Ministry to the Disabled

Grace for those who are disabled

I read this three or four days ago from the commentary on the Larger Catechism from Johannes Vos on Q. 60.

Here’s the question in view:

Q. 60. Can they who have never heard the gospel, and so know not Jesus Christ, nor believe in him, be saved by their living according to the light of nature?

A. They who, having never heard the gospel, know not Jesus Christ, and believe not in him, cannot be saved, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, or the laws of that religion which they profess; neither is there salvation in any other, but in Christ alone, who is the Savior only of his body the church.

Vos expands on this subject matter, and he applies it to ministry to persons with disabilities:

What further hope may we have for the salvation of some of the heathen?

ANSWER: “See the Confession of Faith, 10.3 (second sentence), which refers to other persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word. This refers to persons born mentally deficient. It is certainly possible that some or even all of such people will be among the saved although they are incapable of coming to understand and believe the gospel. ”

These words from Vos remind me of the time at New Life OPC in Escondido, CA we had a strong ministry to the disabled. They were gifts from Jesus Christ to our congregation back then. The ministry of the Word was strong to them, and they were in regular worship with us. Maybe it should be said that we joined them in worship! The congregation offered cups of cold water to them. It was a great ministry.

I know that in the Reformed world we have to keep working hard on learning how to minister to disabled persons—to present the gospel to them well and to administer the sacraments to them as faithfully as we can.

I think a proper and fitting manner and attitude of ministry to disable persons is to err on the side of graciousness and support to such ones. Extending ourselves to baptize them into the covenant; and to reach them with the Word and the administration of the Lord’s Supper seems fitting.

Jesus told the story of the banquet, see Luke 14:

¹²He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Would it be in line with Scripture to welcome to the Lord and His feast disabled persons, who, like these others in the story from Jesus, cannot repay?

Maybe there are churches and para-church ministries that have insight on this area of gospel work. I know that the Christian Reformed Church has had a strong ministry to mentally disabled persons for two or three decades now.

G. Mark Sumpter