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From
LifeDate - Winter 2003.
An Able God for Disabled People
by Rev.
Dr. James I. Lamb
Threats to the Disabled
 The
dictionary defines disabled as “deprived of capabilities.” Does being
deprived of certain capabilities take away meaning and purpose in our
lives or take away our right to life? Do people deprived of capabilities
ever reach a point where we should allow them to die or where we should
cause them to die? Is there a difference? The answer to this is
critical.
Blurring the Distinction: Allowing to Die
or Causing to Die?
“Once we have transgressed and blurred the line
between killing and allowing to die, it will be exceedingly difficult –
logic, law, and practice – to limit the license to kill. Once the
judgment is not about the worth of specific treatments but about the
worth of specific lives, our nursing homes and other institutions will
present us with countless candidates for elimination who would ‘be
better off dead.’” (Always to Care, Never to Kill: A Declaration on
Euthanasia from the Ramsey Colloquium as published in First Things
February 1992 pp. 45-47)
There is a distinction between allowing to die and
causing to die. We can and should allow dying people to die. This
decision should be made based on the worth of a particular treatment not
on the judged worth of the person. If a treatment has become a burden to
the person and is causing more harm than good or is only prolonging
death rather than sustaining life, it may be withdrawn.
It is quite a different matter to remove treatment
or care in order to cause the living to die. This is what is involved in
the Terri Schiavo case in Florida. Terri is not being kept alive by
extraordinary means. She is being kept alive by very ordinary means—food
and water—being administered by a small tube directly into her stomach.
Terri is not dying. The removal of her feeding tube will not allow her
to die. It will cause her to die. Her case received national attention,
but it is by no means an isolated case. Disability groups are rightly
concerned about the increased use of withdrawing treatment and care to
cause people who are disabled to die. When decisions about who lives and
who dies start being based on arbitrary standards, how can we possibly
draw lines?
An Able God
That is why, as Christians, we need to stick to
the basics of our theology about God and life. Luther’s Small Catechism
is pretty basic. Most Lutherans memorized those “O” words under the
First Commandment – God is “omniscient” (all-knowing) and “omnipresent”
(present everywhere) and “omnipotent” (all-powerful). It is this last
one that we want to apply here.
Paul talks of this all-powerful God in Ephesians
3:20. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to His power that is at work within us . . .” The
power of God, what God is able to do, is way, way beyond anything we
could even come close to imagining! It gets even more amazing. That
power is at work within us as His people! How do we know? The power of
God over sin assures us.
Able to Forgive
Sin disables us all. Sin deprives us of the
capability to love God and to love our neighbor, and it renders us
incapable of doing anything about it. Sin makes us more than comatose.
“You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
“But God . . .” Paul goes on, “made us alive with Christ” (vss. 4-5). This is
the assurance that God’s power is at work within the hearts of
believers. He cleansed us and made us worthy to be a dwelling place of
His power. This has powerful implications.
Able to Provide
God purchased and cleansed us through the blood of
His only Son. That means He is committed to provide for us. “He who did
not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not
also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
When we imagine the worst when things go wrong, God’s power is more than
we can imagine! He is able to provide the strength, perseverance, and
patience we need if someone we love or we ourselves become disabled like
Terri Schiavo.
Able to Give Value
God gives life value because God is the Giver of
life. “Do you question Me about my children, or give Me orders about the
work of My hands?” (Isaiah 45:11). When we imagine the worst about
life’s value, God’s power is more than we can imagine! God gave us life
and shaped us and formed us with His hands. He stretched out His hands
on a cross to purchase new life for us. Therein lies our value. The
effects of sin in the world and on our own bodies may diminish our
physical or mental capabilities but not our value. We can all become
disabled. We can never become devalued. The misshapen and strangely
colored paperweight presented by your first-grader has value because of
who gives it.
Terri Schiavo’s value is not in her ability to
think or speak or feed herself. It is not even in her supposed ability
to respond to family. Some say that is reflexive. It doesn’t matter. Her
value is in the fact that she is a living human being created by God and
for whom Jesus died.
Able to Give Purpose
As long as God gives life, God gives life purpose.
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’
declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). When we imagine the worst about life’s
purpose, God’s power is more than we can imagine! We limit the power of
God and try to control the thoughts of God when we think there can be no
purpose to a life like Terri Schiavo’s. Terri’s purpose for her life,
her dreams and hopes, came to an end when her brain was damaged. God’s
purpose for her life did not. He is still at work. He gives her life
meaning and purpose.
Able to Give Hope
Hope is not just something we feel. It is
something we are promised. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’
declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). When we imagine the worst
about our future, the power of God is more than we can imagine! The word
“future” here literally means “end.” The resurrection of Jesus has paved
the way for an end to all that sin has brought. For the believer it will
be a glorious end. The certainty of this future end is our present hope.
We live in that hope trusting in God’s timing for our end and knowing
that His power is at work within us.
Can being deprived of certain capabilities deprive
us of meaning and purpose? No. Does it deprive us of the right to life?
No. Can we allow people to die? Yes. Should we ever cause someone to
die? No. How can we be certain of such answers? Our Able God! |
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