by Anthony DaVino
Some 10 years ago my wife Liz and I were looking for just the right church for us to attend in our
area. One Sunday morning visiting Northport Baptist Church we took our seats by the side
entrance. Some nice gentlemen dressed well enough to be mistaken for ushers brought a group
through the door. No need to find available seats as these people had brought their own. The nice
gentlemen pushed the wheelchairs to form a row in front of us. Seeing the way these people with
disabilities were welcomed and accommodated, Liz said; “It looks like we have definitely found the
right church for us”. After service I helped push the wheelchairs across the street back to a nearby
group home. One of the nice gentlemen introduced himself as Dave Morsch; “Were planning to
also have a bible study at this group home”, he said, providing me with the first indication that he
would be the most enthusiastic Christian I would ever meet. “That would be really great”, I
replied, not having the slightest idea that within the next few years Friendship Unlimited would
become the foremost ministry of people who are disabled on Long Island. At one time I thought it
was the first and foremost. Then I recalled a scripture lesson I had studied in the seminary long
ago.
Luke Chapter 5 verses 18 to 20: Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take
him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of
the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle
of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. I thought, this is the basic biblical reference for all disability
ministries. These people had the passion and the drive to help their friend in any way they could to
be “Right in front of Jesus”. Many new govt. regulations require accessibility for people with
disabilities. These regulations insure that all new buildings are constructed to be free of any
physical barriers. Today there are Christian ministries continuing the work of insuring that there
will be no physical or spiritual barriers to disabled people having accessibility to Jesus.
Then the gospel says in verse 20: When Jesus saw their faith he said; “Friend, your sins are
forgiven”. Studying this verse as a young seminarian I thought Jesus must be missing the point. I
didn’t think that the man and his friends went through all the trouble of busting through the roof
so that Jesus could say that his sins were forgiven. I thought this guy must have come to be
healed. I was sure what he wanted most of all was to be able to walk.
Now I realize that Jesus did something of even greater importance by forgiving the mans sins.
What if Jesus had healed the man’s disability but had not forgiven his sins? Then the man would
have the ability to go anywhere he wanted, except for the one place he would need to go to
spend eternity. Jesus knew that above all the man must have his sins forgiven to be acceptable to
God. When Jesus finally says in verse 24: “Take up your mat and go home” , it can now mean his
heavenly home.
Disability ministries such as Friendship Unlimited continue to bring people “Right in front of Jesus”.
As they make sure people have the accessibility, Jesus makes sure they have the acceptability.
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