Inclusion Sunday

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9:00 Service | 10:30 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. This is a very important day. Because we are focusing on some very important people. The mission of the Chapel is to build a family of Christ-followers who love God, love people, and serve the world. And this family that God is building has an incredible variety of people in it. I’m so glad you’re getting to meet some of those people today.

I want to say thank you to Ingrid Flannery, our Director of Special Needs Inclusion. God has given her a special passion for people with disabilities, and we are so blessed to have her on our team. Can we say thank you to Ingrid? I also want to thank every person who volunteers in any aspect of our Special Needs Inclusion ministry—I know your ministry role can be rewarding, but sometimes it’s just exhausting…and you need to know that God is so pleased with how you’re serving him. And most of all, I want to recognize and honor anyone here who has a disability, and your families. I know that in your everyday life, a lot of the time you probably don’t feel seen. And I so hope that here at The Chapel, you feel seen and loved.

The CDC estimates that about 61 million Americans have some kind of disability 61 million! That’s almost 20% of the US population! That means that what we’re talking about today affects everyone in this room—either directly or indirectly. Guys—we need to hear this!

Here's the question I want to ask today: How should I relate to people with disabilities? How should I relate to people with disabilities?

My Scripture today is just one verse. Look with me at Leviticus chapter 19, verse 14:

Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. This is the Word of the Lord.

The book of Leviticus was given to God’s people just before they entered into the Promised Land, to guide how they should live. Some of the things in Leviticus are temple rituals that no longer apply to us, since the function of the temple was fulfilled in Christ. But some of the things in Leviticus are timeless moral principles. This verse is one of those timeless principles: Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. That verse speaks directly against negative actions—don’t curse people or put a stumbling block in front of people. But it also implies positive actions of love toward them. So today I want to talk about what this means for us, and I want to acknowledge Pastor Ryan Rush from Houston—he’s a pastor and parent of a child with special needs, and his teaching on this verse shaped some of what you’re going to hear today.

I want to give three words to hang my thoughts on today.

The first word is Value. God has created every human life with immense value. When he says, “don’t curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,” you can apply that concept to every disability—not just deafness or blindness. The Hebrew word “curse” means to show contempt to something, or despise it, or devalue it. And we’re being taught: don’t devalue any life, because every life holds infinite value.

All the way back in the beginning, Genesis 1:27 says this: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Do you realize God didn’t

say that about anything else He created? The vastness of the solar system…the beauty of oceans and mountains…the complexity of the animal kingdom…they were all made by God, but none of them were made in the image and likeness of God.

There is a holiness and a sacredness to every single person—because we carry around the image of God.

Not everyone agrees with that. Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton, who said this: “When the death of a disabled infant will lead to the birth of another infant with better prospects of a happy life, the total amount of happiness will be greater if the disabled infant is killed. The loss of happy life for the first infant is outweighed by the gain of a happier life for the second.” That should disturb you deeply. Because practically speaking, who gets to define happiness? And biblically, all through Scripture those with more power are called to take special care of those with less power.

In Psalm 139, listen to what David says to God:

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Every deaf person; every blind person; every person with Downs syndrome or autism or cerebral palsy, or dementia or dyslexia...every person has infinite value because they were lovingly woven together by their Creator. And I think most of us believe that. But here’s the challenge: there are certain people that are easy for us to overlook.

A few years ago, the Washington Post conducted a really interesting experiment. It involved the famous violin player Joshua Bell—he was in town for a concert, and he agreed to be part of this experiment. So on a random Friday afternoon in January, he went into the Washington subway station. He was dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. He positioned himself near a trash can. He opened up a small case, took out a violin, threw a few dollars in the case to give people the idea, and started playing.

And for the next 45 minutes, he played pieces by Mozart and Schubert. He must have been mobbed, right? Hardly anyone noticed. They didn’t notice it was Joshua Bell. They didn’t notice that the violin he was playing was a rare Stradivarius worth over three million dollars. Three days earlier, Joshua Bell had sold out the Boston Symphony Hall. But on that afternoon, he played in the subway for 45 minutes, and into his violin case, people threw a total of $32.

Why? Why didn’t people recognize the amazingness? Because they weren’t expecting to see anything valuable in a place like that. Think about it: they were in the presence of staggering beauty, and they walked right by. And I’m telling you: we do that all the time. Because in the halls of The Chapel, in your life—in your school—at your job—in the grocery store—we are in the presence of people with staggering beauty and value…and so often we walk right by.

So how should we relate to people with disabilities? Before anything else, we need to start seeing the immense value in every person.

Here’s the second word: Compassion. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind… If you think about it, both of those actions would be particularly cruel. If you curse someone who’s completely deaf, they can’t hear it, and very often, can’t speak to defend themselves. If you put a stumbling block in front of someone blind, they can’t see it, so they’re likely going to trip over it. So those actions represent exactly the wrong way to respond to people with special needs.

So if that’s what we’re not supposed to do, the opposite would be for us to be especially aware and especially sensitive to their needs and challenges. And that fits the broader context of this chapter in Leviticus. It tells landowners to leave some grain in their fields during harvest time, so the poor can come and pick up what they need. It reminds employers to pay their workers’ wages on time. It reminds us to show respect to elderly people. And in verse 18, he sums up this whole section with something so important, that Jesus would later quote it as the second most important commandment in the Scriptures: Love your neighbor as yourself. So in this new community God was creating, he wanted people to love the people around them by being deeply aware of and compassionate toward their needs.

Last year, Ingrid posed this question to our families who have a family member with special needs. Listen to some of their responses…

“The life of special needs families can be very isolating. The best thing anyone can do for a special needs family is to spend some time with them if they have the ability… Having people over, especially in the tougher times, is so critical to feeling normal and connected to the world.”

“Having a disability that limits my involvement in things is really isolating at times. I often can feel invisible in a world/crowd of hearing people, forgotten or ignored often.”

“Two of my children have disabilities that are not visible to others. They have more extreme responses to stimuli than typical children, less impulse control and struggles with focusing. Our parenting energy for these children is intentional, consistent, and highly disproportionate to what our other kids get, yet multiple times a week we get comments from teachers, school staff, church volunteers and acquaintances about their behavior. We pray continually for God’s wisdom, grace, and patience as we navigate these years. I wish others knew how much we try. We are not dismissive; we try so hard to not have them annoy you or your children. It’s hard.”

“…almost all of us with kids who are completely dependent like this are very afraid or terrified about what will happen if we, the parents are no longer here. Many of us have nobody that will be there to watch over our loved ones. We put off writing wills because we don’t know what to write. … We don’t want our children to be wards of the state. We just so desire for there to be somebody who cares so much that they would take over for us, even though that would have to be some very special selfless person.”

Are you beginning to feel some of what it’s like to navigate the world with a disability, or to care for someone with special needs? The sense of isolation; feeling invisible; feeling like you’re on the outside looking in. The exhaustion; the fear. Allow yourself to feel some of their pain. Feel some of the burden that they carry every single day. Feeling compassion isn’t all there is to loving your neighbor, but it’s an important part. Allow the Holy Spirit in you to grow your compassion for these valuable people, so you can begin to love your neighbor as yourself.

How should we relate to people with disabilities? See their value; allow yourself to feel compassion.

Here’s the third word: Mystery. At the very beginning of this chapter, look what God says. Leviticus 19, verses 1 and 2: 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. The God who created us—the God who individually designed us—is holy. Part of what that means is that God is beyond us. His ways and his thoughts are higher than ours. We can’t understand his ways.

All of us have wondered, “What causes disabilities in the first place?” And at the end of the day, the answer to that question is, “We don’t know.” It’s mysterious.

In Exodus 4, when God is speaking to Moses at the burning bush, he says, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” God decides things, or allows things, for his own reasons, and those reasons are very often beyond us.

There’s a really important scene in John chapter nine; the disciples of Jesus come across a man who was born blind. And they ask Jesus, “Who sinned—this man or his parents—that he should be born blind.” They wanted to know there was a reason that had directly caused the man’s condition. Because it’s comforting to feel like the universe makes sense. And in their worldview, if you’re disabled, it’s God’s punishment for sin. “So Jesus, was it this guy’s sin or somebody else’s sin that caused this?” You know what Jesus said? “Neither. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, put away your formulas; let go of your need to understand everything; embrace the mystery. Because in some mysterious way, every disability—not just that man born blind—every disability will reveal something about the beauty and goodness of God.

I have personally seen the works of God displayed in Jackie Van Hook, as she navigates her deafness amazingly. She is one of the most gifted, hard-working, articulate, biblically knowledgeable people I know. Our church is so much better because she’s here.

I’ve seen the works of God displayed in Christina Brino, as she navigated her blindness. Her joyful spirit; her determination…Christina was in my J-term class last January, and she was one of the most engaged, diligent students in the whole class. And she’s blind!

I’ve seen the works of God displayed in Nick Byrne, and in his family. Nick is in his mid-20s, and he’s non-verbal, but I’m telling you he has an amazing life. He just completed a triathlon a couple of weeks ago, and he’s done several of those. And he has a depth of communication and a relationship with his dad that most fathers would envy. Nick’s dad, Dave, is one of our elders. And there is a maturity and love in that family that I’m convinced is there because of Nick.

“This happened so the works of God might be displayed.” Can I tell you about one more Chapel person who’s displaying the mysterious works of God?

This is the Demetrius family: Johanna and Greg, and their two sons, Jake and Zack. About eight years ago, a friend invited them to The Chapel; they really enjoyed the church, but what they appreciated most was how their younger son, Zack, was treated. See, you’d never know it from the picture, but Zack has been diagnosed with autism. He’s almost completely non-verbal. So as parents, it requires a lot and there’s not much down time. A few weeks after they started attending, Johanna emailed Ingrid and said:

The Chapel has been an incredible blessing for us. Thank you for the perfect environment you work to provide. The boys look forward to church, and I finally have a place in the world where I can be at ease because Zack is ok!! He's more

than ok, he's with loving and patient caregivers that understand his sensory needs. I honestly feel like God had a hand in bringing us to the Chapel.

About three years ago, the family learned about a new method of communication for people like Zack. It involves working with a trained therapist who teaches you the alphabet and how to spell, and then trains you to use what’s called a “letterboard” to spell out your thoughts that you’re unable to speak. This is a picture of Zack working with his therapist in New York. It was not a smooth process. There’s a disconnect between what Zack wants to do and what his hand actually does. So it took a long time, but he started getting it. And as he got it, his therapist and his family started learning, for the first time, the depth of what was going on in Zack’s mind. It was breathtaking.

Let me read you a few things that Zack said.

My name is Zack Demetrius and I am 13. I started to learn to spell about two years ago. It was very hard to learn for me. My hand is stupid because it never listens to my brain. Just recently I started to be able to talk on the letterboard. I so totally am much happier now that my mom and family know that I am smart. That’s the most important thing to me.

Does that affect you as deeply as it affects me? Here’s another thing he said:

I want everyone to know that I am basically normal inside. My body makes me do weird things sometimes, but even though I can’t answer you, please talk to me as though I am intelligent, ‘cause I am.

Zack recently started an online blog, and this was his first post:

The thing I hope for most is that people see the real me. I cannot express how tired I am of not being seen or understood. Totally tired of it. I hate Septembers: going back to school is the worst. My teachers don’t have a clue who I am. They treat me like I am stupid. We students suffer: we suffer not only the trauma of bodies that don’t listen to our brains, but also the trauma of the world not understanding the nature of our real disability.

I believe one day this will change. I will live in hope that it will.

This just takes my breath away. The disciples said, “What was the sin that caused this man to become blind?” And Jesus said, “It wasn’t caused by sin. It happened to display the works of God.” And through this 14-year-old boy, and through the gift of amazing parents and a good therapist, miracles are happening. God’s works are on display. I don’t know if the Demetrius family is in the service right now, but can we show Zack and his family our support?

We started with a question: How should I relate to people with disabilities? Three words:

Value. Open your eyes and see them.

Compassion. Open your heart to care.

Mystery. Trust the wisdom of God, who shows his works through the most unlikely people.

Is God speaking to your heart? Who are the people that you simply haven’t seen—they’ve been invisible to you—but God is moving in your heart to move toward them. Maybe through our Special Needs Inclusion ministry; maybe in other ways. But I pray you will never look at them the same way again. Let’s watch this… (Video)