The Supreme Court’s decision regarding health care reform took me by surprise. I’m perplexed by Governor Scott’s announcement that his office plans to do nothing to expand Medicaid or set up an online insurance exchange for Floridians. It seems he’s hoping that the after the November election the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be repealed.

Mr. Scott and I don’t seem to agree about the proper role of government, but even a leader who believes in limited government, it seems to me, should plan ahead. I accept that our Governor is praying for repeal, just as I assume he’s praying for a mild hurricane season. The difference is, he’s urging us to be prepared for hurricanes. I don’t understand why Florida shouldn’t be prepared for health reform as well.

I made an informal poll of the counselors at our church’s regional summer camp when I was there last week. Almost all of them have health insurance as a result of the provisions of the health reform law that have already gone into effect. When they complained about “Obama Care,” I reminded them that they are already benefiting from “big government.”

That’s the way it usually works, isn’t it? “Judicial activism” means a decision I don’t like, and “big government” means benefits for someone other than me. It’s hard to justify that attitude amongst Christians, but there it is.

It seems the Golden Rule isn’t golden after all.

My wife and I have just returned from visiting her mother in Edinburgh, Scotland.  As my mother-in-law  approaches age 90 she faces a number of challenges that are common to the group we Americans call “seniors” and Brits tend to call “pensioners.”  Having seen firsthand the services available to older folks under the National Health Service, I am even more frustrated to come home to the mess that Americans have made of health care.

The “surgery” as it is called, for my mother-in-law’s family practice clinic is just a few blocks away from her home.  If she needs to go to the doctor, she can walk or ride a bus.  Buses are free to pensioners throughout the country.  There is no fee to pay when she gets to the surgery.  If she doesn’t feel up to trekking those few blocks – which can be a challenge in an Edinburgh winter (or summer, come to think if it) she can phone the surgery and guess what!

Yes, it’s true.  The doctor will come to her. Within a short time he or she will be ringing her doorbell.

When the United Kingdom was organizing its health service following World War II, a decision was made that is fundamental to the entire system:  Health care would free at the point of service.  Of course, the system is not perfect.  Doctor’s waiting rooms don’t look like the lobby of the New York Hilton and there are waiting lists for certain surgeries.  From what I have seen, however, poor people don’t have to use the emergency room to access a physician and parents don’t hesitate to get treatment for their children because they fear they won’t have money left to pay the rent.  It’s my impression that health care in Scotland, like golf, is both ubiquitous and remarkably democratic.

Who knows that the Supreme Court will decide about the 2010 Health Care Reform Law?  Perhaps the whole law will be struck down.  Perhaps portions will survive.  Perhaps the high court will surprise us by leaving the law intact.  The debate about health reform has not revealed the best side of America.  Loud voices have decried “socialized medicine” as though the very idea were demonic.  Many have shouted “Don’t touch my Medicare!” while ignoring the needs of their neighbors who don’t qualify for that humane government program.

What gets me is how few Christians have stood up to suggest that health care isn’t just about me and my personal freedom.  It’s about caring for my neighbor as well.  If my parents were alive, I’d rejoice in a health care system that delivers a physician on their doorstep when they need one – and does the same thing for every person of a certain age.

Say what you like about the evils of socialized medicine.  From what I’ve seen, it’s a lot more “Christian” that what we’ve got back here in the good old U.S.A.

I hope the readers of this blog will forgive this congregation-specific post.  On Pentecost Sunday five high school students, members of the Confirmation Class, will make their profession of faith and become confirmed members of the church I serve.

All of these young people have grown up in First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee – and it shows.  Their level of commitment and their ability to articulate their Christian faith is an expression of the nurture they have been receiving since they were babes in arms.  In an age when participation in the life of a congregation is no longer a priority for many families, it’s heartening to see how one congregation really does “grow” Christians.

Ours is a culture obsessed with “measurable objectives.”  The FCAT is only one example of how we dehumanize children and young people, turning them into products, rather than beloved individuals chosen and cherished by God.  Christian nurture is not about turning out cookie-cutter Christians who can recite creeds and catechisms and score high on standardized tests.  It’s about joining the Holy Spirit in a process of growth toward the Triune God.

To use Paul’s words, Christian education is about equipping the saints “. . . for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ  (Eph. 4:12-13).

I admit that I can become discouraged by the cultural shifts away from all things having to do with “organized religion.”  Instead of swimming against the stream, Christian parents seem to be allowing their households to be swept along by the current as soccer tournaments supersede worship, cheerleading practice replaces youth group, and discipleship ceases to be the first priority.

The congregation I serve doesn’t treat young people as second-class Christians.  We don’t assume the youth group will always do the “grunt work” that adults find burdensome.  We don’t have “Youth Sunday” when young people take leadership in worship for a single Sunday in the year, and we don’t assume that they are too young to be involved in many kinds of mission.  You never hear it said around here that “Youth are the future of the church.”  They are the present members of Christ’s body, the church.

If you had been a fly on the wall these past few weeks as the Confirmation Class has been meeting, you would have been have been encouraged.  I certainly am.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that we do some things well at First Church – and one of them is to bring up the children in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord” – provided, of course, their parents give us the opportunity.

It all comes down to choices.  The most important choice is the one God made to love us before any of us could love God back.

There are at least two Easters — the one we celebrate in church and the one that you don’t need to be Christian to appreciate.

Culturally speaking, Easter is a rite of spring marked by candy eggs, children’s games, and opportunities for merchants to sell us stuff we don’t really need.  Some Christians complain about the commercialization of Christmas.  Easter faces a similar fate.  I can’t do much about our culture’s tendency to reduce every religious conviction to a sound bite or a half-off sale, but I’d like to point out that there is a lot more to Easter than chocolate bunnies and honey-baked hams.

The other Easter has to do with a man named Jesus, a first-century rabbi who had a brief ministry in a far-flung corner of the Roman Empire which now includes Israel and the Palestinian territories.  You can read about Jesus in the four Gospels, where each writer gives his particular perspective on what Jesus said and did.

Jesus proclaimed the coming Kingdom (or Reign) of God.  That alone would probably not have gotten him into trouble, but he did more that preach about God’s reign.  He embodied it.  He did this by welcoming people who had been excluded from society, setting people free from diseases, reaching across racial and national boundaries, and re-defining what it means to love one’s neighbor.  Standing firmly in the line of Hebrew prophets before him, Jesus showed us what God’s love and justice require.  Jesus opened a window on the Kingdom of God.

But Jesus’ embodied message got him into jeopardy with both the religious and political authorities of his day.   He was condemned for blasphemy and sedition and executed on a cross – a death both humiliating and indescribably cruel.

And that should have been the end of the story.  Jesus was unceremoniously buried in a borrowed tomb and his demoralized followers huddled behind closed doors, fearing a similar demise.  Given what Jesus was up against, no reasonable person could have expected anything else.

But here’s where Easter comes in.  This isn’t the end of the story.  Jesus, who was dead, was raised.  Of course, I know how ridiculous that must sound to people these days.  His followers didn’t believe it at first, either.  But it’s true.  You can bet your life on it.

I’m very much aware that there are many people who don’t accept the Easter story as literal truth.  I accept that.  There are times when I have my own doubts.  I don’t think the truth of Jesus’ resurrection depends on my faithfulness, but on the faithfulness of God – the same God who called Jesus his “Beloved Son,” the same God who raised Jesus from the dead.

You don’t have to buy into the Easter story in order to join Christian believers in the work that Jesus started – and, we believe, continues to share with us.  You can help build a Habitat for Humanity house, or feed the hungry, or house the homeless, or grow food in a community garden, or join the struggle for fair wages in Florida’s tomato fields.  In Christian terms, you’ll be doing “Kingdom work,” and we’re glad to have the partnership.

I try not to hold a grudge against my neighbors who treat Easter as no more than a quaint myth or a commercial opportunity.  It’s hard, but I’m trying.  By the presence of the risen Christ, I am still a work in progress.

The Republican presidential primary keeps raising interesting questions regarding the role of religion in the body politic. At one point Mitt Romney’s Mormonism was suspect – and still is in the mind of many voters. Evangelical Christians are certainly correct when they suggest that Mormons are not orthodox Christians. Whether Christian orthodoxy should be a requirement for office is another question.

I have already mentioned Rick Santorum’s assessment that President Obama’s views on the environment are unbiblical .  More than one Roman Catholic commentator has since pointed out that concern for the environment is a mainstay of contemporary Catholic ethics – from the pope right down to the bishops in the United States. Apparently Mr. Santorum reads a Bible different from that read by the pope and the bishops.

Keeping the pot stirred, Mr. Santorum has also said that when he read President Kennedy’s speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association,  delivered in 1960, he found it so offensive that he wanted to vomit. The way Mr. Santorum reads the speech, Kennedy was saying that people of faith have no legitimate role in the public square.

That’s not quite what JFK said. Here’s a portion of the speech:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

It’s possible to read Kennedy’s speech as overstating his case. One might conclude that Kennedy was saying that religion should be a strictly private affair, unrelated to public policy. That seems to be Mr. Santorum’s take.  He wants to keep faith in the public square.  So do I.

But JFK’s speech doesn’t make me nauseous; it makes me proud.    Here’s what JFK said about religion as a private matter:

. . . I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation, or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.

When Kennedy said religion is “private” he meant that there should be no religious test for office and that office holders should not impose their religious beliefs upon others.  He didn’t say that religious convictions are irrelevant.

I would hope that a candidate whose faith tradition teaches that all people are equal in the sight of God would own that conviction and put it to work pursuing equality under the law.  Conversely, if a candidate’s faith tradition teaches that some people — gays and lesbians, for instance — are inferior in God’s eyes, the voters are entitled to know whether the candidate concurs and will act accordingly.

In 1778 American Presbyterians drew up some principles for church order. Those presbyters agreed . . .

That truth is in order to goodness; and the great touchstone of truth, its tendency to promote holiness, according to our Savior’s rule, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” And that no opinion can be either more pernicious or more absurd than that which brings truth and falsehood upon a level, and represents it as of no consequence what a man’s opinions are. On the contrary, we are persuaded that there is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Otherwise, it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it.  (Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church, USA)

Those old-fashioned Presbyterians were right.  Nothing is more absurd than the notion that it is of no consequence what a person’s opinions are. There should be no religious test for office.  On the other hand, opinions — including opinions influenced by religion — do matter.

I’m a big fan of my local Publix supermarkets. When our boys were little, they always managed to steer the shopping cart to the bakery section, where a free cookie awaited them. I’ve served on the boards of several non-profit agencies through the years, and I’ve seen how generous Publix employees and managers can be. I used to pick up food for homeless people from the boxes provided at local Publix stores. From my perspective, Publix has been a model corporate citizen

Also impressive is Publix’s commitment to offer Fair Trade coffee at its stores. As the label on Publix-brand coffee reads, “Fair trade is only fair.”

Having seen how generous and just Publix can be, I can’t understand why corporate headquarters is refusing to support the efforts of farm workers to secure a mere extra penny for pound for the tomatoes they pick and Publix buys. Even more baffling is the refusal of Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw even to sit down with farm workers and discuss their Campaign for Fair Food

For many years the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been working with Florida growers to adopt a code of conduct that ensures increased wages and workplace protections that have never before existed for agricultural workers. Last year 90% of Florida’s tomato growers signed the code agreement.

Under the new code, Florida’s 30,000 farmworkers will have mandatory access to shade and water, the right to report abuses without retaliation, a clock-in system to guarantee minimum wage payment for hours worked, the right to form health and safety committees in the fields, and the promise of zero-tolerance for forced labor and sexual harassment.

It took years to achieve this agreement with tomato farmers, but, as Publix says, “Fair is only fair.”

Even with these advances, the fact remains that wages for farmworkers have remained stagnant for decades. According to the Department of Labor, poverty among farmworkers is more than double that of all wage earners and salaried employees. Annual income for these workers ranges from $10,000 to $12,499 for physically demanding and dangerous work. In order to improve the lot of farmworkers, everyone in the supply chain, from growers to consumers, needs to step up.

That’s where Publix comes in. With revenues last year of $25.3 billion, not only is Publix the largest company in Florida, it’s amongst the largest buyers of tomatoes for resale. The farmworkers are asking Publix to do its fair share — by committing to buy only from farms that comply with the new industry code while moving purchases away from farms that violate it — and also by passing along to those who harvest tomatoes an additional penny per pound.

That’s all – a mere penny per pound. As a Publix customer, I’d be more than happy to pay an extra penny per pound for the tomatoes I buy at Publix, knowing that my neighbors in the fields would benefit. Just as I’m happy to pay more for fairly-traded coffee, I’d be happy to pay that extra penny for fairly-traded tomatoes.

My question is, “Why Fair Trade Coffee, but not Fair Trade Food?”

When I wrote Mr. Crenshaw about this, he responded by saying that Publix pays the “fair market price” for tomatoes. That’s what buyers used to say about coffee, too. The fact is, there are two market prices: the penny-per-pound extra to raise wages or the “fair market price” that keeps harvesters in poverty. I’m no economist, but I think Mr. Crenshaw’s response is less than forthright.

Interfaith Action of Southeast Florida is launching  a prayer campaign to support the Fast for Fair Food from March 6-10.  To break the fast on March 10 there will be a silent march to Publix headquarters in Lakeland.  I’m praying that the Faith Moves Mountains prayer campaign and the CIW’s fast will help to change the hearts and minds of the folks at Publix.

Here in the state capital, Tallahassee Interfaith Clergy will host a press conference on March 6 at noon in front of the Publix store at 2111 Capital Circle Northeast (in the Lowe’s shopping center).    We will share our Open Letter to Publix urging that Publix join Trader Joe’s and the other Florida supermarkets who have entered the Fair Food agreement.

The official Publix Guarantee is, “We will never knowingly disappoint you.” Here’s one loyal Publix customer who’s not only disappointed, but baffled by Pubix’s refusal to join this effort.  The Publix I know can do better.

I realize the task of a presidential primary candidate is to appeal the fringe until the nomination is secured, and then move to the middle for the general election.  Even allowing for the need to throw red meat to the choir, recent comments by Rick Santorum go well past the gray zone into demagoguery.

In a CBS interview Santorum accused President Obama of having a “theology” dismissed from the Bible.  He  said that the president believes in “some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology.”  Turns out he was referring to environmentalists who, he suggested, believe that human beings should serve the earth instead of God.  Mr. Santorum lumped the president in with these supposedly Godless ecophiles.

I’m grateful to progressive Mike Lux for calling Mr. Santorum’s bluff.  He wants to know if Mr. Santorum is referring to the Bible used by Christians and Jews, or perhaps some other bit of holy writ.

Card-carrying evangelical Christian Jim Wallis has been asking much the question for years.  Exactly what Bible is it that blames the poor for their poverty, heaps scorn upon immigrants, shows deference to rich, and urges followers of Jesus to oppose universal health care?  Certainly not the Bible the rest of us Christians read.  See Wallis’ book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and Left Doesn’t Get It. 

I wonder if Jim Wallis might want to revise his book title.  It seems to me that people like Mike Lux do get it.   Whoever is calling the shots in Mr. Santorum’s theology, I can’t find him in the Bible.  Must be the Jesus I never knew.

Surely this text appears in the Bible Mr. Santorum reads:  “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”  In my Bible, that’s Exodus 20:16 and, for good measure,  Deuteronomy 5:20.

Now, there’s a theology that is in the Bible.

Mike Lux

Co-founder and CEO, Progressive Strategies

On Sunday mornings I get to the church between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m.  Last Sunday around 9:00 a young man showed up.  He came into my study and began to pour his heart out.  He’d slept under a bridge the night before, he said.  He’d been staying with some friends, but they were all hooked on crack, and had kicked him out after taking all his belongings.  He had no family save for a 94-year-old grandfather who lived in Miami.  What was he to do?

Then he broke down in tears.

As a downtown pastor I get this kind of visit often.  Sometimes I am able to offer some help by way of referral to a local agency.  Sometimes I can give some small monetary gift.  Sometimes, but only rarely, I can buy a bus ticket.  And I can pray.

I know full well that all the stories I hear might not be true, but I do my best to listen.  I’m not a social worker or an ATM machine, but I am a Christian pastor.  Listening and praying is what I’m called to do.

After praying with him, I took the young man down to the kitchen and turned him over to Julia, our Sunday morning housekeeper. She gave him breakfast.  About 30 minutes later he came back to my study.  By this time I was needing to concentrate on worship preparation.  I explained that he was welcome to come to worship and to stay for the lunch that we host every Sunday for homeless people.

“I have a session meeting right after worship, but after that, we can talk.”  I had already checked the balance in the Minister’s Discretionary Fund and was prepared to buy the young man a bus ticket.

“I’ll wait for you,” he promised.

After the session meeting the young man was nowhere to be found.  I wasn’t really surprised, but I was disappointed.

In the afternoon I made some hospital visits and when I got home, I reached in my briefcase for my laptop computer. Of course you’ve already guessed: It wasn’t there.

About a year ago the Property Council installed security cameras in the Education Building. Along with other downtown churches and businesses, we had a rash of petty thefts and felt we needed to help the police figure out who the culprit might be.  I’d forgotten all about those cameras.

Sure enough, on Monday morning I pulled up the video footage for Sunday morning.  It shows the young man entering the church office (which wasn’t locked at the time) not wearing his jacket and coming out about five minutes later.  As he enters the camera’s frame, he’s putting on his jacket.  He looks around carefully and casually exits the Education  building.

The time is 10:45 a.m. Worship is just beginning in the sanctuary.

Apple computers have an app called “Find My I-Phone.”  It also works for Macbooks.  It allows the owner to locate a phone, Ipad, or laptop on a map.  A little circle shows on the screen shows the location of your device.  If you want, you can tell Apple to lock your hard drive or even wipe it clean as soon as it goes online.

With the app comes another option.  You can leave a message that will appear on your stolen laptop’s screen.  So far my purloined computer hasn’t gone online, but when it does it will become a very expensive brick that will be of no use to its new owner.  In addition, a message will appear.

O.K.  I’m not going to tell you what the message is.

My question is this: If this happened to you, what message would you leave?