Rebuilding

No interventions of the supernatural "miracles" are recorded in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. However, prayer, faith, courage, and hard work are on every page. In truth, God was mightily at work through these times, restoring the house of worship and the Holy City.

Nehemiah wants to show reverence for God. This is how he describes his motivation for courageous and faithful living. He knows that his behavior is an outcome of and a declaration of his faith.

God could have snapped his fingers and restored Jerusalem to its full grandeur. Instead, he moved the hearts of his people and strengthened their hands for the difficult work of rebuilding. And through the process, inch by inch, he forged stronger bonds among them and drew the people to himself.

Ezra and Nehemiah restored the worship of God. They opened the word of God and brought it to the center of worship. They read for the people all that God had done for previous generations. They reminded the people of all that God promised them and of their obligations in the covenant of love.

And they turned a nation back to God.

We all enjoy instant answers. We like immediate rewards. We chafe under the restraints of development, cultivation, delay, and incremental process.

Residents of the City of New Orleans could decide to move to bright and well-manicured suburban areas with new schools and no crime. We do not have to live in a community struggling to lift itself from the muck.

We continue the work of rebuilding our community because we believe that this community is important to our security and economy as a nation. We believe that its rich culture and heritage are important aspects of America’s soul. And we believe that God has planted us here to help shape her future through faith and good works.

We pray for revival and for the harvest of souls that will surely follow the pervasive sowing of love and good deeds here. But no instant cure for the ills of New Orleans is likely to emerge. Instead, God has called us to a long journey of courage, faith, and determination.

The journey itself must become delightful and rewarding for each of us. We must learn to celebrate the small steps taken on a daily basis. We must mark with praise and thanksgiving the turning points as they occur and as we notice them.
And we must, like Ezra and Nehemiah, find our strength and focus in the worship of God, the power of prayer, the reward of good deeds, and the healing effect of God’s word.

Jerusalem

The temple in Jerusalem was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonian army in 587 B.C. The second temple in Jerusalem was built by Herod and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
The city of Jerusalem was destroyed as well, in both instances. Jerusalem stands today as a viable city among the cities of the world, and Israel stands as an independent nation among the nations of the world.

The crosshairs of history seem always trained upon that city which David selected as the seat of his empire. Geographically the city sits at the extreme eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is built on the logical path by land from Africa to Europe and from Asia to both Africa and Europe. It is an intersection of trade routes for the bulk of the planet’s land mass.

But this alone does not explain its prominence in world history or in the modern era. Jerusalem is King David’s capital for the Jews. It is the city of the prophets for the Muslims. And it is the city of Jesus’ passion for the Christians. Jerusalem, in other words, stands out among the cities on the planet as a center of religious thought and life. The majority of people in our world today may in some way be said to look to Jerusalem for their religious roots.

Sunday is the first day of this year’s Passover celebration for the Jews. We turn our thoughts to the city where God deployed his One and Only Son for the ultimate expression of love in human time and space. Here he gave the perfect Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

Franklin Avenue Church Returns Home

By David E. Crosby, Pastor

First Baptist New Orleans

March 28, 2008

Franklin Avenue Baptist Church will worship next Sunday in their refurbished worship center. This is a significant milestone for that congregation and for that part of our community, and it deserves notation.

The great storm threw our congregations together. We were stunned, stumbling through the debris, overwhelmed by the chaos. We got our legs under us, though, and steadied each other in the damp darkness.

We donned the masks and boots and plunged together into the wreckage with our big snow shovels and wobbly wheelbarrows. We discovered that everyone is the same color in a hazmat suit.

We scrambled to high ground and set up camp. We labored to make sense of life, to discover old friends, to develop new ones.

We worked together, ate together, cried together, laughed together, prayed together, and learned to be comfortable together.

During those months that grew into years, we came to care for one another, respect each other, and value our growing friendship. We learned to really love each other.

The era of sharing the same church building must come to an end. The guest-who-has-become-family is moving on and moving out now, going back home to their rebuilt facilities in the 8^th Ward. That is as it should be, I know, but I lament it nonetheless.

I have grown accustomed to their life and laughter, their proximity physically and spiritually. My Sunday morning routine, altered by hundreds of new worshipers filling up the building very early, includes handshakes and greetings from these new brothers and sisters of mine. Every Wednesday evening we talk and walk together. Throughout these weeks we have met intentionally and accidentally, and every meeting has strengthened the tie that binds.

I will miss them when they are gone—no doubt.

From Musician’s Village to New Orleans Mission to City Hall, we have walked these streets and halls together since Katrina purged our dirt and dreams. The months of sharing facilities have led into many shared ministries. The women of our churches work together in ministry and Bible study several times a week. Our men pray together weekly and study the Scriptures together. Health and recreation ministries have been combined for these years along with Vacation Bible School, music camp, and outreach to our hurting city.

Every week I observe and hear from someone about the tremendous dynamics unleashed through the multiple interactions of our congregations, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and First Baptist New Orleans, one predominantly African-American and the other mostly white. Pastor Fred Luter and I have co-hosted numerous events since Hurricane Katrina including the great gathering of pastors to hear Billy Graham. It has been an incredible experience, and it is for me the most positive product of the terrible storm. It could be her greatest legacy for our churches and our city.

The lessons of this crisis mode, with its work-together, live-together necessity, are earth-shaking. They should not pass from our minds and hearts. These new truths that have surfaced with the ebbing tide must bring permanent change. Let’s not waste this storm by regressing back to who we used to be.

The hurricane forced us to gather on the high ground, the unflooded areas. It removed the distance between us. For some displaced groups that has caused multiple exchanges of gunfire over disputed turf. But for many others it has meant turning the “neutral ground” into “common ground” and “higher ground.” The higher ground in our city is the place where we work together and learn to love and respect each other.

This is our last Sunday to share worship facilities with our new friends. We have made a mutual pledge that it will not be the end of our partnership in ministry in this city. We have experienced a glimpse of what it means to love one another across the boundaries that usually divide us. We will not back away from this divine call.

Easter for the Weary

Easter for the Weary

By David E. Crosby, Pastor

First Baptist New Orleans

March 18, 2008

The birds decided that my tiny tomato plants were good food, so they pecked off almost every leaf. I contemplated replanting but decided to give those tattered stems a chance to rejuvenate.

All it took was a few days. Not only are all nine of them still alive, but they are spreading new leaves and branches, looking healthy and determined.

The first dimension of life to demonstrate exciting recovery after Hurricane Katrina was the natural order. Vines with blossoms draped piles of debris. Twisted trees turned skyward, grew ten feet in that first spring, and opened new leaves to the sun.

Easter is a reminder that the cycle of life goes forward undaunted by life’s storms. The pines of southern Mississippi are sprouting right now amidst the rotting wood of tattered forests. The giant oaks of our urban forest that were beaten and broken by Katrina’s fury are filling in the gaps this spring and will soon display their oval canopy.

Almost three years post-Katrina, we humans continue to struggle mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We are contemplative creatures, often tormented more by the reasons for than the realities of our losses.

We must remind ourselves now, in this see-saw Road Home world, of the lessons we embraced immediately after the great storm. These are the truths that still sustain us going forward.

We learned that we can live without the accumulated piles of possessions. The furniture, automobiles, and houses we lost proved to be replaceable after all. If we are dismayed that our current fortune is not as large as our former, we must remind ourselves of those great mountains of debris. All material goods are at some stage on their way to the landfill.

We learned that adaptation is a key to survival. We transported our children to distant schools and patched together an educational experience that eventually got them into the college of their choice. We lived with relatives and really got to know them. We formed relationships that still nurture our families and our souls. If life post-Katrina continues to require adaptation, so be it. Change is an evidence of life—and the spice of life.

We learned that we are stronger than we thought. We flexed new muscles in our bodies, hearts, and brains. We operated on faith, hope, and love. We worked evenings and weekends restoring what was lost and broken, helping our children and our neighbors. And in the end, our Herculean efforts were rewarded. The house is nicer, the furniture is new, the threads on our backs are finally in style, and our neighborhoods are humming with activity.

We look back amazed that we made it through the last 32 months. We look forward and wonder if we can make the next 32.

That is where Easter comes in. Easter is an annual celebration because we need it every year. It comes in spring because our faith needs the evidence of nature’s incredible resilience. We spy tiny green shoots creeping through the cracked concrete and baby ducklings paddling on the industrial canals. And we know this planet is designed for rebirth and renewal.

Three days after his burial, the tomb of Jesus was empty. The executioners were scrambling for explanations and Jesus’ grieving friends were astonished and confused. What day is this? It is Sunday, the first day of the week.

Every week now we believers worship on Sunday. Every Sunday is Resurrection Day. The tomb could not hold our Lord, and the tomb cannot hold us. Life triumphs over death, joy comes in the morning, and hope overflows like an artesian well.

Update on New Orleans' Homeless

Homeless men are now sleeping each night in the emergency shelter at New Orleans Mission built and funded in large part by First Baptist New Orleans and our Baptist partners.

Mayor Ray Nagin has been an enthusiastic supporter of this project and actually redirected a recent speaking honorarium to the mission rather than to his own personal pocket. This indicates both his seriousness in addressing homelessness and his personal support for the mission’s approach to this need.

Expanded services are now being provided at the mission thanks in large measure to Baptist interest and response to the need. Both the North American Mission Board and the Louisiana Baptist Convention aided in this project. The mission will open a new family shelter within the next few weeks. A day room will be opened to provide clean and safe space for daytime activities for the homeless. Chaplains and case workers are being added to the mission staff.

Ron Gonzales, mission director, and Don Cooper, president of the mission, have responded heroically to the surge in homelessness in New Orleans. Their efforts have secured for New Orleans Mission a place at the table in future discussions about “one-stop” solutions for homelessness in our city.

We Baptists are now developing a plan called a “continuum of care” for the homeless in our streets. We hope to identify and connect partners who can put a homeless person on a path that will lead them through spiritual transformation, necessary treatment and rehabilitation, halfway houses, transitional housing, and eventually to permanent housing, employment, and sobriety.

We will discuss this plan in a New Orleans Summit with officials from the North American Mission Board, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, and several Baptist pastors in our city.

Homelessness is a complicated problem. Our city council is currently working on legislation that will allow the mayor to force an end to the homeless village which sprang up under the interstate in downtown New Orleans. Some of the residents in the homeless village are mentally ill and cannot function in “normal” society. We need an increase of residential facilities for the mentally ill as well as drug and alcohol treatment centers in our city. These would replace dozens of institutions and hundreds of beds lost in Hurricane Katrina.

We are compelled by the love of Christ to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, and the helpless. We cannot ignore their needs and remain faithful to our Lord.

Pray for our churches and all of God’s people in New Orleans as we seek to build coalitions, initiate activities, and address the needs of “the least of these” in a city still crippled by America’s most powerful and costly storm.

Resurrection Day

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central event of the Christian faith and the greatest event in the annals of human history.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ rightfully changes everything about being human on this planet—the way we approach daily living, the way we handle loss and grief, the way we process data, etc. Nothing in human experience escapes the light which emanates from the empty tomb.

It is the reason that we worship on Sunday, “the Lord’s Day,” as Paul referred to it. Jesus rose on the first day of the week. The Sabbath, or day of rest, has been replaced in our minds by the day of celebration, the day when death was forever defeated.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ changes the way we deal with difficulty and loss including hurricane damage and recovery work. We know for sure that nothing is impossible with God. We know that God can raise new life from the ashes, that a grave is no obstacle for him. We know that we are more than conquerors through him who loves us.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ puts a string in our step and hope in our heart every day. We are enjoying now the eternal life that Jesus gives us, life that never quits or fades. This is the quality of life that abides within every believer in Christ. We share one life with Christ—his life, eternal, invincible, victorious.

Have a great Resurrection Day, now and forever!

David

Donkey

Donkeys are a major mode of transportation for the poor in many countries of the world. Donkeys pulling carts trot down dirt roads and clop along behind diesel buses and sedans in major cities jammed with traffic.

Herds of donkeys have appeared in recent years in the rural areas of Louisiana and Texas. Ranchers keep them in the pastures with sheep and goats because donkeys offer some measure of protection from coyotes and wolves.

These floppy-eared burden-bearers are small packages of useful energy. They are dependable, steady and sometimes sweet though seldom spectacular.

For this reason Jesus chose a donkey as his mount for the royal entrance into the Holy City during that holy season leading up to Passover. The donkey, unlike a spirited Arabian stallion, communicates humility and service.

The crowd on that first Palm Sunday seemed not to care about the beast but only about the rider. Him they dubbed the Son of David. They hailed him as one who came in the name of the Lord. They spread their garments in the path, waved the leafy branches, and sang Hosanna. It was a welcome for a king.

We know now what they did not know that Sunday in Jerusalem. We know that Jesus was riding to his death upon that lowly steed. He who served consistently through all his life would accomplish his greatest service in death. He was a servant to the sick, but in his death he would bring the medicine that heals every disease. He was a servant to the poor, but in his death he would bring eternal riches to the poor of spirit. He was a servant to the widow and orphan, but in his death he would open up the family of God to every troubled heart. He was a servant to the hungry and the hurting, but in his death he would bring access to the table of the Heavenly Father for all who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

This is our Savior, riding on a donkey, his dangling feet almost dragging in the dust. This is our God, sitting, swaying, on the donkey’s boney back. For all who never pictured God this way, here is the unexpected correction to your vision.