God’s Privilege

health-careLiving in the Spirit
October 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-19

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’ –Luke 17:15-19

What do we take for granted? Much, I fear. The availability of health care is one thing we probably should not be taking for granted. In rural Oklahoma, the actual accessibility of health care is threatened. Three major rural hospitals have closed in the last year because of lack of funding. The debate of whether health care is a right or a privilege ends at the doors of a closed hospital forcing families to travels many more miles to have a baby or an appendectomy. Whether people can afford the health care they need is another issue to consider.

There are good, selfish reasons for assuring health care for all. Preventing people from dying in the streets of communicable disease would be one. Jesus modeled a different vision. The model includes wholeness for all of God’s children. Such wholeness is a necessity to the attainment of the kingdom Jesus champions.

Our scripture today illustrates the wisdom of seeing the world through objective eyes. A Samaritan was the one leper who knew his healing was a privilege and returned to give thanks for it. What we must understand is that God’s privileges are for everyone and we are not to take them for granted for ourselves at the expense of others.

Prayer: God of Justice, we confess it is very hard to see the world from your vantage. Help us to understand our role in making your model of life our reality. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.