John 9:1-3
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
This verse got under my skin a few years back before it started to wrinkle. What a paradigm shift for the disciples. What a paradigm shift for this disciple. The "works of God" manifested in a visually impaired person. Nothing against people who are blind, but we "normal" people are usually the ones who are holders of the manifestation. Charismatic leaders with whiten teeth, blue eyes, flowing hair, golfcourse-tanned skin, great booming voice with a slight accent,... you know, those guys. But a handicapped person? Oh I know God is going to make the person "normal" because that is where God is good. Making people normal.
And of course, Jesus healed the guy. But what about when He doesn't heal the guy? What about when He doesn't heal me? What about when He doesn't take that which I struggle with out of my life? I start rationalizing the heck out of it. Judgement creeps in. Doubt or worse theology - God doesn't heal any more... Did that with the apostles but when they died... NO HEALING FOR YOU! (Please read like your the Soup Nazi.) Or we begin a MEology - I must be such a sinner or failure or God doesn't like me...
Is it only the display of the work of God when I am healed, or is it also in the struggle? I beginning to believe His work in us is mighty in our infirmities and our "unnormalness." When I read the "Blessed are they... " in The Sermon and read them together I begin to hear Jesus speaking about the Kingdom and who is a part of it. "Duh, Tony. Of course. Welcome to the carwash." But wait. I don't think I believed that until just recently. Of course I heard that we need to mourn, we need to be poor in spirit... but did I realize that those who do those things are welcome in the Kingdom. Is there a place for them in my life? Do they have value? It is hard to be around someone who is mourning or grieving. I don't know what to say or do.
Do we believe that people with disabilities are part of the Kingdom? Do we give them access into our lives?
And of course we would say, Of course!
Then why did it take so long for the Americans with Disabilities Act to become law. Did it just happen that people became disabled in 1990 and we needed a law to tell us to do something about it? The sad thing is that many churches, Churches, CHURCHES, (no matter how you spell it) still do not have proper accessibility. Are the bathrooms accessible? Is the choir loft accessible? Is the podium? Do we make room for them in our buildings because we care or because of the law affects the building code? The ADA doesn't have jurisdiction over our hearts in providing access for them there. The Kingdom needs to invade our hearts as well as our building codes.
I am reading about a man named Clarence Jordan, who lived in the early part of last century and believed what the Bible said to be true and started living his life according to it. It said neither Jew nor Greek,... so he didn't consider color to be a separating issue when it comes to friends or who he dined with or work with. This was in the 1940s and segregation was not limited to just the secular society, it stained all aspects of the culture. He was first threatened and harassed by the KKK, then he was threaten and kicked out by the church.
"Well, Tony, we are passed that. This isn't the 1900s." We have passed civil rights, ADA of 1990, Megan's Law, etc. We are more enlightened." I am not. I don't see the person as clearly as I see the disability or color. I
I don't join a parish church, I drive 7 miles to a denominational church, for I don't know why. I leave the parish and go to the comfortable.
Do I believe the words in Galations 3, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." and make them a part of living out the Kingdom in my life?
Lord, open my eyes to see as you see so that your work would be displayed in my life...
1 comment:
This post is very encouraging to me. I have many disabilities and I am glad that you are making access to them in your heart.
For the most part, however, I would be happy simply to not be criticised. It seems that most of what I hear about my disabilities has a particular tone and comes with a funny face, as if I didn't know I was disabled.
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