{"id":1555,"date":"2012-07-05T09:50:52","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T13:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/?p=1555"},"modified":"2012-07-05T10:39:58","modified_gmt":"2012-07-05T14:39:58","slug":"no-priority-like-health-no-place-like-home-mark-61-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/07\/no-priority-like-health-no-place-like-home-mark-61-13.html","title":{"rendered":"No Priority Like Health, No Place Like Home: Mark 6:1-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder<\/a><\/p>\n

The reports are stunning! Due to the financial fiasco of 2008 the average wealth of persons in the middle class has dropped over $40,000. It took four years for a generation of wealth to evaporate. It will surely take more time than this to regain these funds. What is just as appalling is the reminder that this decline was due to bad mortgage lending. Greedy lenders and dare I say some greedy borrowers (with too little money) signed for too much…house. <\/p>\n

Watch the Video: <\/strong> A Prophet Without Honor<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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What once was a source of pride and security, within less than five years has become a credit albatross and place of desolation. A house used to mean safety and monetary gain. It meant that we were on the path to some degree of prosperity. Just recently we were admonished that this path has taken a turn for the worse. The road is now replete with fiscal thorns and subprime lending rocks. So many have lost their houses. So many in our nation do not have a place to call \u201chome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This idea of \u201chomelessness\u201d not only affects persons caught in the circuitous mortgage-lending web, but it is relevant to our military personnel. Women and men from all branches are now routinely returning from Iraq only to find that there is really no home in which to lie down. It is not uncommon to hear stories of veterans who are having difficulty finding jobs and making ends meet. They risked their lives to secure the home front of these United States. Yet, these soldiers are rewarded with hard knocks and hard times pertaining to their own home stability. Do they have somewhere they can call \u201chome\u201d?<\/p>\n

This is a season of transition and \u201cmeanwhile\u201d living. College students who had become so accustomed to the confines of dorms are now transitioning. Career moves will take some graduates to places where they will acquire their first homes. Whether it is a one room on the Eastside or an apartment in the local square, it will be their residence. It will be their home.<\/p>\n

On the other side, more and more university students will go back to their hometown. No job offers and no desire for or acceptance into graduate schools leave many with one option—-going back to momma and daddy. While such accommodations provide a degree of physical security, life back at the ranch can create emotional turmoil. What was once familiar is now foreign. Acquaintances who were once a guy\u2019s \u201cboys,\u201d a female\u2019s \u201cgirlfriends,\u201d one\u2019s \u201croad-dogs,\u201d now seem like strangers at best. The places the pre-college student used to frequent are not as appealing. Did the town change? Did the people change? Perchance college has indeed changed that student. It is as if there is widespread xenophobia in a place that an individual knows. Is this what it means to be \u201chome\u201d?<\/p>\n

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A Biblical Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the gospel\u2019s penultimate Sabbath story, Mark records Jesus attending the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth (6:1-6). Jesus is teaching, and people are astounded. What he says not only amazes them, but the \u201cdeeds of power by his hand\u201d are just as stunning (v. 2). Yet, Jesus endures verbal abuse. This is not a result of his healing someone, but it is because of who he is. At issue is not the identity of Jesus as \u201cSon of Man\u201d or \u201cLord of the Sabbath.\u201d What is problematic is his family. Jesus\u2019 biological family and their lack of status cause trouble. Jesus is too plain, too ordinary. While elsewhere he is the healer, the restorer, at home he is just a carpenter. The same hands that touched Simon\u2019s mother-in-law and cooled her fever in Capernaum are the same hands used for merely maneuvering wood and tools at home, with a few exceptions. Jesus is no big shot in Nazareth. Jesus is just a guy at \u201chome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mark avers that Jesus is amazed at the unbelief of his neighbors (v. 6). However, Jesus does not disregard this reaction. He does not engage in a game of \u201chater-ation.\u201d He acknowledges the dis-ease he causes the hometown crowd. Jesus acquiesces and admits that honor comes from everyone and from everywhere except from where one would expect it, from one\u2019s own people (v. 5).<\/p>\n

On the contrary Jesus does not allow the absence of a welcome home parade to stop him. Instead of discontinuing his deeds of power, he pays it forward. Jesus calls the twelve and gives them the authority to do what he has done (vss. 7,12). They are now to cure the possessed and heal the sick. Dare I say Jesus enacts his own Affordable Care Act? I said, \u201cDare, I say…\u201d Jesus uses this moment of cognitive and social dissonance to empower others to seek the health and welfare of people in his community. Whereas, the people who knew Jesus the best appreciated him the least, his pain became the impetus for enabling the disciples to seek the greater good, the greater health good. No, I am by no means comparing Obama to Jesus. Trust me! I know better!<\/p>\n

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Home Is Where Healthcare Is?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After six months of anticipation, there is now a ruling. The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as \u201cObamacare,\u201d is constitutionally legal. The President\u2019s efforts to ensure healthcare for over 30 million uninsured have a legitimate stamp of approval. Because the government has the right to tax, Obamacare\u2019s measures are indeed permissible. The President promised to make healthcare a priority during his first campaign, and he did. There is no political promise like prioritizing citizen health and well being. In this home we call the United States of America, we now live under a federal mandate to purchase health insurance. Love it or leave it.<\/p>\n

The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz say it best, \u201cThere\u2019s no place like home.\u201d Mortgage deals gone amok, lack of respect for military sacrifice, post-college hometown challenges, and now coercion and perhaps penalties for refusing health insurance. Yet, there is no place like these United States. Whether we loathe or cheer the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, our national home is a place rooted in hierarchal checks and balances. As even depicted in the biblical texts, home is not a place absent of drama or disagreement. No matter how a person defines \u201chome.\u201d No matter our race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, political ideology or health status. We all need a home; we all long for home. There is no place like home!<\/p>\n

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By Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder The reports are stunning! Due to the financial fiasco of 2008 the average wealth of persons in the middle class has dropped over $40,000. It took four years for a generation of wealth to evaporate. It will surely take more time than this to regain these funds. 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