Is The Church Handicapped Accessible?

            As the Lord begins His ministry, He enters a synagogue, opens the scripture, and reads from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) He then proceeds to tell those present that He was here to fulfill what Isaiah wrote.  And then, in Matthew, just before Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount, we read in chapter 4:23-24, that “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.  News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” (Italics added for emphasis)
            Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that Jesus places a very high priority on ministering to the disabled.  Which brings me to my original question: Is the church handicapped accessible?  And, I’m not talking about ramps and higher toilets with hand-bars on the walls.  Do we place as high a priority on the disabled as the Lord we propose to emulate?  When did you last take the time to visit a shut-in?  I put the church to the test in one small area of the country, by emailing a dozen churches asking if they had anyone who visits the disabled.  Out of these twelve churches I received one response.  Maybe I should be encouraged.  I mean, that’s a higher percentage than the average contribution for we Christians.  Maybe I’m being a little hard on the church.  After all, we are busy people, with little time left over after work and family.  But, I’m not going to let us get off that easy.  Reliable studies have demonstrated that we spend a significant amount of time in front of that box that projects different colors of light into our living rooms, not to mention the internet and other leisure activities.
            It really wouldn’t take that much.  If just a few families in each church would commit an hour a week to one or two disabled people we would probably reach most, if not all, of the disabled in our communities.  That still wouldn’t be as high a priority as Jesus gave this ministry, but it would be a good start!  Think about it.  Most of our shut-ins are people who are not all that different as the rest of us, they just have a physical disability that prevents them from going out.  Can you imagine spending day after day with no conversation?  Even most of those in our prisons have daily conversation.  Our disabled often lead very lonely lives, and it isn’t out of choice.  They aren’t incarcerated because of some wrong they have done.  They aren’t being punished.  They are simply unable to get out on their own.  You could make someone’s entire week with just an hour of conversation.  Furthermore, you would find that the blessings you receive from having shared yourself with one of these in need would exceed multiple hours of television, internet, or any other sort of entertainment.  Try it!  You’ll like it!