Garry spoke this morning at Cherry Tree Court about our value as people. In 2012, he was involved in a motorbike accident which resulted in the insurance company writing off his motorbike; in 2015, his car was also written off after another car misjudged a corner and hit him sideways on. On both occasions, he was not as quick to write the vehicles off as the insurance companies, but so often these days, it is seen as more cost effective to scrap the vehicles (or clothing or equipment) and start afresh than it is to repair.
We have a culture of abandoning things; gone are the days when clothes were patched and socks darned. Our culture is more ‘disposable’, but unfortunately, it is easy to treat people in the same way.
Abortion is seen as the way to rid society of ‘undesirables’, people with disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome (shockingly, 90% of those with Down’s Syndrome in the UK are aborted before birth), despite the fact that many people live profitable, happy, fulfilled lives with Down’s Syndrome. Disabilities affect many people, but so often, we treat people with disabilities as if they are stupid or worthless. The elderly are often similarly dismissed or overlooked, with euthanasia an option to ‘rid’ society of those who are deemed to have outlived their usefulness. Such attitudes are at odds with Jesus’s attitude and treatment of people.
In Jn 4, we see Jesus taking time out to converse with a woman whose background caused her to be shunned by others. Instead of writing her off, he wrote her into history. In Jn 5, we see him taking the time to heal a man who had been disabled for at least 38 years, because he values the write-offs. With God, no one is deemed useless or valueless; we are all loved and valued so much that Jesus died for us. We are not write-offs but are written in to God’s story and given a place of value in His kingdom.