Social Determinants of Faith

Prayer of Illumination

Oh, Holy God, we give thanks to Jesus, the great physician who heals us of body, mind, and soul. May the Holy Spirit show us how Jesus is working in us today. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you, O LORD. Amen.

Disparities: Redlining

Buffalo-Niagara is one of the most racially segregated metropolitan regions in the nation. Our community has made strides to eliminate systematic racism with the work of the Racial Equity Roundtable, the YWCA, and many other private/non-profit partnerships. Meanwhile, racial segregation has declined slightly in recent years; economic segregation has increased, resulting in neighborhood conditions growing worse for most people of color in the region. Remember May 14, 2022, when a white man intentionally targeted a TOPS supermarket in a black neighborhood and took the sacred lives of ten people: Aaron Salter, Jr., Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Andre Mackniel, Katherine Massey, Margus Morrison, Heyward Patterson, Geraldine Talley, Ruth Whitfield, and Pearl Young, all children of God.

I recall the day the event happened; it was a Saturday. I was in the basement relaxing and puzzling, and my phone started going off. First, a friend who works in East Buffalo told me about the event and the realization that TOPS would be shut down for days, weeks, and possibly even months. There aren’t any nearby grocery stores within walking distance for community members. How would people get food? Would Hearts and Hands be able to help out? Then came a call from a program officer at a local foundation—support would be flowing into the community in the short term, he said, as we mobilize mental health needs and food pickups, but what about the mid- and long-term needs… How might Hearts and Hands help break the transportation barrier to accessing grief counseling and food access after the supports fade in the coming months? People will still need assistance.

You see, segregation imposes a wide range of costs on people of color, impairing their access to health, education, job opportunities, and wealth accumulation. Individuals living in segregated neighborhoods tend to have less access to services that allow adequate standards of living, and their economic mobility is severely impaired. Recently, Open Buffalo and Partnership for the Public Good reported that of all people who identify as black within the City of Buffalo, roughly 85% live east of Main Street.

Why is this? It began in the early 1930s when the Federal Housing Administration systematically began to oppress a group of people—Black people in response to stabilize the housing market after the Great Depression. Frederic Babcock, an economist claimed that if a neighborhood were to maintain its value, it must be occupied by the same racial and social class. He believed any changes in the status quo would result in reduced values and increased instability. Neighborhoods were then segregated into four different categories. Black neighborhoods were placed in the ‘D’ category. Redlining neighborhoods restricted the flow of capital in and out of minority neighborhoods as restrictive covenants and other forms of housing discrimination kept minorities from moving into white neighborhoods. Lack of access to loans made it much more difficult for African Americans to buy homes, open businesses, build wealth, and, if they chose, move to other neighborhoods.

Social Determinants of Health

This is just one example of disparity. One of the defining features of John Wesley was that he looked at a person holistically. It seems obvious to us today, but in his day, it was revolutionary to look at a person’s spiritual, mental, and physical well-being as a whole picture. It makes sense, right? How is it with your soul today? How well you are doing spiritually will impact your outlook on life, your attitude which has a direct correlation to how your physical body is coping.

We know the Wesley brothers as the founding fathers of the Methodist Movement. They were also innovators in healthcare. When they established societies throughout England during their itinerant preaching, they also set up health clinics to care for the needs of people. They weren’t just saving people with the Gospel of Christ—they were caring for the body as a whole. John Wesley went so far—to the disdain of local doctors as composing and publishing a home remedy booklet called Primitive Physic, providing a means for people who didn’t have access to doctors to gain basic healthcare knowledge in laypeople's terms.

Today, the human services and healthcare sectors are trying to catch up to John Wesley with a framework called Social Determinants of Health. The CDC defines social determinants of health as the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Social Determinants of Health can contribute to wide health disparities and inequities. For example, people who don't have access to grocery stores with healthy foods are less likely to have good nutrition. That raises their risk of health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It can even lower life expectancy relative to people with access to healthy foods.

Jesus Disrupts Social Stratification

How might we break down the barriers to accessing social determinants so that people can live healthy and active lives? What does this have to do with our scripture readings for today? We find Jesus—the disruptor. The great physician who has the power to heal our bodies and mind but also has the power to restore our relationship to God. In Charles Wesley’s hymn, we sing, “He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean’ his blood availed for me.”

You see, Jesus imagines a kingdom with no redlining, no segregation, and no disparity. We have the synagogue leader, whom I imagine is wealthy because he owns a house with multiple rooms which was uncommon in those days, and he has a servant. We have a woman who has been deemed an outcast and socially isolated. We have a little girl with a whole life ahead of her, and we have a mature woman who has been battling this bleeding disorder for twelve years. Yet, Jesus heals both of them. What I love about this lesson is that Jesus doesn’t get distracted by all the noise around him. These crowds move in on him, and a woman pleads for his healing. She touches the robe's hem out of faith—faith that a slight touch will heal her. Jesus feels the power going out from him and stops dead in his tracks. He senses that a woman needs to be healed. The little girl of the synagogue leader is in her room dying. Yet, Jesus stops because there is a woman among the crowd who needs to be healed physically and spiritually. He doesn’t prioritize the rich or youth. He doesn’t get distracted by the noise—he can take his time because he knows he can heal everyone.

This woman’s faith in Jesus heals her by the touch of his robe. But Jesus knows she needs more healing—she must be restored to the community. She needs to be restored into the image of God—the family—the kingdom. What does he say to her? “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Daughter… you see, in those days, blood was considered impure and required the person to be socially isolated. She had been battling this ailment for twelve years. Imagine twelve years of feeling alone, twelve years of not being able to see your family, twelve years of being despised and feared… Daughter, he calls her. Jesus can cleanse the unclean and restore them to the right relationship.

We learn during this healing that Jairus' daughter has died. Jesus arrives and tells the synagogue's leader, “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus takes his disciples upstairs to the little girl's room, takes her hand, and says, “Little girl, get up!” The girl gets up and walks around. We learn here that not only does Jesus have the power to cleanse and restore us, but Jesus also has power over death.

Social Determinants of Faith

We live in a fallen world. We live in a world where people have created neighborhoods that make access to food, education, healthcare, and medicine difficult. We live in a world where people judge folks by their skin color, gender, and abilities and intentionally keep them in systematic poverty to protect the status quo.

We live in a world where big corporations—especially healthcare and pharmaceutical corporations see beyond skin color, gender, and abilities. Well that almost sounds utopian? But unfortunately—it’s not a world of non-discrimination but a world of consumerism and greed—where discrimination knows no bounds. How many of you have spent hours and days mulling over your explanation of benefits and doctor bills, trying to figure out what is going on? I have friends who are highly educated people in the healthcare field, and they say it’s difficult to navigate... I can only imagine the everyday person… How many of you have changed healthcare insurance with a preexisting condition due to a job change… It’s not easy maintaining continuity of care.

We live in a world where suffering and pain don’t discriminate—it knows everyone. It’s frustrating to work with doctors to find a diagnosis and treatment. It’s frustrating to feel that arthritic pain constantly. It’s frustrating having to choose between whether you’re going to pay for medication or food this week. It’s frustrating to hear no after no in job interviews. It’s frustrating to do your best to make ends meet and only to be slapped with late fees and exorbitant interest rates. Sometimes, you might feel like you are alone on a raft in the middle of the lake.

But friends, you are not alone. God doesn’t leave us to be stranded. God gives us this amazing grace to tow that raft to shore where Jesus and your faith community await you.

We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Through this grace, we are created anew and begin the work of healing, reconciliation, and restoration. This grace is available to all—God doesn’t see age, race, socioeconomics, or gender. God views you as made in his image. While this grace is available to all—God gives us free will. We have to accept this grace AND have faith in Christ just as the bleeding woman and Jairus did. Our faith in Christ will heal and restore our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. And when the pain is still there, we know that Jesus has risen to prepare a place where there is no more pain or suffering. We know that Jesus is the way to this kingdom. Faith is the only determinant of our healing, restoration, and reconciliation.

Community & Call to Action

When you are feeling isolated and lonely… Remember, Jesus walks in solidarity with us, Jesus suffered, too. Time after time, we are shown that Jesus has power over death—he raised this little girl. He didn’t get distracted by the noise; he knew he could take the time to heal the bleeding woman, even if it meant the girl was dying because Jesus can conquer death. Keep your faith, and when you lose your faith, then you come to your faith community! We’ll reassure you, we’ll show our generosity, we’ll search the scriptures with you, we’ll pray with you, we’ll love you. This is what St. Paul tells the Corinthian community. When times are going well, we need to use this abundance to build up those around us—because there may be a day when we need that love and support.

When we create disparities by denying access, whether it’s to healthcare, food, medicine, or even faith, we aren’t allowing people to give back to the world, to live out their full potential, and to live in the very image of God in which they were created. Our church does an amazing job of ministering to people through our prayer group led by Carl Zenger, our home ministers program led by Lynn Garlock, our community breakfast, and our partnership with Hearts and Hands led by Debbie VanDusen. As you grow in grace and feel the presence of God working in you, how might you be a reflection of Christ in loving your neighbor who feels lonely, separated, or overwhelmed? In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer who makes us whole, Amen.