Sanctity of Life Sunday

THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE!

God values human life.  He created human beings in His image.  This truth carries a great responsibility.  He has given life with purpose, beauty, joy, endurance.  Consequently we are responsible to celebrate and value every human life as God does.  As Christians, we need to permeate our culture with the Biblical teachings regarding the sanctity of human life.  We must be advocates for the unborn and other vulnerable people. 

Gen. 1:26-27…because humanity has been created in the image and likeness of God, we should respect and value every human life at all its stages, rejecting efforts and arguments to label some as expendable for the sake of cost or convenience.  If you look at another human being and think “That person is made in God’s image” how would such an affirmation impact the way you treat the person!

Exodus 1:15-17 God views all people as having value and worth.  We should take action to ensure that vulnerable people have the respect and protection they need, even when taking such action threatens our reputation or job security. 

Psalm 139:13-16  Every life must be protected because each life is created by God with a purpose.  This should lead us to praise God, value life, and do all we can to help every person have an opportunity to find their God-given purpose in a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior. 

Mark 10:13-36  “like a little child” refers to Jesus’ cultural situation…children were totally dependent upon the will of others and had no legal or social weight to make claims for particular treatment.  Take the position of a child, unable to make demands and dependent upon the good pleasure of God. 

God values all people, even those whom some might consider a bother. Show compassion and concern for children and others who are dependent on others for their provision and protection. 

Since all persons are created in the image and likeness of God, we should value all human life from conception to natural death.  We should seek new ways to help protect those who are especially vulnerable.  When we reflect on how God has made us, we should praise Him sincerely and openly for creating human life with special purpose.  We should show special care and concern for all children, including those yet in the womb. 

Value life from conception to natural death!  Abortion on demand violates God’s Word…beginning with the simple commandment, “Thy shalt not kill!”  The most vulnerable human life we can think of is unborn babies. 

Today is set aside by many to remember and mourn the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade that laws against abortion were a violation of a woman’s right to privacy.  In effect that decision legalized the practice of abortion in our country.  In the 40 years since that decision abortion has been normalized by our culture.  Our country legalized it which allowed the culture to normalize it!!!  When something is normalized by the culture there is a great danger that it will become normalized by the church as well.  Avoiding the influence of culture is impossible. We cannot avoid world influence, but we can combat it.  We must combat it!!

Slavery was considered normal, racism was accepted as normal…how could something like that be accepted as normal by the church?  The truth is that it happened because they let the world dictate to them what was normal.   Yes, we can look back and be shocked and disgusted with slave owning or slavery sympathizing Christians, but before we do we should take the time to consider our own generation.  What are we in danger of allowing the world to dictate what is normal to us?  Do you think ABORTION will be the issue??? 

This must stop…we cannot be silent.  We cannot let this continue to be normal, because it is anything but normal.  The only difference between abortion and infant sacrifices is that the idol being offered to in abortion is convenience instead of Baal.  Even if we cannot change the legality of abortion we must reverse the normalization of it.  Beginning in our hearts and churches and then spreading into our culture!

Myth – Abortion is legal only during the first 3 months of pregnancy

Fact – Abortion is legal during all 9 months of pregnancy. 

M – Abortion is legal because the Constitution says so; F – Legal abortion is the fruit of judicial activism.  It has been imposed upon the country by judges

M – Most Americans agree with current U.S. abortion law; F – The vast majority of Americans strongly disagree with is (61 %say should be illegal after the fetal heartbeat has begun – 1^st month of pregnancy)

M – Abortions rare in U.S.; F – The U.S. has the highest abortion rate in the western world

M – Most abortions in the US are done for health reasons or because of rape or incest; F – Most abortions in the US have nothing to do with these reasons

M – Abortion is good for women; F – Women suffer physically and psychologically after abortion

M – Abortion is beneficial to modern society; F – Abortion has a negative impact on communities and society at large.

M – The more that people have access to contraception, the fewer abortions there will be; F – More contraception leads to more sexual behavior, more unintended pregnancies, and more abortions.

M – Abortion, particularly early abortion, does not take the life of a human being; F – Every abortion takes the life of a human being.  At the time of fertilization when a sperm penetrates the ovum or “egg” cell, a new human organism comes into existence with a complete and unique genetic code.  This is a scientific fact, not a religious claim.  Those who claim not to know ‘when human life begins’ are making a political statement not a scientific one. 

M – I can be ‘personally opposed, but pro-choice.”;  F – that is impossible.  People who profess this opinion say that while they would not choose abortion themselves, they would not deny women the option to choose it.  They appear to think that what is a wrong choice for them might not be wrong for someone else.  What happens in abortion is an object fact, not a subjection judgment.  During an abortion a human being who is unborn and therefore innocent of any wrong doing – is killed.  Since abortion is, thus, objectively unjust, anyone who support the right of others to have abortions necessarily supports such unjust acts.  When you are personally opposed but pro choice…it is necessarily a choice in favor of the legalization of abortion.  That means the person who makes such a choice accept that innocent, unborn children will be killed by abortions albeit by other people.  …What this position is really saying is “I support the right to kill innocent human beings.”

Because we are not necessarily involved in abortion personally nor have anyone close to us have an abortion, our tendency is not to see the magnitude of this “killing”.  Even one in God’s eyes is murder! 

I looked up the census numbers of the top largest cities in America as of April 2010:  By rank, they are NY, NY, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Austin, Columbus OH, Fort Worth, Charlotte NC, Detroit, El Paso, Memphis, Baltimore, Boston, Seattle, Washington DC, Nashville, Denver, Louisville, Milwaukee, Portland, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Tucson, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Kansas MO, Mesa, Virginia Beach, Atlanta, Omaha, Raleigh, Miami, Cleveland, Tulsa, Oakland, Minneapolis, Witchata, Arlington and they are still 10 Million short of being the number of recorded abortions in the United States in the last 40 years.  Think about it!!!

What can we do:

PRAY – only the LORD can bring about heart change…repentance and justice

Make abortion a Biblical issue not a political one – politicians have exploited for the sake of votes.  Get back to the Bible.  BABIES IN THE WOMB ARE FULLY HUMAN AND CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE!  If they are not human then abortion doesn’t matter.  If they are human then abortion is morally wrong.  Make your conversation Biblical.

Vote against abortion:  We must not allow politics to determine moral norms for us…but when we have the opportunity to support Biblical morality through politics we must take that opportunity.  Be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  Pay attention to a candidate’s views on abortion as much as we do their views on tax codes.

ADOPT:  Imitate the heavenly Father Gal 4: 4-6…adopt unwanted, unloved, and at risk children.  There needs to be so many loving Christian homes available for adoption – begging for children – that abortion becomes irrelevant.  If you can’t help someone else adopt.

PREACH THE GOSPEL:  Our views of abortion should be a platform for the redeeming grace of the Gospel.  The other side is sinfully wrong…which is why they need the grace of the Gospel.  The women who have chosen abortion in the past need to know that through Jesus grace is available to all who will repent and believe and FORGIVENESS applied to our lives is healing.

We must fight against the normalcy of sin.  When future generations of Christians look back on us let’s make sure that they view us as faithful to God in this matter.  If we don’t then as Francis Shaeffer suggested, we just hang a sign on every abortion clinic in the country that reads “allowed to be here by the church.