July 3, 2025
Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day in the United States. It is intended to be a day where we celebrate the hard-won freedoms of our country and the hard-won foundations of democracy, equality, and justice for all. For all.
I will join the celebrations tomorrow, but in all honesty I’m not feeling celebratory at all about the state of our country, particularly the bill that is currently being debated by the House of Representatives. This bill is being referred to by our president as big and beautiful, but our Christian faith and Lutheran theology compel me to say the exact opposite: there is nothing beautiful about this bill.
The prophet Isaiah writes:
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the orphan. (Isaiah 10:1-2)
In Matthew 25, Jesus says, “I was sick and you took care of me.”
The bill that the current administration is proposing would eliminate health coverage for 12 million Americans. This is not fiscal prudence; it is a direct attack on the lives of the poor, elderly, disabled, and children. These are not faceless statistics; these are our neighbors, family members, parishioners, and loved ones. Jesus healed the sick without condition. His ministry was marked by compassion, not cost-cutting. Our health care system is far from perfect, but taking coverage away from millions does not move us toward justice; it plunges us deeper into injustice.
Lutheran theology is built on the understanding that faith is not about securing our personal salvation; God takes care of that. Faith is about living out Christ’s love in the world by serving our neighbors and advocating for a world where all have access to food, healthcare, shelter, and love. When we take care of our neighbors, we are being Christ to one another. When we deny care to our neighbors, we deny Christ himself. Our neighbor today is the refugee fleeing violence, the child in need of life-saving medical care, the elderly person in a rural community who depends on Medicaid to survive.
In our baptismal vows, we promise to “serve all people, following the example of Jesus,” and to “strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” These are not symbolic words, they are a call to action, a vision for faithful living. We must say no to Medicaid cuts. And we must say yes to a more compassionate, equitable, and Gospel-centered vision of society, one where the vulnerable are not discarded but embraced as Christ among us.
With you in prayer and in holy longing for our world to be healed,
Pastor Sarah
*My thanks to Bishop Kevin Strickland whose Facebook post I drew from in crafting this message.
Every Friday, we send an email to the congregation and any others who would like to learn more about the Grace community. The last four Friday emails are posted below.