Sixth Sunday of Easter-Br. Andrew.

Andrew’s Homily 21st June 2017 – recorded under the influence of Perampanel

What of the disabled.?

Quite recently my Neurologist placed me on a drug called Perampanel ( describes me to a T) in the hopes that it may control my Absence Seizures. Though it may have have a  done this there have  been some interesting side effects.

The worse part is that during some times of the day  I am unable to keep control of my legs which crumple beneath me, as though I am  a  rag  doll : additionally my head becomes  extremely  dizzy and I become cognitively deficient .

This is the reason for the title  of my Sermon  this  week, when I delivered it I Was mostly off with  the angels.

In a large congregation both parishioners, other than  , for example, relatives of the cognitively disabled, Down Syndrome  ,Mentally ill and priests alike are not always aware that there may be those present that do not understand the meaning of what is being said, or of the Scriptures they hear.

In a small congregation as ours is this exercise assisted our congregation both in understanding what they heard and in putting in in simple language.

Our Gospel for last Sunday was John 14. 15-21.

Reading 15,16 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever.

We may realise that an attempt to focus on the Trinitarian nature of God might be best left aside until the Holy Spirit reveals such a thing to the person concerned. – moving on to 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. And this might be easier to understand with the realisation that there is a day when this will happen.

Love is recognised by obedience to the two great commandments:(Ordinances) outlined in  Matthew 22:36-40

^{36‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’37}He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

Br Andrew

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To read

• A Biblical View of Disability Ros Bayes-

   https://www.bethinking.org/human-life/a-biblical-view-of-disability ” Sometimes in discussion with antagonistic unbelievers a charge will be levelled against the Bible that it discriminates against disabled people.[1] Frequently they will cite verses such as Leviticus 21:16-23:”

• Welcome to Disabilities and Faith.org The Problem: The Friendship Ministries reports that people with mental illness, autism, and environmental, visual, physical, hearing, and cognitive disabilities run into barriers at church. Capital Area Disabilities Ministries found that many houses of worship mistakenly assume that becoming more accessible will be a financial drain. Even when houses of worship are willing, congregations often believe that once they raise the money and address the barriers of architecture, the job is finished (Salmon, 2007).

• Enlarge the Site of Your Tent – Making a Place in the Church for People with Disabilities [Note: This article is reprinted from And Show Steadfast Love, ed. Lewis H. Merrick (Louisville, Kentucky: Presbyterian Publishing House, 1994), 29-45.] 

  Hospitality and Hesed 

  In providing a place for the disabled within the church, as in any spiritual endeavor, there must be a balance between external and internal concerns. This is expressed by the prophet Micah: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). “Justice” is an external matter; it is something one can “do.” But “kindness,” hesed, is internal; it is a matter of the heart. One cannot do it; one must “love.” A completely accessible church must be a church of hesed.

• Churches and the Disabled November 30, 2012 — Originally published: May 11, 2012 

  LUCKY SEVERSON, correspondent: Among traveling evangelists Nick Vujicic is a rock star. He’s packed them in in churches around the globe. This is his second visit to the Northland megachurch in Orlando—a preacher with no arms and no legs who wants no sympathy.

  NICK VUJICIC: Why does a man without arms and legs have a smile like this? It surpasses the understanding of the world, because I should be depressed. I was, until Christ came in

• Religion and Ethics http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2013/12/20/november-30-2012-st-olaf-christmas-festival-and-choir/10008/    St Olaf – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

• Including Disabled Persons in the Life of the Church Martin Hobgen
  August 1, 2013 Section: Columns on Church and Theology  how can churches enable disabled people to be more involved in the life and mission of the church? This was the central question raised at the Enabling Church conference at Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church in Bristol in the United Kingdom on Saturday, July 6, as a varied group of 130 people gathered on one of the hottest days of the year.

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  A Church without the Disabled Is a Disabled Church | Biblical Counseling Coalition. 2017. A Church without the Disabled Is a Disabled Church | Biblical Counseling Coalition. [ONLINE] Available at: http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2012/11/28/a-church-without-the-disabled-is-a-disabled-church/. [Accessed 29 May 2017].