The Value of Human Life
Caryn Luming speaks.
Thank you Caryn.
Slide
As we have heard, today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.
So often, this issue often gets talked about in sound bites.
“pro-life or pro-choice”
“a women’s right to choose” or “protecting the unborn.”
I think sometimes in this discussion we can lose perspective, and just turn it into a debate.
I don’t think that is always helpful so, this morning, I want to seek to regain some perspective so we can make proper judgments on the value of life.
Illustration
I want to begin with an illustration
(from Jeff Strite – The Gift of Life)
Here is a $20 bill.
If I offered this to you, would any of you want it?
(Crumple it up)… Now, who would want it?
(throw it on ground and stomp on it)…What about now? Does anyone still want it?
Why would any of you want this dirty, crumpled, $20 bill?
Because it is still a $20 bill and it is still worth $20.
But why is it valuable?
Is the paper it is printed on worth $20?
Is this ink more rare or valuable than other inks? Is that why someone wants it?
No.
Then what is the reason that this piece of paper is worth $20?
It is because the creator of this bill, Government of the United States of America says it is worth $20 and takes steps to make sure it retains its value in the creation process.
(Limits to what it produces, differentiation from other paper, ink)
Now in regards to human life, who is the creator of Human life?
For Christians, that answer is easy.
God is the creator of life
Slide
We read in the very beginning, in Genesis, that
Genesis 1:27, 2:7– 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…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.
God is our creator and as our creator, He determines our value.
And He has given us value in a very unique and special way.
He has given us value by creating us in His own image and then breathing into us the breath of life.
What if I don’t believe in God?
Well, maybe you sit here today and you don’t really believe in God or you may know someone that doesn’t believe in God so you don’t believe that your value is determined by God. Maybe you think your value is determined by what you add to society or what others believe about you.
It is nice when others think we are valuable. We all like to feel valued.
But I would argue that when we base our worth or other people’s worth on what other humans believe to be someone’s value, we begin to tread in areas that we have seen through history cause great tragedies.
Slavery
Several hundred years ago, when human men brought Blacks here as slaves, they considered them less than human. This wrong thinking about the value of another human allowed slavery to continue for years, even among many God fearing people because they believed the lie that others can determine a person’s value apart from God.
Hitler/Holocaust
In the last century, we have also seen those who have gained power who have no regard for God, and have sought to value some humans differently than others.
Slide (Picture of Hitler and the Holocaust)
This type of belief and thinking led to the Holocaust were 6 million Jews were killed along with 5 million others because they were valued less by those who were in power.
When we remove God and take away the value He has placed on all men by creating them in His own image and breathing into them the breath of life, we begin down a path that will lead to great tragedies.
Transition
Now what would you think if there were those today that said,
“You know, those Nazi’s were just making choices consistent with their beliefs. Who are we to mandate our beliefs on someone else?”
We see the flaw in that because their choices are affecting the life of someone else. But they arrive at this place through a devaluing of human life.
In slavery, Blacks were devalued by others, they were considered less than human.
In Germany, Jews were devalued by the Nazi’s, not of the same value of the Arian race
In America, and much of the world, the abortion argument hinges on a belief that a baby in the womb is not really human.
Is that true? Does the location of a baby determine if it is really a human baby?
I want to show you a couple of amazing pictures.
There is a photographer, Lennart Nilsson, who is a pioneer in medical photography.
In association with some other researchers and with the help of advanced, specially designed equipment, he has documented the inside of man down to the level of a cell and has devoted special attention to capturing the creation of a human being, from conception to birth.
Slide
Check out this picture of a 16 week old baby in the womb. Just four months since conception, less than half way through a normal pregnancy of 40 weeks and it is definitely a baby. You see the fingers and facial features and body. It is a baby.
http://www.lennartnilsson.com/child_is_born.html
Here is a second picture of a baby in the womb at 20 weeks, just 4 weeks later
Slide
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthpicturegalleries/6255474/A-Child-is-Born-Photographs-of-the-foetus-developing-in-the-womb-by-Lennart-Nilsson.html?image=3
Half way through the 40 weeks of a normal pregnancy, and we see easy evidence that what is inside the mother is nothing less than a human child, apparently nearly sucking his thumb.
Small? Yes.
Human? Yes.
Valuable? Yes, because God has created them and they bear his Image already.
Are they able to survive on their own? No.
Viability
And this is where some will argue that until a baby is viable and can survive on its own and is not dependent on the mother, then it is less than human and does not have the same value as a viable human.
However, if we follow that logic, then, then even newborn babies outside the womb would be eligible to be killed because they are still dependent and unable to survive without someone caring for them.
It is hard to imagine someone thinking that is acceptable, to kill an already born baby, but there are those that think that is acceptable.
Peter Singer, an ethicist, who has written a number of books, suggests that no newborn should be considered a person until 30 days after birth!
As unbelievable as that is and as much as many of us would think that type of thinking is crazy and he is just some whacked out person nobody would listen to, he was hired even after writing these things as a Professor of Bio-Ethics at Princeton University where he continues to hold that position.
Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 122–23. As sourced in http://www.equip.org/articles/peter-singer-s-bold-defense-of-infanticide
A baby up to 30 days after birth, he argues, does not have the same value as a fully functioning human.
He would argue that it is not yet really a fully, self aware life.
What does God say about life and when He created us? Does He create us in his image 30 days after birth, only upon birth or at some other time?
When does God create us?
Throughout Scripture we see that
God Creates life in the Womb
Slide
Listen to what David writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 139:13-14a
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; NIV
We learn in Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
God creates us in the womb. He creates us in His own image with all the characteristics of humanity, though in much smaller and developing form.
But even though we are smaller, He values life in the womb just like life outside the womb.
Listen to what the Lord says in Exodus.
Slide
Exodus 21:22-25
22 "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
If the woman gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury to the baby, then the offender still can be fined.
But if there is serious injury to the baby, God says that there should be justice, Life for life.
He says the value of the life in the womb is of the same value as the life outside the womb. That is because God created us and has determined that we are valuable because we are created in the womb in the image of God.
He has valued us so highly that even when we sinned against Him, He sacrificed His One and Only Son to redeem us, and pay for us. He paid an infinitely high price for us showing that we are truly valuable.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. NIV
So God has created us and He is the one that gives us value and we see that a baby in the womb is a human and has been valued by God.
When we allow abortion, we are allowing the killing of an innocent child that God has created and valued by creating in His own image.
Transition
What does this mean for us today?
Well, when we come to this conclusion, that God is the creator of life and He values all human life from the moment of conception where he creates us in the womb bearing His own image, it must have effect on us how live in a society that has devalued life in the womb.
First, I think it is important to understand that many times, as the Lord works in our life as adults, we come to Him carrying all kinds of baggage from our past.
I don’t doubt that there are people here today who have been involved in an abortion in their past.
In light of what we have learned today about life beginning in the womb and abortion ending that life, you need to know that
Forgiveness is available to those involved in Abortions
Slide
Abortion is not the unforgiveable sin. Yes, it is a sin, but forgiveness is available through Christ. Just as in any sin we commit, we are told in
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Confess your sin and be purified and receive forgiveness.
You may need to talk to someone about what you have experienced.
PASS has programs to help those who have been through an abortion. You can call Pass or talk to Caryn.
Transition
Now, even though we have seen that abortion is the taking of a life and something that is against the very character of God, there are people here, I am sure, that still see this as a personal issue that each person has to deal with and you don’t really want to express your views to others on this subject.
Maybe you think what can one person do anyway?
Maybe you think this topic of abortion is just too politically sensitive to talk about with others and people won’t like you.
Or maybe you don’t want to be associated with those who sin at the other extreme by killing abortion doctors and blowing up clinics. And yes, they are absolutely sinning!
But I am here to tell you that even with all of those reasons,
Silence is not an option for Christians regarding abortion
Slide
We cannot sit by and not do anything. That too, would be a sin and we will face judgment for that.
Think about those who did nothing while the Jews were slaughtered during the Holocaust. Was that ok for them to sit by and do nothing?
It was not and it is not. Listen to what the Lord says in Leviticus 20, regarding those who were sacrificing their children to Molech, a false God and to those who stood by and did nothing while others did this.
Leviticus 20:1-5
Slide
20:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Say to the Israelites: ’Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him. 3 I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death, 5 I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.
God is saying if someone sacrifices their child they are committing murder and society has a right and duty to punish this crime. Remember that Israel is a nation and he is telling the nation that they need to punish this crime. This is not for an individual to carry out.
But maybe you say, well that lets me off the hook. It is the government’s responsibility to make the law and to seek justice.
Listen, in our country, our government is a representative government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”
If we do not do our part in holding our government accountable for their actions and laws, we are no better than those who closed their eyes in Israel when people were sacrificing their children to Molech.
Our false gods just have other names
Convenience – it is not convenient to have a baby right now
Choice – I decide what happens with my body and anyone attached to my body
Personal preference – I want a boy and this one is a girl.
We cannot remain silent with this holocaust continues.
And it is a holocaust.
Since the legalization of abortion in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973, (39 years ago today) it is estimated that more than 50 million babies have been aborted.
50 million children sacrificed to these false idols.
Abortion has killed nearly 5 times the number who died in that holocaust.
We cannot stand by and remain silent.
We as Christians cannot just say we are pro-life but by our actions, or really our inaction, proclaim that we are pro-choice.
I read that John Piper’s church once took out an ad that read
“I am personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice” – signed Pontius Pilate
“Brothers we are not professionals.” John Piper, p. 212
He didn’t want to kill Jesus, but let the people do what they wanted. He still bears responsibility for the crucifixion of Christ because he could have acted.
Are you acting on your convictions that the life in the womb is a valuable human life created in the image of God?
Maybe you just don’t know what to do.
What can we do practically?
Slide
Well, one thing we have got to do is
Speak for the Unborn
They are unable to speak for themselves.
James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
Basically he is saying we need to look after those who cannot look after themselves.
Who more so than the unborn who cannot speak for themselves?
How can we speak for them?
Speak the truth of the Value of life
Slide
When people do not talk about the truth that there is a life that is valuable inside the womb, society tends to not think about it and since the unborn cannot speak, they are being killed.
We have got to tell others when we have an opportunity that life in the womb is valuable to God and abortion is the taking of that innocent life.
But we not only need to share that truth, but to see long term change, we have also got to
Speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Slide
For long term change to happen, we have got to work to see people’s minds changed regarding abortion. Earlier in my life, I was pro-choice. What changed in me? Christ changed my heart and helped me see that He is the creator and He gives value to every life, regardless of how I feel about it.
God can change hearts and minds about this, but we must be sharing the gospel with people so they can receive Christ and have their hearts changed.
But even as we seek societal change by speaking these truths, we have got to also seek to protect the unborn by
Speak your belief with your votes
Slide
There may be some who take offense to me saying this.
I know there are some who try to make a person’s views about abortion and life into political issues just like a position on taxes or foreign policy.
Listen to me. Views about abortion and the life of the unborn are not a political issue. They are a moral issue!
Sometimes we hear people talk about a prolife person as a one issue voter. There are times that one issue can trump all others.
What if a politician held all of my economic positions and foreign policy preferences, but advocated that parents should have the right to kill their children up to 2 years old and would work for laws to establish that, would people call a person who did not vote for him a one issue voter. No. That one position would obviously a deal breaker.
With abortion, we are talking about the same thing, only we are changing the age of the child.
For a Christian, a person’s stand on this issue of life should always be a determining factor in whether we cast a vote for them to help make the laws of this land.
You need to speak with our votes, and you also need to
Speak your belief with your Sacrifice
Slide
We can give our money to support Crisis Pregnancy centers.
As a church, some of the money you give goes to support the efforts of PASS.
But you too can support PASS financially as well as sacrificing time to volunteer there.
Caryn will be out in the foyer after the service and you can talk with her further about helping or by making a financial contribution or even help with diapers.
These are some practical steps each of us can take to help protect the life of these innocent children.
Won’t you take steps to help end this holocaust by speaking for the unborn who are unable to speak for themselves?
Let’s go to God and ask for his forgiveness in not doing more and his help to speak out on this issue in love.
Let’s pray
