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but here's what I said, basically:
I was watching "Sicko" recently. I hadn't seen it before, but, having worked in health care consumer advocacy, I know all the arguments, so was just kind of half watching while puttering around the house. But I sat down and started listening when they were interviewing a Canadian citizen, an elderly or late-middle aged gentleman, because, as I listened, I realized that he was describing Reformed Covenant Theology perfectly--the things we've been saying we believe for like 500 years, but not always living out very well.
When asked why Canadians have, and like, universal health care. He said that, in Canada, any politician not supportive of universal health care would be voted out of office. That alone made my ears perk up, but then he said more...he said it's the responsibility of those who have enough to take care of those who don't. He pointed out that they're members of the community, and it's just the right thing to do to care for them. To this gentleman, it seemed as obvious as the nose on your face that we are called to care for the poor.
I found myself thinking about all the arguments against universal, especially single-payer universal health care, which I fully support. The argument given is that the bureaucrats will muck things up so that you'll have to wait too long to get care. You'll have to wait too long. You realize, I hope, that what they're doing is trying to scare you...with the threat of death. You'll have to wait too long. Too long for what? Well, when we're talking about healthcare, the implication is that you'll die if you don't get it "on time". The health care industry, the insurance companies, the hospitals, the drug companies, all the entities that are afraid of what might happen if the poor are provided with health care are trying to hold a big gun to your head. "Keep the poor out of the system, or else!!".
I thought about that all week, as I studied the text for this morning. It's one we all know: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life". The healthcare industry and others want you to believe that, if we provide care for the poor, if we follow Jesus' admonition to care for the least of these, you'll die, tangled in the bureaucratic red tape that will surely ensue. We sit here in worship, believers, knowing a deeper truth.
The term "eternal life" isn't just about life after death. It's about being in touch with the eternal here and now. In the Gospel of John, the Greek term has an immediacy to it, a NOW feeling, that has nothing to do with waiting til after we die. It's about being so in touch with the deepest truths of the universe that we realize we have nothing to fear. Once we have this deep, mystical knowledge of the truth, we are freed to really tackle the hard work of building the kingdom Jesus calls us to, without worrying about the minor frets along the way: what "they" might think, whether we can afford to do this work, what might happen if we let everyone in. Once we take seriously the call to follow Jesus, those worries cease to be, and simply doing the right thing becomes central.
And doing the right thing means relieving the worries, the fears of everyone. We keep the poor out of our health care system, and subject them to the fear, even the threat, of death, due to our own fear of death. Surely, this is not the way to solve this problem. As Christians, we believe there is enough--enough grace, enough love, enough peace, enough food and shelter and healthcare for EVERYONE!! We must not let our fears cause us to hoard these things, and thereby increase the fear and need in others. There are whole systems in place telling us to do that, but we can stand up to them
We believe. We have life abundant and eternal. We have no reason to fear. So, we can be generous with everything else we have. We can look the forces of fear and death in the face, and know that they have no power. We can embrace life, and see that everyone--those different from ourselves, the poor, the 45 million Americans who'd like do see a doctor--everyone is able to do the same.
Some here will be offended by how Christian it is. But I'm a Christian. Whatcha gonna do?
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