Tag Archives: Health Care

Healing the Sick

Kingdom Building

October 12, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. 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.’

Oklahoma was ranked 48th in United Health Foundation’s 2019 America’s Health Rankings Health of Women and Children Report.

Jesus was a healer. He understood to impact of good health on all aspects of a person’s life. Yet I live in a state, described to be part of the Bible belt, where health care outcomes trend downward.  Part of that trend is related to behavior, part to lack of health care services in city service deserts and in rural areas where some must drive many miles to find the nearest hospital to have a baby or treat an accident victim or provide immediate care for a stroke victim.

Some people cannot afford health care. Oklahoma chose not to participate in the Medicaid expansion part of the Affordable Care Act leaving many adults with low incomes without insurance. Even those who are lucky enough to have insurance or Medicare cannot afford the copays required. The cost of health care is unknown. Of course, that is impossible. What is charged for health care should be somehow related to the actual cost of health care, but it is not because the actual cost is not calculated. Drugs are priced at the highest rate for profit the market can bear. That might work for diamond rings, it does not work for insulin necessary to sustain life.

If we are to model our lives after Jesus, are we called to be healers too? If so, how do we do that in the modern world where lepers are no longer shunned in the streets. but many homeless people are? As followers of God we are called to do justice, there is no other area of advocacy more important than bringing the cost of health care down and increasing the number of people who can access it.

Prayer: Lord, help us become advocates for quality, affordable, accessible health care. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Healing

Kingdom Building

September 17, 2019

Is there no balm in Gilead?
   Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
   not been restored?

O that my head were a spring of water,
   and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
   for the slain of my poor people! –Jeremiah 8:22-9:1

I do not understand how our country has become overtaken by trite words and phrases that in no way describe the systemic problems we are called to address to assure the Common Good. We do not seem to want to dig past these surfaces and deal with the real problems threatening things like our health care. We treat them like Friday night football against our archrivals. I am a sports fan an enjoying cheering my favorite teams but that is a totally different situation from trying to address the Common Good. As a participant in a democracy we are called to take the time to determine what is best for the nation and each person who is a part of it. We all perceive the needs based on our own perspective. I know we see the issues. I see social media post, even TV pleas, asking for donations to pay for health care for special, heart rending cases, but they are just the tip of the iceberg.

We must learn to share our perspectives with others while hearing their ideas and find the common ground that makes sense to provide for the Common Good. Negotiations, compromise, and give and take are all required. We the people are responsible for what happens in our nation. I have recently seen videos where two opposing teams worked together to allow a player with handicapping conditions to know the joy of scoring. Our teens may have a better handle on the Common Good than the adults.

Truth is there are solutions to the problems we face. We certainly do not know all the answers; I am sure we do not even know all the problems. We do know some interventions that work. God equipped us with brains to search for and find other answers. What we lack is the will. What we lack is the willingness to see that greed is a primary roadblock to progress. There is a balm in Gilead there are physicians, people just cannot afford them.

Prayer: Lord, when you walked upon the earth you healed many people. Make us healers also. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Oneness Leads to Wholeness

Ordinary Time
February 3, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. –Mark 1:29-34

One thing about Mark, he begins his gospel with Christ’s ministry. Mark is believed to be the oldest gospel, perhaps getting just the facts down at the start was the most important reason for writing it. We must take him seriously when he describes Jesus’ care for the sick.  The gospels all illustrate this healing nature of Jesus’ ministry. He obviously felt that health care was a right, not a privilege.

We apparently do not believe that in this country although every other industrialized country does. We don’t want to assure the availability of health care even when it is in our best interest. People without routine health care end up in emergency rooms very sick where their care is much more expensive than early intervention or prevention care. Insurance costs are derived from the costs of providing care, so we eventually pay for the higher costs of emergency care in increased premiums. The alternative of turning the sick out into the streets to fend for themselves creates public health risks about which we do not even want to think.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? One of my favorites of Jesus’ sayings is Matthew 11:28-30:

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

We make life complicated by trying to figure out the best angle for our wellbeing. When we love others as we love ourselves, life becomes easier for all.

Prayer: Lord, heal our souls as well as our bodies and our minds. Makes us whole make us one. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Rights not Privilege

Living in the Spirit
August 4, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. –Mathew 14:13-14

I believe that affordable, accessible health care is a right, not a privilege and I think Jesus believed that too. He spread wholeness wherever he went both physical and mental to rich and poor and everyone in between. The provision of affordable, accessible health care in the USA is a major public policy debate today that began seriously with the Great Depression. What is government’s responsibility regarding the health and well-being of its people? Fifty-eight countries have some form of universal health care*; the USA does not.

The United States of America is a representative democracy that portends to be of the people, by the people, for the people according to Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address. The phrase, initially coined by John Wycliffe, is in the prolog of his 1384 translation of the Bible where he stated, “The Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People”** I did not know that until recently. I knew Lincoln said it; I did not know its origin. I think what Wycliffe means is that the Bible’s support of the love of neighbor can best find expression in a government of the People, by the People, and for the People. Some of our founders might have also made that connection.

I like Martin Luther King Jr. do not believe we can legislate morality, and that is not the purpose of a government designed by its citizens. The purpose of such government is to provide for the Common Good of all. Such government protects rights not privileges and allows its citizenry the right to free expression of religion.

Prayer: Lord, show us the way we can love our neighbors as we love ourselves through the mutuality of a government of the People, by the People, and for the people.Amen.

*Data from 2009 see at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_universal_health_care
**https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/who-coined-government-of-the-people-by-the-people-for-the-people/2017/03/31/12fc465a-0fd5-11e7-aa57-2ca1b05c41b8_story.html?utm_term=.aa50cc91249f

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.

The Great Physician

Living in the Spirit
July 17, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

‘Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’ –Matthew 13:18-23

It is amazing how many times I can read a scripture and suddenly see something new. Scripture opens to us when we most need it. I think that is particularly true as we pass through the differing ages and stages of life but it is also true in relation to what is happening in our world at a given time. The phrase that caught my attention today is the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart. Recently, I became disheartened by the mean spirited comments made about providing health care for all. A friend just quoted back to me something I said in the past and still believe today, “ Americans for all their short-sightedness, really do not want their city streets marred by sick and dying people begging for help.” Comments I am hearing and reading seem to indicate that I am wrong.

I believe that access to affordable basic health care is a right, not a privilege, which places health care in the Common Good category. We are all better off for many reasons when our society is healthy. I support Medicare for all as the best and most cost effective way of meeting this need.  For those who want a higher level of care and can afford it, supplemental insurance is available.

Health care policy notwithstanding, what is wrong with us, if we can so easily say, get a job if you want health care when the vast majority of non-disabled adults do work and when the health care they need may cost more than they make. I have also heard dying is more cost effective for some cancer patients and some disabled. Jesus healed the sick and commanded us to care for them also. It is a heart thing, and we need to understand that things of the heart must be protected from evil. There is an old song my mother used to sing; we might want to think on it now and then:

The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus.

Refrain:
Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessed Jesus*.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the gift of shared responsibility for the care of our loved ones, the loved ones of others, and particularly for those who seem to have no one who loves them. Amen.

*First verse and refrain of The Great Physician by William Hunter see at http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/The_Great_Physician/

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.

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.

Jesus, the Healer

the-raising-of-jairus-daughter-english-schoolLiving in the Spirit
June 27, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him. –Mark 5:21-24

Is the availability of accessible, affordable, and appropriate health care a right or a privilege? This is a very complicated question. Medical professionals deal with it on a daily bases as they make difficult, ethical decisions regarding the efficacy of health care and its cost. In Oklahoma state sponsored mental health care is rationed with the more critical cases getting highest priority. By not treating early onset conditions, either physical or mental, we are mostly likely contributing to conditions becoming worse requiring more costly interventions later. While there are some medical procedures that might be deemed unnecessary for the wellbeing of people, such as purely cosmetic surgery on a normally healthy and attractive person, I believe that basic health care is a right and thus falls under the definition of the common good for which governments have some responsibility.

The assurance of the provision of health care is more than charity or even compassion for I believe people are our most valuable resource. Created in the image of God, all people have been endowed with talents and skills necessary to make our society function as God envisions it. When we as a society fail to enable each person’s full potential, we are negatively impacting the full fruition of God’s kingdom.

The reports of Jesus’ ministry found in the gospels illustrate the level of importance he gave health care. Our scripture today tells of his healing both a small child, who would not have been considered of much value at that time, and an unclean woman, who sought his healing in the anonymity of touching the hem of his garment. His care and concern for the least of the people is surely a plumb line for our care of each other.

Prayer: O Great Physician, let your healing powers surge through us as we work toward all your children’s wholeness. 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.