My good friend and associate pastor, Nathan Parker, and I have the great privilege of periodically leading communion services for residents at a local nursing home here in Seymour. Pastor Nathan leads a few hymns, which the attending residents sing with gusto, I present a short devotional message from the Bible, and we celebrate communion together. Following the service, we normally hang around for a good while and talk to the residents. One man attends every time and always engages us in the same conversation. He continually challenges me to write an article about what he calls “God’s forgotten children.”
According to this dear man, “God’s forgotten children” are all of the people of the world with various emotional and cognitive disabilities or limitations. He, like many others, wonders why God doesn’t intervene and heal them. Jesus often healed crowds of sick men, women, and children who were struggling with all manner of illnesses and disabilities, including bringing the dead back to life. Following His own resurrection and ascension, members of the early church also healed people as they traveled around and preached the good news of the gospel. The Bible clearly indicates that God is capable of such action. So, my friend asks: If God can heal these children and alleviate their suffering, why doesn’t He? Has God forgotten them?
Perhaps the issue at hand is not the inattention and inactivity of God, but the indifference of His people.
These are questions that have confronted me both early and often throughout my time and ministry. They are questions I myself ask. And, in all honesty, I don’t have a lot of great answers. I believe God does not make any mistakes. The Bible teaches that every man, woman, and child ever created was intentionally “knit together” by God with purpose and immense potential. The Bible also teaches that our suffering and struggles aren’t wasted, that our areas of weakness are opportunities where God’s grace can most perfectly be experienced and displayed. God has no forgotten children. Perhaps the issue at hand is not the inattention and inactivity of God, but the indifference of His people. God has not forgotten any of His children, but God’s children do often forget.
Over and over again in the Bible, we are told that those who confess Jesus as Lord are to serve as His witnesses, ambassadors, and His very body. As Jesus Himself noted, “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.” As God-ordained representatives of Jesus, we are to serve as conduits of His grace, compassion, and love. As Jesus said in Matthew 25, we should be feeding the hungry, befriending the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned. While we may not be able to heal every illness, restore every disability, or alleviate all suffering, we can and must do a better job of seeing those who are struggling and seeking to carry the grace and compassion of Christ to them.
It is not God who had failed. It is not God who had forgotten. It is we, the body of Christ, who had lost sight of our calling to love neighbor as self.
While the conversation with my friend normally focuses on children, it shifted slightly in our most recent interaction. It began as usual, but as it continued it expanded to include the elderly who reside in nursing homes. As we pressed ahead, my friend confessed that he himself, along with many other residents who are struggling physically, mentally, and emotionally, feel forgotten. It cut me to the heart. It is not God who had failed. It is not God who had forgotten. It is we, the body of Christ, who had lost sight of our calling to love neighbor as self.
The words of Teresa of Avila once again come to mind: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” His compassion, goodness, and blessing are to flow through us. We are to be conduits of His grace, taking light and hope to a world in need. We must remember those who feel forgotten. We may not be able to solve their struggle, but we can join them in it and let them know they are not alone and help them experience the love of God through our presence.
I enjoyed this, as a child our church went once a month on Sunday afternoon we had an old fashioned hymn sign everyone enjoyed it.