Reverend Peter Marshall's Commentary Archive

     At the risk of beating this issue to death, I just can't walk away from the issue of what I believe God is saying to our nation in the twin disasters of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

We Americans like to talk about "moving on" after events like these, but the devastation is so massive that for many people, and even for whole towns, there is not going to be any "moving on."   The TV report from Cameron Parish, Louisiana, for example, showed us the complete and total destruction of an entire town -- all buildings destroyed except for the courthouse, water everywhere, not a soul left living there, and a cow lying dead in the ruins of a church (a rather ironic sacrificial offering?).  A ghost town.  There are many towns like this in coastal Mississippi, Alabama,Texas, and Louisiana, and entire neighborhoods like this in the city of New Orleans.  In more than a few towns, even where expensive houses are still standing, the flood waters have rendered them totally unlivable -- they will all simply have to be bulldozed away.  Just disposing with the debris from these hurricanes is a problem on the scale of which Americans have never seen.

In the light of this kind of destruction, glib and easy talk about rebuilding and restoring is very definitely out of place, even coming from the President of the United States.  It smacks too much of the used car salesman, or maybe old LBJ-type Democrat spenders. 

Yes, people who have lost everything need hope and encouragement, they need a vision of the future to hang on to.  That is absolutely essential.  And the President is supposed to supply hope and vision and perspective -- that is a major part of his job.  As Teddy Roosevelt famously said, "The presidency is a bully pulpit."  But that vision, that hope, had better not be based on the typical facile Federal government response to national crisis -- throw a large gob of money at it.  In this case, the President told us the gob would be $200 billion -- 200 billion!!  Where is that coming from?  Guess.  Out of your pocket and mine, gentle reader!  I hope that there are not many Americans out there silly enough to think that this is going to happen without raising our taxes.  This on top of an already obscenely large national debt.

But, money is not going to bring a quick fix to these disasters.  Even if the money can be found, we need to get over the idea that the rebuilding is going to happen soon.  We're talking about hundreds upon hundreds of square miles of total destruction.  It is going to take many, many years to rebuild those towns, assuming (and this is a big assumption) that there are lots of people who want to rebuild those towns.  And, even if the will to do it suddenly appeared, there is not enough equipment, man power, or building materials available to accomplish it in the near future.  I have a hunch that it will be a whole generation before the Gulf coast recovers.

But, more important than all these much-needed reality checks, the real problem is that Americans still haven't gotten the message.  What message? 

The message from God. 

In allowing all this destruction to come upon us, or perhaps even in sending it, Almighty God is trying to get our attention.  In previous commetaries on this subject I have said that this nation, which He founded to exert moral and spiritual leadership in the world, has turned its back on its Christian roots.  By officially removing the Ten Commandments from our courthouses, by officially stamping with the approval of the judicial system the homosexual behavior that God calls an abomination, and by continuing to officially allow the slaughter of our unborn children, this nation is officially rejecting God.  He does not take any of this lightly. 

Abraham Lincoln referred to America as the "almost chosen people."  He was being a bit too careful there, for the evidence of God having chosen this nation to play a redemptive role in history is overwhelming.  But, the only people that have a clear and unarguable title to being chosen of God were told in no uncertain terms that if they turned their backs on Him and rejected His authority, that they would incur terrible judgments, precisely because they were chosen.  In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 28, God speaks to Israel about blessings and cursings.  "If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments...the Lord your God will set you high over all the nations of the earth."  Then follows a lengthy list of all the blessings God would bestow upon an obedient people.  Afterward, in verse fifteen, God says: "But...if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments...all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you."  The curses that are spelled out in the following verses are three times as many as the blessings!  Which means that God is serious about obedience among the people He has chosen to represent Him to the world.  If the truly chosen people of ancient Israel were warned that dire consequences would follow their rejection of God, how much more is this true of "almost chosen" America?

Friends, please understand that the devastation of Katrina and Rita is not primarily about God trying to bring particular locales to repentance about local sins.  Although, I must confess I was happy to see a TV clip of one of the casino boats sunk at the dock where it had been moored!  In the wake of Rita, it is obviously not tenable (if it ever was) to think that Katrina was singling out New Orleans for punishment for her sins, though they were many.  A large chunk of four states has been wiped out! 

Nor do I believe that God was allowing the destruction of these storms just to deal with us Americans about our abortion, homosexuality, adultery, pornography, gambling, etc., etc.  As bad as these sins are, they are but the fruit created by the root problems.  If we got rid of the above sins, but failed to deal with the root sin tendencies, we would just produce different sinful fruit.The root problems are our pride, our rebellion, and most of all, our lack of dependence upon God.  The worst sin of all for us Americans is our independence from God -- we believe in His existence, we just don't think we need Him that badly. 

I believe that many people on the Gulf coast have learned that they do need God -- desperately.  Many of them have discovered that they have nowhere else to turn.  And for those who do turn to Him, they will experience great revival, and healing, and blessings.  Out of one Mississippi church comes the story of the ten year old boy who brought a little flower to his mother, who was sitting in the rubble of what had been their home.  "Look, Mom, new life!"  In the midst of judgment -- mercy.  If a ten year old boy gets it, there's hope for all of us.  I'll say it again: those who have been devastated, if they will turn to God, will experience resurrection life.

But, what of the rest of the nation?  I fear that the disasters are not over.  God is not through dealing with us -- especially because we're not getting the message.  It seems to me that this could go on for a matter of years, depending on how we respond.  If in fact these disasters are from God's hand, if He is trying to bring America to repentance, then they will continue -- until we respond.  Until our churches are full of people crying out for His forgiveness and mercy.  Until we come to repentance.

Copyright, Rev. Peter J. Marshall, 2005.  All rights reserved.

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