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.
We recognize a marked difference between the pagan world and the world of the Jews and Christians. To think that Christians would approve of abortion goes against the beliefs and practices of the early and ancient church. The view that life begins at conception has been the dominant view of Christians based on Scriptures we have just studied and the general teaching regarding the value of human life. For this reason abortion must be considered the unauthorized taking of a preborn human life, which is contrary to God’s will.
As a church we must address abortion: Abortion hurts women
Hurts women physically: As with any surgery there can be physical complications. Beyond that, abortion does not heal a physical problem but undermines a healthy, normal process. Clearly we have a link between abortion and future reproductive success. It substantially increases the risk of subsequent preterm birth, which seriously threatens the lives and health of newborn children. The risk of premature delivery increases with each additional abortion. Abortion is also associated with an increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, and placenta previa. The church should be more concerned with spiritual harm
Hurts women spiritually: We find many of these symptoms among women who have had an abortion: Self harm and strong suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts, increase in dangerous or unhealthy activities, depression that is stronger than just “a little sadness or the blues,” inability to perform normal self care activities, inability to work normally in a job or in school, inability to take care of or relate to any existing children or operate normally in her other relationships. Many women will so strongly repress these negative emotions that they develop “unrelated” symptoms and have no idea that the abortion is the cause. All of this reminds me of sin and the consequences that follow sin. Only liberation is through gospel of Jesus Christ. “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” John 8:34. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36.
Frederica Mathewes Green: I once received a letter from a man whose wife had an abortion; afterward, he said, she drifted into depression and found it difficult to cope with daily life. “They told her that it would give her control of her body,” he wrote. “But what kind of tradeoff is that, to gain control of your body and lose control of your mind?” The cruel irony is that abortion has been presented as something that will set a woman free. “The truth will set you free.”” John 8:32.
As a church we must address abortion: Our nation is better off without it
Many think that if we just overturn Roe Vs. Wade abortion will go away. No, more to it.
2 problems need to solve to advance the case that we can live without abortion. The first is preventing unplanned pregnancies, and the second is giving women support when they do become pregnant so they will opt not to abort.
1. Many put faith in contraceptives. Whatever sex education and contraceptive pushing is doing, the abortion rate is unchanged. When sex occurs between 2 people who have no lasting commitment to each other, a resulting pregnancy is likely to be “unwanted.” We need to be teaching that the only safe sex is between a husband and wife. Need to be talking about abstinence until marriage. This is abandoned as old fashioned in the 60’s
2. Give women the support- Many reasons having abortion but most of the time women have abortions because of relationships. Most often the woman wants to please the father of child. Boyfriends apply pressure through threats and ultimatums, promising to end the relationship if the woman chooses to keep the child. A big reason for abortion is the father. The second most common reason is pressure from a parent, usually the woman’s mother. Mothers want their daughters to abort, how sad. Parents are uncomfortable with this so have daughter abort
We say that this is a baby and abortion is wrong. For many this is like what happened to me with my car. Put water in the car and it froze up. Had someone come and look at it and they just said things like, “You shouldn’t have put water in this. What a numbskull, don’t ever do this again.” I already knew that but how is this going to help me with my problem now. Give no help, no support and they will keep having abortions.
We support the Pregnancy Care Center in Lawrenceburg. Right now they need...
Also women need to be encouraged to put up their babies for adoption. So many married couples want baby but are unable. Difficult decision but the best decision in many situations.
For the invitation, I want us to realize that the most important relationship is with Jesus Christ. “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37, 38. Difficult for a woman to go against the baby’s father and against her own parents and have that child. But Jesus Christ is to be our most important relationship. “All men will hate you because of me.” Luke 21:17. However, Jesus also says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”” Hebrews 13:5. Have things right with God, everything else will fall into place.
