Preacher Urges Hope, Peace

Joel Vander Molen guided his wheelchair to the front of Peoria Christian Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa, and introduced himself to people sitting in the pews for the Sunday service on Sept. 6, 2020.

Receiving air through an implanted ventilator, he took short breaths as he spoke, telling worshipers — for whom he had come to preach — a little about himself.

“I use my mouth to write, and I can type 30 words a minute,” said Vander Molen, who has quadriplegia as the result of a car accident that occurred when he was three years old.

“My wheelchair and I together weigh more than 500 pounds. I have muscle spasms, so if my arms and legs shake or move around while I’m preaching, don’t worry about it. It’s just part of me.”

Moving his eyes across people scattered in the sanctuary, Vander Molen mentioned that he had been working in web development for the past 20 years or so. But he has also branched out into ministry.

“In about 2004, I started speaking in a Christian grade school. I told them how to serve God with the different tools God has given us,” said Vander Molen. “In 2010, I began speaking to medical students at colleges about how to work with people who have difficult disabilities like I do.”

Then in 2017, after much prayer and encouragement from friends, Vander Molen went before his local classis, Classis Central Plains. And after being interviewed on the depth of his faith and commitment to Reformed doctrine, he received a license to preach in the CRC.

“Since then, I’ve been able to bring God’s Word to different congregations,” he said. Most of those congregations are in and around his hometown of Pella, although he and his family and his caregiver once made a 550-mile trip so that he could preach in a church where a friend pastors in Louisville, Ky.

Mark Stephenson, director of the CRC’s Office of Disability Concerns, said he knows of no other person with the challenges that Joel faces who has a license to preach. However, there are other preachers with disabilities who use wheelchairs.

Considering Joel’s persistence and his ministry, Stephenson said, he recalled a time several years ago when Classis Central Plains asked him to speak at one of their meetings. He asked Joel to accompany him and to speak.

When the classis organizers learned that Joel would be there, however, they changed the venue because Joel would not have been able to get into the building where the meeting was scheduled. Stephenson said that was a good lesson for him on the importance of accessibility, and it prompted him to consider how many people with disabilities do not serve on church councils, at classis meetings, and at synod — or as preachers — because they are not sure they will be able to participate. 

“While I admire Joel's persistence, taking responsibility for people to be able to serve as church leaders falls not just on the shoulders of the people with disabilities but on all of us,” said Stephenson.

Vander Molen began his sermon at Peoria CRC by preaching from 1 John 2: 15-17, about setting aside the desires of the flesh.

“The world is facing a lot of difficult problems, to say the least. We are in a time of uncertainty,” he said of the current pandemic. “Many people have suicidal tendencies. We don’t know what to expect. We don’t know how to have peace and love.”

In the early 2000s, Vander Molen finished two years of college in Des Moines, Iowa, and then spent time building his business of creating websites. But he eventually needed to return to his parents’ home in Pella. At home, he reads his Bible regularly, which helps to make him especially adept at coming up with passages on which to preach.

Quoting from 1 John 2:15, he said, “‘Do not love the world or anything in the world.’ We live in a world driven by possessions. We think life would be so much easier if we got a little higher price on our crops or a better car. We want a large bank account. But these desires can make us lose sight of God.”

Vander Molen then turned to James 4:1-3, which, he explained, refers to the tenth commandment and not coveting what your neighbor has.

“There are several items we commonly covet — our neighbor’s house, his wife, anything that belongs to our neighbor,” he said.

Then he pointed out the errors of prosperity preachers and false prophets, “who tell us what we want to hear about getting what we want.”

Some of these health and wealth preachers — those who give sermons about lives without difficulty and filled with abundance — are false prophets guided by greed, said Vander Molen.

“These preachers live as they want, flying around in private jets and driving in fancy cars,” he said. “Other false prophets claim the power of healing — saying they can heal cancer, heart diseases, [and other things] that are not visible to the eye. We don’t see many of them around right now during the pandemic.”

Vander Molen then focused on accepting our circumstances. He reminded his listeners of  Matthew 6:31-34, in which Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about what they will eat or drink or wear. 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Christ says in verses 33 and 34. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Despite the comfort of these words, Vander Molen said, we need to realize that deep anxiety and worry fill our world today, particularly since last January, when “we heard a little bit about this virus in China that might cause a little bit of a problem. Yet in a quick amount of time the whole world stopped.”

As COVID-19 rages among us, said Vander Molen, these are times “to be reminded what God gives us.” While we should try not to worry, he said, we still need to hold onto a practical faith. “Seeking the kingdom doesn’t mean you’ll have a loaf of bread or toilet paper dropped on your driveway.”

At the same time, he said, right now it is important to consider and embrace the message Paul offers in Philippians 4:2-13, in which we are advised to keep our eyes on God and cast our worries on the Lord.  In verses 6-7, Paul writes: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“Paul knew what it was to have hardships. . . . He also knew what it was to be in need and also hungry,” said Vander Molen. 
The preacher went on to quote other Scriptures, speaking about the arrest and release of Peter, the martyrdom of James, and then again the Ten Commandments.

“Are you a good person? Will you go to heaven when you die?” he then asked. “Everyone has a need of salvation and forgiveness of sins. . . . Have you lied? Stolen anything? The amount we’ve taken doesn’t matter.

Wrapping up his message, Vander Molen spoke of the hope that transcends all difficulties and comes by confessing our sins to God and embracing Christ in our hearts.

“During this time we may be suffering more than we ever imagined. But we don’t need to be pacing back and forth,” he said. “No matter what comes, we can be assured that God is in control and that we will receive peace from him — and for that we can give him glory.”