Sandy Indeed.

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Richie referenced Hurricane Sandy. The weather event was one in which our region saw, firsthand, the power of God expressed through nature, and the strange ways of men and women in the face of disaster.

Our pastor joked about how he, like so many others, made light of the seriousness of the storm until the storm had overtaken the region. By that point, it was too late for him to get out of his home. Of course, we laughed at the jokes and the funny stories... but upon reflection, maybe it's not so funny. At the core of the joking is an undeniable, tangible reality: People were warned, and people chose to ignore the warning.

The sad part of the ignored warning concerning Sandy was that, when pressed, people would reference Irene, the Category 1 hurricane from 2011 that became a tropical storm as it approached our tri-state region (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut). Their logic went something like this: "The media always makes a big deal of storms and nothing ever happens. Nothing happened to me when Irene came through. There's no need for me to heed their warning this year." Now, two weeks after Sandy, some of those same people are clamoring for the most basic of needs: water and warmth.

Have you noticed Hurricane Sandy was prophetically named?

*People responded to its portent by "burying their heads in the sand", pretending that the storm was not worthy of their attention. In their arrogance and self-sufficiency they chose not to evacuate.
*It sucked homes off the sandy beaches and buried them in the ocean.
*It poured tons of sand into inland residences.
*It changed the "sands of time" for many people, as they experienced financial ruin at a time in their lives where, statistically speaking, they may not live long enough to be able to recoup their losses.
*Just as we humans cannot count every grain of sand on earth, the world's best statisticians will never be able to count the extent of personal loss and sorrow that Sandy executed in our region.

The Hurricane Sandy experience was a living video of our old Sunday School song from decades past: "The foolish man built his house upon the sand and the rains came tumbling down. The rains came down and the floods came up..." and here, we must shift the allegory from the weather event to ourselves. Are we "the foolish man"?

The Lord, our God, has sent numerous warnings to Bronx Bethany over the years. He has implored us, as individuals, to prophetically draw a line in the sand-- the line of repentance. "God, I used to cross the line and disobey You, but I will no longer disobey. I repent of my sins and turn my heart and life completely over to You." But, as is human nature, many have ignored the warnings of God because there has not been an immediate, severe rebuke. We may say to ourselves, I don't need to make any changes in my life; God has never punished me in the past and He will not punish me, ever.

Pastor Richie, as the oracle of God, gave us a profound warning. It is found in Luke 13:1-8. Our Lord Jesus says, for all to hear, "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish."

Sand appears to be limitless, but it is not. We cannot count every grain of sand, but God knows how much sand is on the earth. God knows how much sand is in the hourglass of your life and my life. And God is asking us, warning us, imploring us, to take Him seriously before time runs out. Pastor Richie reminded us that the discussion at the start of Luke 13 was not a conversation with pagans. It was a discussion occurring among those who walked with Jesus-- and He told them, "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish."

A storm approaches. What will you do,
in light of what God has said to you?