July 16, 2006

“Our God Gives Life”

What Does God Say About Abortion?

Contemporary Issues Series

Rev. Brian D. Hawes

Prayer and Scripture: Randy

 

·       Charles Gilbert writes, A teacher gave the following situation to a class of students. How would you advise a mother who was pregnant with her fifth child based on the following facts. Her husband had syphilis. She had tuberculosis. Their first child was born blind. Their second child died. Their third child was born deaf. Their fourth child had tuberculosis. The mother is considering an abortion. Would you advise her to have one? In view of these facts, most of the students agreed that she should have an abortion. The teacher then announced, If you said ‘yes’ you would have just killed the great composer Ludwig Von Beethoven! (as cited on SermonCentral.com)

·       This morning we’re talking about a very emotionally charged issue for all of us – abortion.  This is a tough issue because of the scars it leaves and the powerful emotions it causes on both sides of the issue.  So first we’re going to look at what the Bible says about life, and especially prenatal life, and then we’ll look at a Christ-like response.

·       There are several Scriptures that prove that life begins at conception, and that those in the uterus are fully human and fully alive.  Psalm 139:13-16 says For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.  14 I give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it well.  15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

·       In Jeremiah 1:5 God says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

·       Genesis 25:21-22 says Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.  22 But the children struggled together within her….

·       Luke 1:41-44 – When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  43 And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?  44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.” 

·       Two early church documents show that the church fathers recognized life within the womb.  "Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a new-born infant" (The Didache 2.2; second century catechism for young Christian converts, as cited on www.ChristianAnswers.net).  "The fetus in the womb is a living being and therefore the object of God's care" (Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians, 35.6; 177 A.D., as cited on www.ChristiansAnswers.net).

·       Why is it that God values human life so much?  We touched on it a little bit last week.  It’s because God made humans in His image.  Genesis 1:26-27 – Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  And in Genesis 2:7, 20-22 – Then God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being…20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable to him.  21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

·       God values all human life highly, and so should we.  There is a slippery slope we’ve got to be aware of when we start dehumanizing some people or valuing them less than others.  When we value the old, the weak, the helpless, the poor, the needy less than others, we start down that slippery slope.  The results are catastrophic.   Martin Niemoeller, a German pastor imprisoned for opposing the Nazis, illustrated the gravity of remaining silent: "In Germany, they first came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up" (as cited on SermonCentral.com).

·       Aborting a baby because the mother and father have sinned, or there is incest or rape involved, is like punishing that baby for someone else’s sins, which God expressly forbids.  Ezekiel 18:20 – The person who sins will die.  The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity; nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. 

·       God values all human life, whether newly conceived or a hundred years old, because people have been created in His image.  When we devalue any human life, we start down the slippery slope toward killing anyone society deems unnecessary.  And when a baby is conceived due to sin and we kill it, we’re punishing it for the sins of the parents.  What does this say about women who’ve had abortions?  Are they evil?  Are they any more guilty of sin than the rest of us.  The answer to the last question is an unqualified no!  We vilify women who’ve undergone abortions and then justify our own sins.  God hates all sin, but loves all sinners.  So what about those women?  They aren’t evil – they’ve been deceived by Satan  If you’ve had an abortion, you aren’t evil – you’ve been deceived by Satan.  In John 8:44 Jesus says You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

·       In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul tells us that we need to know God and His word – so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.  And in 2 Corinthians 11:14 he explains why it is so easy for all of us to be deceived -  No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

·       We’ve all been deceived into sin.  All of us.  I was deceived into sin when I believed that pot and vodka were the answers to getting rid of the pain in my life.  I was deceived into sin when I believed that I couldn’t follow God’s plan for my life in becoming a pastor because I could never stand up in front of people and speak.  By the way, never tell God you can’t do something – He’s got quite the sense of humor!  We’ve all be deceived into sin.  Romans 7:11 – For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.  We’ve all been deceived by sin.  Because we’ve been deceived by sin, we’ve got to speak out and act according to God’s love in order that others might not be deceived.  So what do we do?

·       First, and probably hardest, make the choice to forgive yourself for your past sins.  Some of them, including but not limited to abortion, can seem so terrible that it feels like God could never forgive them.  But 1 John 1:9 say, If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  And Romans 8:1-2, one of the most powerful passages in the Bible, says, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  No sin is unforgivable.  No sin is beyond God’s ability to forgive and cleanse.  And yet while we often apply this truth very liberally to others, we rarely internalize it and apply it to our own hearts and lives.  Kim often tells me I’m way too hard on myself, and this is one area I struggle with at times.  But it’s not a feeling – it’s a choice.  We’ve got to make the choice and keep making the choice to forgive ourselves for our sins.

·       Second, love the sinner while hating the sin.  That’s tough, because our first gut reaction is to condemn both the sinner and the sin.  “How could you possibly have done that?” we think and sometimes say.  We could say the same thing to ourselves.  In light of what Christ has done for us, how could we possibly sin the way we have?  What is it that John 3:16 says?  For God so loved the world…  Loving people with God’s love is God’s way.  When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He replied in Matthew 22:37-40 “’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  38 This is  the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”  How do we love those who’ve had or are considering abortion?  Building close relationships with them.  Listening to their hearts and helping them through the grieving process.  Helping them find and even pay for qualified counseling.  Giving to the pregnancy center.  Providing housing for a needy pregnant woman.  Welcoming them into the fellowship of our church.  There are many ways, and we’ve got to do whatever God calls us to as individuals and as a church to love them and to love each other.  We’re sinners saved only by grace so that we can love people with God’s love.

·       Third, lobby our state and federal lawmakers and officials to limit and even do away with abortion.  We can do that in loving ways without being obnoxious and without acting hateful toward those who support abortion.  Speak out with your friends and neighbors and family.  If you’ve had an abortion, Satan will try to silence you by saying you’ve got no right to speak out.  In reality, he’s just trying to keep you from helping others to keep from sin.  Speak out and share your story, and share how the grace of God is working in your heart and life to heal you and to help you through it.  Remember, we’re all recovering sinners – we’ll never be totally recovered until we die, but we can allow God to build His character within us so that we can defeat the temptation to sin.  But we are all sinners, so let’s lobby and speak out to help other sinners as well as help those helpless babies.

·       Fourth, find someone to share your sins with whom you can trust not to share even with their spouse and who will accept you regardless.  The group I meet with Wednesday mornings has helped me tremendously in my struggle to deal with and overcome sin.  We all need each other.  We all need God’s love shown through each other.  We all need to bear one another’s burdens.  We all need to be real, warts and all, with one another so that sin’s hold over us can be broken and so that we can find healing.

·       For those of you who’ve had an abortion, I want to offer a word of love and hope.  God can and will forgive you – if you’ve confessed it, He already has.  You are no less of a valued person in God’s eyes and in our eyes just because you’ve sinned in this way.  We’re all in the same boat.  We’ve all sinned and need the love and forgiveness of our Savior and the love of our church family.  God has healing in store for you.  It may take some good Christian counseling for you to experience the healing you need, but there’s nothing wrong with that.  Our church body can help you find that counseling.  And one other thing – we love you!  You are one of us and we love you!  We’re all in the same boat as far as sin is concerned.

·       Karl Haffner wrote, Dr. Frederic Loomis faced the most difficult decision a physician could ever make--whether to allow a deformed baby to live or die. He had only seconds to decide. Dr. Loomis had delivered hundreds of babies, but this one was different. The infant lay in a breech position, promising at best a difficult and dangerous birth. One of its feet stretched only to the knee of the other leg. Furthermore, it was missing a thigh. The mother, a frail person visiting the sterile delivery room for her first time, was not aware of the grossly deformed child struggling to survive.  Dr. Loomis closed his eyes; at his fingertips squirmed a pitiful creature yet unborn. Would not the most loving thing be to detain the birth long enough to cause the child to be stillborn? He agonized within himself. Will this kid not be considered a freak, a twisted burden to its delicate mother? How can I justify playing a part in such a cruel drama? Surely no one will ever know if I spare this family from inevitable pain. The doctor, through the baby’s cord, felt its heartbeat--dancing in rhythm to his own wildly racing heart. As Dr. Loomis continued to prevent the birth, he felt the normal foot pressing for passage into the world. Suddenly, he could no longer justify "playing God." Instead, he would trust God to care for this child against what seemed to be impossible odds. Dr. Loomis delivered the infant into the world, which, he sensed, would be very unkind.  In the years that followed. Dr. Loomis often second-guessed his decision. He watched the anguish of the family as desperate parents sought in vain to find some correction for their child’s deformity. Even after they moved away Dr. Loomis continued to lament the burden that he had saddled upon the family. The heartache, he often said to himself, was his fault.  In time, however, Dr. Loomis would find peace. It came at an unexpected time and place--the hospital Christmas party. Typically, it was during the holiday season when his pain seemed most severe. He could not shake the image of that unfortunate child from his mind. While the world celebrated the greatest birth ever known, Dr. Loomis obsessed over the saddest birth he had ever known.  At this particular party, the most heavenly music filled the room. The sadness seemed to dissipate as the rich tones of "Silent Night" washed Dr. Loomis’ anguished spirit. Following the concert, a woman approached him. "Doctor," she said excitedly. "You saw her."  Dr. Loomis studied the woman’s face, wanting to recognize her but unable to recall the memory. "I’m sorry. I should know you, but you may need to help me."  "Don’t you remember the little girl with only one good leg, 17 years ago?"  Remember. . . it was the one thing in his life that he couldn’t forget! In disbelief, he listened to her story.  "That baby was my daughter, doctor. And I saw you watching her play the harp tonight! She has an artificial leg. She’s doing well." At her Mom’s bidding, the lovely harpist walked toward them. With soppy eyes, Dr. Loomis enveloped the girl in his arms.  "Please" he said in a tightening voice, "please play Silent Night for me one time." The young lady returned to her harp and played his request with poise and perfection. As she played, Dr. Loomis reflected on the incredible gift of life. He thought about the sanctity in every person. And he exhaled 17 years of questions and wondering whether or not it was wise to grant a baby its life (as cited on SermonCentral.com).

·       Let’s choose life!  Let’s choose to allow the precious blood of Jesus to forgive us so that we can help others who need His forgiveness.  Let’s allow God to use the grace He’s shown us to help others overcome the pain and guilt of their pasts.  Let’s choose to love people with God’s love!  Let’s pray.