Health Care Reform

"Nothing has contributed to the progress of the superstition of the Christians as their charity to strangers...The Galileans provide not only for their own poor, but for ours as well."  
                                                                                            Julian the Apostate, Epistles 84

Well, son of a gun, they did it. On Sunday night, the House of Representatives passed the Health Care Reform  Act and the President signed it into law today. If you think this fight is over, think again. The reconciliation bill is on its way to the Senate (how the House can pass a Senate bill, send it to the President for signature, and then have the Senate vote on a reconciliation bill to fix the previous bill is beyond me. Seems bass ackwards, if you ask me. But, hey. What do I know from nothin'?) Republicans  hope to derail this legislation by sending the reconciliation bill back to the House for another vote. I think they're dreaming. Several states' attorneys generals have filed suit in federal court to block implementation of this law. This thing is going to be tied up in litigation for years. The only clear winners I can see in this entire mess are the lawyers.

What I have found most interesting during this year long debate (NOT the most interesting aspect, however) has been the rhetoric used by both sides of this issue. If you strip away the most objectionable speech, it seems to me that progressives and liberals believe opponents to health care reform do not care about the health and welfare of everyday, common American citizens. Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) epitomizes this attitude best. He's the one who stated that the Republican Health Care Plan to America was, "Don't get sick. And if you do get sick America, die quickly."

On the other hand, conservatives seem to believe that  liberals and progressives are intent on establishing a socialist economic system and spend and tax (which seems to be the historical order). Not to mention, conservatives believe that progressives and liberals seek a universal payer health care system and are determined to fund abortion on demand with taxpayer money. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) stated that freedom died a little bit on Sunday night. Representative Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) shouted "baby killer" during Representative Bart Stupak's (D-MI) floor speech  during the last hour of the debate.  On Monday, nobody remembered either Joe Wilson or what he said during the President's State of the Union speech.

If you thought the rhetoric on the floor of the House was abysmal, then I hope you haven't tuned into the cable news shows. Unabashed support or unflinching opposition have been offered by everyone who could get his or her face before a microphone. The day after afterglow or hangover, depending upon your perspective, was all the rage from Hannity, O'Reilly, Matthews, Olbermann (whose father passed away in the week before the House floor vote), Maddow, and others. And don't even get started looking at the internet. If you are a conservative, today was the day the four horsemen of the Apocalypse rode into town.

Civility in public discourse is dead. But no one has seriously asked the question, "What if they (choose a side) are fundamentally right in their criticism?" Perhaps it is too close to the vote and emotions are too strong to ask that question and answer it with anything approaching rationality. Perhaps the real implications of this law will come out during the litigation.

Someone made the comment to me that this particular bill was God's judgment against the United States, and we were doomed. Freedom is dead. I try not to take comments like this too seriously, but I have found myself wondering what if this is God's chastisement of the Church for not caring for the poor? I see a limited role for government in providing basic needs to its citizens. But, what about the role of the Church? I think that before we seek to remove the speck from the government's eye (or the Democrat's or Republican's eye) in this matter, we should examine our testimony to the country.

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;  and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;  I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."                                              Matthew 25:31-46

I have seen a lot of statements on the Internet from Christians proclaiming the sovereignty of God  (the passage of this bill is in the sovereignty of God, no?) and the expansion of the Kingdom of his Christ, the Lord Jesus. I have also seen a lot of comments from others that the President ought to read this and that Scripture. While all these statements are true, they are arrows that fly past the target. What do the Scriptures say about the role of the Church in caring for the poor? What examples do we have from the Reformers and their descendants in caring for the poor? What of the diaconal ministries of John Calvin, Thomas Chalmers, George Grant, and others?

We can sit back and lament the current and future state of our nation (quite frankly, I think it is going to get worse, much worse. Don't forget who holds most of our public debt. Oh, and  then there are those other guys who are busy enriching uranium in an underground facility.) and wait for Jesus to return, comforting ourselves in our indolence with Scripture. Or, we can quit ourselves like men, pleading with God to rule in the affairs of men and nations, prospering his people so that they may give sacrificially to the poor. We can adopt the mind of Jesus, who though he was rich, yet for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich.

Look, if Galilean Christians (Gee, I wonder how many seminary grads they had?) could so impress Julian the Apostate during his reign in the fourth century A.D. that he complained (in writing, no less) about the means by which the early Church grew, is it not possible for the present day Church, by God's grace, to do the same? Wow! Now wouldn't that be something?

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."                     Matthew 5:16

Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church, and the US Supreme Court

On Monday, March 8, 2010, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth District in Baltimore, Maryland. The Appeals Court had overturned a lower federal district court judgment in favor of Albert Snyder of York, Pennsylvania. Mr. York's son, Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder, was killed in the line of duty in Iraq on March 6, 2006. On March 10, 2006, Mr. Phelps, his two daughters, and four of his grandchildren protested at Lance Corporal Snyder's funeral in order to publicize their message of God's hatred for America because of its tolerance of homosexuality. Mr. Snyder successfully sued Mr. Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church, and others in US Federal District Court for invasion of privacy and causing emotional distress to the Snyder family; he was awarded $5 million. On appeal from Mr. Phelps, et. al., The Fourth US District Court reversed the judgment of the lower court, citing that the judgment contravenes the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The constitutional question raised here does not seem as clear as one might expect. The First Amendment of the Constitution is not universal. I do not have the right to shout, "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater. It was undisputed at trial that Mr. Phelps and others with him complied with local ordinances and police instructions while protesting at the church where the funeral was held. It was also established at trial that Mr. Snyder did not see the signs (God Hates You, Thank God for dead soldiers, God Hates the USA, among others) until he saw video footage later that day of the Phelps' protest at his son's funeral.

I am not a lawyer, and my interest in this case has nothing to do with a constitutional issue of First Amendment rights. I am more interested with Mr. Phelps and his perversion of the Gospel message.  As long as the Church remains silent in the public square, refusing to speak about the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and man's dangerous condition, the gospel of Fred Phelps IS the face of the Church. Do we really want Fred Phelps speaking for Christ and his Church? Would you hire Bernie Madoff to sell your retirement and  investment portfolio?

How we got to this point could be a book in itself. Society has told the Church for so long that biblical faith is a private matter belonging to the realm of ideas, and therefore unverifiable as truth. Since it is unverifiable, discussion of the biblical faith in the public square is irrelevant. In response, the Church has countered that the physical world, including man, is such a chaotic and screwed up state, that the best thing we can do is just wait for Jesus to return, and then sinful man will finally get his. As Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Mr. Phelps, said, "Her [America's] destruction is imminent, and it's going to be marvelous." Well, she is one person who has no comprehension of the severity of the judgment of God.

How different is the message of Fred from the message of Paul. Does anyone really think that Corinth or Rome in the time of Paul was a paragon of virtue? 

And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

1 Corinthians 9:20-23

When was the last time we thought of the lost, those who are without Christ and any hope in the world, as people who have to be won over? When did we begin to think of lost souls as a mere commodity that we could ignore at our convenience? When are we going to wake up and warn the lost to flee the wrath to come and flee to Jesus, who will never turn away a penitent sinner? 

Phelps reminds me of Simon the Pharisee in Luke7. You know the guy who loves little because he has been forgiven little.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee's house, and reclined at the table. And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty."When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

                           Luke 7:38-50 

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is marginalized and caricatured enough these days. Hardly a day goes by when one doesn't hear of a bit of mockery towards the Church. In fairness, sometimes it's because of the stupidity or sin of some church leader. But, when the Church sits back and acts disinterestedly, allowing men like Fred Phelps do their "branding" for them, our estate has reached an all time low. We need to change, and we need to change right now.

We do not need any new programs, classes, or seasons to get us moving in the right direction. What we do need is to pray, and to take an interest in our neighbor just as we would like him to take an interest in us. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Love one another as Jesus has loved you. Ask God to give you one opportunity each day to ask someone you know, "What difference does Jesus Christ make in your life?" Then listen carefully, very carefully.

Sound too simplistic? Well, come up with something better and let me know.