3. EUTHANASIA - What value have I?

Just a few weeks ago on the 16th October this year, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced her Private Member’s Bill at Westminster entitled “terminally ill adults (end of life)”

Which is an innocuous enough title. But it is, in reality, an attempt to fundamentally change the law and introduce the right to take ones own life. Tonight’s topic could not be more contemporary.

That brings us to our first heading…

1. The Contemporary Situation

This Bill will be debated in Parliament in a couple of weeks on 29th November.

In its own words the Bill states that it would (quote) “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life”.

This is not the first time attempts have been made in this country to legalise assisted suicide (by the way, proponents of this type of legislation want to water down that term Assisted Suicide, instead calling it Assisted Dying).

Legislation was decisively defeated back in 2015… but the calls keep coming… and this is a very different parliament to the parliament of 2015, with many new MPs. Many are forecasting that the bill hs a much greater chance of passing this time.

Like all of these issues in our current evening sermon series, I’ve very aware this is not some soap-box topic. This is a real issue which touches some of our most painful experiences and deepest sensitivities.

So we must speak with compassion… but we must also speak with Biblical clarity.

The Bible (after all) as on all of these issues, has Bible has MUCH to say to us…

We as Christian’s need to be equipped to stand for Bible teaching on this issue. AND.. never mind the way we engage with others, if WE OURSELVES are not taught by God’s word, we will end up simply being taught by, and carried along by our contemporary secular culture.

The old joke goes - only two things in life are certain -death and taxes. Although the subject of taxes gets plenty of discussion… we seldom talk about or think about our death. That is a great shame, and it contributes to our confusion. The physical death of our bodies is a certain reality of life. We need to talk about it.

Go back a few generations and death (for many people) would have seemed much closer to hom. Almost everyone died at home, surrounded by family, friends or community (families were more likely to live close by, and communities were closer knit). Because of this, death was a much more commonly experienced part of life.

These days only 20% of people die at home. Medical advances are wonderful, and they have increased our life expectancy but that means our latter years are, more often than not, more medicalised. 80% now die in a hospital or hospice surrounded by medical professionals. One survey found that 60% of adults have never seen a dead body.

What is out of sight is out of mind. Very few think seriously about death. It has been ‘medicalised away’ is our experience.

Then there is the secularisation of our society. It’s hardly surprising that we have lost basic grasp of Biblical ethics…. the world view of many people now is essentially what Gilbert and Sullivan quipped…

“Darwinian man, though well-behaved, 

At best is only a monkey shaved”

If we are just very well adjusted mammals… why shouldn’t we end human life, int he same way we chose to end animal life. What’s the difference?!

And in a growing number of Western nations that is exactly the path taken.

Switzerland, since the 80s has allowed assisted suicide

The US State of Oregon, in 1997

Washington State in 2008

In the last 10 years a flurry of other nations have followed suit - Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Austria, Portugal, to name a few.

And now the pressure is mounting here in the UK too.

Often with highly emotive language, campaingers point to the pain of terminal illness - to lack of quality of life… campaigners claim we have autonomy of life - ‘its our body’ they say, why should we do with it as we want? Backed by certain celebrity endorsements they make (what seems to many today) to be a compelling case.

But the Bible is clear that they are wrong. That their arguments are deeply dangerous, and bad for society.

So why? That brigs us to point no. 2…

2. The Relevant Bible Teaching

There are so many places to go in Scripture. Here are just a few… firstly letter a….

a) Life is God-given (and taken)

What about those famous words from the lips of Job… a who suffered SO much… who’s pain was so great at some points he wanted to die. Reflecting on the death of his loved ones he cries out in pain with these profound words.

Job 1:21 NIV

21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

God is the maker and giver of life…. there could hardly be a more basic truth of Scripture. And the life God gives to PEOPLE is of a different order to the life he gives to other creatures - plants or animals.

Listen to Genesis 2.7

Genesis 2:7 NIV

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

And to that verse we keep on returning to… Genesis 1.27

Genesis 1:27 NIV

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Unlike other creatures, people are made in God’s image… our life breathed into us by God himself. Which is a beautifully poetic way of saying that human life is unlike ANY other life.

We know this instinctively of course… that why pork for tea is called sausages. But person for tea is called a whole life sentence - or in some nations, capital punishment.

Speaking of such punishment, YES the Bible does speak of such punishments, it also concedes that killing may be necessary in time of war…

but when is comes to human life the MASSIVE headline across the scriptures is there in the 10 commandments. See Exodus 20.13

Exodus 20:13 NIV

13 “You shall not murder.

Notice, YES, the command is do not murder… it’s not do not Kill… again the are certain cases where killing may, sadly, be justified. Murder here may mean a number of things, but it certainly means pre-meditated taking of life…. whether that life is your own or someone else’s.

A whether we’re talkign about Euthanasia - which is someone else (a doctor for example) administering drugs to deliberately end life… or Assisted suicide, where medical professionals supply an individual with the means to take their own life…. in either case this command speaks forefully against both warning us - DO NOT MURDER.

Human life is unique, precious, sacred - given by God…. the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, it is not our business to do his job for him.

Notice, of course, that we are NOT speaking about witholding medical treatment and allowing someone to die. That is completely different. It is standard practice in good palliative care to decide when to stop treating. In fact, in some cases to continue to intervene with drugs and proceedures when someone is clearly dying is (in a way) a different kind of playing God. I have had many good friends over the years who have been doctors (I married one of them)…. and have often heard the criticism that some medics don’t know when to step back and let someone die.

So let’s be clear - we’re not talking about that today. Some families will have faced very difficult decisions about turning off life support machines which are (as it were) ‘artificially’ prolonging life. These are very difficult decisions. In those situations we must go with good medical advice, pray for God’s wisdom, and act according to our conscience. So we’re NOT talking about that…. Assisted suicide is NOT witholding treatment - it’s taking ACTIVE steps to end someones life who would otherwise continue to live.

In those situations we must not murder… we must say the LORD gives and takes away.

Closely linked to all of this is letter b…

b) We are not our own

According to secular thinking my body is mine, I can do with it what I wish.

But to this the Bible gives another strong NO. Your body is not yours… you are made by the Lord. Your body and your life are a gift.

If you’ve ever borrowed someone else's car - you’ll know the feeling - you are that much more careful with it, because it isn’t yours. And you certainly don’t decide you’re going to trade it in or scrap it - it doesn’t belong to you. That is a fairly trite analogy, but you see the point.

And of course for the Christian we know this fact all the more keenly… We know the truth of what the Apostle Paul says…

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

God has made us AND redeemed us (remade us) in Christ - TWICE OVER we are his…. that is the wonderful truth Isaiah expresses when he says…

Isaiah 43:1 NIV

1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

So the Lord gives and takes life (not us)… we don’t belong to ourselves… thirdly (letter c).

c) Suffering is not worthless

We must tread very carefully here in the way we speak. Some who contemplate or desire euthanasia are despairing of life…. and suffering much. It’s very easy for me with my (relatively speaking) very easy, pain-free life… to come across glib or trite on this point. I don’t want to do that… but, still we must be clear…

The secular position in favour of assisted suicide believes suffering is the ultimate bad. If someone is suffering we must ALWAYS act to relieve that, even if that means taking life.

But that is much too shallow a view of suffering.

The famous Christian CS Lewis, famously said

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis

In other words… God can… indeed frequently does work in and through our hardest moments to work good in us. Think of your own life… isn’t it true that those times of greatest growth (spiritually and in other ways) have been your times of greatest trial.

Many will know of Joni Eareckson Tada, who was left permanently paralysed after a diving accident - she has been a wonderful Christian example in the face of suffering, has summed up the attitude of many today, she said (quote) “If our culture can’t fix it, cure it, medicate it, sedate it or surgically remove it, then please get rid of it—because we sure can’t live with it”.

But to all of this the bible says NO. It’s not that suffering is GOOD in and of itself, it’s that God works in suffering. The greatest example of all is the cross of Jesus Christ.

What was job’s reflection after his great and dreadful ordeal of suffering?

Job 42:5 NIV

5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

In the fires of suffering… he met the Lord.

Next…

d) Dependence is not undignified

Again the battle on this issue begins as a battle of words. In 2006s the VELS (the Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society) rebranded itself… and changed its name to Dignity in Dying.

Dignity in death, they say, is to be found in the ability to end one’s life.

The assumption there, of course, is that to live on to the end of your natural life…. to become dependent on others is undignified.

But here is one of the greatest LIES of our age… and sadly, it’s a lie that many of US (in the church) have also bought into.

Independence is the great GOD of our age…. my body my choice we say….. I wanna do what I wanna do…. I’m free… don’t stand in my way…. Now, of course, personal responsibility is important.. but along with this deification of independence… has come a denegration of dependence.

In other words… to a culture that prizes individual choice and freedom (which our s does) the ultimate evil is to be completely dependent on the care of others. That is undignified (or so our culture says).

But again, to this cultural assumption, the Bible says a big fat NO.

Why is dependence (on others) is NOT undignified… in fact it’s right at the heart of the human condition.

For a start we are all completely dependent on God. Without his creative power we would not exist… everything good we have is a gift from him… Not only that, he SUSTAINS us and EVERYTHING else every minute of every day. Listen to Colossians 1.15-17

Colossians 1:15–17 NIV

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Not only that we people are not built to be islands…. but to depend on each other…. in marriage, in friendship, in families, in church families. Paul says to the church in Galatia Galatians 6.2

Galatians 6:2 NIV

2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

So at the end of our lives… if we find oursleves helpless… dependent on others - wether friends, family, church family, medical professionals that is not undignified. The truth is we are ALL, ALWAYS dependent.

We turn now to point 3…

3. The Danger of Playing God

And letter a…

a) God does not honour those who turn from him

RIFF - this is God’s good word… when we deviate from it there are awful and dangerous consequences for us and our society.

b) Pressure on the elderly or disabled

Once we abandon the idea that all human lives are worth protecting… and instead embrace the idea that some could be ended. How long before elderly people start to feel that since they COULD end their lives and be (quote unquote) “less of a budren”… perhaps they SHOULD end their lives.

Note this… around HALF of those in the US state of Oregon who have died by assisted suicide cited the fear of being a burden on others as a reason for ending their lives.

One Christian MP (Danny Kruger) has pointed out that allowing assisted suicide can create an expectation on vulnerable older people. He said (quote) ““If you ‘may’ terminate your life because it is not worth living, surely you ‘ought’ to do so? And if you ‘ought’ to do so, surely others should encourage you to do the right thing?”. (end quote). Assisted suicide upends our values system and creates pressure on the elderly.

Liz Carr is an actress (not a Christian as far as I’m aware)… she was seriously disabled from age seven, wheelchair bound since the age of 14. She said (quote) “For many disabled people the assumption that we’d be ‘better off dead’ is something that we get used to hearing. We do not believe that any safeguard can adequately protect us from coercion, abuse, mistake and discrimination.”

RIFF - and what about money - the NHS broken, politicians need a fix, aging population…

c) The Slippery Slope

The proposed law proposes safeguards… but experience tells us safeguards are often flimsy to begin with… and are very soon softened or done away with altogether. This is the slippery slope…

The Christian Institute publish a helpful booklet on this subject. Just listen to some excerpts from it which show what has happened in other states

READ FROM CI LEAFLET (inc. ‘embedded in society’.

d) The Position of Medical Professionals

RIFF - fundamentally changes the doctor - patient relationship. Puts dreadful pressure on doctors. Who decides if a patient is elligiable… who decides if someone really is acting of their own volition, or being pressured by a family member - whos at the heart of all of that? Doctors.

Interestingly opposition from doctors is strongest amongs those doctors involved in palliative (that is, end of life) care.

READ FROM CI LEAFLET

BREAK OFF - write to your MP?

In all my reading and study this week, this simple prayer from Psalm 71 seems apt and moving.

The New International Version Psalm 71

5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,

my confidence since my youth.

6 From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

7 I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

Let’s pray