I was grateful to be included in an exciting conversation yesterday,via Facebook, about the pastoral issues that are raised when clergy present sermons and teaching related to healing stories in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

A fellow Candler alum was writing for a commentary on the Book of Isiah chapter 35. This passage beginning at verse 5 reads:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall shout aloud; For waters will burst forth in the desert , Streams in the wilderness.

Given this pronouncement the questioner wanted to know:

I’m trying to finish up an essay on Isaiah 35 for one of the Feasting on the Word commentaries (I’m doing the pastoral perspective, as opposed to homiletical, theological, or exegetical) and am struggling over the promise that the blind will see, deaf will hear, lame will leap, mute will sing. I realize that this is a theme that echoes throughout Scripture, including with Jesus’ own life. But I am also aware of the growing understanding of people living with disabilities being differently-abled as opposed to disabled. I know that the Deaf Culture, for instance, has a strong sense of their deafness as something to be embraced, not to be fixed.

What I’m wrestling with is how big of a pastoral concern this understanding might be for a preacher dealing with Isaiah 35 (or any other healing story). I know that my own mother, who has paraplegia, would much prefer to walk - there is no question that her paralysis is something she would wish healing for. I know that her desire is not necessarily a universal desire, as the biblical writers might assume, but I am guessing that it would be the majority view.

What I’m looking for from those of you who have tagged is a couple of things:
1 - do you think it’s a valid pastoral issue when preaching healing texts, to at least consider the fact that many of those who are differently-abled are not looking to be fixed?
2 - could you point me to any resources that might explore this further? .

I am interested to know what some of you who preach and teach on these stories think?

I will leave some of my thoughts in the comments

I want to say a word of thanks to Pat Kahn, Reverend Marti Keller and Chance Hunter at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta for inviting me to come and speak to the congregation this past Sunday.

UUCA is a congregation on the journey toward the full-inclusion of people with disabilities. I am grateful that they are actively engaged in this important conversation.

Below you will find links to the readings prior to Sunday’s sermon and then the sermon:

A Reading from Strong At The Broken Places

A Reading from Grace (Eventually)

From Silence To Song

I would love your feedback.

The title of this post comes from a sermon titled: The Spirit of Access: Welcoming Each Other, Not Defining The Other. The sermon was preached by Rev. Joel Miller at the Unitarian Univesalist Congregation of Buffalo.

Reverend Miller makes some good observations. I certainly commend the entire sermon to you. I am especially interested in his thought about the foundations of a spirituality of Accessibility . He speaks about this way:

The Spirit of Access is the welcoming spirit: it’s the practice of welcoming one another without thinking we know who they are and what they need. It’s the essential practice of spiritual hospitality: meeting one another without presumption, without pre-judice, without assuming we know who we are seeing, but, instead, asking, listening, and sharing.

Meet, ask, listen, share: this is the practice in the Spirituality of Accessibility. It’s our way of making our lives a shared blessing, a way of encouraging each other to become more than we are now, our common journey past the limitations we all must endure to world in which everyone knows they have a place and are fully welcomed.

Meet, Ask, Listen Share. This is the practice of a spirituality of Accessibility! May we continue to practice this spirituality until we know it by heart.

Nancy Eiesland’s book The Disabled God was my introduction to theology about disability over ten years ago. The concept of the disabled God was helpful to me at that point because it really pointed to a God that was capable of identifying with the lived realities of people with disabilities. I still hold that this is one of the most important pieces of wisdom from the book 10 years down the trail.

I came across this sermon by the Reverend Thee Smith, who is on the staff at The Episcopal Cathedral of St. Phillip in Atlanta. The sermon talks about why this image of Jesus give hope and the potential of healing to non-disabled.

The Reverend Smith seems to say that Eiesland’s image of the Disabled God gives each of us permission to stop trying to be “perfect” and instead to seek after a “spirituality of im-perfection”.

I think this notion of a spirituality of im-perfection is good news for all of humanity.

Please give the sermon your consideration and let me know what you think.

What is the lesson of the healing of the ten lepers (preached in the pulpits of many Christian Churches this past Sunday) if you do not believe that the story is literally about the power of G-d to cure disability?

Reverend Scott Elliott at the Riviera United Church of Christ in Palm Bay, Florida gives an interpretation of the story that is worth reading. You can read his sermon here.

Reverend Elliott provides a model that reminds us that there are so many ways to approach these stories that provide life-giving messages to people of faith with and without disabilities.

I am grateful for the contribution to the conversation at the intersection of religion and disability.

We had a meeting with the  Reverend Joanna Adams at Morningside  Presbyterian Church this afternoon to get that congregation on board as a member of IDC.

The meeting was great and it gave me an opportunity to witness what can happen in a faith community where people are committed to doing what it takes to make sure everyone is welcome and included.

The church is in the midst of a campaign to renovate its facilities to become more accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities.

Reverend Adams gave her permission to post the sermon she preached at Morningside on Sunday. If you need to be energized to  continue this journey please listen to the sermon here.  The sermon is approximately 25 minutes long. Once the text of the sermon is posted on the church web site you can find the text in the Theology Forum on the IDC web site.

Thank you to Reverend Adams for her ministry and work to build a community where every one has an opportunity to worship, study, serve, and provide leadership. In the process she has given us a model for speaking to the congregation about the moral imperative toward access and inclusion.