Pastor John’s message, The Word of God Is at Work in You, was exceedingly helpful to me and I commend it to you.
As he made seven observations about the text, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16, to open the sermon, observations 3 and 4 particularly caught my attention.
3. The Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.
Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us . . .” God spoke, humans gave his word through their words, and the Thessalonians heard that. They heard the sounds. They knew the Greek language. They construed meaning with their minds.
God uses humans to deliver his word, and he delivers it to humans. Human minds hear and understand the word from God, and then another set of human minds receive it from those human mouths and again hear and understand it.
From the perspective of having a child with severe cognitive disabilities, this appears to raise a problem. My son Paul can ‘hear’ from the sense that his ears work, but he cannot understand or make sense of most of what he hears. And he also cannot communicate much of what he actually understands. Is the Gospel closed to him?
Thankfully, the fourth observation follows:
4. As they heard, God acted on their minds and hearts.
What did he do? And how do we know this?
What he did was enable them to receive Paul’s words as the word of God. Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” That’s what God did. He opened their mind and heart to know that Paul was speaking the word of God, and he gave them the inclination to receive it for what it is, not mere human words, but God’s word.
How do we know God did this? Because at the beginning of verse 13, just before saying that they received his word as the word of God, Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this.” For what?, “That when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.”
But why would Paul thank God for this? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians grasped the divine nature of the human word? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians embraced the human words as divine word? The reason is that God enabled them to do this.
I may be going out on a limb with this, but if it is necessary for God to make this understanding possible for people with ‘normal’ cognitive abilities, is it not also possible for God to do so for those with limited cognitive abilities? After all, he knows everything about every human being that he has made, and when compared to God, all of us live with pretty impaired cognitive abilities!
The Thessalonians could communicate that they understood these words were coming from God, but that doesn’t change the primary actor being God. Paul was obviously encouraged to know how it was being received! But the evidence of their receiving it was only that – evidence of God’s prior actions to give them understanding.
So, I don’t think it is a stretch to include those who have limited abilities to understand anything and no ability to communicate what they understand as being entirely able, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to embrace truths about who God is and what he has done for them.
When Paul was younger we spent time teaching him Bible verses. He even earned a bag after reciting five verses. But I gave up on that because I didn’t think it was really worthwhile; he was just repeating a string of words.
Or so I assumed. Maybe there was more going on than I realized through the work of the Holy Spirit. It raises questions about whether I believe Isaiah 55:10-11 to be true:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV)
What do you think?
I say “yes & Amen” to your thoughts, John! My 9 year old does not have the depth of cognitive challenges that your son has, but she certainly does not receive God’s word in the “typical” sense. Her movement never stops. She doesn’t necessarily make eye contact. You would doubt that she’s ever hearing a thing. And then suddenly, awesomely God brings forth something profound out of her little mouth that affirms that, in fact, His word has NOT returned to him void!
Thanks for bringing up this important topic! Too often in our culture we profess with our mouths that in Christ all things are possible, but then neglect those with cognitive challenges because we feel that they are incapable of receiving the Good News.
God moved John the Baptist in the womb of his mama, Elisabeth. I have an 8 y.o. son with severe brain damage from birth trauma. Outwardly, he doesn’t show much cognitive awareness. Yet, he lights up & sings in his own way when he hears Psalms, hymns and Spiritual songs. I speak Scripture to him, and I say, “Jesus, loves you, he died and paid for your sins,” I tell him he belongs to Jesus, and he is his treasured possession. I believe he believes. (although, he has never said a word in his life.)
As more and more children with Autism, and early developmental delays are in our congregations we need to encourage these families and minister to these precious ones/saints. God works sovereign grace in their hearts too.
❤
I really like this post and i agree with your thoughts. From a human level it may seem pointless trying to teach the Bible to those who cognitively wouldn’t normally be able to understand, but i like your perspective: If God is the one who enables even cognitively normal humans to really grasp and understand, then surely he could enable anyone to understand.
But more than this, i also think that there is life in God’s word that is different to the life in other words. After all, Jesus is described as ‘the word’ become flesh.. In Hebrews 11.3 it talks about the whole world being created by the “word of God” I think that the word of God can contain the very spirit and life and power of God itself, and therefore i think it’s totally reasonable to expect that it may contain within it the very power that is needed to understand it. I don’t know if i’m making sense (or if i’m right?!.. this is just a thought!). But what i mean is, if initially just the spoken word of God caused things to come into being.. then surely even now we could expect that as we speak God’s word over people He may cause it take on meaning in them. Infact, maybe in some strange way people with limited cognitive abilities may sometimes have some advantages over those who are more intellectual. Sometimes those with great cognitive abilities can get trapped in the mind-field of human reason and become too blind to ‘hear’ anything. It makes me think of 1 Cor 1.18-29 (although i’m probably getting onto another topic there!) Anyway, suffice to say, i think this is a good post. Thanks.
I am hoping that the snow pile I have built up within my boys (scripture memory, church, sunday school) will melt at just right time (God’s timing) and flow into my boys’ lives. So too with your son.
Hi John,
My response to your question is a resounding YES. One verse that I immediately consider when answering a question like your is 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. God does get through to us, at times, by more than our senses, but by revealing it to our spirits. I have been with various individual who were/are uncommunicative, and unresponsive to anything that I might say or do, but I stayed with them because I knew God cared for them deeply, and I prayed with them because I knew He was praying for them, and I even talked to/with them because I know the importance of this kind of communication.
It did not make me feel awkward, in a seemingly one sided dialogue, because in that connection there were three of us, God, the individual, and me, and I saw myself, as an servant of Him with these folks, and that humbling blessed me as I connected powerfully with them.
Your son is blessed to have you as a father, who is so open to hearing God speak into your heart.
Blessings,
Michael
Our daughter has Downs Syndrome and Autism. I remember God telling us through her aunty that though she may be intellectually disabled, she is not emotionally or spiritually disabled.
We have evidenced that is true as she often cries in church or gets up to dance – totally spirit led. Our church leaders have affirmed that they notice that she is ‘in tune’ with what the Holy Spirit is doing.
I have begun to play the bible on cd as she goes to sleep so that the word is being sewn into her spirit.
God loves the humble and I have no doubt that He loves to spend time with these ‘special’ ones. It is totally consistent with his character! 🙂
AMEN, Geraldine.
yes! we have friends with a severely handicapped 36 yr old son. he is in a wheelchair (brain damage at birth; also with cerebral palsy) and understands some of what goes on around him. he can show emotions but cannot speak other than to say an occasional sound when family talks about his grandfather. when in church, he would sit with a bible in his lap and would draw his finger across scripture as the pastor quoted it – not necessarily on the exact words but…….he spends much of his time shredding paper and magazines and listening to his radio. we’ve never been sure of how much he comprehends.
……once our pastor was telling the story of David and was going through the events leading up to Bathsheba. he was speaking of Bathsheba’s appearance, that David had stayed home from war, that David noticed her…..
…at this point our friend’s son (also named David – whose brother, by the way, is named Jonathan) began to squirm and in a loud voice that we could understand began to say…”uh-oh”…..”uh-oh”…….
and whenever the pastor prayed, our David lowered his head, closed his eyes and put his gnarled fingers on his forehead. his mom and i are certain that God consistently communicated with David in ways we could never imagine!
I believe Elihu gives the answer in Job 36:6-8…It is “the spirit in a man,
the breath of the Almight, that gives him understanding” :
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:
“I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.
7 I thought, ‘Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom.’
8 But it is the spirit in a man,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
I whole-heartedly agree. When I was growing up, a good family friend of ours had a severely disabled daughter. She was blind, deaf, and severely developmentally disabled. Cognitively, she functioned effectively at the level of a newborn.
There was no real way to share the Word with her (she had no form of communication that ever really worked), but they spoke the truth and brought her to church until she died. I have faith that God has better methods of working than we do.
Now they have adopted another daughter with Downs Syndrome. I remember that they had to have her interviewed when they wanted to have her receive communion with the rest of the church. The pastor asked her a few questions to try and probe whether or not she had an understanding of the Gospel enough to receive communion, to which she answered “I love Jesus, and he loves me, and He lives inside of my heart!”
God works in the hearts of his people.
Everyone’s human body is impaired to some degree by the fall. The Bible teaches we are three parts in one. Spirit(Everlasting), Soul(Mind, emotions, psyche), Body(Skin, bones, etc)
We know our bodies decay according to scripture and real life experience.
We know we are called to renew our minds (soul)
We also know Jesus said in John 3:6 that “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Therefore we know that at all times we live in a state that contains interactions on the physical and spiritual level.
So what is Spiritual affects the spiritual. To that effect we know that Jesus is the Word become flesh. Therefore all people are capable of responding to Jesus regardless of what their bodies are doing.
Hope I communicated that right while keeping it brief.
You are spot on and I encourage you to continue speaking Jesus’ Love to your son and all people at all times in all places.
Jesus’ Is With you!
I work with an 8 year old boy who has severe brain damage. To our knowledge he is unable to understand or comprehend anything. Recently his mom has been taking him to church. You should see this boy when the music starts playing and everyone starts singing. He gets so excited he starts laughing and moving around like crazy in his wheelchair. His mom has to take him out because he needs room to “dance.” He listens to a lot of music at home and to no other music does he ever get this excited, and I am a witness of that. I am convinced that he knows he has a God who made him special and loves him. The way he acts in church is just proof of how God makes himself known to those who we may not think have the ability to understand God. Who knows, they may know way more about the character and love of God than we do!
John, God is able and I believe more than willing to speak to those with cognitive disabilities. There are too many scriptures to count that indicate the wonderous and marvelous workings of God and that show us His heart — particularly to “the least of these” (who in God’s eyes are anything but “least”). As I read your blog I was convinced and excited to KNOW that God does a marvelous work in sharing His truth with people who face challenges, like your son. The Holy Spirit is not limited by ANYTHING but able to do all things. Frankly, when we meet your son in heaven, he may be our teacher because of
Bless you as you do the work that God has given you to do and as you are used by Him to minister to your son — among other things.
Debbie
More than anything put flesh on these words and BE the Word.to them. Love.
My brother-in-law is mentally handicapped. About 10 years ago, God did an amazing work of grace in both his and my mother-in-law’s life and raised both of them from the spiritual grave.
At first, I was a bit skeptical about his supposed conversion. I tested his understanding of the gospel and, as a result of his clear and doctrinally precise explanations of sin and substitution and repentance and faith (though he didn’t use the words), both my wife and I were humbled to the point of weeping and rejoicing and thanked God that, as you highlighted, He gave him hearing and understanding to receive the incorruptible word by which he was saved!
To this very day, he has an appetite for God’s word (even though he cannot read). He is an integral servant in our local church and embodies the sacrificial nature of service in the Body.
May the Lord give us grace to see the image and the handiwork of God even in those who are not like us (Ex. 4:11).
Hi John,
Don’t ever stop what you are doing. I will be 76 in March 2012, and if there is one lesson I have had to learn in life it is this.
For God nothing is impossible.
For God nothing is too hard.
His Word says so. That’s it.
For those situations that need it, I declare the above fact over them in my prayers.
I can relate to those children, I choked up as I read the blog.
I have had a strong dyslexia all my life.
The Lord caused a remedial teacher to cross my life path. She humbly showed me the Visual, Audio, Kinetic and Touch method when I was 36, and at age 52, I earned my Diploma in Theology, and now have a growing online ministry. I was able to study and recall by drawing little hieroglyphic like pictures for the text.
I don’t have a photographic memory, but I am able to reel off the little pictures in my head like a film.
Praise God Almighty.
Search for Father God’s wisdom in your particular situation.
May God empower and bless you all .
…somehow part of what I wrote went missing (perhaps it was in my head but my fingers failed to listen)…what I meant to say is that when we get to heaven your son may be our teacher because of the work of the Spirit in bringing your son understanding and insight into His truth.
I am a hospice chaplain. I know that you can see the application of this faith statement that God’s Word will not fail to accomplish what He sent it forth to do. All praise to Him!
I agree also. Our son has always gone with us to church. One time with fascilitated communication (supported typing) he told me that when our pastor told about it, he asked Jesus into his heart. How great is that to hear and we know he understands more than we think he does.
I have a son with autism and a son who has epilepsy with mental retardation (and another son with leukemia in remission – lots of growth occurring in our home!). My son with MR loves to sing the song “Open the eyes of my heart”. And he prays simple prayers like “Dear God, please help daddy” (only we can understand what he is saying). What a great prayer. It seems that he has figured out that his dad needs lots of help and that only God can help him! Who knows what is going on in there? God does.
I ask God that He will graciously help them to understand the Gospel. I want them to understand and know how good and gracious and glorious the Lord is and what a beautiful Savior Christ is — the words of this post have encouraged me to continue to press in.
He is God… He does all that He pleases!
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus!” ~ Phil 4:19
Thank you!
My cousin has severe autism and I would hold out the hope that God has revealed Himself to him. I think it may even be easier for him because he is more innocent than us…more childlike in a biblical sense. God reveals Himself to man not the other way around! Praise Him for His love!
Thank you for your post. I also agree with what people have been saying in their comments. I have just one thought to add and that is that God calls us to proclaim the excellencies of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (see 1Peter 2:9). For me, this is saying speak His Word and tell about the good things He has done for us and leave the results to the Holy Spirit and His goodness and wisdom. Thank you for your blog and have a blessed day.
Works for babies the same way. They don’t have the cognitive development of an adult yet, even though they have the potential. Point made is in your observation “that…the primary actor being God.”
Have no worries. We were all once dead in our sins. So spiritually speaking we all start on the same level in spite of our cognitive abilities and that is dead. God brings us who were dead to life through Christ whether we get it or not. Remember there are those who have high cognitive development who “never get it” so cognitive abilities never really play a role in it…only God.
Amen…the work of salvation is God’s work, and He gives us understanding. I absolutely believe that He opens the eyes and gives understanding to even those that are limited in their abilities! He is “Able”!!!
Absolutely. Even those who can cognitively grasp the Word sometimes don’t understand what they’re reading, but at some point later on in life, God fires the right synapse and boom! We find His Word has been at work in our spirit, in our subconscious. And at the right time we understand. I can’t see any objections to that same process working in cognitively disabled people.
through it all, we must believe that God’s Word is more powerful than we could ever concieve it to be..and will do that which it is set forth to accomplish!
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http://www.wayfaresquest-rsctt.blogspot.com
Excellent post. I do think we have a responsibility to present the Gospel using whatever means are most effective to children and adults with intellectual disabilities. I suspect that we’ll see some wonderful applications of the technology increasingly being used in schools to share the Bible with kids and adults with special needs. I also think that the role of parents/family as the primary faith trainers for kids with cognitive disabilities is especially important because of the understanding they develop as to the most effective strategies for communicating with their child…the church can help by including persons with cognitive disabilities in as much programming as appropriate and ensuring that resources are available so that the parents can grow in their faith and be resourced and supported in their role as primary faith trainers.
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[…] response from Tuesday’s post on teaching the Bible to our severely cognitively impaired family members has been […]
I am so excited to read this because my autistic son accepted Christ when he couldn’t even say more than a few words to anybody. He is now 21 and very close to the Lord!
My two children (now grown) do not struggle with cognitive disabilities. Yet my experience with them when they were very young bears witness to the truths you have expressed. I can see now the lasting impact of reading and singing to them, when they were very young and yet unable to “comprehend” the meaning of the words, at least in human terms. (Perhaps even before they were born!)
They can still recite or recall readily some things that I read to them even before they could speak. I watched as they grew, and my impression was that even the very good youth ministry of our church did not make such an impression, later, to their hardening teenage hearts.
I think that for a reason we do not fully understand, the more child-like we are in our minds, the more receptive we are to the things of God. Jesus was passionate that little children be allowed full access to Him. Our adult brains can manufacture too many excuses to resist the advance of our incomprehensible God.
Lev 21:17-23, Deut 23:1-2 Check up on those.
You’ve taken those completely out of context, Stan. And if you read the Leviticus passage more carefully, you’ll see a wonderful protection for priests with disabilities.
If you have a point to make on this subject, let’s see it.
I posted on earlier that I believe that Elihu gives the correct answer in the book of Job 36:6-8; ”It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding”. My 5 siblings and I were raised by a divorced mentally ill mother (schizophrenia). I have a stack of Mom’s mental health records with notes from different psychiatrists, over the years, expressing concern about her and what her children would grow up to be like. However, my Mom believed in God and the power of His Son, Jesus Christ. For years I hoped and prayed God would heal my mother. I was so disappointed each time she got up from the altar and she was not healed of her mental illness. I couldn’t understand why God never gave her a miracle. Each time she was the same. I’m now 55 and I finally see the miracle. The miracle is that 6 children were raised successfully by a mentally ill mother. None went to prison or turned out to be bad people. One was a Marine who fought in Vietnam and was honorably discharged; a good citizen; a good worker, husband and father till his death w/leukemia. Another was the picture of the virtuous woman who cared for her family until her death w/breast cancer. All of my Mom’s children turned out so much better than anyone could have hoped and 5 of them have professed Christianity (including me). My Mom now has many grandchildren and great grandchildren; some of them who have earned degrees and graduated w/honors, have sports achievements,some who own their own homes, have good careers, some married to engineers; 2 married to aerospace engineers. More important is that the majority of these are Christians who are actively involved in church and missions…Where is the miracle in this story? – My Mother, the daughter of a poor sharecropper; a woman w/a third grade education who has suffered severe mental illness, nevertheless, a woman who believes in Jesus Christ and who has always encouraged her children, “Trust in God”. Although my Mom was a disabled mother, the miracle is that God has been there all the time, protecting her and all of her family – – seeing us through because of a mentally ill woman’s faith in Him..This is the miracle! Where would my Mom, her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren be without the love & acceptance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Her faith in God overcame her disabilities and won victory against all odds.
Vicki,
This story and testimony of the Lord’s work in your mother’s life and the lives of you and your siblings and families is such a wonderful acknowledgment of His grace being sufficient and His power being made perfect in weakness! Thank you for sharing it. I have been encouraged greatly by it as I have struggled with an illness that effects my emotional and cogntive abilities when it flares-up.
Diana,
Thank you very much for your kind words! It touches my heart very much to know that you are encouraged by my testimony of God’s grace in the lives of my family! I know that God is forever gracious and full of mercy and that He is the answer to all of life’s hard questions and situations. He’s shown Himself faithful time and time again and I am persuaded that He is there and that He will continue to be there for you and yours. Always trust in God…Putting our trust in Him never fails…God is love and love never fails…,
[…] those with severe cognitive disabilities?” is a question that was asked in a weblog entitled “The Works of God.” I really appreciate this blog raising this question not because it necessarily is a question in my […]
You are so awesome! I don’t think I have read a single thing like this before. So good to find another person with some unique thoughts on this subject matter. Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!
Thanks for thee post