Living in the Spirit
June 11, 2023
Scripture Reading:
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district. –Matthew 9:18-26
Jesus was a healer. He left us a heritage of caring for the sick and disabled. Like so many things in our society, we have taken a good thing, a very necessary thing if we are to thrive as a people, and turned it into a den of robbers*.
The United States has one of the highest costs of healthcare in the world. In 2021, U.S. healthcare spending reached $4.3 trillion, which averages to about $12,900 per person. By comparison, the average cost of healthcare per person in other wealthy countries is only about half as much**. US Health System Ranks Last Among High-Income Countries***. The high cost of our health care results from the layers of profit spread among its varied services.
We can, and we must do better.
Prayer: Lord, help us see better ways to provide health care to all and give us the courage to implement the changes necessary to improve that health care. Amen.
*Borrowed from Matthew 21:13
*** https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2784346
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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.