Sermon on Hurricane Katrina from One Who Has "Been to the Mountain"

Skip my intro . . . listen to Brother Fred Luter, Jr., "What to Do When the Storms Come."

On August 29, New Orleans suffered the worst disaster the Gulf Coast has seen in a century (or better, the worst disaster ever seen by an American city). But unlike the midnight storm that destroyed Galveston, millions escaped Hurricane Katrina, limiting her wrath to mostly property damage. On the other hand, whether New Orleans will suffer the obsolescence that befell Galveston--and be replaced by the inland city of Baton Rouge, as Houston replaced Galveston--remains to be seen. A great deal remains to be seen, unfortunately. I used to go to New Orleans monthly on business, but have yet to return (same for Biloxi). Yet, I digress.

When the levees broke, I knew I was witnessing the greatest tragedy of my lifetime. Houston was suddenly filled with homeless people, many with great jobs and good kids to educate. I met others who made their "living" entirely on federal assistance. I helped some figure out how to get their high schoolers into the best public school in Houston (we went with Bellaire). My wife and I moved into our son's room, and moved him in with our daughter, offering our master bed and bath to families of as many as five. If it was a risk, we were willing. We 'counted the cost' and were ready to store up treasures in Heaven to help those we were certain were not pretending. The first family had their stuff sent over, and we moved it in. Then they backed out. The next two families did the same, the federally funded hotel stays being an understandably better offer.

But our Houston church got involved. Soon a displaced New Orleans church--many of whose members washed up in Houston--began to meet in our church building every Sunday. They still do. (I don't know how they do it. To still be on the road six months later. Still "at sea" as it were.) The head pastor, Fred Luter, preaches at our location every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. The second and fourth, he preaches a 7:30 service at a dry New Orleans church, then a 1:00 service in Baton Rouge at Istrouma Baptist.*

Yesterday, Brother Luter, pastor of the largest black church in the Southern Baptist Convention, preached in our pulpit during a combined service. It was awesome. I loved it and am listening to it again as I write. This sermon was an event. To me--a HISTORICAL EVENT, because of his reflections on the hurricane that wiped out his city, and his thoughts six months later. He put Hurricane Katrina in a spiritual context that would be valuable and interesting to anyone. But equally compelling was his delivery. You just don't hear such excellent use of all the tools of an oral tradition: parallelism, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, refrain, dynamics, music.... This sermon really was an EVENT. You should not miss it.

You can listen to Dr. Luter's words here: "What to Do When the Storms Come."

*I'm partial to Istrouma--my favorite church of which I am not a member, the church the Wales family has attended since the 40s, if not earlier. My grandparents once showed up the Sunday morning of another hurricane. The pastor was the only one there--and he was only there to send everyone home. "I'm sorry, Brother Wales. I don't think we'll be having church today."