Church Must Address Abortion Series

HoHum:

On a bright, beautiful day, full of promise, Mavis laid an egg. This was not an extraordinary event since Mavis was a chicken, but Mavis was not pleased. "An egg? An egg? What do I want with an egg?" said Mavis to herself. "An egg is just not in my plans. I’ll have to get rid of it."

Mavis sat on the edge of her nest looking at the thing for a while, then she went out into the barnyard and picked up a rock. She carried it into the henhouse, lifted it over her head, and was about to crash it into the egg when she heard, "Stop!" Old Biddy Hen was standing in the doorway. "Child, what on earth are you doing with that rock?" "I was just going to crack open this egg," she said softly. "Whatever for?" Biddy asked. "It looks like a perfectly good egg to me." "Well, if I don’t, my life will be ruined. First, I’ll have to sit on it night and day, and then, it might hatch. I’m just not ready to have a cheeping little chick following me around all the time. I don’t think I can handle it. I want a life." "Looks to me like you’ve got a life there. Who knows what it will become, the next cock-a-doodle rooster or maybe Mother Hen. Life is full of possibilities. Mavis, everything you said is true, but it sure would be a shame to break such a beautiful egg,” Biddy said kindly. "I don’t know what to do. I wish it were someone else and not me." "I know," said Biddy, "These kinds of Choices are not easy. It’s important that you think about it first. Don’t rush your decision. There’s time for planning. You can’t put that shell back together after it’s broken."

WBTU:

Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. January 22 marks a grim anniversary: 42 years since Roe Vs. Wade legalized abortion. The U.S. abortion rate is among the highest of developed countries. From 1973 (Roe v. Wade) through today, over 56 million legal abortions have occurred. More than 1 in 5 (21%) of pregnancies end in abortion. By age 45, approximately 1/3 of American women have had an abortion.

Began a marriage and family series last Sunday and started with Genesis 1-3. “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”” Genesis 1:28. We talked about the first man and the first woman and marriage.

Going somewhat out of order and talking about Sanctity of Human Life. Some might say this: “We shouldn’t talk about abortion. The Bible doesn’t even mention the word abortion. It’s a political issue and therefore should not be given any attention in church.”

Given that abortion hinders God’s first command to humans, we need to comment on this. Church must address abortion. The Bible has something to say about this and so should we

Thesis: As a church we must address abortion, 3 things today

For instances:

As a church we must address abortion: Abortion kills babies

Abortion is not a practice condoned by Scripture. Both Testaments teach that children are a blessing from God and regard the killing of children with horror.

We find in the Bible that human procreation represents “a co-creative process involving man, woman and God.” God is shown to be active in the creation of human beings from the time of conception. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Luke 1:41. Psalm 139 that Eli read is a tribute to God’s involvement in creating a human being in the mother’s womb.

A passage in Jeremiah makes clear that God forms the baby in the womb and he has personal knowledge of the unborn child: ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”” Jeremiah 1:5.

The OT’s respect for life in the prenatal stage is revealed by the Law of Moses in that the one who harms an unborn child must be punished “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” Exodus 21:23-25

All of this implies that Scripture views human life as beginning at conception. The “human right” to take the life of an unborn child is wrong. God is a God of life and that everything he created (especially human beings) is precious and worth preserving. In this regard, Scripture gives a different standard than the pagan cultures.

Abortion is unmentioned in the Bible because of the rarity of the practice. They had no modern medical procedures and equipment to have successful abortions. Most women would die if trying an abortion in Biblical times. More common in the ancient world was exposure of a newborn child after birth. Since boys are more valued than girls, many times infant girls would be thrown out to die. In Greek and Roman societies, exposure was not considered killing a baby, but refusal to admit that baby into society. Father had a choice to let baby live or die. Common to have live babies put in trash heaps or left to die in isolated spot.