Act Normal: Rescued

I am often reminded that I look at the world first through the eyes of a sibling. I notice how people are treated, especially the vulnerable or at risk, the least of these. I compare and contrast. I contemplate and consider. It matters to me because I'm selfish and because I love my brother. He has a developmental disability. He and I have always been very close. So the selfish part of me doesn't want him to be treated any better than me and the loving part, of course, doesn't want him treated any worse either. I want us to be equals. Okay, most of the time I want that. Sometimes I want to be better than him but what sibling doesn't? Anyway, the fact is that the world doesn't see us as equals. The world doesn't see his value, initially. But when someone does, I notice and I remember.

As I've gotten older, it's become clear to me that I care about how all people with disabilities are treated. I am especially passionate about how the Church treats them. I hear stats like 80% of families affected by disability do not attend church and I am grieved because of that inequality. Most families have at least two children so that means four people aren't hearing the gospel. Four people are feeling rejected and four people are not being given the opportunity to be part of the Body of Christ.

When I was sitting on the steps of the ruins of the library in Ephesus, I heard a story that made my heart drop and then soar. It was being told by Shea Sumlin to our group of 39 people studying church history as we traveled through Turkey and Greece.

The story was about how the Church reacted to the least of these. A doctor in the city wrote a book about how to determine if a newborn was worth keeping or not. The infant was judged based mostly on physical characteristics and health. If the baby was deemed worthless he or she would be thrown into the city's trash heap, left outside in the elements, or given to the slave traders. Babies were literally being thrown away, discarded like rotten food or used toilet paper.

Then something remarkable started to happen. The babies were being rescued from the trash heap and the elements. The slave trades had to move on because their were no babies to sell. Oh parents were still rejecting them but the Church did not. The church of Ephesus was taking the babies in and raising them as their own. They saw that the infants were of infinite worth. They knew God loved these children and that alone was reason enough to rescue them.

It's a beautiful picture and example of how God rescues all of us. We are not just vulnerable and at risk, we are dead in our sins and He responds by giving His life to save us. His salvation is for everyone, no matter our earthy value. "For I am convinced that neither life nor death nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38)

So how should the Church respond today? We can say with our lips that all people are welcome in our churches. We can claim to love our neighbor as ourself. We can insist we want everyone to come to church but do we want everyone to stay? If we don't want them to stay then we are Pharisees giving lip service. If we do want them to stay but don't provide a way to make it possible then we are hypocrites, nothing but the squeaking of a rusty gate.

Let us be known to future generations as being like the church in Ephesus who saw the least of these and realized we are all one in Christ.