Out Of Chaos...Hope

Below is the text of a sermon I delivered at Grace First Presbyterian Church, Long Beach, CA on September 29, 2009.

Audio of the sermon can be found at www.gracefirst.org. Click on worship. Scroll to bottom of page for sermons. Then scroll to September 29, 2009.

The sermon is based on two Bible readings cited below.

Deuteronomy 30:15-19

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Hymn 525 Here I am Lord

OUT OF CHAOS, HOPE

Good Morning! What a joy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

I’m happy to be the one to represent all the lives this congregation has impacted over the years. Very happy indeed. Who wouldn’t want a trip to southern California to visit friends, stay in a condo on the beach and tell stories of hope? It’s nice work if you can get it, eh?

I’ve been planning this sermon for months, but I didn’t put the finishing touches on it until last night. I have been practicing what my mother would call “creative avoidance.”

I have tremendous respect for Steve and other pastors who do this every week. Those of you who know me, know that I have no problem speaking, but “preaching” always feels completely different.

I was here on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, three years ago, giving the Minute for Mission. I thanked you for helping Westminster Church hire Karen Bullock after ourpastor left and for all the ways you had guided us through the chaos of that first year.

I told you then, that we could feel your presence in the pew beside us during worship in Mississippi, and I hardly even knew most of you. Now, we have so many shared experiences that I feel like not only a member of your congregation, but even a part of some of some of your families.

You have helped us sift through the chaos, literally and figuratively.

You held us when we cried; listened to our stories; celebrated

milestones; and even sang in our choir. Bill Saul, Tim Jackert and Don and Joyce Clark have been at Westminster and Barean Church so often that both Stewardship Committees have decided to send them pledge cards this year!

We just passed the 4^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It’s hard to believe…four years… Some days, just knowing that not everyone has forgotten us; that you all are here, still cheering us on; interested in our progress; still sending volunteer teams and financial support

Often that’s a big part of what keeps us going.

I’m here today because faith CAN move mountains, and I have SEEN people of faith move mountains…mountains of debris …and construction supplies. I am witness to God’s hope and presence in the chaos of the hurricane recovery and … in my own life.

I’m also here today because our God, the God who calls us to greatness, is an awesome God, and “We all know that all things work together for good for them who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

I am also here today because the people of this church responded to God’s call when disaster struck thousands of miles away. Y’all didn’t just, “Tsk. Tsk.” about how SOMEONE should do something. Instead, you said, “I am someone. We are children of God and we will DO something.”

You have shared God’s love and blessings with people you will never know, never meet. Today’s reading from Romans, “and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”

The actions your church has taken have impacted not only the lives of hundreds of gulf coast families, but also the volunteers who have stayed at Grace House. You’ve kept the faith for those who’ve lost it, while inspiring others to “walk the walk” of their faith.

To paraphrase a conversation between Jesus and my namesake Martha (John chapter 11) where Jesus acknowledges to her that He IS the resurrection and the life, and she responds,

“Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah.”

I want you to know that this Martha-Lee believes that you and the thousands of faith-based recovery volunteers are the resurrection and the life to the people of the Gulf Coast. I thank you!

You HAVE done something. You made a commitment; built relationships - restored hope - kept the faith.

For four years, I’ve been working with Westminster Church and the Presbytery of MS, welcoming and directing the thousands of faith-based volunteers who have come to help. I’ve had the amazing blessing of getting to know brothers and sisters in faith from all over the U.S.

Like my Grace First church family, these new friends have invited me to their homes and their churches. In the last few years, I have visited over two dozen churches and Presbyteries - sharing funny stories; sad stories; stories of coincidence; and stories of the hope that can be found in the midst of chaos, “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

I sometimes offer a Minute for Mission” or the Children’s sermon; a workshop or Bible study and more recently I’ve been a guest in the pulpit delivering the sermon.

But I’ll tell you if you had told me years ago, that one day I would be standing here preaching, I would have laughed. Me? Please!

Although I come to you from Mississippi, and I have a double name, y’all have probably noticed that I don’t sound like a southerner. That’s because, as many of you know, I’m originally a New Yorker.

I was raised Presbyterian in suburban New York. We’re supposed to be “God’s Frozen Chosen.” We don’t evangelize or talk about religion, much less “witness” whatever that means. And Mississippi? Why would I ever want to live in Mississippi?

And then, a man asked me to marry him. We met at the First International Laughter Symposium in Orlando, Florida in May of 2003. I was there presenting a film, “Praise Ha!” about the healing power of laughter. He was a retired Navy nurse who had been to Clown School and was an aspiring stand-up comedian.

During the question and answer period after the film, this man, wearing a chicken hat, stood up and asked me to marry him.

At lunch he told me he was serious and presented me with a ring, an onion ring. He won my heart. A year later we were married at my home church in New York.

Meeting Matt, taking a leap of faith, falling in love, getting married - it was an exciting whirlwind. I was floating on happiness. It was like a fairy tale. The fairy tale abruptly ended on my wedding night -- when my new husband, unexpectedly, tragically, suffered a massive heart attack and died. [PAUSE] He was dead before the ambulance even arrived. Twelve hours from bride to widow. It was surreal.

“Oh God!” I thought. “How could you do this to me? What happened?!”

What happened? I walked through the valley of the shadow of death and was cared for. God sent angels. Family and friends were glimmers of light in the darkness.

(PAUSE) Less than a year later, Hurricane Katrina washed five feet of flood water through my home.

Our reading from Deuteronomy says, “I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.”

We all know how true that is. Death, divorce, illness, financial ruin, they are all gifts from God that we have a tough time appreciating.

Mother Teresa once said, “God only gives us as much as we can handle. I just wish he didn’t have so much confidence in me.”

Well, He does have a great deal of confidence in all of us! and with faith, we can live up to His best hopes for what we can be.

After months of wrestling with my grief and arguing with God, Hurricane Katrina turned out to be a something of blessing to me. I found truth in the Romans passage, “…we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”

I was able to focus on something beyond myself. Thousands of people were suffering. I could no longer allow myself the “luxury” of wallowing in self-pity. I realized that I didn’t die when my husband did, and that I have God-given skills and abilities to offer in the midst of chaos.

Deuteronomy says, “Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live!” I found my purpose. I decided that God brought me to Mississippi to serve others.

With that decision, everything changed. Family and friends saw a young widow facing one more impossible tragedy. I saw a calling, a homework assignment from God.

Once again, God sent angels. Within days of the storm, a truck loaded with chain saws, generators and water from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance arrived at the church (our One Great Hour of Sharing dollars at work). Westminster church and so many others along the Gulf coast became disaster recovery centers without the benefit of committees to examine the problem and decide what to do.

As the Director of Youth Ministries, I was there with the teenagers when volunteers started showing up offering help even before phone lines were working. We became camp hosts for the church dispatching volunteers to help families “muck out” their homes.

It was 100 degrees with 90 percent humidity for weeks after the Hurricane. Debris piles were everywhere; Street signs were down; Fabric hung from trees, neighborhoods were empty.

Mosquitoes, rotten smells, dead animals, flies, all those refrigerators, spoiled food, dead fish, stickiness, unclean water… It was an assault on the senses. I’ll never forget that smell.

Volunteers kept coming. They removed debris, cut down trees cleared roads and driveways, hauled out refrigerators … anything that was needed. We all worked together – Rich and poor; young and old. Every day was survival. Everyone did what they could.

Engineers and architects checked structural integrity of churches, homes and government buildings; Presbyterian Women made casseroles; teenagers hauled debris; knitting circles sent prayer shawls; contractors taught us how to roof.

The Fellowship Hall filled up with donated supplies – bleach, mops, towels, toiletries, blankets, Bibles, you name it.

After the first 6 months we asked all volunteer teams not to bring donated items without speaking with me first. The church had become overwhelmed with generosity and was not prepared to distribute all the donations.

We had become focused primarily on construction. Nonetheless, a little more than a year after the storm as a team was settling in on Sunday night, the pastor asked me, “What should I do with the hundred pair of shoes I have in the car?” I didn’t know what to say.

Overwhelmed with along list of things to do, I said nothing hoping he was pulling my leg. When he repeated it saying that they were brand new children’s shoes, I knew he was serious.

I called a church member who is an elementary school teacher and told her about the shoes. She responded, “Oh my God, Martha-Lee. You are an answer to prayers. I’ve been sitting here praying for shoes!”

Working at a low-income elementary school, she manages the “clothing closet” donations for the kids. On Friday, a barefoot boy had come to her asking for shoes.

She had no shoes, but she promised him she’d have a pair for him on Monday. It was Sunday night, and she had no shoes for him. I told her to please stop praying!

Wow! Just when something seemed like an unexpected burden, it turns out we were all just a part of God’s answer to someone’s prayer! And God keeps sending volunteers to help.

More than four years since Katrina, we have hundreds of volunteers scheduled over the next six months. The recovery operation

has evolved from helping church members muck out homes and repair roofs to BUILDING homes from the ground up.

The Presbytery of MS acts as a “labor partner,” in collaboration with case management agencies and funding partners, yet at our peak we had less than 10 employees. When we make a commitment to build a home, it is with the confidence that we DO have a labor force - One that “loves their neighbor as themselves” and that is powered by the Holy Spirit!

In Fall 2007, Presbytery of MS Disaster Recovery made a commitment to be the labor partner – essentially the general contractor – on 17 new home constructions for families who owned a home before Katrina. Our case-management partners had screened these cases and had gotten grants to fund the construction.

We were enthusiastic and got the first four homes rolling right away. We partnered with an Amish construction company that shipped pre-fabricated frames and trusses to us at cost. Before long, however we began to have doubts that we could keep our commitment.

Volunteer counts in December and January were very low. The learning process was slow. We talked about it and prayed about it. In November, we received a call from folks who organize Amish, Mennonite and Brethren mission trips.

They had heard about what we were doing from an employee at the Amish construction company. With a few phone calls, suddenly we had volunteers scheduled not only in December and January, but through the winter. With their help, and the help of many others’ … we were able to build those seventeen homes we’d promised… and more!

The following spring twenty-four families moved into their new homes! At the dedication ceremony, a homeowner, an elderly black woman pulled me aside and said, “Y’all have made me ask God for forgiveness.”

I asked, “Why? What did you do?”

She responded, “All my life I had no use for white people or Yankees, and it’s been nuthin’ but white people and Yankees done built my house.” I guess no matter how old we are, God has new lessons to teach us every day.

Mississippi families are still struggling with housing – a few hundred still live in FEMA trailers or a borrowed trailer; in unfinished, damaged, homes or on friends’ couches.

Some have received a small amount from insurance or loan or grant money, but it doesn’t all add up to a new home until we add in volunteer labor and God’s help.

Last year Hurricanes Gustav and Ike came through the Gulf and flooded low-lying areas, once again. An elderly couple, George and Betty Lou Reyer, had been living in a FEMA trailer on their property for over three years since Katrina, as they slowly rebuilt their home.

Zoning changes required homes in some areas to be built as much as 20-feet off the ground. A contractor poured the foundation and framed their house 22-feet off the ground before taking off with the rest of their money.

Hurricane Gustav flooded their FEMA trailer, and FEMA refused to give them a new one. Having spent their insurance money, savings and home equity loan, they had no choice but to move into their unfinished house.

They never gave up hope. They said they prayed and kept working a little at a time. The house had no insulation, plumbing or electricity, but they were grateful for the roof over their head and blankets to keep warm.

Last November when nighttime temperatures dropped into the low 40’s, a case manager friend told me about the Reyers and asked if I could find some help.

Miracles are still happening every day. Imagine the frustration and desperation of paying for a mortgage on a house you can’t live in. One more day dawns with no hope in sight, until neighbors, church members, out-of-state volunteers, and even “Yankees” show up at your door ready to work. Bringing hope made real…

Presbyterian volunteers put their backs into the work, and Grace First stepped up once again with funding for essentials like a plumber, an electrician and a refrigerator. Within a few months, the Reyers received their certificate of occupancy and were comfortably settled into their new home.

The God who calls us to greatness makes His presence known in so many ways every day. He sends angels to walk beside us when we’re lost, and He uses us as instruments of His peace when others need us.

There are hundreds of “coincidences” of God’s presence in the midst of chaos. You cannot serve as the “hands and feet of Christ” and not come away changed and strengthened in faith.

Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. In fact, nothing else ever has.”

Thanks be to God!