Paper Presentation on
Discerning
God as the Disabled God
Presented By-
CRL Muanpuia
C. Lalrohlua
Joseph Lalrinawma
1. Introduction
Chambers 21st Century
dictionary defined disability as ‘the state of being disabled; a condition such
as a physical or mental handicap, that results in partial or complete loss of a
person’s ability to perform social, occupational or other everyday activity’[1] It
further defined ‘disabled’ as ‘a person, having a physical or mental handicap’[2]. As the disabled are mostly excluded in the
hearts of the society they hardly found solace within the community. From the
ancient past there were many incidents that the disabled are treated harshly.
It is said that the Greeks used to kill the disabled children because of their
understanding of bodily perfection, among the Romans the father has the right
to kill the deformed child if he exhibited it to five neighbours and obtained
their consent and the Hebrews did not permit persons with disabilities to
officiate in the temple. Their deformities were regarded as the punishment of
God and were treated as sub-human.[3]
According to 1979
estimated by the UN, there were 450 million disabled people in the world, and
about 45 per cent of them were children. Of these children about 80% had no
access to rehabilitation services of any kind. To increase public awareness of
this enormous worldwide problem and to stimulate efforts to prevent and
ameliorate disabilities the UN General Assembly declared 1981 as the
International Year of Disabled Person.[4]
The question that we would like
to impose is that if all human beings are made in the image of God (Gen
1:26&27), are they not the images of God? If this is the case, then will we
not be right to say that God is also disabled?
2. Old Testament quotation of God as Disabled God or God of the
Disabled
There are many quotations in the
Old Testament where God testified that He is the God for the disabled, the
creator of them and that the one who cares for them. In Exodus 4:11 we see, “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who gives
speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I,
the Lord?” In Proverbs 31:8 we see God standing for those who are disabled
and pleaded His people to stand for them as well by saying, “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for
the rights of all the destitute”. He also does not allow anyone to mock
them or to ill-treat them which is reflected in Leviticus 19:14 that states, “You shall not revile the deaf or put a
stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord”.
Deuteronomy 27:18 also says, “Cursed be
anyone who misleads a blind person on the road…” Proverbs 17:5 also says, “Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished”. We also see God’s
inclusiveness towards the disabled when we read Jeremiah 31:8 “See I am going to bring them from the land
of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them
the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together; a great
company they shall return here”. In Micah 4:6&7 we also see, “In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble
the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have
afflicted. The lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a
strong nation…” Zephaniah 3:19 says, “I
will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and
gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all
the earth”.
3. New Testament quotation of God as Disabled God or God of the
Disabled
When we study
the New Testament in the point of view of the Disabled, we could see many
reflections that state that God is the God of the disabled very much as S/He is
the God of whom we called ‘abled’. When
Jesus testifies his purpose on earth we see that he cares and he was very much
for the disabled when he quoted the prophet’s saying, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, to let
the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke
4:18&19). When the disciples of
John the Baptist asked Jesus, ‘Are you
the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’(Luke 7:20), the
answer they got was “Go and tell John
what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good
news brought to them” (Luke 7:22).
In Luke 14:
15-24, the invitation of the master of the banquet goes out to all the usual
suspects the wealthy and well connected. However the expected guests have many
things to do and rejected the invitation of the great banquet. The master was
angry and ordered his servant to summon others. Here the order was, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes
of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke
14:21b). We see that Jesus does not exclude the disabled but rather he
summoned them to join the feast.
Likewise there are many instances
in the Gospels where Jesus healed the disabled, touched them and forgave their
sins. We also could see that he was moved with pity when they shouted and
pleaded for his healing hand. He does not reject their petitions but rather
said that he willed that they are healed (Matt 8:3; Mk 1:40; Lk 5:2).
Another interesting point that we
could notice is that Jesus had gone beyond the Levitical law that was given
through Moses to ascertain his love and care for the disabled. The Levitical
law maintain a strict rule in Leviticus 13 that no one is allowed to touch the
leapers for they are unclean as those who touch them will also be defiled. So
they are kept outside the habitation and left to be alone where they will not
mingle with the others. But when Jesus saw those who were disabled because of
leprosy, he did not hesitate to stretch out his hand, touched them and healed
them (Luke 12:13). This does not defile Jesus nor does he disrespect the
Levitical Law. The following narration told us that it was Jesus who asked the
healed man to show himself to the priest as Moses Commanded.
4. Biblical View of the Disabled
There are various verses in the
Bible that exempt the disabled from the commoners. In Leviticus 21:18-23 we
see, “For no one who has blemish shall
draw near, no one who is blind or lame, or one who has mutilated face or a limb
too long, or one who has a broken foot or broken hand, or a hunch back or a
dwarf, or a man with a blemish in his eyes or an itching disease or scabs or
crushed testicles. No descendants of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall
come near to offer the Lord’s offering by fire… But he shall not come near the
curtain or approach the alter, because he has a blemish, that he may not
profane my sanctuaries; for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.” Here we see
God who does not allow the disabled to be drawn near Him and we may not be far
from the valid truth to say that God does not allow them to worship. In Exodus
4:11 we see, “Then the Lord said to him,
‘Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is
it not I, the Lord?” Does this imply that they are cursed by God? Is it
that God had made them to suffer in this world?
But could this be the real
intention of the God who said, “You shall
not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear
your God: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:14)? It is believed by many scholars
that the descriptions laid down in the Old Testament about the tabernacle and
the worship is full of symbolism. They believed that the instructions about
temple worship is not a declaration of the inferiority of the disabled but
rather the symbolic of both of the perfection that God deserves from us and
also of the perfect, unblemished sacrifice that Christ was to offer in His
death on the Cross.[5]
They are not cursed as God himself had suffered the pain that they had gone
through (Isaiah 63:8&9). Moreover, sometimes the pains that a person went
through are to nourish him/her to grow in a better way and for the glory of God
(Psalm 119:65-67; John 9:3; II Cor 4:17)
5. Theology and Disability
As theology is carried out by the
able bodied people for the able bodied, disability is not a theological
category and there are very less attention given to them[6].
When people theologise about the disabled many times they are considered as
suffering because of their sins. The Bible also has many mentioning which could
be interpreted as disability is caused by the sins committed. Instance may be
drawn from John 5:14 which states, “…Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse
happens to you”. But this is answered by Jesus when he says, “…Neither this man
nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed
in him” (John 9:3).
Even though we get a clear answer
from the word of Jesus that it is not sin that caused disability, yet, many
theology supports the view that disability is caused by sins. Though we say
that theology tries to liberate the people out of their bondages and
sufferings, there are the disabled who are left behind. As liberation
theologies are carried out from the perspective of those who suffered the
consequences, most of the other theologies have someone to stand for them. But
in regards to disability, we have very few theologians who are disabled who
could stand on their behalf. Therefore there seems to be an unequal emphasis in
doing theology on the ground of the people to be liberated by it[7].
The question we would like to raise is that could this be the factor that
brought the disabled to be remaining in the grasp of oppression as there are
very few who stood for them? Their voices may not be audible yet because there
are very few to raise voices.
6. Reflection and Conclusion
We are living in the world which
is absolutely not free from sufferings and there are many who are disabled in
various ways. 2011 Census in Mizoram also had stated that there are 15160
People with disabilities in Mizoram.[8]
But who are we to call them disabled and are we not the same? Everyone is
disabled in a way or the other but the same attributes we shared is that we are
all disabled in some way. Some of us may be disabled in speaking in other
languages, while some of us may be visually disabled with a need to wear spectacles
to see things clearly. Some may be disabled in music and some in oration. Some
may be disabled from getting what they need due to poverty while some may be
disabled from having free time as they are very rich and need to attend many
things.
The Bible itself is full of the
stories of those who are disabled in a way or the other. God was also disabled
to save the humans from falling into the first sin. Adam was disabled to have a
place in Eden and Abraham was disabled to live with his family. The Prophets
were disabled to say what they wanted to say as they have to proclaim only the
word of God. We see our Lord Jesus who was disabled from saving himself from
the cross to save us all. We see the disciples who were disabled from saving
their own teacher as well. Even the greatest Christian Philosopher Paul was
also having disability as his eye-sights were poor.
As we all are created in the
image of God, the God of us who are disabled is most certainly a disabled God.
All these disabilities that we bear are the will of God as we are made in this
way to be the fearful and wonderful creation of God. So, if this is the case,
who is the disabled? Is there any more space for disability in our midst? Are
we not just differently abled?
When whom we called as disabled are suffering as they do not
have enough theologians who will theologies for their liberation from the
bondage of divisions and oppressions, we believe that it is the duty of those
who are preparing for the ministry of God to prepare and work for those who
need us. They need to see their God who had created them in His/ Her own image
and they need someone to stand on their behalf.
Bibliography
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, New Delhi: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006
Hung, Wong Hin, Jesus And The Disabled People: A Church
Response To The Disability, ATESEA: Manila, 2007.
Longchar, Wati and
Gordon Cowans, eds. Disabled God Amidst
Broken People: Doing Theology from Disability Perspective, Manila, The
Philippines: The Association for Theological Education in South East Asia,
2007.
Longchar, Wati, ed., Disability discourse for theological
Institution, ETE-WCC/CCA: Jorhat, 2006.
Webliography
[1]
‘Disability’ Chambers 21st
Century Dictionary (New Delhi: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006), 379.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Wati Longchar and Gordon Cowans, eds. Disabled
God Amidst Broken People: Doing Theology from Disability Perspective (Manila,
The Philippines: The Association for Theological Education in South East Asia,
2007), iii.
[4]
Wong Hin Hung, Jesus And The Disabled People:
A Church Response To The Disability (ATESEA: Manila, 2007), 102.
[6]
K.C. Abraham “Theological Education and Disability” Disability discourse for theological Institution edited by Wati
Longchar (ETE-WCC/CCA: Jorhat, 2006), 7.
[7]
K.C. Abraham “Theological Education and Disability” Disability discourse for theological Institution…7-14.
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