011506 LAMB 2 - In Life
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is usually observed on January 22 which is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized abortion. Since that decision in 1973, over 45 million babies have been killed through surgical abortion in this country. That’s around 3,600 every day or about 1 every 24 seconds. Do you realize that is more people than have died in all the wars in which we have been involved? And that doesn’t take into account the babies discarded like garbage after they are born. Neither does it take into account those that are abandoned to someone else’s care by parents. In view of all of this, I thank God for the words of the Psalmist who says: "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take care of me." (Psalm 27:10, God’s Word) This word, however, does not relieve us of our responsibility to call abortion what it really is in God’s sight.
The mere numbers of abortions alone makes me feel very uncomfortable. And I wonder; Perhaps people don’t understand the enormity. Perhaps people don’t care.
Some people think that abortion should not be talked about in church. It’s too political and controversial. They are right, abortion is political and controversial. But it is also causing the death of a person. So, we must talk about it in our churches. According to God’s Word, it is not something that is destroyed in an abortion. It is someone!
Please don’t consider my words a condemnation of anyone involved in an abortion. I am no one’s judge. I am only a messenger announcing what God’s reality is. And His reality is clear: “You shall not murder.” We do well to think about Luther’s explanation to the Fifth Commandment: “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body but help and support him in every physical need.”
The need goes beyond the life growing in the womb, however. Some people struggle with regret and guilt after having an abortion. And, that’s another reason we need to talk about it in our churches. Like any other sin, abortion has its consequences, no matter what we might think about it. And that is when we need to proclaim the reality of the Cross of Jesus Christ. As spiritual people, we need to be prepared to point our friends and relatives to the cross. That’s where God dealt with all sin once and for all. That doesn’t mean we can now ignore what is sin. The cross helps us to be able to move beyond our sin and to see the life that was raised up again. In that life, Christ, the risen Lord gives life to those dead in their transgressions.
Some people reach the conclusion that death is the solution to a life problem. So certain people—the terminally ill, the aged, or the infirm—are thought to be better off dead. I personally do not believe God has intended death to be the solution to any problem. Neither is prolonging the inevitable. A cousin of mine was irate with me because I did not advocate using everything known to medical science just to keep my aged mother alive. She saw that as being loveless. But, I don’t believe it is right for us to either propagate or prolong the death of anyone. In fact, my prayer over my dying mother was like the writer of the hymn “Abide With Me.”
At the age of 70, my dad often said he would be “better off dead” because his eyesight was gone, his strength sapped, and he considered himself useless in life. Depression and faulty thinking is nothing new when it comes to the aged. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say something like, “Why doesn’t God just call me home?” God lived to be 76 when he died of cancer. In that time he and I drew closer together. I thank God for that.
Our life, in connection with Christ, is never a waste. That’s because of who owns it. You see, Christ is able to be exalted in both our living and our dying. He has been that route himself. But, the ever-abiding presence of the Resurrected Christ comforts, and enables us, both, to live, and to die with dignity in the faith. So, we pray the prayer of the hymn writer, “In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”
Don’t you ever wonder why Paul says “to die is gain,” and “to depart and be with Christ which is better by far?” Is this presumption, or just pius talk? No, it is confidence! What God has given to Paul in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, gives Paul the assurance of knowing things would be better by far in heaven with Christ. But, to live is also Christ, and should not be dismissed, because that too, exalts Christ.
You know, it’s okay to join Paul in wanting to be with Christ. It’s okay to want this for a loved one who is beyond the help of medical science. As Paul says, “it would be a gain” in the sense that there would be no more crying or pain or sickness or loneliness, only Christ. His is our victory over death and the grave. His is our victory over sin; His is our worthiness for the heavenly mansion. His is our glory in life, and in death! Yes, it is Christ’s abiding presence in the life and death of the saints that exalts Him, and comforts us, calms our fears, and gives us patience as we await His call to join Him in eternity. And so we pray, “In death, O Lord, abide with me.”
But what if the situation appears hopeless? What then? Paul is convinced that even though it would be “far better” for him to depart and be with Christ, it is “more necessary” for the Philippians and others that he live. Christ will still be exalted because of the work He works in Paul’s life. It is the same for us.
God is very wise. He doesn’t do things the way we might. He doesn’t even think as we think. But His abiding presence with us and in us gives even the most frail life meaning and purpose. We are the ones who don’t get it when it comes to life and death issues. But God certainly does! God is able to accomplish whatever He will, just as He did in Paul.
You see, it wasn’t Paul, but the abiding presence of Christ in Paul that was at work. Christ isn’t exalted because of what we do. He is exalted because of what He does in us! I hope we will all take time to apply this truth even to our situation here at Trinity. Our life, our death, will not be determined by what we do. It will be determined by what God works in us. And that is always a good thing, in life, or death.
Yes, we live in a culture that more and more is turning to death as a solution to the problems of life. So, let’s think about Paul’s words today. With Paul, let’s be convinced that certainly it is “far better” to depart and be with Christ. Let’s also be convinced that in life God is at work in us! If He gives us continued life, then in His plan, it is “more necessary” that we go on living. But you see, whether we live or die, let us be certain of this: Christ is at work, and we will be exalted with Him. Thus, we pray:
“Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
In life, in death, O Lord. Abide with me.” Amen.