members staying at the Klak hotel, and weopened our doors
to others we knew who had gotten caught without power or water.
Many others did the same. I
also have heard since then of local farmers and ranchers giving away bales of
hay to those who lost them for their animals down along the coast.
Generators were being
shipped over, food, clothing, etc.
This is God’s love and Christian charity at its best!
I can’t say for certain why, in His wisdom, God would even send a storm
like this to the folks hit by its
devastation. But I can say for sure
that in the midst of Ike and its aftermath, that for us God allowed it to come
through to test us in how we will respond to a need, and maybe even to learn to
trust Him more to watch over us and give a protecting hand when WE will
eventually have to pass through the storms of life.
This, then, was
not just a lesson for how to react to natural disasters.
It highlights for us our failings to look at our neighbors, friends, and
even families to see them in
any kind of
need—and to respond in love with mercy and grace.
We may be quick to judge and refuse to help, scoffing and saying it was
their own fault. We may even simply
look with a pity-filled eye and say, “I’m sorry this happened.
That’s too bad. But keep the
faith.” That is a sin we all too
often, though not always, struggle with: the sin of indifference, the sin of
self-concern. When we see a brother
or sister, a neighbor, or even (are you ready?) an enemy suffering – whether it
be of their own making or through unfortunate circumstances (it doesn’t matter)
– we are commanded to help.
As Jesus put it: “Give to everyone who begs from you… Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you. If
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?... But love your
enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” (Luke 6:30-32, 35)
Or, as James, the brother of our Lord, puts it: “If a brother or sister
is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep
warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is
the good of that?” (James 2:15-16)
And John
puts it the most forceful of all: “How
does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s good and sees a brother or
sister in need and yet refuses help.” (2 John 3:17)
May Ike’s positive impact be one of
reminding us that as part of the Body of Christ, we function best when we
remember we are in this together, and that we are here not for ourselves alone,
but to help bear each other’s burdens.
Not just after “real” storms, but in all the ups and downs of our lives.
God bless us all!
In Christ, Pastor David Klak