Monthly Archives: February 2016

Bringing God Glory through our Suffering

Peace be with you!Screenshot 2016-02-27 20.46.13

An accident can change a person’s life in an instant. One minute
teenage boys are running scrimmage at football practice and the next minute one of them gets tackled and cannot get back up. The boy is rushed to the hospital where the doctors say that even after he recovers, he will always have a three-inch difference in the length of his legs. His dreams of football glory are over.

A teenage girl is having a great night of partying with her friends when suddenly their car is hit by a drunk driver. The girl doesn’t have her seat belt on and goes flying out the window. She is paralyzed forever.

A family reunion turns tragic when a man dives into a shallow lake and breaks his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic.

In a moment, these individuals go from being able to walk to having to learn how to do everything from a wheelchair. Even if you are born with a physical disability and grow up with limitations, the teenage years can be rough when you are different and cannot always do what your peers are doing. Whether you were born with physical limitations or you were left with a limp or paralyzed by an accident, it is normal to go through a time period when you wonder if God is punishing you. As a teenager, I remember feeling isolated

photo credit: Spiral Ramp via photopin (license)

photo credit: Spiral Ramp via photopin (license)

by my peers, because I could not do everything they could do. My peers did not invite me to go out with them. I did not have friends over very often. I often wondered: Why did God allow this to happen to me? Why is God punishing me? Why? It’s easy to feel hopeless, alone, and angry.

Jesus asks the crowd why they can read the changes in the sky for the upcoming weather, but they cannot interpret the current events (Luke 12:56). Though the question is not stated outright, a few people rise to the challenge and ask, “Why do bad things to good people?” The question is a result of Pilate killing Galileans in a ghastly event (Luke 13:1). The people ask why Galileans died so tragically—even the good people. The question implies a punishment and reward system with God: if you are a good person, God will reward you, but if not, God will punish you.[i] When individuals are killed or become disabled, we search for a reason why. There has to be a reason for human suffering. There has to be an explanation why I have cerebral palsy, why I am paralyzed, or [whatever “it” is] from my past.

Jesus meets the implied question with his own questions: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? … Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?” (Luke 13:2, 4 NRSV). These questions can easily be reframed to fit any situation. Do you think you have cerebral palsy because of your parent’s sin? Do you think you are paralyzed because you are a horrible human being? Do you think you are suffering because you are the worse sinner ever?

Jesus answers both of his questions, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did” (Luke 13:3, 5 NRSV). Suffering is not always the result of divine judgment and punishment, because God grants us freedom of choice and free will. In John 9, the healing of the blind man happens not because of anyone’s personal sin, but in order to bring glory to God the Father (John 9:1-3). This provides the Lord a way to enter life in the world in order to be present in our lives. In times of tragedy and suffering, Jesus calls upon us to repent and to turn back to God, so we can call out, “Lord, have mercy,” and receive redemption. However, if we do not repent our sinful ways and turn back to God, then we will perish—not just a physical death but a separation from eternal life in the kingdom of God.

When we are suffering, we are given a choice: to blame God or to seek mercy and redemption through Jesus Christ. When we become disabled (at birth or otherwise), we are given the opportunity to bring glory to God the Father through our suffering—just as Jesus suffered on the road to the cross and at his crucifixion. A person who is disabled has the opportunity to bring God glory by living her life according to her abilities and God’s call for her.

Isaiah also calls upon us to turn back to God to receive goodness: “come to the waters,” “buy wine and milk without money,” “eat what is good,” and “listen, so that you may live” (Isaiah 55:1-3). This call reminds us God provides everything we ever need and want. God will also grant the wicked and the unrighteous abundant pardon (Isaiah 55:7). God the Father is gracious and forgiving.

The parable of the fig tree reminds us of God’s mercy. A man planted a fig tree, and after three years it never produced any fruit, so he told his gardener to cut it down (Luke 13:6-7). The gardener begged the man to give it another year, offering to tend and fertilize it, giving it the best possible chance to produce fruit (Luke 13:8). The owner agreed, but threatened to cut it down after that time period if it did not produce any fruit (Luke 13:9). Jesus is like the gardener: on the cross, he steps in and intervenes on our behalf. God’s mercy is for everyone as long as you acknowledge your sins and humbly repent. When you accept God’s mercy (the fertilizer), you use the gifts God gives to answer his personalized call for you to share his good news with others. In his crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus allows us to have this second chance to be in a relationship with God the Father.

As you continue to travel to the cross with Christ, let your suffering give glory to God, just as Jesus suffered in order to give us God’s glory. Let the mystery of the resurrection to give you hope, because hope is what allows you to get a glimpse of the kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for your forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Give us your grace and understanding as we look toward the Kingdom of God. Allow us to be like Christ by letting our suffering bring you glory in the world. Forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Renew us and keep us in your grace through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reflection Questions

  1. Have you ever asked God why something happened to you? If so, what was the situation?
  2. Has there been a situation that you thought was a result of a sin?
  3. When has God granted you grace and mercy?
  4. What gifts has God given you?
  5. How have you used your suffering to give God glory?

[i] Arland J. Hultgren, “Commentary on Luke 13:1-9,” Working Preacher, 23 February 2016, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1578.

Choice: Abandon or Answer God’s Call

Reading for Second Week of Lent:

Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Peace be with you!

Photo Credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

Photo Credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

The world is full of injustice; it is what keeps certain individuals from being able to do their best work. Women face the glass ceiling in the workforce—not allowing them to be promoted beyond a certain level. People of color are racially profiled without attention to personal guilt or innocence. Individuals with disabilities face society’s judgments regarding their abilities—making it difficult to find good paying jobs. Everyone faces some kind of injustice in the world at some point, because the devil is in the world, and human beings are broken.

The Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him (Luke 13:31). Though in other parts of the Gospel of Luke the Pharisees oppose Jesus, it is unclear if they warn Jesus out of concern or if they are mocking him.[i] Nevertheless, the news of Herod wanting to kill Jesus fits the character of the jealous king. Herod has already beheaded John the Baptist out of jealousy and when he sees the crowd gathered around Jesus, Herod becomes jealous of him too (Luke 9:9).

Anyone in their right mind would take this kind of news as a warning. When an individual moves into a new area, they do their research on neighborhoods, schools, jobs, traffic patterns, recreational activities, and more. The individual may seek advice from people who they know are living in the area already.

Family and friends also give advice on other aspects of our lives. People with disabilities seek advice on how to navigate agencies to get the support they need to live productive lives. Two of my friends (who also have cerebral palsy) and I are always discussing which apps work best and what strategies to use to manage our personal care. Seeking advice and heeding warnings are what we do as human beings. We support and guide each other throughout life.

However, Jesus keeps on doing what he has been doing: healing the sick and the lame, caring for the poor and homeless, and preaching to the masses (Luke 13:32). Jesus will not stop doing his day-to-day routine until his ministry is finished. He will not stop until he takes his last breath. It is so easy to change directions when danger larks ahead. As an individual with a significant physical disability, I focus on my well-being and my safety. After having been exploited by others in the past, I now make sure I live in a safe neighborhood and surround myself with trustworthy people. Jesus does not seem to worry about his well-being or safety. His main concern is doing what God the Father sent him to do, and he does it for our sake, even if it means walking straight into danger.

Jesus is well aware of what is about to happen, and that it has to happen in Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). Jesus also understand Herod cannot do anything to him until he enters Jerusalem, because he has to die there, like the other prophets (for example, Jeremiah 26:20-23). Instead of kneeling to the Pharisees’ warnings, Jesus keeps on travelling to Jerusalem in order to complete his ministry on the third day (Luke 13:32d). Jesus goes into Jerusalem knowing he will be killed, and he goes willingly. We are quick to find reasons why we cannot fulfill God’s call for us—too hard, too dangerous, rejection by friends and family, and [whatever “it” is] that stops us. As an individual with a disability, it is easy to use the “I cannot” excuse:

  • I cannot serve communion without making a mess.
  • I do not speak clearly, so people who do not know me don’t always understand me.
  • I cannot drive, so I cannot always make unplanned visits.

And the list goes on. Yet God the Father finds a way to make the impossible possible. I can type out my thoughts and have my iPad speak them for me. I can serve the Church to the best of my abilities. Just because you cannot do things the traditional way, does not mean you are not able to do it another way. Jesus easily could have said, “I cannot go to Jerusalem because it is dangerous and I will be killed,” but he goes willingly in order to gather God’s children and lead them to the good news.

Jesus laments over the fact Jerusalem, a Jewish community, wants nothing to do with him or the salvation he offers. Jerusalem is a community constantly rejecting and killing the prophets the Lord sends. Jesus wants to gather the people of Jerusalem as a mother would (Luke 13:34) and give them salvation and grace, yet they continue to turn their backs on him. Jesus laments that Jerusalem will not accept his good news before he dies on the cross.[ii] In a similar way, Paul laments that there are many enemies of the cross (Philippians 3:18)—those individuals who do not believe in the power of the good news in Jesus Christ, God’s son and our redeemer. It causes Jesus and Paul great pain to know those who die without knowing Jesus as their Savior will experience destruction and not eternal life (Luke 13:35; Philippians 3:19).

Jesus goes about doing his ministry—healing the sick and the lame, caring for the poor and homeless, and preaching to the masses—as he travels to Jerusalem. He does his ministry to gather those who are weak, lost, and exploited in order to bring them into a relationship with God the Father. If the Jewish authorities will not listen to his message, Jesus will go find people who will, though he will not leave God’s people either and will continue to call them into his fold until his last breath.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus to gather us into your fold. Help us to accept the salvation Jesus offers us, even when we do not feel like we deserve it. Lead us to the place where people need to hear the good news. Gather us into your loving arms and raise us up to new life. Amen.

Reflection Questions

  1. What kinds of injustice do you face?
  2. How do you make an important decision? Who do you go to for advice?
  3. What excuses do you use to get out of something?
  4. How do you lament when your community goes a different direction than what you think it should?
  5. How did God gather you into his flock?
  6. In what ways do you do God’s work in the world?

[i] R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: General Articles & Introduction, Commentary, & Reflections for Each Book of the Bible, including the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books in Twelve Volumes, eds. Leander E. Keck et al. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 280-81.

[ii] Ruth Ann Reese, “Commentary on Luke 13:31-35,” Working Preacher, 19 February 2016, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2770.

Temptations in the World

Peace be with you!Screenshot 2016-02-08 22.55.42

Life is a journey. Each community experiences a different journey along the road to equal rights and equal opportunities. African-Americans and individuals from the Middle East have to fight racial profiling. People with physical disabilities have to fight for barriers, such as stairs, to be removed. People with psychosocial and/or physical disabilities have to fight against negative connotations others have regarding their disabilities. The Civil Rights movement—past and present—is a fight for individuals, regardless of race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, etc., to have equal opportunities to live their lives according to their abilities and choices.

For people with disabilities, the journey of life seems to take a broken road. We enter establishments through back entrances and are often stuck in back corners, out of the way and out of sight. Even after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), not all buildings are accessible or easy to maneuver in a wheelchair or a walker,[i] which makes people with disabilities feel unwelcome and not worthy to be present. Accessibility means removing barriers that prevent someone in a wheelchair from accessing your building (permanent or temporary) and providing access; for example, you might provide a ramp or an elevator as an alternative to stairs, and you might add braille to signage.

photo credit: Spiral Ramp via photopin (license)

photo credit: Spiral Ramp via photopin (license)

Accessibility affects individuals psychosocially, and the lack of it can negatively affect a person’s self-esteem and self-worth. If a person cannot physically enter a building or an event, she can feel unwanted or unable to do an activity. The lack of accessibility can prevent a person from being active in a community, such as a church, small shops, a town, or transportation. A person who is housebound is excluded from the community— even neighbors—and can suffer from depression and anxiety. Furthermore, a community’s attitude towards the disabled is part of accessibility. If a community does not welcome someone with disabilities, then she is not likely to feel comfortable asking for help and will probably not come back.

In Luke 4:1-13, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2) after being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Luke 3:21-22). In ancient times, the wilderness represented a transition between being captives of an oppressor and entrance into the Promised Land. The book of Exodus and other Old Testament books give us a lineage journey from Egypt or Babylon to the Promised Land. In other books and in today’s world, we get glimpses of the Promised Land as we wander the wilderness. For the disabled community, the Promised Land would be an inclusive community where physical and psychosocial barriers are removed. No one would be excluded for having a disability; the community would find ways to include everyone based on their abilities and their choices. The continued fight for the ADA represents the wilderness people with disabilities as a community wander in.

The devil tests Jesus three times, while he is in the wilderness for forty days and nights. In the first temptation, the devil says, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread” (Luke 4:3 NRSV). This temptation appeals to Jesus’s and our basic needs in order to survive in the world. We need food, clothes, shelter, and security to live. For the disabled community, the first temptation speaks to individuals’ personal needs and desires. People with physical and psychosocial disabilities rely on others to assist them with basic needs, such as eating, dressing, and other personal care needs. There is a temptation to give up and fall into a depression and suicidal thoughts for individuals with disabilities who rely on others, because they feel like burdens to their friends, family members, and others. Another temptation for an individual who needs personal care is to settle for a personal caregiver who is reliable but just does the bare minimum and does not encourage or allow them to be active in the community. The personal caregiver may make decisions regarding the person’s schedule, impose their own agenda, or rush the person while still acting as a friend, hoping to leave early or do what they want.

Jesus answers the devil, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4 NRSV). Jesus recalls when Moses reminded the Israelites that God provided them with manna after testing in the wilderness with being hunger; it helped them understand they could not live on just bread (Deuteronomy 8:3).[ii] People cannot survive on food alone; they need to live in community with others and support one another. Rather than settling on a reliable but so-so personal caregiver, an individual who needs personal care needs to find someone who will do what they are instructed to do and encourage their client to live life to its fullest. People who have disabilities have dreams and goals, just like anyone else. A personal caregiver should enable their client to live according to their own wishes, even if they do not agree with them, and to work towards their own dreams and goals. Also, the personal caregiver should enable the individual with a disability to be out and a part of the community to the best of their ability.

The second temptation appeals to our need for power and authority. The devil shows Jesus the whole world and says, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will be all be yours” (Luke 4:5-7 NRSV). People with disabilities so desperately want to be in charge of their own lives and to have power over others. For people with disabilities, being able to make their own decisions is a luxury, to a degree. Even if an individual is able to make their own decisions and can live independently with the aid of government funding, they are restricted by how many hours they can have personal caregivers, how much money they have in the bank in order to stay on Medicare or Medicaid, and more. Even if an individual is able to make their own decisions and can live independently without the aid of government funding, there are limitations as to where they can live due to needing a fully accessible apartment or house and due to when their personal caregivers are available to help them. There is a temptation to live with family members or friends who are home most of the day and rely on them to provide their personal care. Another temptation is to hide money in bank accounts under a family member’s name to get ahead. Another temptation is when the person needing care overuses their personal caregivers by having them do things they can do themselves. These temptations make people with disabilities face difficult decisions and blur the lines between right and wrong.

Again, Jesus answers the devil, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Luke 4:8 NRSV). Jesus is echoing Moses’s reminder to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land: to worship and serve only the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:13). Moses did not want the Israelites to forget who gave and led them to the Promised Land.[iii] People with disabilities sometimes need a reminder that God will provide for their needs. Whenever I lose a personal caregiver and need to hire a new one, I am always amazed as to how quickly God responds to the need—almost as though he has them waiting on the sidelines, waiting to be put into the game. God has also provided me with amazing family and friends who help me problem solve different issues so I can be more independent. For example, I have a difficult time opening pill bottles, and I find myself dropping pills all over. To solve this issue, my one personal caregiver keeps different pill organizers filled with different medicines, so I can take them as I need them, even if I am alone. God provides for people with and without disabilities by sending the right individuals to support them as needed. Sometimes all a person needs is a fresh pair of eyes to solve an issue.

The third and final temptation is when the devil asks Jesus to test God the Father. While standing on the pinnacle of the temple, the devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11 NRSV). Individuals with and without disabilities fall into the trap of testing the Lord. Someone who is blind may say, “God, if you allow me to see, I will become a leader in your church.” Another person who is looking for a job may say, “God, provide me with a good paying career, so I can be better parent to my children.” The “if you do this, Lord, I will do [whatever “it” is]” statements set conditions on our faith in the Triune God. This temptation feeds off of our own desires for power and authority. The devil tries to make us think we can be in charge of everything and we need lavish things.

For last time, Jesus answers the devil, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12 NRSV). Again, Jesus echoes Moses’s reminder to the Israelites: to not demand more than what they need from the Lord, like they did in Massah where they demanded that the Lord provide them with water until Moses struck a rock, causing it to produce water (Deuteronomy 6:16).[iv] God does not send us out into the world empty handed. In Deuteronomy 26:1-11, we are reminded of the many gifts God gives us throughout the years. Moses instructs the Israelites to give back to God what is his during the first harvest of the season, to thank him for what he provides us with (Deuteronomy 26:10). In the Lord’s Prayer, we give thanks for our daily bread, which includes much more than just bread—food and water, medical care, shelter, community and family, jobs, and [whatever “it” is] you need. God provides it all. We do not need to test or brag to the Lord for things that we think we need; he knows what we need before we realize it. People with and without disabilities need to trust the Lord will provide them with anything and everything they need. We do not have to give God a set of conditions for our love; he does it automatically. We can trust in the Lord with all of our hearts, even if the world says what we need is impossible, because anything is possible with God—the blind man will see, the paralyzed will walk, the mute will speak, and [whatever “it” is] will be possible.

Erin M Diericx with ladies at Shepherd of the Hill  © Copyright 2015 Original Photo take by Margaret Schrantz

Erin M Diericx with ladies at Shepherd of the Hill
© Copyright 2015 Original Photo take by Margaret Schrantz

Jesus counters the temptations not to prove he is above us but for our sake, so we may live in community with one another. Jesus refuses food in the wilderness but will feed five thousand people with just a small family’s meal. Jesus refuses power and authority over the whole world but will be called King of Kings at his crucifixion. Jesus refuses to test the Lord but will suffer and die on the cross for our sake and will be lifted up on the third day by God the Father. Jesus does it all for our sake—to fulfill out greatest need: to be in a relationship with God the Father.

As the disabled and broken community, all too often we fall for the devil’s temptations. We make the right decisions for the wrong reasons. We allow the devil to get into our heads. However, the good news is God provides a way for us to conquer the devil, despite our brokenness, through Jesus’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Through Jesus, God saves us from ourselves and makes us whole. As the Psalmist writes,

Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation (Psalms 91:9–16 NRSV).

Even in our darkest hour, the Lord provides with security in knowing he will protect and defend us, and in our last hour he will lift us up and grant us entrance into his kingdom.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for gifting us with your forgiveness, grace, and love. Continue to provide us with our daily bread. Be with us as we turn away from the devil’s temptations. Guide us through the wilderness to the Promised Land and a life that only you can grant us. Through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection, make our brokenness whole again. Amen.

Reflection Questions

  1. How are you disabled or broken?
  2. How does the devil try to tempt you?
  3. Where or what is your wilderness?
  4. Where and how do you see God’s promise or blessings in your wilderness? What gifts does the Lord bless you with?

[i] Private companies and buildings do not have to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standard. Public buildings built or modified before 1991 do not have comply, and buildings built or modified on or before March 15, 2012 do not have to comply with the 2010 ADA standards. For more information, go to access-board.gov.

[ii] Arland J. Hultgren, “Commentary on Luke 4:1-13,” Working Preacher, 2 February 2016, http://workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=508.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Ibid.

Where is God in the midst of Struggles?

Peace be with you!  Screenshot 2016-02-08 22.45.26

Sometimes it seems we are battling crises from every direction. From ISIS to natural disasters to violence on our local streets to health issues to [whatever “it” is] going in your life, crisis seems to be central to life.

People with disabilities find themselves handling crises every day, especially those of us who need personal caregivers daily. There are schedule changes, getting your needs met, personality conflicts, and more. Then you have to get new, durable medical equipment, which needs a doctor’s prescription, insurance approval, evaluations, and finally, ordering. Just when you think one crisis is being handled, another one sneaks up, and you dive into another whirlwind of panic, stress, conversations and debates, and action. Being in crisis seems normal to people with disabilities.

photo credit: DSC_8561 via photopin (license)

photo credit: DSC_8561 via photopin (license)

The prophet Joel writes after the devastating locust plague (Joel 1:1-5) during the Persian period. The prophet interprets the crisis as God’s judgment on the people of Judah and Jerusalem for their past sins. The Israelites cry out to their Lord as a community after the plague:

“Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:17 NRSV)

As a community, the Israelites search to locate their Lord in the midst of a crisis. Today the crises of communities are not much different. Winter storms, like the recent Elsa, leave thousands of households without power and heat. Refugees leave their homes, taking few possessions with them, simply trying to seek safety and a new life in another country. Countries stay on alert to prevent the next terrorist attack. Political parties struggle to find unity in midst of a presidential election. People struggle to find jobs in order to pay their bills and to support their families. People with disabilities worry if the next government official will make changes to their funding for personal caregivers, insurance, and more. Like individuals, communities struggle with their brokenness, their sins, and their relationship with the Lord. Where is God in these struggles?

People with disabilities struggle to find the balance between being independent and asking for help. Some individuals with disabilities think others should help them with everything and anything, which makes them dependent on personal caregivers. Others refuse help from anyone, even when a little help would make their lives more manageable and productive. Personally, I believe in finding the balance between being independent and asking for help. Individuals with and without disabilities want to do as much as they can on their own, yet we have to be willing and able to ask for help when it comes to meeting deadlines, being respectful of others’ time, and saving our energy for other tasks.

As a community, people with disabilities have struggled with meeting the expectations of society. In the past, society has sometimes conveyed the idea that people with disabilities should stay home and out of view (or at least with others like ourselves). Alternatively, society has made us into heroes for living our ordinary and productive lives (the disabled community calls these attempts, “inspiration porn”). When I have been in public, strangers have approached my friends or personal caregivers and said, “It was good you could get her out,” or asked them, “What is wrong with her?” Both phrases imply something is wrong with me—I am broken.

Photo Credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

Photo Credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

The constant opposing messages of living up to society’s expectations versus being a burden to one’s family and society creates tension for people with disabilities living ordinary lives. People with disabilities are either encouraged to celebrate being able to complete simple tasks or are pushed aside with the implication that they burdens to society. When people with disabilities are celebrated for their accomplishments, they say, “Look, I have overcome my disability.” This way of thinking puts a wedge between the individual with a disability and God the Father, because they are not giving him credit for giving them the strength to overcome their limitation. On the other hand, if an individual with a disability believe their limitations are the result of a sin or not having enough faith in God, then the individual becomes distanced from God. This tension causes people with disabilities to either believe they are strong enough to overcome their disabilities on their own strength or to blame God for making them broken. Both of these issues cause people with disabilities to walk away from God at times.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs the crowd not to brag when they give alms, when they pray, or when they fast, like the hypocrites do (Matthew 6:4-5, 16). We are to give alms, pray, and fast and give respect to God, our Lord, not give ourselves the credit. We are also to do these practices according to our own abilities and should not shame others for not living up to our standards. The disabled community should not be viewed as exceeding society’s expectations or as a burden to society and family. People with disabilities should be allowed and supported to live out their vocation to the best of their individualized abilities.

In the readings from Joel and 2 Corinthians, we are encouraged to lament and repent as a community. The prophet Joel says,

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. (Joel 2:12-13 NRSV)

Our Lord is a loving God who does not wish to watch us suffer, so he mends the broken and gives us new life. Our Lord wants to know us so desperately that he sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to suffer and die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of our brokenness. Our Lord became broken so we could have eternal life in the kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul writes,

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20b-21 NRSV).

Therefore, we need to lament and repent as a community—the abled and disabled. In order to do this, the church has to break down theological understandings that support the able-bodied norm. This is possible when we see the Lord as the Disabled God. Nancy L Eiesland understands God to be disabled through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Eiesland writes:

In the resurrected Jesus Christ, they [the disciples] saw not the suffering servant for whom the last and most important word was tragedy and sin, but the disabled God who embodied both impaired hands and feet and pierced side and the imago Dei.[i]

After the resurrection, the disciples see Jesus with his wounds from being nailed to the cross. It is an image of an imperfect body embodied by God himself so we can have eternal life and a relationship with him.

In our pain and suffering, we lament as a community for the brokenness in the world. When we confess and repent, we are actively coming back to the God who grants us new life through Jesus Christ. The Psalmist writes, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NRSV). The Psalmist does not ask for a new body but for the mindset and strength to do God’s will in the world. The disabled bodied is made whole through Jesus dying on the cross. When we seek forgiveness by confessing our sins and seeking absolution, we can join the Psalmist in singing:

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering,
you would not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise
(Psalm 51:15-17 NRSV).

As you journey through this season of Lent, gather with your fellow brothers and sisters and lament what is broken in your community. Let no one be alone in their brokenness, because we are all broken and need each other for guidance and support in fulfilling our individualized callings. In community, we experience wholeness in the unity with one another.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Lift up our voices to give you praises and thanksgiving. Lead us to comfort the disabled, the homeless, the sick, the tired, and the broken. Guide us to use our abilities according to your will. Help us to understand the disabled body as being made whole through Jesus. Thank you for making us whole through Jesus’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Amen.

Reflective Questions

  1. What are your current crises? What are you struggling with as an individual? What is your community struggling with?
  2. How do others view you? How do these views affect you?
  3. How do others view your community? How do these views affect your community?
  4. How do you lament to God? How do you lament as a community?

[i] Nancy L. Eiesland, The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 99.

Introduction to Disability Theology

Disability theology interprets the biblical stories through the experiences of individuals with disabilities—broken bodies in one form or another—and examines the relationship between God and individuals with disabilities.

Screenshot 1.1 from dictionary.reference.com

Screenshot 1.1 from dictionary.reference.com

According to Dictionary.com, disability means “anything that disables or puts one at a disadvantage.” If this is true, then anyone can be disabled at any time. For example, a person who is sick with a cold could be considered to be disabled. The disabled minority is unique; it is the only minority that a person can join or leave at any stage of their lifetime. Without warning, an individual can become disabled in a car, diving, or any other accident. A person who breaks their foot is considered to be disabled, according to the DMV, and is eligible to apply for a temporary handicap permit. (For a full list of what qualifies for a temporary handicap permit, see screenshot 1.2 below.)

The Church says humans are naturally broken as a result of

Screenshot 1.2 from http://www.dmv.org/articles/how-to-apply-for-a-temporary-disabilityhandicap-placard/

Screenshot 1.2 from DMV

Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, an action which introduced sin into the world. As Christians, we are disabled by our inability to have a perfect relationship with God the Father without the intervention of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. If we use this definition of disability, then as Christians, we can conclude that anyone is disabled to varying degrees at any given moment.

Beyond this spiritual definition, disabilities range from physical to psychosocial and can be a mixture of the two. Examples of physical disabilities are a limp, Parkinson’s disease, being paralyzed and being in a wheelchair, blindness or poor eyesight, or anything that puts a physical limitation on a person. Examples of psychosocial disabilities are depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or learning disabilities, such ADHD or dyslexia. Psychosocial disabilities are harder to get diagnosed and are often called invisible disabilities, because they are not immediately seen by the public. An individual can have one or multiple disabilities; either situation gives them a unique perspective on life. By listening to the voices of individuals with disabilities, we are able to reimagine the biblical stories in new and surprising ways, which allows us to open our hearts and minds to people who are different from us.[i] This allows Christian communities and churches to open their doors to individuals with all abilities by being mindful of a broad spectrum of the human experience.

Within the Christian tradition, people with disabilities are often viewed as defiled individuals or spiritual superheroes—divinely damned or divinely blessed.[ii] Jesus seems to use the both/and explanation: disability can be a way to bring glory to God the Father, and disability can be caused by sin. In John 9, the healing of the blind man happens in order to bring glory to God the Father (John 9:1-3). This provides the Lord a way to bring his presence into our lives. In Luke 5:18-23, Jesus heals a paralyzed man and asks, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, Stand up and walk’?” (Luke 5:23 NRSV). Here the disability is linked to sin, and the healing is linked to the forgiveness of the sin. In both cases, the end result is the same: the individual is transformed from the healing, and it renews their relationship with God the Father.

Throughout history, theologians have been working on developing a theology of disability; Martin Luther, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are theologians who contemporary theologians look to when discussing disability theology. Nancy L. Eiesland and Deborah Creamer are both well-known contemporary theologians who have helped develop the disability theology field.

Martin Luther is known for nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517; this was the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. According to Martin Luther and his theology of the cross, individuals cannot be perfect in God’s eyes, because Adam and Eve introduced “the Devil, sin and death” into the world. People are not able to construct their own ethical guidelines, but God gives them the Ten Commandments. God also frees humans through Jesus’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection and gives us eternal life in the kingdom of God, if we believe in Jesus and the power of the cross. People with disabilities are able to be mediums of God’s message, making it known to others according to their gifts and abilities. The hope is for humans to change how they see people with disabilities and to wonder how God’s message is being shared and expressed by people with disabilities.[iii]

Karl Barth developed his theology of disability through his friendship with Heinrich Vogel; Vogel’s daughter was physically disabled. Although the conversation is not confirmed to have happened, it is said that Vogel thought his daughter would walk in God’s new creation, whereas Barth thought Vogel’s statement (she will walk) meant God made a mistake, and that her earthly life was not productive. Barth goes on to say Vogel’s daughter would be at the head of the table, while if granted a seat, they would be at the other end.[iv]

According to Barth, humans are created by God and exist for God, and therefore, God is the giver of life. Our identity comes from God who created us. Sin is our refusal to grace and our resistance to both the Creator and our own identity as created beings. God gifted human beings the ability to reason, to think and know, and to react to events and the actions of others. God is able to relate to each one of us differently, and these differences are only known by him; he decides what, when, and how he shares certain information with us.

Barth believed life is a divine gift that we should receive in wonder and modesty and that should be respected and confirmed by ourselves and others; it is only temporary and is not promised. Jesus is a man for God who called upon his son for a unique service. Jesus is a man for others, who lived with others by affirming their lives, enjoying their presence, and honoring them. Jesus is a whole man, who was fully human, who encountered God and others in the world. Jesus is Lord of time and lived in the world at a specific time and place, with all their limitations. Using Jesus as an example, then, people are to live the life God gives them on his terms. Therefore, since Jesus served the sick, the disabled, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the sinner, we are to serve others as he served us by supporting and protecting one another, especially those who cannot help themselves. People need to live the life God has given them, no matter what. The Church becomes a place where the able and the disabled are shown mutual respect and are affirmed and made holy, comforted and supported by the community.[v]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian who dedicated his vocation to serving and protecting the disabled. His theology for the disabled developed when he visited Bethel, Germany in 1933, a place where the mission of the community was to care for the weak and fragile. Unfortunately, Bonhoeffer lived under the dictatorship of Hitler’s Germany, characterized by a man who set out to create a superhuman race. The Nazis created the expression “mercy death” and promoted the subjective notion of “life not worth living” if objective healthcare costs out weighed the quality of life, which is the argument used by advocates of assisted suicide. Bonhoeffer disagreed with this line of thought, especially after his visit to Bethel.[vi]

Bonhoeffer waged war against the Nazis’ ideology by preaching support and care for those who were sick and fragile. If you spend any time with the disabled, then you will grow to understand that personal suffering is more important than personal happiness, because you learn what truly matters in the world. Through sickness and suffering, people are able to grow in their insight of life. Furthermore, when able people welcome people with disabilities into their lives, able people are forced to realize how frail and mortal any human life is, in reality. Bonhoeffer taught that Christ came into the world to suffer and die on the cross; as Christians, we share in his suffering, which enables us to embrace his grace and love.[vii] All humans, able and disabled, are worthy of God’s forgiveness, love, and grace.

Screenshot of book from Amazon.com

Screenshot of book from Amazon.com

In the mid-1990s, Nancy L. Eiesland became a well-known theologian in her field after writing The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability. Eiesland believes God is disabled based on her reading of Luke 24:36-39 where Jesus has his disciples touch his wounds. She writes, “The disabled God emerges in the particular situation in which people with disabilities and others who care find themselves as they try to live out their faith and to fulfill their calling to live ordinary lives of worth and dignity.”[viii] If people with disabilities are able to imagine God as being disabled, then they are able to see themselves in the image of God, which enforces the important truth that they are a part of God’s good creation.

Deborah Beth Creamer’s book Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities evaluates what it means to be an embodied creature of God within the Christian church tradition. For Creamer, the categories of disabled and able are absolute. Creamer writes, “The term ‘disability,’ as it is commonly used, is an absolute category without levels or thresholds. One is either disabled or not. From this perspective, ‘one cannot be a little disabled any more than one can be a little pregnant.’”[ix] Some individuals are able to fit in both categories and find others deciding which camp they should be in at different times. Creamer points out limits are a part of everyone’s lives. Creamer writes, “When we dismiss disability as being an exceptional and othering experience, we deny the normality of limits in all of our lives, pretend that we do not experience increasing limits as we age, and even refuse to acknowledge the future limit of death.”[x] It is inarguable that we will experience being disabled at one point or another, if only at our deathbed. People, able and disabled alike, experience limits on their abilities on a daily basis, which makes disability a communal experience and not an individual, exceptional experience. Even without cerebral palsy, I experience a limit to my physical reach, due to being only five-foot-one-inch tall. Limits are an embodied, universal experience.

My experience as an individual who has cerebral palsy and as an observer of others with disabilities has helped me to develop my own personal theology of disability. By being in community with others who have disabilities, I have come to understand that everyone has some kind of disability, even if it is just being physically too short or too tall, as silly as it sounds.

Photo credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

Photo credit: Samantha Lynn Parker

As I have shared in past devotions, people in public seem to think something is wrong with me or that I am broken simply because I cannot walk or talk clearly. As stated earlier, the Church often views people with disabilities as defiled individuals or spiritual superheroes—divinely damned or divinely blessed. If the disabled body is broken, and human beings are broken due to the Fall (Genesis 3), then everyone has a disabled body, because no one is without sin or has the perfect body. No one can live fully independently without the help of anyone. For starters, we do not ourselves to be born into the world, but God creates each one of us and entrusts our parents to tend to our needs. We all rely on the services and work of others to survive in the world.

Theology of disability is not just for people who are labeled as disabled but for anyone and everyone who has experienced a setback in their life or a temporary or permanent limitation. Theology of disability is messy; it brings up our individualized brokenness and the things we try our best to hide from the public eye. However, if we start naming our brokenness, not out of resentment but out of willingness to embrace our true selves, maybe then we can experience a resurrection in our own lives and embrace one another’s abilities and gifts. In community, we lament what is broken or lost and lift each other up in prayer. In community, we come together to share in the brokenness of the world and to become whole through God’s actions on our behalf. In community, we learn what it means embody God’s creation in the world.

[i] John Swinton, “A Disability Homiletic: Opening the Church to the Fullness of Our Humanness,” Journal for Preachers 39, no. 2 (2016): 13.

[ii] Nancy L. Eiesland, The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 70.

[iii] Stefan Heuser, “The Human Condition as Seen from the Cross: Luther and Disability,” in Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader, ed. Brian Brock and John Swinton (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 191, 193.

[iv] Donald Wood, “This Ability: Barth on the Concrete Freedom of Human Life,” in Disability in the Christian Tradition, 392.

[v] Ibid., 394-97.

[vi] Bernd Wannenwetsch, “‘My Strength is Made Perfect in Weakness’: Bonhoeffer and the War over Disabled Life,” in Disability in the Christian Tradition, 354-55, 359.

[vii] Ibid., 356, 361, 363.

[viii] Nancy L. Eiesland, The Disabled God, 98.

[ix] Deborah Beth Creamer, Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 6.

[x] Ibid., 119.

Listen to my Son

Reading for Transfiguration Sunday: Luke 9:28-43a

Peace be with you!

We all have moments when, after a long day, we close our eyes and relive a moment. Maybe you close your eyes to imagine being comforted by a loved one who has passed away. Maybe you close your eyes to relive a family gathering where kids ran around while the adults talked at the table. Maybe you just close your eyes to feel closer to God. In these moments, we try to escape the current situation by going back to a time when things were peaceful.

Peter is excited beyond belief when he sees Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah—two of the greatest figures in the Torah. He is so excited that he wants to build three shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah (Luke 9:33) to live in as a way to preserve the moment. Three of the greatest men who ever lived were all together for a moment in time. Who wouldn’t want to preserve the moment?

However, Jesus experiences the moment drastically differently than Peter. The anguish of the conversation about his departure from the world (Luke 9:30) weighs Jesus down in the coming weeks. The glory becomes apparent on Jesus’s face as well as in his dazzling white clothes (Luke 9:29). Jesus understands the moment needs to pass and the scriptures need to be fulfilled. As Jesus is praying, Moses and Elijah come to Jesus to discuss his departure from the world and what he will do in Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31). Jesus is praying for guidance from the ones who have gone before him as he starts the end of the beginning. It is a moment Jesus probably relives in his mind several times during his journey to Jerusalem, although it is probably not a pleasant conversation with Moses and Elijah by any standards.

Jesus’s conversation with Moses and Elijah gives him the strength to go on the journey to Jerusalem. He glows, like Moses does after he sees the Lord (Luke 9:29). Unlike Moses, Jesus does not cover his face; he wants all who see him to witness the change in him as the Lord claims him as his Son (Luke 9:35).

The voice from cloud also instructs Peter, John, and James to listen to Jesus in the coming weeks (Luke 9:35c). God the Father confirms Jesus’s authority in front of his disciples. Luke 9:35 alludes back to Jesus’s baptism (Luke 3:22) and to Psalm 2:7 when it uses the title of “Son.” “Listen to him” (Luke 9:35 NRSV) also alludes back to Deuteronomy 18:15 where the Lord speaks of a prophet like himself who will teach us how to find the path to him.[i]

Jesus teaches and leads us on the path to God the Father. Jesus teaches us how to care for our neighbors—the homeless, the hungry, the prostitute, the sinner, the disabled. Jesus teaches us how to honor God the Father through our relationships with others. Jesus shows us what it means to live in community and to value the gifts of others. Jesus Christ becomes our way to know and be with God in his kingdom. Through his crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus gives us a way to have a relationship with God the Father. We are no longer bound to cleansing rituals the Israelites were slaves to keeping. Jesus frees us from the barriers to having a relationship with God the Father. The Word became flesh (John 1:1) to take on and to free us from our sin, pain, and suffering. Though he was innocent, Jesus bore all this on the cross; he died and rose again in order that we could have eternal life—new life in him.

When Peter suggests the building of three huts for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, a voice from the clouds says, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). Peter has earthly ideas, wanting nothing more than to share this glorious moment with others. However, the Lord has other plans for Jesus, his Son and Chosen One. The Lord has an even larger, more glorious moment coming that the whole world will witness and take part in. Unfortunately, it will involve pain and anguish to get there, but it will change our lives forever.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for letting us witness this glorious moment in Jesus’s ministry. Help us to come face-to-face with you to hear your plan for us. Allow us to glow in order to share your glory with others. Remind us to listen to Jesus and to follow his instructions. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to lead us to Jerusalem. Amen.

[i] Darrell L. Bock, Luke, vol. 3a of Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1994), 874-875.