God and Disability Rights
By Pastor Timothy Burdick
As a
pastor who is blind myself, I am strongly in
favor of disability rights. As seen in the
Bible, God loves every human being
regardless of status, and tells us that we
should advocate for the rights of others.
One example of this can be found in Verses
8-9 of Proverbs 31 -"Speak
up for those who cannot speak for
themselves, for the rights of all who are
destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend
the rights of the poor and needy."
If you study the life of
Jesus, you’ll see that He constantly upheld
the rights of individuals that others
ignored. So now that we have looked at one
of many passages in the Old Testament, let’s
examine the parable of the good Samaritan in
Luke 10:25-37 -
An expert in the law stood
up to test Jesus. "Teacher,"
he asked, "what must I
do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus
replied, "What is
written in the Law? How do you read it?"
Notice that the person who accosted Jesus
was very religious. We can see that he felt
that his entrance into eternal life depended
on himself. This man was trying to build a
bridge to God by his own good works, which
has been the problem with religion
throughout the centuries. But Jesus steered
the man back to the Scriptures by asking him
to answer his own question. Jesus asked Him
what the Scriptures said. In Verse 27, the
man answered: "Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength and
with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:5)
"and Love your neighbor
as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) In
Verse 28 we see that Jesus responded, "You
have answered correctly," continuing,
"Do this and you will
live."
In this verse, we see that
Jesus commended the man for his answer and
told him that if he would obey God, he would
have life. Verse 29 continues, “But
he wanted to justify himself.” He
asked Jesus, "And who
is my neighbor?" You have only to
look to the above verse to see that the
statement of Christ wasn’t good enough for
the man. I am afraid that many of us in the
Christian church have been much like this
lawyer as he asked this second question.
Wanting to justify ourselves before God
rather than just accepting His pardon, we
also ask, “who is my
neighbor?” Many times I am sad to say
that we in the church get into dialogues
rather than reaching out towards people with
God’s love. When Jesus was asked who should
be considered a "neighbor,"
He responded this way in Verse 30 - Jesus
said, "A man was going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell
into the hands of robbers. They stripped him
of his clothes, beat him and went away
leaving him half dead.”
The road from Jerusalem to
Jericho is a mountainous region, so the
thieves would have hidden there easily.
Jesus doesn’t tell us anything about the man
who fell among these robbers, but He does
give us a few facts about the crime. From
what He says, we can paint a mental picture.
The man must have been lying by the
roadside, naked, as the bandits took his
clothes from him. He most likely would have
been cold, frightened, and embarrassed. Next
we know that he was bleeding, as Jesus tells
us that the thieves beat the man, and then
the Samaritan came along to put medicine and
bandages on his wounds. Verse 31 – “A
priest happened to be going down the same
road, and when he saw the man, he passed by
on the other side.”
Verse 32 - “So
too, a Levite, when he came to the place and
saw him, passed by on the other side.”
Just like these two figures, many times
Christians today talk a lot, but we say very
little with our actions. Many times when we
see someone who is not only unlike us, but
someone who might upset the status quo,
causing us to go out of our way, we pass by
them on the other side of the road. Verse 33
- “But a Samaritan, as
he traveled, came where the man was; and
when he saw him, he took pity on him.”
The Samaritan did not have anything like the
status of the priest or even the Levite. The
priest would have been a revered man. When
someone is self-absorbed and caught up in
his own importance, God can no longer use
him to the extent that He would have. But
even more sadly, many times like the priest
and Levite in this story, we Christians
don’t even notice when someone is in need.
Furthermore, many times we are so wrapped up
in our own tasks, that we don’t notice when
God’s hand seems to draw back from our own
efforts, our ministries.
The Levite, who passed by
in the story, would have been hated by some,
but not as much as this Samaritan. The
Samaritan was seen as a half-breed, an
outcast to be looked down upon with distain.
But it was the Samaritan, as we all know,
who not only saw the man’s plight, but had
pity and compassion on him. Verse 34 - ”He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, and
poured on oil and wine. Then he put the man
on his own donkey and took him to an inn and
took care of him." Verse 35 - “The
next day he took out two silver coins and
gave them to the inn keeper. 'Look after
him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will
reimburse you for any extra expense you may
have.'”
In contrast to the other
men, there is a humility in the Samaritan’s
life which stands out. Inferred in this
story is that the Samaritan not only took
care of the man by paying for the inn, but
all night he personally watched over him.
But it doesn’t stop there. The Samaritan
voiced his concerns in both actions and
words to the keeper of the inn.
Verse 36 - "Which
of these three do you think was a neighbor
to the man who fell into the hands of
robbers?” Notice that Jesus answers
the lawyer’s question with a question. Verse
37 - ”The expert in the
Law" replied, "The
one who had mercy on him." I’m sure
that answering Christ’s question was an
experience the lawyer never forgot, and the
same question is being asked of us today.
Jesus told the lawyer, "Go
and do likewise." Jesus has told us
all in this parable to show mercy to others.
In another place he said, ”Blessed
are the merciful, for they will be shown
mercy.” His statement was a reference
to Hosea 6:6 - “For I
desire mercy, not sacrifice and
acknowledgement of God rather than burnt
offerings.”
In all of these passages,
I believe that we can make a clear reference
to the disability community as we try to
uphold the rights of our neighbor. For a
long time it seems to me, religion has told
us to stay out of ministry, to not get too
vocal, whereas God tells us to speak up.
Many times, society also wants to “keep us
in our place,” whereas God wants to put us
in a new and better place.
Many people see only our
weakness, whereas God sees our potential.
Look at what He told Paul in 2 Corinthians
12:9 - "He said to me, ’My grace is sufficient
for you, for My power is made perfect in
weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power
may rest on me.”
In the opinion of the
priest, Levite and lawyer, the Samaritan was
a nobody; but he has been talked about for
thousands of years. Who made a difference
here? I believe that we in the disability
community are much like that Samaritan. We,
too, can make a difference in our world. Let
me explain. It says in the Bible that God
does not show favoritism. He does not value
one person above another. God does not view
you in reference to a disability, for about
this He says, “But the
Lord said to Samuel, 'do not consider his
appearance or his height'" and goes
on to say about the good looking, tall man,
“for I rejected him.”
The Lord does not look at things the way man
does. We have looked at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
So then, we need to
continue speaking out in care and concern
for others. We need to stop by the wayside
when nobody else will, for in doing so, we
are showing forth the mercy that God speaks
of. But instead of looking at our
weaknesses, we need to look at the strength
which we possess in Christ. For man will
tell you what you can’t do, but God will
tell you what you can.
Remember Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who
strengthens me."
Visit Pastor Timothy at New Vision Ministries website www.mynvm.org
Visit Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchOnTheNet.org
|
