Sanctity of Life '09'
James 4:1-4 (NIV)
1 What causes fights (wars) and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires (used 5 times, always negative, lust), that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Today is sanctity of life Sunday and its interesting, I think, that this Sunday follows our discussion last week of sin. It was my goal last week to expand our view of sin. As one might expect, our tendency is to understand sin as the overt, occasional mistake. The bad things we do once in a while. That outburst in word or deed that takes place when I deviate from my normal controlled behavior - or something like that. Defining sin that way is sin.
Sin is ANY failure to align with the moral law of God in act, attitude, or even nature. Sin is pervasive. It is the environment we live in.
The way we understand sin and who we are, connects with everything. It connects with how we see our need for Jesus - we marginalize our dependence on God when sin is simply action that we can learn to control with age. Our understanding of sin and how it merges with humanity effects everything. It effects how we look at the person who walks in the bookstore across the street. It effects how we look at the neighbor who hates Christians because they have the audacity to believe that abortion is wrong. It effects how we look at the one who has an abortion. Our understanding of sin connects with how we see ourselves. We are all swimming in water that is over our heads.
One of the reason this country is degenerating is that “Christians” here have, willingly, bought in to a feel-good definition of sin, and a feel-good understanding of how God views sin, and a feel-good understanding of God’s kindness to us through the death of Jesus, and a feel-good understanding of what God would want for us here (lives where we live as if our treasure is Christ and this world holds nothing for us).
We also talked, last week, about something I’m calling cultural sin. When sinful people get together they develop a culture that has sin as its lifeblood. Sin permeates its entertainment. Sin permeates its economics. Sin permeates its educational philosophy. Sin permeates its government. The culture develops a system that dictates how it’s members function, how they survive, what’s acceptable, and what is “right”. While cultural sin does not excuse the individual, it is a powerful force.
Slavery is an example of how humanity can create a culture that makes cruelty to humans easy, acceptable, and “necessary”. And in its wake are unthinkable and far reaching consequences. The institution of slavery was integrated into education, government, entertainment, economics… (William Wilberforce 1759-1833 - Amazing Grace) I find it interesting that today we all think of ourselves as merged with And today we see ourselves as those who would have led the charge against slavery 200 years ago.
Abortion has much in common with slavery. We have a culture that, at best, accommodates a none-of-my-business attitude. But more realistically our culture has created a cause that flows with money, jobs, political careers, sexuality, etc. And in its wake is unthinkable, far reaching devastation.
The killing of children in the womb is a massive sin that gives us a glimpse into our depravity. We are so depraved that not only do we kill our children, many of us are only occasionally bothered by it.
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The Bible speaks of in-the-womb babies like any other child:
In Luke 1 we read of the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Mary. Gabriel explained that Mary had found favor God and would soon be pregnant with Jesus - the Son of God. Gabriel also mentioned that Elizabeth (old and barren), a relative of Mary’s, was miraculously pregnant as well (she was in her 6th month). So, as you might expect, the first thing Mary does is get to Elizabeth.
Luke 1:39-44 (NIV)
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (bref-os) leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Luke 2:12 (NIV)
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby (bref-os) wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
In the womb or out of the womb, the view is that a baby is a baby.
Others:
Genesis 25:22 (NIV) - Jacob & Esau in Rachel’s womb
22 The babies jostled each other within her…
Psalm 139:13 (NIV)
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I think one of the most amazing things was how my wife would speak of and think of our children while she was pregnant.
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There is so much work to do. How should we respond?
Fight for Justice
Pray! - Pray for ourselves in this that we might get this right. Pray that we might see sin as we should. Pray that we might live for Jesus in our daily lives. Pray for opportunity in this. Pray for our leaders in this:
President Obama -
Proverbs 21:1 (NIV)
1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
Support alternatives - New Life Family Services
Work for the protection of the unborn