A Christian Interpretation of the health care debate…

I wonder what side of the health care debate Jesus would be on? Generally speaking would Jesus be more inclined to be a socialist or a capitalist? Personally, I can’t see Him as being much of a capitalist. After all, he was homeless and spent all of his time selflessly serving others for free. Apparently, his disciples did take donations to be distributed among the poor, though. So, currently America has 30 million or so people that can’t afford health care. The majority of these people work full time jobs…but the costs are so high for health insurance/care that many small businesses and individuals just can’t cover the costs. What do you think Jesus would do, or what do you think Jesus would want you to do? Do you think He would want you to harshly judge/condemn those people who are not fortunate enough to work for a business that can afford to provide health care for their employees? Do you think Jesus would want you to turn a cold shoulder to the individuals and families that don’t garner a large enough wage to afford to buy their own coverage? And what about those people with pre-existing conditions? Do you think He would want you to just ignore their needs? The second commandment….love your neighbor as you love yourself….would seem to say ‘no’….Jesus would not want you to ignore their needs, and we absolutely know that Jesus would not want you to judge anyone harshly. Right?

Acts 2:44-45…All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Acts 4:32…All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

2 Corinthians 8:13-15…Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

1 John 3:17-18…If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Deuteronomy 15:7…If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

Proverbs 19:17 ¶ He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

Isaiah 58:5-7…Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?  "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Luke 18:22…When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Deuteronomy 15:10-11…Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

The trouble with the law…

…is you may forget about grace. Still, no matter what anyone tells you, though our ultimate destiny is not determined by keeping the law, we are still commanded to follow the law. Right? Remember what Jesus said?

Matthew 5:18…“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

Loving God and loving your neighbor is commanded.

Matthew 22: 36-40…"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

You might say that all the other commands are included in those two.

Romans 13:8-10…Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Jesus tells us that we are his disciples if we DO what he commands.

John 13:35…By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 15:14…You are my friends if you do what I command.

James speaks about faith without works being dead.

James 2: 14-17…What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The list goes on and on.

All that said, though, we must not forget that Jesus didn’t come only to teach. He also came to die, and He did so out of love and obedience. He did so to save us. Faith without works may be useless, but works of the law won’t save you (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus saves. He is that foundation we build on (1 Corinthians 3:11). Our obligation is to Him (1 Corinthians 6:20). As our Lord, we should want to please Him…we should want to follow His commands. If our life doesn’t in some way testify to our having a relationship with him, then it is quite likely that we fool ourselves and the truth is not in us. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).

In Jesus’ name…

It’s no magic formula. Just tacking on ‘in Jesus’ name’ to the end of a prayer does not insure anything. There’s more to it than that.  Some of the scriptures below not only include the origins of the catch phrase, but an explanation of what’s required of us as well. Notice the conditions for receiving what you ask for: Faith in Him. Asking in His Name. Obeying His commands. Remaining in Him and His words remaining in you.  Doing what pleases Him. Loving one another.  But don’t be fooled!  Though your faithfulness testifies to your love for, faith in, and commitment to Christ, you still have no power.  The reason that you ask ‘in His Name’, is because He is the one doing the miracle!  When someone is healed in Jesus’ Name, it’s a confirmation, it’s a sign to the witnesses, that Jesus is who GOD said He was.  After all, there is salvation in no other name under heaven.  It’s pretty important that people know that. 

John 14:12-15…I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 15:7-10…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

1 John 3:21-24…Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

James 4:3…When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Acts 3:1-16…One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.  Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.  Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!"  So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognised him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.  While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.  When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.  You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.  You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.  By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Acts 9:32-35…As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.  There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.  "Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and tidy up your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up.  All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

In the land of other people and things…

If Jesus pulled in right now, appeared right now, would you run right out to him…or would you be torn? Just imagine, Jesus is outside and waiting to take you away. What would you do? Would you just drop everything and run right out there, or would you be thinking about what you should grab to take with you? What about your stuff, your ‘cloak’, your wife, kids, dogs, cats, whatever? Would there be something inhibiting you from just running right out to Jesus? The question is, if you have those thoughts, are you really prepared for His coming, and if not, are you really fit for service in the kingdom of God? I don’t know the absolute answer to this. It seems to me that wanting to take your kids, wife, husband, ‘could’ be a show of love and how could love be a conflict with God? On the other hand, wanting to go back to get your ipod could point to a real problem.

Miracles

Matthew 17:24-27 ¶  After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?"  "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?"  "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him.  "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

I love that scripture.  I giggle when I imagine the collectors going with Peter to the lake, Peter catching a fish (the first one, mind you), opening it's mouth and pulling out the coin!  Can't you just picture the look on the collectors faces? 

Jesus did some amazing things (miracles).  Things that cannot be explained via the natural no matter how creative you attempt to get.  Miracles like walking on water (John 6:19), controlling the weather (Matthew 8:26), turning water into wine (John 2:7), raising the dead (John 11:43, Mark 5:35), giving sight to the blind (John 9:6), casting out demons (Matthew 17:18), feeding the five thousand (Matthew 14:15), etc, etc, etc. 

Jesus is Lord.