Poverty and The Power Surge

Part of being pastor, in fact part of being a follower of Christ, is seeking to feel the pulse of the community that is beloved by God. The Gospel is making each one of us more relevant to the communities in which we live. The gospel is transforming, good news that matters to the left-out and the left-down, and it is calling each of us to make a difference. When Christ is aware of the suffering that is pressed upon the people in the margins, Christ brings healing. Would the body of Christ in our time, the church, be held to a lower standard?

Luke 13:10-17

Common English Bible (CEB)

Healing on a Sabbath

¹⁰ Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight. ¹² When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.” ¹³ He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God.

¹⁴ The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, “There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵ The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink? ¹⁶  Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing.

I was in Jack in the Box Wednesday morning waiting for my appointed meeting time with one of us when I was engaged in an eye opening conversation.  A disabled vet from the Vietnam era came to the counter in a wheel chair; his legs were amputated as a result of diabetes. (Just a note, this condition is very common in poor communities) He knew the teller at the restaurant who was a retirement aged Euro-American woman. The question was, “how is this new healthcare system going to hit you?” Her answer was more than disappointing.  She recalled that her period of unemployment had finally found relief and that she was happy to be off of the unemployment rolls. It was exceptionally hard for a woman her age to secure a job.  Unfortunately, she was about to file unemployment again. The corporation that she was working for realized that full time employees would require health coverage. In response, they were turning a large percentage of their positions into part- time positions. As a result she would need unemployment benefits until she could secure a second job that held together body and soul.

Who is keeping the poor and the infirmed bound? I wonder to myself. We complain that governments never doing anything to help us. When they do, are we supporting obstacles that bind us up into cycles of scarcity and need? Are we part of a system that sustains and/or creates poverty? Do I need my burger to be so cheap that corporations are justified in creating a margin that artificially inflates poverty?

The power surge is not limited to corporations – in many cases the governmental systems are contributing to the injustices at the margin. Here is the news. “In 36 mostly red states, HHS will be enrolling people via online applications at healthcare.gov because (some) local Republicans have refused to set up state-run exchanges. For these states and their largest cities, HHS listed premiums and subsidies called a tax credit. The credits go directly to insurers monthly; they are not refunded in a lump sum after filing one’s yearly taxes. (Rosenfeld, 2013)” I understand that the argument about whether Affordable Health Care is a benefit is not over, but it seems that proving the point is a tug of war in which the poorest among us are the rope.

Lower to moderate income households are well cared for in theory.” The subsidies would be given to households earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2013, that’s individuals making $11,490 to $46,000; two-person families earning between $19,530 and $78,120; and four-person families making between $23,550 and $94,200. These thresholds are revised yearly by the government. (Rosenfeld, 2013)” This looks promising, but the biting truth is that we are still creating cracks through which the poorest among us will slip.

Here is an obvious shortfall.  “There is one big exception to this rosy scenario that will unfairly impact an estimated 5.5 million truly poor people, thanks to (some) Republican governors and the U.S. Supreme Court. Obamacare expanded Medicaid’s eligibility to all people whose incomes were under the federal poverty line. (Medicaid is the state-run program for the poor and people with disabilities.) The Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion when it upheld the law. Twenty-two red states have done so, according to the Urban Institute. As a result, there’s a coverage gap in these states because people’s sub-poverty line incomes are still too high to qualify for Medicaid, but not high enough to trigger the tax credits to help them buy policies in the Obamacare marketplaces. (Rosenfeld, 2013)”

 Are we really willing to allow this argument to take place on these particular theaters of conflict? The poorest among us – those struggling at the very edge of economic health, those whose capabilities, or social locations, or arbitrary circumstances have pushed them into an eddy of financial stress, are being bound and we might be tempted to blame the system and let it continue. What’s your reading? Would Jesus, the one we follow, buck the system and set the suffering free? Shouldn’t left-down and left-out be a temporary condition on the kin_dom of God? Sometimes those in the gathering place are protecting their assets more than caring for the sick. Jesus finds it necessary to challenge this. Do we?

Mind the Gap

Through grateful eyes, the world is a brand new place.  Just the fact that I was in London made me aware of the great gifts that I have had access to in this life, the great people that God has put in my path, and the great challenges that give me purpose. If you are reading this, you should know that when I am thanking God, I am thanking God for you in my life.  I also feel fortunate that among the necessities that I packed for the trip, I packed my gratitude. This helped me to have an amazing experience and to experience all that was before me in light of who I am and whose I am.

The first six days was an introduction to the international varieties of protestant, religious expression. I met people from Sweden, Africa, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, & I went all the way to England to meet some of my colleagues from here in California. I talked to people that served state run churches and learned there were churches with 9000 members and 60 in attendance on Sunday, pastors could be in charge of issuing social security numbers, and  eliminating the money problem does not eliminate the stresses of ministry. We explored the process that others have been using to create new places for new people and learned that God is already at work outside the walls of our churches, it is exciting to engage a community where God is making new paths, and it is a blessing to have leadership in the church and the conference that intentionally remove obstacles to creating fresh expressions for experiencing God. I remember each day being thankful for my place in the world, the church I serve, and the opportunities. 

In contrast to this intense learning experience was the serenity that surrounded me. Cambridge was built on the river Cam. I bet one of the first structures was a bridge; hence Cam bridge. The community still had structures from the 11^th century.  Colleges were built along the river starting in the 15^th century with “chapels” that would rival any cathedral in the United States. I was able to walk through the community at dusk; feeling like I was alone in a giant museum. I was able to kayak up river and see the hills and plains that were the original landscape thousands of years ago. I was able to bask daily in sunny weather that was rare to the area; even la

y in a putting boat while being slowly guided on the historic tour of the village. Thriving – no word says it better. Even though this was a place of tremendous conflict in Saxon time, even though this was a base for Oliver Cromwell to lay waste to the structures of religion, even though fires and disasters ravage this village time and again the landscape was awash in splendor. Sure we were there to discuss the cutting edge of the struggle for religion to find an expression that is relevant to the time and we were surrounded by evidence that God had been down this road before. A faithful God that has not failed to reinvent, reimagine & revitalize is clearly at work.

Phase two of the trip was the country mouse tourist wandering the busy streets and tubes of London. Some of my colleagues commented that part of the fun they were having in London was watching my face show the joy and awe that overwhelmed me daily. I was in a perpetual gasp as I experienced giant gilded monuments and buildings, ancient castles, bridges that glowed in the setting sun, beautiful skylines day and night, food and people of unending variety, and the access to the life of theatre on London’s “West End”. I celebrate that I always had colleagues and friends with whom I’ve shared these experiences. I was able to see a play called “Once”. This play won nine Tony awards and it was the best live musical performance that I have ever seen. I laughed constantly at Monty Python’s “Spamalot”. This place is amazing. Walk past five groups of people and you’re liable to hear five different languages. We ate food from a new part of the world at every meal. There was a wonderful person named Sybille from Germany who had connection to Glide Church  in San Francisco, even though she lives in London (small world, right). We met because the pastor of Glide, Rev. Theon Johnson, was with us. She offered to guide our group through London for several days. What a gift! She knew just how to make our experience of London rich and full.

Yet another contrast existed on this trip. This was the first time that I have been outside of the country on the anniversary of 9/11. The world seemed to be on the verge of war once again as tensions mounted in Syria. Broken people and broken communities erupted in violence in the Washington Navy yard. Protesters drummed in the streets of London to bring awareness to the extrajudicial killings in India coupled with tyrannical injustice. We were experiencing and enjoying splendor while so many suffered violently in the world around us.

A museum in London had an eye opening display. Its goal was to demonstrate a progression of the stages of living in community as mid-class members of society in London from 3000bce to the present. The early societies would dig home foundations in the dirt. These foundations were organized in a circle. The circle would create community, protection, and sharing of resources for survival. If the community thrived it grew; and when it grew the community would set up again with a wider circle. The Bronze Age brought tools and of course weapons. One of the earliest findings in London’s “civilization” record was a stockpile of bronze tools. Is the hoarding and piling of resources a sign? Later communities would have craftsman and craftsman would take apprentices. The apprentices would live as members of the family in the household. Once the crafts started to create wealth, households began to separate. Servants and apprentices would live on the bottom floor, while the family would live and eat separately on the floors above. Is wealth always a wedge? Then came the Victorian time, it seemed like instead of the circle growing wider, the gap between those who had and those without grew cavernous. 

 

At least a hundred times a day we were reminded to” mind the gap”. “Mind the gap” was on T-shirts, road signs, and spoken words of caution in London’s tube system. “Mind the Gap” was what London veterans said to me as I prepared to go. So far, the most common question that I get about the trip is “did you ‘Mind the gap’?”. I am not sure that what I saw in this museum was the civilizing of London. I certainly appreciate how the early settlers grew the circle wider. They did not seem to have much of a gap to mind. Is there a gap between our struggles and God’s struggles? Is there a gap between people who share a common community, a common space, a common time, and a common creator? Is there a gap that we are not minding? Are there signs for caution and awareness? Food for action.

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