Title: Don't Be a Spiritually Disabled
Contents
Text: Mark 9:38-50 Title: Do not become spiritually disabled
People with disabilities are broadly classified into two categories.
① Congenital disability - It refers to a person with a disability from birth.
Acts 3:2 “People bring a man who is born lame, who is placed daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate to beg from those who enter it.”
We see these kinds of handicapped people around us.
polio, cerebral palsy
② Acquired Disability - Disability due to accident or disease
Disability caused by an accident while living as a normal person
2 Samuel 4:4 says, “Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame, and his name was Mephibosheth. He fell and became lame.”
Ex) Disability resulting from a wounded veteran, an industrial accident, a traffic accident, or an unexpected disease
We are not congenitally disabled, so we do not have much thought about disability.
However, accidents are no exception to anyone, and disability can come to anyone.
Therefore, all adults are “preliminarily disabled”.
(The church should also be considerate of the disabled.)
Jesus' concern for the disabled
In Luke 4:18-19, the Bible that Jesus read in his hometown of Nazareth is recorded, which is said to be Jesus' Messianic Proclamation.
“The Spirit of the Lord has come upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, and has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and restoration of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free/ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. that he might do it” (Isaiah 61:1).
It is said that “to restore sight to the blind” is Jesus’ work of the Messiah, and it is referring to the actual healing of the disabled.
How many disabled people did Jesus heal in his public life?
Matthew 12:22 Healing the blind and the mute.
Matthew 9:27-31 Healing of the two blind men
Mark 7:31-35 The deaf and deaf
Mark 8:22-26 The blind man of Bethesda
Jesus' disciples followed Jesus' ministry and healed the disabled. The incident that caused the crippled man sitting at the temple's beautiful gate is a representative case of healing the disabled.
The grace of Jesus' cross and His blood are the power and strength to raise the disabled.
Do you believe that this power of Jesus is also with you and me? “Phil 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me”
Jesus told the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15-24.
A man made a great feast and sent his servants to invite many. However, people said that they each bought a field and had to go out, that they had to try it because they bought a cow, and that they could not go because they married. Then the master told his servants to go out to the road and fetch them. “The owner of the house became angry and said to the servant, “Go quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring the poor, the sick, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21). )
Jesus is saying that normal people were not able to attend the master's feast, only the handicapped. The Lord praises the spiritual zeal of the disabled. Although they are physically uncomfortable, it implies that they have a greater spiritual zeal for the kingdom of God.
Helen Keller - Deaf, blind, and handicapped.
He gained new life in Jesus and overcame obstacles, and he wrote many poems that touched the soul, hearing the voice of heaven, though he had not heard of it on earth. Although he has a disability, many normal people receive comfort and grace through his poetry written with faith.
Song Myung-hee - Poet with cerebral palsy
Although he cannot properly control himself due to cerebral palsy, he is praising the Lord with his beautiful faith. We are receiving grace by singing his precious poems as praise.
Lee Hee-ah - 21 years old this year. He is only 103 cm tall. Congenital quadrupedal disability. Has only 4 fingers. No legs below the knee. With such a body, Mr. Lee has already become a world-class pianist to the extent that he has performed overseas in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan. In line with the Korea Week event in Shenyang, China, on the 13th, Mr. Lee's piano performance at the Zhonghua Theater in Shenyang was praised as "Mr.
World-famous gospel singer Lena Maria - Born in Sweden, she is 36 years old this year and was severely handicapped with no arms and short legs. Lena started swimming when she was 3 years old and participated in the World Paralympic Swimming Championships as a representative of Sweden and won 4 gold medals. And cooking, playing the piano, driving, conducting a choir, and most recently cross-stitching, he is doing the same activities as a normal person with one leg. After graduating from the Department of Contemporary Music at the Stockholm College of Music, he is now active as a full-fledged gospel singer touring the world. Recognized as a heavenly song by the media around the world, she is loved not only by Christians, but also by all people, regardless of religion, for her praise and testimony that her life was possible because of God. In 1995, he married the viola player Bj rn Klingbell and is leading a happy family. Disability is never something to be ashamed of or ridiculed. It's just uncomfortable.
Everyone!
Is this a miracle only for these people? no. These are things we can do too. Because God is the same with us. You are the one who loves us. Because he is omnipotent. Besides, aren't we more normal than them physically?
The problem is not a physical disability, but a spiritual disability.
Isaiah 6:9 “Go and say to this people, saith the Lord, ‘You will hear, but you will not understand, and you will see, but you will not understand.”
Talking about spiritual disability.
1. Don't be spiritually deaf
“You will hear, but you will not understand.”
There is a saying that reads the sutras in the sutras of Ui Doksu.
The people of Israel received God's direct presence and God's commandments. They also heard the voice of God by the servants of God. The prophets continued to hear God's words to Israel, saying, “The Lord speaks.”
But Israel did not listen to God. Isaiah rebukes Israel's spiritual foolishness. They are accusing them of being spiritually deaf.
“To whom shall I speak, and to whom shall I rebuke them to hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they do not hear.
“They refuse to obey, they turn their backs, they shut their ears from hearing” (Zechariah 7:11).
After Jesus preached, “Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear.”
When he speaks of the parable of the kingdom of heaven, he always says, “Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear” at the end, emphasizing “ears to hear.”
Why become spiritually deaf? Can you hear and not hear?
① Because he is ignorant. - Because they do not know the voice of God and do not know the will of God. When Samuel first met God, God called out to him, “Samuel!” “Samuel!”, but he heard and did not answer. Those who do not know hear the voice of God, but do not understand it, nor do they hear it.
② Because it is insensitive. - I can't hear the sound because I'm paying attention to other things, because I'm focused on one place. I can't hear calls, I can't hear phone rings, I can't hear knocks.
When children get into the TV, no matter how much they shout, they don't answer. The reason we can't hear God's voice is because we focus our attention elsewhere.
The sound of TV, music, radio, the words of the neighbor... I am interested in many places and listen to many sounds, so I cannot hear God's voice.
(2 Timothy 4:4) “The time is coming when people will not receive sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires / and will turn away from the truth and turn away from the truth”
Ignorance and insensitivity prevent hearing and understanding