Service of remembrance and healing on first Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina 8/27/06 Text: Isaiah 61:1-13 Title: Year of the Lord's favor
Remembrance and healing service
Date:8/27/06
Text: Isaiah 61:1-13; Luke 4:18-21
Title: Year of the Lord’s Favor.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Two days from now, we will mark the anniversary of the day hurricane Katrina swept ashore. The coast of Mississippi was almost totally destroyed, but who would have thought that Hattiesburg would have so much destruction? It was for most people a frightening time. It was a time when all of our lives changed. What was normal before the storm was not normal after the storm. In affect, the abnormal became our new normal.
For many people, even those that did not have that much damage, it has been a stressful year. Just dealing with the traffic is bad enough, much less the waiting in lines, gas prices going up, the stress on the pocket book, uneasiness about the present, and fear of the future, and now another storm brewing in the gulf.
We have all experienced a sense of loss. Some much more than others. One of our members not only lost her home but her son and his wife died in the storm. Three others had their homes destroyed. One had their home flooded. Others lost roofs, had trees crush parts of their homes, while others lost trees, fences, and outbuildings.
I think that we would all agree that we are sick and tired of living with the remains of hurricane Katrina. We want it over with. We do not want to talk about it. All we want to do is to forget about it and we cannot, for we do not have to look very far to see damage caused by the storm, both in material things and people. It is painful and stressful for we know we cannot forget it. It has not gone away and it will effect our lives into the foreseeable future.
There has been an increase of alcoholism, drug use, spousal abuse. People are generally getting angry faster. People are just more tense and jumpy. There does not seem to be any good Southern courtesy left on our roads and highways. Sickness has increased. I would speculate all because of the additional stress of just plain living after the storm.
Many people are hurting and do not know why. All we know is that things are just not right. We have run out of energy. We are just plain tired and cannot stay focused. We have hung on for a long time, but are finding out that there is nothing in the well of self to draw from and we just do not know what to do.
It is important to remember that depression and illness caused by stress happens to Christians. Maybe you do not feel quite right yourself. Maybe you are mourning a part of your life that will never be the same again. Maybe you are suffering from disease, stress, addictions or something else that has taking the joy out of your life. If any of those things fit you, then God’s Holy Words as said through the prophet Isaiah, and as we will see in a minute, Jesus, will be a comfort, a start on the road to healing.
Before I start on the Biblical texts that I want to talk about this morning I think it will be helpful to have a little background information. Isaiah is talking to the Israelites who had just arrived back in their own country after being held captive in Babylon.
You can imagine their excitement as they looked forward to once more living in their city and worshiping at the temple. It was going to be wonderful, and then they saw the city and temple.
There was nothing there, only total destruction because the Babylonians had torn everything down stone by stone. It was a terrible mess. They expected some hardship, but nothing like this and they grew weary of rebuilding their city and temple. Tempers were worn thin, depression was high. Besides all that that, the grief and the guilt felt for their past, for they just knew God was still punishing them for their past behavior of unbelief, rebellion, idolatry, and it hung heavy on their shoulders.
They were in bad shape and so God had Isaiah speak to them. Listen to God’s words through Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,” ( I need to take minute and explain what he meant when he said he was “to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor”. The year of the LORD’S favor is the time known as the Jubilee. The Jubilee only happened once every 50 years, right after the 7th time of Sabbath rest, which took place every 7 years.
There were rules for the year of the Jubilee. A few of the more important regulations read as follows, “You shall return every man unto his possession. This includes the compulsory restoration of hereditary properties (except houses of laymen located in walled cities) to the original owners or their legal heirs, and the setting free of all Hebrew indentured servants whose term of six years is unexpired or who had refused to leave their masters when such term of service has expired.” The rules also included the regulations of the Sabbatical year, the annulment of all monetary obligations between Israelites, the creditor being legally barred from making any attempt to collect his debt and so forth.)
Continuing on with the text, “to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”
Wow, did you hear the good news in those verses. God was going to heal people, proclaim freedom for captives and release those imprisoned. He was going to comfort those that mourn and provide for the grieving. He is going to replace their despair with praise, and “they will be called oaks of righteousness.”
That is what God did for his chosen people, but wait, as great as that is, it is nothing compared to what took place later. If you have your Bible, please turn to Luke 4:18-21. There you will find Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah. He is standing in the synagogue in the town of Nazareth.
Listen to Jesus as he reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
It sounds a awful like the Isaiah text I just read doesn’t it? But, it really does not mean much unless you read another verse a little further, where Jesus is telling those listening to him, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, he is saying, “I am he. I am God,”
You see my dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus has done, and is doing what Isaiah’s prophecy said he would do. He is declaring the He was not just declaring the “Year of the LORD’S favor” to those listening that day, he is declaring it to us today through his Holy Scriptures. He is speaking to us who are poor in spirit, who have nothing in us that is worthy of God’s love. He is telling us who are bound to guilt that we are free from the chains of Satan. He is telling us that we who are blind to the sin around us have been given sight, so that we might see his righteousness. He is telling us whose wells of self has dried up that he can help us in our time of need, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual. He is telling us that this, the time we live in, even with all of its storms, wars, famines, and sicknesses is the “Year of the LORD’S favor.”
Jesus is just not some righteous man that lived almost 2000 years ago. He is God, our God. He is doing in our lifetimes, what God has done for his human creation ever since he made Adam out of the dust of the ground. He is caring for us.
You say that it sure does not look like Jesus cares for us at times. Well let us see if he does care for us. First, he became one of us, something he certainly did not have to do. Secondly, he could have let us die in our sins, but he did not as he died on the cross for each one of us, for all people, something he did not have to do.
Third, he could have stopped all storms and healed all sicknesses. He could you know, for he made the laws of nature they operate under. But, as much as we think that would be great, it would not be.
Let me explain why. How many of us, when we are in good health, and life is good, truly look to God for help? Not many I would wager because we all have the natural tendency to forget about God when our lives are doing well.
God knows, as strange as it might seem, that if he healed us every time we were sick or hurt from an accident, or gave us perfect weather we would more than likely turn to the ways of the world, so out of love, even though I am sure he is grieved by it, he allows sickness, accidents, wars, and terrible storms to happen in his creation.
You see, he knows that those who are sick, those who are suffering from the results of accidents or weather, those who die in him, will have their bodies raised up in perfection. That is good news. That is what you stake your faith on. Because of Jesus’ love and determination you are an oak of righteousness.
You might be a little tattered around the edges like the Friendship Oak down at the coast, but you have survived not only hurricane Katrina, but all the other storms of life, all by the Grace of God. For that we give thanks. Amen
Date:8/27/06
Text: Isaiah 61:1-13; Luke 4:18-21
Title: Year of the Lord’s Favor.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Two days from now, we will mark the anniversary of the day hurricane Katrina swept ashore. The coast of Mississippi was almost totally destroyed, but who would have thought that Hattiesburg would have so much destruction? It was for most people a frightening time. It was a time when all of our lives changed. What was normal before the storm was not normal after the storm. In affect, the abnormal became our new normal.
For many people, even those that did not have that much damage, it has been a stressful year. Just dealing with the traffic is bad enough, much less the waiting in lines, gas prices going up, the stress on the pocket book, uneasiness about the present, and fear of the future, and now another storm brewing in the gulf.
We have all experienced a sense of loss. Some much more than others. One of our members not only lost her home but her son and his wife died in the storm. Three others had their homes destroyed. One had their home flooded. Others lost roofs, had trees crush parts of their homes, while others lost trees, fences, and outbuildings.
I think that we would all agree that we are sick and tired of living with the remains of hurricane Katrina. We want it over with. We do not want to talk about it. All we want to do is to forget about it and we cannot, for we do not have to look very far to see damage caused by the storm, both in material things and people. It is painful and stressful for we know we cannot forget it. It has not gone away and it will effect our lives into the foreseeable future.
There has been an increase of alcoholism, drug use, spousal abuse. People are generally getting angry faster. People are just more tense and jumpy. There does not seem to be any good Southern courtesy left on our roads and highways. Sickness has increased. I would speculate all because of the additional stress of just plain living after the storm.
Many people are hurting and do not know why. All we know is that things are just not right. We have run out of energy. We are just plain tired and cannot stay focused. We have hung on for a long time, but are finding out that there is nothing in the well of self to draw from and we just do not know what to do.
It is important to remember that depression and illness caused by stress happens to Christians. Maybe you do not feel quite right yourself. Maybe you are mourning a part of your life that will never be the same again. Maybe you are suffering from disease, stress, addictions or something else that has taking the joy out of your life. If any of those things fit you, then God’s Holy Words as said through the prophet Isaiah, and as we will see in a minute, Jesus, will be a comfort, a start on the road to healing.
Before I start on the Biblical texts that I want to talk about this morning I think it will be helpful to have a little background information. Isaiah is talking to the Israelites who had just arrived back in their own country after being held captive in Babylon.
You can imagine their excitement as they looked forward to once more living in their city and worshiping at the temple. It was going to be wonderful, and then they saw the city and temple.
There was nothing there, only total destruction because the Babylonians had torn everything down stone by stone. It was a terrible mess. They expected some hardship, but nothing like this and they grew weary of rebuilding their city and temple. Tempers were worn thin, depression was high. Besides all that that, the grief and the guilt felt for their past, for they just knew God was still punishing them for their past behavior of unbelief, rebellion, idolatry, and it hung heavy on their shoulders.
They were in bad shape and so God had Isaiah speak to them. Listen to God’s words through Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,” ( I need to take minute and explain what he meant when he said he was “to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor”. The year of the LORD’S favor is the time known as the Jubilee. The Jubilee only happened once every 50 years, right after the 7th time of Sabbath rest, which took place every 7 years.
There were rules for the year of the Jubilee. A few of the more important regulations read as follows, “You shall return every man unto his possession. This includes the compulsory restoration of hereditary properties (except houses of laymen located in walled cities) to the original owners or their legal heirs, and the setting free of all Hebrew indentured servants whose term of six years is unexpired or who had refused to leave their masters when such term of service has expired.” The rules also included the regulations of the Sabbatical year, the annulment of all monetary obligations between Israelites, the creditor being legally barred from making any attempt to collect his debt and so forth.)
Continuing on with the text, “to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”
Wow, did you hear the good news in those verses. God was going to heal people, proclaim freedom for captives and release those imprisoned. He was going to comfort those that mourn and provide for the grieving. He is going to replace their despair with praise, and “they will be called oaks of righteousness.”
That is what God did for his chosen people, but wait, as great as that is, it is nothing compared to what took place later. If you have your Bible, please turn to Luke 4:18-21. There you will find Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah. He is standing in the synagogue in the town of Nazareth.
Listen to Jesus as he reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
It sounds a awful like the Isaiah text I just read doesn’t it? But, it really does not mean much unless you read another verse a little further, where Jesus is telling those listening to him, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, he is saying, “I am he. I am God,”
You see my dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus has done, and is doing what Isaiah’s prophecy said he would do. He is declaring the He was not just declaring the “Year of the LORD’S favor” to those listening that day, he is declaring it to us today through his Holy Scriptures. He is speaking to us who are poor in spirit, who have nothing in us that is worthy of God’s love. He is telling us who are bound to guilt that we are free from the chains of Satan. He is telling us that we who are blind to the sin around us have been given sight, so that we might see his righteousness. He is telling us whose wells of self has dried up that he can help us in our time of need, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual. He is telling us that this, the time we live in, even with all of its storms, wars, famines, and sicknesses is the “Year of the LORD’S favor.”
Jesus is just not some righteous man that lived almost 2000 years ago. He is God, our God. He is doing in our lifetimes, what God has done for his human creation ever since he made Adam out of the dust of the ground. He is caring for us.
You say that it sure does not look like Jesus cares for us at times. Well let us see if he does care for us. First, he became one of us, something he certainly did not have to do. Secondly, he could have let us die in our sins, but he did not as he died on the cross for each one of us, for all people, something he did not have to do.
Third, he could have stopped all storms and healed all sicknesses. He could you know, for he made the laws of nature they operate under. But, as much as we think that would be great, it would not be.
Let me explain why. How many of us, when we are in good health, and life is good, truly look to God for help? Not many I would wager because we all have the natural tendency to forget about God when our lives are doing well.
God knows, as strange as it might seem, that if he healed us every time we were sick or hurt from an accident, or gave us perfect weather we would more than likely turn to the ways of the world, so out of love, even though I am sure he is grieved by it, he allows sickness, accidents, wars, and terrible storms to happen in his creation.
You see, he knows that those who are sick, those who are suffering from the results of accidents or weather, those who die in him, will have their bodies raised up in perfection. That is good news. That is what you stake your faith on. Because of Jesus’ love and determination you are an oak of righteousness.
You might be a little tattered around the edges like the Friendship Oak down at the coast, but you have survived not only hurricane Katrina, but all the other storms of life, all by the Grace of God. For that we give thanks. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 5:56 PM
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