Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:8-10)
In preparation for the One of Us series featuring children with special needs in mainstream schools, I listened to story after story of social isolation, bullying, discrimination and so on.
What shook me though, were those who were treated this way by the church,
“The usher told me that I could not bring my son anymore, if I could not keep him under control.”
“They (Sunday School) turned us away, saying they had no special teacher to support my daughter.”
“We realised very quickly, that our son was not welcome. No lifts, no ramps, and narrow corridors denied any wheelchair user.”
“The pastor laid hands and declared she will be healed if we had faith. So, when (my daughter) did not get healed, we felt too ashamed to go back.”
How often do we organise Missions Emphasis Week or Month using Matthew 9:37 as the key verse without Matthew 9:36?
What is the point of the harvest, if we do not ourselves reflect the Lord of the harvest?
When Jesus came down from delivering that epic Sermon on the Mount, he came down.
Yes, he came down. He touched a leper. He healed the Centurion’s servant. He forgave a paralytic and so on. He came down.
And the Bible says in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Yet, if we continue to stay comfy on top of our man-made mountains and refuse the poor, the needy, and those with special needs. What good is the gospel that we preach?
The Lord’s compassion was not an airy fairy, theoretical compassion. It was a heartfelt empathetic compassion that stemmed from being among the people whom he truly loved. Where the leper came from, were many other lepers that were not touched. Where the Centurion had great faith, many standing in that crowd did not. Likewise, not every paralytic was healed in that city.
The Lord Jesus did not come into the world to heal everyone, but to save us from eternal condemnation. To proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. He came down.
That child with asperges in your Sunday School class in not there to test your patience, but to show you the extent of the love of Christ. The young man with autism who shouts “hallelujah” during worship is not there to scare off new friends, but to demonstrate the worth of Christ. In the same way, the young lady in the wheelchair is not condemned because of her sins, but so through her, Christ is glorified.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
The church does not exist to serve the needs of those who can put more into the offering bag. The church does not exist to accommodate the preferences of different generations. The church certainly does not exist only for those of a certain Social Economic Status and mental state.
The church is and should always be — the Body of Christ.
And the Body of Christ, at the peak of its beauty with will people from every tribe, nation and tongue. But likewise, people of every mental capacity, physical condition and the like.
Afterall, did Christ not die for the least of these, you and I included?
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Ames is a teacher by training and a children’s book author by trade. Her books help children appreciate the unsung heroes in our society and embrace classmates in all their diversity. With dreams of becoming a full-time missionary to Chinese-speaking communities someday, she continues to build her repertoire of skills to minister to the lost as a ministry staff member at Bartley Christian Church.
Explore her books here.