Life

L I F E

Sanctity of Life Sunday

Psalms 139

I. Psalms 139 tells us that we were known by God before we were formed, and our forming came by the hand of God. - And that process began in the womb. - Today, our world is divided over this issue. – I believe that the issue that divides us is not the debate over choice, but simply what defines life.

A. Before I begin let me share with you that the subject matter today is a sensitive one. – It is a topic that has probably pierce the hearts of everyone in this room in one way or another. – I do not speak to you as an authority, simply an orator of God’s Word.

1) In doing so my opinion will be expressed; not flippantly, but prayerfully and with the earnest knowledge that I am addressing an issue that I can not fully understand. - I can never truly experience the devastation of the mind and heart that having to chose and abortion can bring, nor can I grasp the pain such a choice may leave behind.

a] So with that, I wish to address LIFE. – Let me lay a bit of a foundation for todays message.

II. We tend to move into one of two camps … - The Pro-CHOICE Group … those who favor abortion, and – Pro-LIFE Group … those who oppose abortion. – Although these titles are intended to be descriptive of the motive and purpose of each group, I think they are more opposing statements then a descriptive ones.

A. The term Pro-Life is strange. - Who isn’t in favor of life? – Pro-Lifers should be called “The Pro-Appropriate Choice Group”, because sense both sides of the issue are in favor of life, then the real question is, “Is the choices being made, appropriate?”

1) And the term Pro-Choice should be called “The Pro-Partial Choice Group,” because only one of the two individuals involved gets to make a choice, and the one who has no right to choose is the one who suffers the consequences.

a] There’s only One is who is truly Pro-Life! So much so He created it! - And He’s Pro-Choice! He made the life He created to be a "free moral agent" … - Thus He’s pro-life and pro-choice. – He wants us to live fully, and chose wisely.

Deuteronomy 30:19b “…I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live…”

III. Based on the number of lives lost, statistically the two most dangerous places on earth are ground zero at a nuclear bomb testing sight. –And what was once revered as the safest place on earth – a mother’s womb. – How could we come to such as place?

A. Example: How can a refined and educated nation exterminate, with cool detachment, millions of other people. - What permitted a civilized people like the Germans to commit such a monstrous evil, as the Holocaust?

1) I believe the cause was their attitude toward life itself. - The victims simply lost their humanity - they weren’t considered to be people.

a] Their human rights were striped from them. Their social status was reclassified. – They were seen as inferior, useless and worthless. – They were characterized as a threat to the social welfare.

III. We have witnessed in the last decade Bosnia; Yugoslavia; Nigeria; Rwandan; Croatia; Albania; Kosovo; Iran and Iraq, just to name a few, practice ethnic cleansing, because they have redefined L-I-F-E.

A. Are the lives that are being snuffed-out not significant enough to continue? – That may sound ridiculous, but isn’t that the question about the life in the womb? - Is that really a person, a human being? - Is it of significant value that it should continue?

1) Will it serve the best interest of society? Will it be an undue burden to those who conserved it? –Will it interfere with the lives those who are responsible for keeping it alive?

a] These questions must be answered. – But there are two more questions that must be answered, “Is it a human life?” – and – “Are we the makers of that life?” – and – “Do we have the right to take that life?”

Genesis 2:7 “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

IV. Here are some biological facts regarding the development of the pre-born child.

Day 1: At the moment of conception 23 male chromosomes will fuse with the 23 female chromosomes resulting in a 46 chromosomes single cell embryo. - The genetic make-up (sex, eye color, hair color, etc.), has been determined. – After a short move, all that’s required is time and nourishment.