17 March 2013 John 12:1-8

17 March 2013     John 12:1-8            Mad Acts of Extravagance

I find that harsh criticism of apparent extravagance is very common, especially among those of us who profess concern about the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized.  I just read "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder – the story of Paul Farmer “the man who would cure the world.” Harvard-based medical anthropologist and physician Farmer is best known for providing “first-world” health care to “third-world” people, beginning in Haiti. Dr. Farmer and his colleagues have pioneered novel, community-based treatment strategies (especially for drug-resistant TB and AIDS) that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings. Critics of his work have used various terms. “Inappropriate Technology” was the phrase of the World Health Organization and various drug companies as he struggled to demonstrate that disease-resistant TB was, indeed, curable in the slums of Peru and the Central Plateau of Haiti. “The country can’t afford it” was another favorite criticism as he demonstrated that he could stop the spread of AIDS in Haiti. “You could save so many more” was the criticism when funds were spent to fly seriously ill patients to Boston for treatment. “Poor use of time and talent” was the criticism when Farmer hiked over seven hours to see two patients.

 Farmer's response to all those criticisms was that the “preferential option for the poor” (the guiding force behind all his actions) simply requires us to do the right thing. He constantly repeated, “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” He pointed out that we always ask the wrong questions. Why don't we ask questions about making drugs less expensive, or compare the $100,000 salary of a doctor against the $20,000 cost of treating a Haitian in Boston? Farmer asks us to re-frame what we commonly see as mad acts of extravagance. How can we begin to view everything through the lens of “all lives matter” and “it’s the right thing to do”?