“Scandals in Health Care”

A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
Health Awareness Sunday, June 10, 2007

Texts: I Kings 17:8-24, Luke 7:11-17

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In today’s scripture readings we have tales of two widows in distress. In the biblical world, widow is symbolic of the vulnerable, the powerless. In the first lesson, Elijah’s hostess is a widow who is also apparently the victim of famine. She has nothing in the kitchen but a “handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug.” When she shares her meager resources with Elijah, she finds them to be inexhaustible. But, as is so often the case with marginal people--people living paycheck to paycheck, or, even worse, no reliable source of income at all--disaster is always just around the corner. In this case, the widow’s son dies.

The widow and grieving mother in Luke’s story apparently has some standing in the community. As her only son’s body is being carried to the grave, it is accompanied by a large crowd. But in antiquity, the death of an only son was an economic disaster for any widow. She would have no legal inheritance, and would be reduced to charity. With no safety net—no health insurance no Medicare—the future is bleak for both of theses grieving woman.

The number of similarly situated people in our country today is staggering. The number of uninsured Americans is at an all time high. According to the Census Bureau, almost 47 million people—16% of the population—lacked basic medical coverage in 2005. Even worse for minorities—20% of African-Americans and 33% of Hispanics have no medical insurance.1 The Children’s Defense Fund reports nine million children are uninsured. Almost 90 percent of those children live in working households and a majority in two-parent families—still, no medical coverage.2

Of course, the basic myth in America—land of the free and home of the brave— is that no one is going without. Hospitals cannot turn anyone away, etc. But an exhaustive study commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that the uninsured receive less care and have worse outcomes following an accident or the onset of a new chronic condition than those with insurance.3

For the church, for the Christian majority in America, comes now the question, WWJD. What would Jesus do? More to the point of faith, What would the great physician have us do for the least of these our sisters and brothers? He who raised the dead, healed the sick, made the lame to walk and the blind see . . . . What would Jesus have us do with the extraordinary advances in medical science? What would Jesus have us do with our vast network of magnificent hospitals and clinics? What would Jesus have us do with our miracle drugs? How would Jesus use our skilled doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals?

I think Jesus demonstrates today the divine will: To the widow he says, “Do not weep.” To the son, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”

But, Mr. Preacher, what about the shortage? What about the shortage of money? What about shortage of medicine? The shortage of doctors? The limited number of beds?

In the words of Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggeman, The only genuine shortage we have, my sisters and brothers, is the shortage of will to share what God has provided. Jesus says, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise” (Lk 3.11). And, Jesus would likely add, whoever has virtually unlimited access to the advances of modern medical science, let him and her, let all of you . . . share. With the prophet Jeremiah, let the church cry aloud: “Why has the health of my poor people not been restored?” (8.22)

Now, scandalous as our inequitable distribution of medical care may be. . . . . Sinful as our selfish hoarding of medical benefits may be, there is to me an even greater scandal abroad in the land. And this one touches close to home. To this lover of ice cream, fried catfish and in-between-meal snacks, this preacher is about to go meddling.

The greater scandal, my friends, is the disregard we who have access to good medical care, who have access to abundant information on healthy lifestyles . . . . The greater scandal is our abuse of the benefits God has given us. God has given us food, and we over eat. God has given us good choices in the foods available to us, and we make bad decisions. God has given us leisure time, and we squander it by sitting on our “cans.” God has given us doctors to advise us, and we ignore their advice. We have medicine to take, we chose not to take it.

A healthy lifestyle is really very simple. A landmark study, the Health and Ways of Living Study, followed 7,000 people living in Alameda County, California, for almost 40 years. The conclusions of this enormous study support what other, shorter studies have found. Lifestyle habits can have a pronounced effect on our lives and the length of our lives. Persons following six of the seven key health practices lived longer, on the average 11 years longer for men and seven years longer for women, than those following fewer key health practices. What are these “magical” practices?

Eating regular meals (avoiding frequent snacking)
Eating breakfast regularly
Getting adequate sleep (seven - eight hours daily)
Maintaining a healthy weight
Not smoking
Limiting alcohol consumption
Participating regularly in physical activity

Do just six of the seven, and add 11 years for men, seven more years for women.4

Our sister denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has an excellent position paper on health issues. That paper includes this assessment:

Each of us has responsibility to be a good steward of his or her own health out of thankfulness for the gift of life and in order to serve God and the neighbor. This means taking effective steps to promote health and prevent illness and disease . . . . It means balancing responsibility for health with other responsibilities. It also means seeking care as needed, recognizing that disability, disease, and illness do occur, even to those who are good stewards of their health.5

To be sure, human life is finite. Despite all the advances of medical science, and no matter how careful we might be, we mortals remain vulnerable to sickness, injury, and death. And yet the divine will is made know to us in Holy Scripture: “No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime . . .,” says the prophet Isaiah (65:20). And the time is coming, says the prophet, when God, “. . .will swallow up death for ever
(and) will wipe away the tears from all faces . . .(25:7-8).

But we must do our part. This story from the Associated Press caught my attention recently:

Blood pressure rising around the globe
The numbers are a shock: Almost 1 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure,
and over half a billion more will harbor this silent killer by 2025.
It's not just a problem for the ever-fattening Western world.
Even in parts of Africa, high blood pressure is becoming common.
That translates into millions of deaths from heart disease alone.
Yet hypertension doesn't command the attention of, say, bird flu,
which so far has killed fewer than 200 people.6

So, I did some further research. I learned this from the American Heart Association:

Nearly one in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure,
but because there are no symptoms,
nearly one-third of these people don't know they have it.
In fact, many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke,
heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure.
This is why high blood pressure is often called the "silent killer."
The only way to tell if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked.7

Well now, that is something we can do. And it just so happens that today, Sunday, June 10th, has been declared Health Awareness Sunday in the PCUSA. In recognition of that, I’ve asked our health professionals to offer free blood pressure readings. Immediately following the service, they’ll be setting up shop in the Sunday school rooms on the first floor of the education building. All you have to do, is pass through the narthex and permit the ushers to direct you to one of the 10 or so stations that have been set up. You’ll be given a handout explaining the various BP ranges, and another describing risk factors for hypertension. This will only take a few minutes, and yes, I know, you just had a physical, you’re on good medication, which you take faithfully. You just had your blood pressure checked last week. I know, you’ll be embarrassed if its high. And you’ll be tempted to gloat if its nice and low.

Come on! Be a good sport. After all, we’re family. Let a sister or brother check your blood pressure. Some of these folks are a bit rusty in taking readings, and need a little practice. So let’s help them out.

Remember the words of the psalmist who today reminds us: “The Lord loves the righteous” (Ps. 146:8c).

Now to the One
who by the power at work within us
is able to do far more abundantly
than all we ask or imagine,
to God be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20, 21

1Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 29,2006, http://www.cbpp.org/8-29-06health.htm
2“Healthy Child Campaign,” Children’s Defense Fund, http://www.childrensdefense.org
3The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, March, 2007, http://www.kff.org
4“Get on the Road to Better Health,” National Health Ministries, PCUSA, http://www.pcusa.org/nationalhealth/healthinfo/lifestyle.htm
5“Caring for Health, Our Shared Endeavor,” http://www.elca.org
6“Blood Pressure Rising Around the Globe,” Associated Press, 05.15.07, http://www.washingtonpost.com
7“High Blood Pressure,” http://www.americanheart.org