A sermon in The Other Six Days series
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
April 18, 2010
Leviticus 19:11-14; John 9:1-12, 24-25

Leviticus 19:11-14 · You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

John 9:1-12, 24-25 · As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

I. BEGINNING

More people than you might think are faced with some kind of disability.

A. Of Body

In fact, there are so many Americans who have disabilities that the Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act to meet the needs of this segment of the population. [1]

And this segment is a sizeable one. According to the Centers for Disease Control, among non-institutionalized adults 18 years and older there are: [2]

• 34.8 (15%) million adults with hearing trouble
• 25.2 (11%) million adults with vision trouble
• 16.0 (7.1%) million adults unable (or very difficult) to walk a quarter mile
• 33.1 (15%) million adults with any physical functioning difficulty

B. Of Mind & Heart

And those are just the disabilities we can see. There are also very many of our fellow citizens who have disabilities of mind and heart that are harder to recognize. According to the National Institutes of Health: [3]

Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people. (All figures below from the National Institute of Mental Health)

• Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder. The median age of onset for mood disorders is 30 years.
• Major Depressive Disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
• Bipolar Disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
• Schizophrenia app roximately 2.4 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year, 11 have schizophrenia.
• Anxiety Disorders include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia). Approximately 40 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 18.1 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an anxiety disorder. 1
• Most people with one anxiety disorder also have another anxiety disorder. Nearly three-quarters of those with an anxiety disorder will have their first episode by age 21.5
• Panic Disorder Approximately 6 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 2.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have panic disorder.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Approximately 2.2 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 1.0 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have OCD.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD. 1
• About 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war. 13 The disorder also frequently occurs after violent personal assaults such as rape, mugging, or domestic violence; terrorism; natural or human-caused disasters; and accidents.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Approximately 6.8 million American adults, or about 3.1 percent of people age 18 and over, have GAD in a given year. 1
• Social Phobia Approximately 15 million American adults age 18 and over, or about 6.8 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have social phobia.
• Agoraphobia involves intense fear and anxiety of any place or situation where escape might be difficult, leading to avoidance of situations such as being alone outside of the home; traveling in a car, bus, or airplane; or being in a crowded area. 5
• Approximately 1.8 million American adults age 18 and over, or about 0.8 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have agoraphobia without a history of panic disorder.

In addition to those, there are the many who experience some specific phobia, eating disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism and Alzheimer’s Disease.

II. THE QUESTIONS

So, given the numbers of people who are in some way disabled, why do some experience disability? What is the reason for the brokenness that so many of us experience in our lives? Why are some challenged withm impairment of the senses or of the mental and emotional faculties?

These are no small questions. We as human beings are seemingly compelled to seek the solution to these questions. We have developed faculties of cognition and reasoning that drive us to try to figure out the why of things.

We have developed science and experimentation, medical technology designed to peer into the deepest levels of our biological existence to understand why we are afflicted by disease or disability.

We have discovered pathogens that affect biological processes. We have peered into the genetic code and identified genes that cause all manner of physical disability. We have begun to understand the complex processes of the brain’s biochemistry as it relates to mood and to mental well-being. We have studied the long-term effects on the body of chemicals, carcinogens, and other environmental factors that may result in a loss of well-being or health.

We have sought to unlock the very causes and preconditions for all manner of physiological and psychological disabilities. But on some level, all we really have answered is the “how” of disability. We have not answered the “why”. Why should this person be afflicted? Why did this child have to be born with this disorder? Why do I have to experience this mental or psychological or emotional disability?

III. TEXT

That has been a question asked for a long time. And usually the result of that asking is a question not unlike that which the disciples propose: “Is it on account of this man’s sins or his parents’ that he was born blind?”

The disciples, of course, are not the only ones who have thought that way. I suppose it’s not hard to understand why. In the Judeo-Christian tradition it has long been understood that death, disease, and decay were symptoms of the Fall, of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. From that very general proposition of theology (not biology), it is not hard to see how people might believe that a particular disability was caused by some particular sin, no matter how much that belief might distort the theological intent of the Genesis story.

People have long assumed that whatever the biological cause and effect of why some might have contracted a disease or disability, that they must have done something to have deserved it. This is an especially insidious belief particularly among those who are inclined to believe that fortune or failure are God’s rewards and punishments for living faithfully or unfaithfully. They are the ones likely to equate individual suffering with individual sin. Whereas Genesis describes the entire state of human life (including death, disease, subjugation of women, backbreaking toil) as outside God’s intention for the world, many saw (and continue to see) physical and mental disabilities as the consequences of sin, as somehow outside the state of grace.

It is an incredibly tragic thing that this erroneous and theologically suspect belief is not shared only among smug outsiders, content to condemn the afflicted to consequences of their own making. All too often it is shared by the very people who experience disability.

What did I do to deserve this? It must have been something. Things like this don’t happen on their own. I must have caused this. I must have done something wrong. I must have made the wrong choices. I must not have tried hard enough. I must be to blame. I must, in some sense, deserve this.

Life can be challenging enough for the disabled. Must they also bear guilt and shame on top of it? Mow many people bear the weight not only of their disability but also of the belief that in some way they have cause this or deserve it? Too many. As incredible as this may be, a great many people do indeed fee this way, about conditions that are difficult to imagine anyone being blamed for. It is an additional weight, a spiritual millstone, that too many of our brothers and sisters bear.

And so it is that the disciples ask Jesus about the man born blind: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus responds, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” He then proceeds to place wet mud on the man’s eyes and the man after washing them off, is able to see.

IV. THAT GOD’S WORKS MIGHT BE REVEALED

Jesus’ response is an important one for us to remember. We ask: who is at fault? Who is to blame? What caused this? Why did this thing happen? Jesus responds instead: how do we see God in this moment as we respond? People were debating the reasons for the man’s blindness. Jesus healed him. Jesus saw in this man an opportunity for God’s works to be revealed through him. Perhaps that’s the way we are meant to think about those with disabilities: not as suffering victims of their own sinfulness, not as people outside of God’s grace, but as providing an opportunity for God’s work to be revealed.

A. Advocacy

God’s work has always had a prophetic element to it and so we are called to advocate on behalf of the millions who are often stigmatized, marginalized, or excluded. To demand accessibility for those afflicted with physical abilities. We can start right here on campus. It’s a fairly difficult thing to get around this chapel in a wheelchair. The sanctuary has a ramp. The lounge has a cumbersome and slow (but functioning) lift. But the chancel is inaccessible. If you’re in a wheelchair and would like to preach, sorry: you’ll have to preach from the floor. And don’t get me started about Hurst, McKinley and the old SIS. We can lend our voices to the call for accessibility for all. When we do so, God’s work is revealed in us.

B. Healing

Of course we can also work for healing. We can support access to medical care. Fund research, raise awareness and help those who are afflicted to find treatments. This is especially the case with those disabilities that cannot be seen: both chronic conditions that do not manifest in some external way and those afflictions of the mind that are often left off of insurance policies and many health plans. Seeking treatment for people and helping people to find treatment is an important ministry of healing. And when we seek healing, God’s work is revealed in us.

C. Solidarity

Standing in solidarity is an important task for us to do. To listen to the stories of people with disabilities–as this community will have the opportunity to do tomorrow night–to help to share understanding, to witness to a common purpose, a common humanity. Solidarity allows us to see where God is already at work in the very people some would marginalize. Henri Nouwen, renowned Catholic theologian, wrote an essay called “Fragile and Hidden” about his experiences taking care of a severely disabled man who could not even speak, and was required to wash him, dress him, and give him food. Nouwen writes:

“As I began to take care of Adam, I slowly discovered what life is about… He told me how hidden, vulnerable, and deep life is. Being with him gave me a sense of being closely in touch with living… Adam strengthened my hope. It wasn’t optimism. Adam is never going to get better. But he offers hope. This hope can form a very strong bond among people who are willing to go where life is fragile and hidden.” [4]

We stand in solidarity because we believe in a God who through the person of Jesus Christ declared ultimate solidarity with us. And so when we declare solidarity with one another, God’s work is revealed in us and we see where God is already at work.

D. Acceptance

So many who are disabled are faced with the double burden of the challenges presented by their disability and of the effects of marginalization (often accompanied by guilt and shame) that come with it. We are a reconciling community, open to and committed to being in ministry with all people. When we create communities that are welcoming and accepting of all people—regardless of physical or psychological ability—that affirm the image of God in all, then God’s work is revealed in us.

V. END

In reality, the greatest disability is spiritual blindness. When we fail to speak up, fail to stand in solidarity, fail to listen and affirm, we evidence a spiritual blindness that is a far greater disability than any physical or psychological one. And it detracts us from our true task.

Because, so often when confronted by a situation we do not understand, we are tempted to ask “Why?”. The complexities can be so great that we can get stuck debating the whys. Christ calls us to answer a different question: “What are we going to do?” And so, as we seek to be in ministry with all, advocate for, seek healing for, stand in solidarity with, and accept all who have disabilities, we follow the example of our master and ensure that God’s work may be revealed in us.

Notes
[1] http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-ada.html
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/disable.htm
[3] http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
[4] From Henri Nouwen, The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice, reprinted in The Impossible Will Take a Little While, edited by Paul Rogat Loeb, New York: (Basic Books, 2004).