The passage I read this morning is intriguing. The story is recorded here in Luke as well as in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. And what I find interesting is that there’s this contrast between the views of the disciples… and Jesus.
There’s this group of parents who are bringing “infants” to Jesus for Him to bless them and the disciples are annoyed. How dare these parents bother Jesus this way, don’t they know that He’s a busy man? He has more important things to do than to be bothered by children. And so they rebuke the parents and essentially say “go away, and take their brats somewhere else.”
And you can almost hear Jesus say: “What is the deal? Why are sending these children away?” “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
There’s an old Gospel hymn that says “Jesus loves the little children… all the little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
That’s how God thinks. He loves children!
But now there’s always been a contrast between the views of man and views of God when it comes to children. In much of world history, children have been seen as having little value. They were even seen as being “disposable” by various cultures.
For example: the pagan nations around the nation of Israel worshipped a god named Molech. He was an EVIL god who demanded the sacrifice of children to appease him. And that’s what 1000s of these pagans would. They would even offer their children as “foundation sacrifices” for their new homes – after offering them up to their god they would embed the child in the walls to “bring them luck.”
This is one of the major reasons God told Israel He was driving the Canaanites out…
In Deuteronomy 12:29-31 God told Israel “When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? — that I also may do the same.’ “You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way… they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”
And in Leviticus 20:2 God hammered it home: “Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.”
And the pagans of Canaan weren’t the only ones who did this. About 840 B.C. the ancient city of Carthage was founded on the NE tip of Africa. It began as a humble village and grew until it was a major rival to Rome. Their famous general, Hannibal, nearly destroyed the Roman Empire at one point. Several years ago, archeologists dug up a “graveyard” which held sacrifices Carthage had made to their gods. The graves were a mixture of animals... AND CHILDREN. Now the folks, who discovered this were secular archeologists and they expected Carthaginian religion had “evolved” from a barbaric system - where initially children were sacrificed on their altars– into a more CIVILIZED culture - where they just offered up animals. But these experts were surprised to find that it was the other way around. Animals first… then children. Based on that finding, they speculated that, when Carthage was first founded, animals were plentiful and children more precious, and so they’d sacrifice animals. But as the city grew, animals became more valuable, and their children were more expendable… and the children were sacrificed rather than animals. Their animals became more precious than their children. (“Biblical Archeological Review” 10:1, January/February 1984; “Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control?”)
I could go on and on about this… but the point is: Mankind has often viewed children as being expendable. And it would appear not much has changed in several 1000 years.
Last year, the Supreme Court declared that the Federal Government had no business setting abortion policy. That should have been left to the states. So they struck down Roe v. Wade that had been decided law for nearly 50 years. But let’s be clear: The Supreme Court didn’t OUTLAW abortion, they simply said – Roe v. Wade was not well written law, and the decisions needed to be returned to the states.
Pro-Abortion activists responded by painting graffiti on church buildings and interrupted worship services. They hounded the homes and families of Supreme Court Justices and even uttered death threats against them. There are STILL those who believe unborn children are expendable.
And this was put on public display in the behavior of Planned Parenthood. In 2015 pro-life activists released a series of undercover videos of their covert discussions with Planned Parenthood officials. The pro-life activists posed as buyers of human baby body parts and recorded all the conversations for release to the public. Some of conversations included…
• Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director for medical services told actors posing as organ traffickers: “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that. So I’m not gonna crush that part. I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
• In another video Holly O’Donnell, a former StemExpress technician who harvested the parts from the aborted babies at a Planned Parenthood clinic explained: “We were asked to procure certain tissues like brain, livers, thymus, pancreas, heart, lungs, and pretty much anything on the fetus. It’s basically a huge trafficking of fetal tissues. StemExpress is a company that hires procurement techs to draw blood and dissect dead fetuses and sell the parts to researchers.”
• In a 3rd video Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Research Director Melissa Farrell was shown trying to negotiate a business agreement with the investigators. They discussed how they could defend increased payments for more valuable organs even though the law only permits payment for costs. “It’s all just a matter of line items,” she said.
(http://thefederalist.com/2015/09/29/a-quick-and-easy-guide-to-the-planned-parenthood-videos/)
Why would they do that? Why sell the body parts of aborted children? Because unborn babies were disposable for these people… babies were expendable. These folks made a lot money selling body parts! According to one undercover video Planned Parenthood clinics “Generate a Fair Amount of Income Doing This.” (https://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/cmp/investigative-footage/)
Then, just recently, pro-abortion members of the House and Senate became angry about new legislation called Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act - which would require doctors to provide care for infants born alive after a failed abortion. These critics accused proponents of the legislation of choosing “to push their extreme anti-choice agenda," and disrespecting “a woman’s right to choose the size and timing of her family.”
Think about that: this Legislation was designed to PROTECT A CHILD WHO WAS BORN ALIVE! These people were angry because saving a child that was BORN ALIVE would not protect a “woman’s right to choose.” That’s insane! For those legislators - children were expendable!
By contrast, the Bible speaks of the unborn as precious. Jeremiah wrote: “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
And in Psalm 139:13-16 we read “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”
This passage from Psalm 139 raises another issue: Who does the unborn child belong to? Psalm 139:13 says “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” God formed the child. He “knit that child together in its mother’s womb.” The child is God’s handiwork … and thus babies are made in God’s image.
If this child is made in God’s image, who do they belong to? God. People don’t own their children – God does. In fact, that’s especially true of children born and raised by Christian parents. Christians should view their children as belonging to God and are a sacred trust from Him.
Someone observed that the Bible teaches the sacredness of human life and that life begins at conception… and that’s the major reason the Jews, (alone among the civilizations around the Mediterranean) did NOT practice abortion and infanticide. (Richard Land, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in Christianity Today, 2/12 p. 42)
In fact, early Christians consistently opposed abortion and infanticide, even though that was common practices amongst the pagan cultures. Cultures that the early Christians were converted from. (Dr. Ruth A Tucker, teacher at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Calvin College; Focus on the Family 1/2000 p. 3)
So, I rejoice that Roe v. Wade has been repealed. Not only was it a badly written law… but it was an immoral law.
But that does raise the NEXT QUESTION: Now what? What do we do now that Roe v Wade has been repealed? Do we just kick back and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done? Well… NO!
Churches have (way too often) looked at those who have sinned as EVIL And that’s pretty much how the Pharisees viewed the people Jesus was preaching to. But Jesus said “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
In fact, one time, Jesus taught this parable: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Luke 15:4-7
Is having a child out of wedlock a sin? No! Having sex before marriage – that’s the sin. The child is just a by-product of that act. Is having sex outside of marriage forgivable? Of course it is - all sin is forgivable if we repent. That’s why Jesus said “there will be … joy in heaven over one sinner who REPENTS.” And when a repentant mother and/or father take responsibility for raising their out-of-wedlock child they show themselves to be righteous. And a church that supports them in that act is righteous.
But a church who refuses to support their raising that child has sinned against God and them.
As a church - we are in the business of healing broken lives. We are in the business of putting back together again that which has been torn apart. This girl is now trapped… she’s pregnant. And IF she realizes she shouldn’t have done what she did, then it’s our job to take her under our wing and help her through that pregnancy. Throw her a baby shower. Help her financially. In short – if she’s repentant – we need to help her in any way we can.
And we don’t have to do that alone. There are several good organizations that we can turn to to help in this issue. There’s “Birthright of Logansport” (right here in Logansport) which is a pregnancy center that tries to help mothers struggling with childbirth and the possibility of raising a child alone. They help with resources and advice on raising the child… or having child adopted. And, of course, there is Emmaus Center and the Salvation Army. They all offer resources to struggling families. But, particularly with a pregnant girl in our church family, we should be there for her and help her in her time of need.
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER QUESTION: If a person has had an abortion, was that abortion a sin?... Yes. No matter what our culture may say, or our laws may allow it’s still Sin. But here’s the deal: abortion is forgivable. Any sin that is repented of… is forgivable.
One of the most comforting passages in Scripture is Psalm 103:8-12. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Or as Micah 7:19 says “(God) will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Commenting on the Micah statement, Corrie Ten Boom once noted that “When God forgives He forgets. He buries our sins in the sea, and puts a sign on the shore saying ‘No Fishing Allowed.’”
CLOSE: I want to close with the story of Norma McCorvey. You probably don’t know her by that name. You know her as “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade, and this is her story:
Norma worked at an abortion clinic… and while working there she encountered Ronda Mackey and Ronda’s 7-year-old daughter Emily. Ronda was a volunteer for “Operation Rescue” – a group that opposed abortion and somehow or other, Ronda and Norma struck up a friendship and Emily showed the affection to Norma that only a 7 year old could do. Emily’s blatant affection, frequent hugs, and direct pursuit disarmed Norma. The little girl made it clear that she accepted Norma, but not her lifestyle. Because she worked in an abortion clinic, Norma was fearful of bonding with anyone so young. “It was part of my denial,” she explains. “When you know what is happening to the children behind closed doors, it’s difficult to become attached to them outside.”
Early on, Norma explained to Emily, “I like kids and wouldn’t let anyone hurt little kids,” and Emily responded, “Then why do you let them kill the babies at the clinic?” This childlike innocence cut open Norma’s heart. Over time, Emily began to personify the issue of abortion for Norma – especially when Ronda confessed to Norma that EMILY had almost been aborted.
Ronda was engaged when Emily was conceived, and nobody was happy about the pregnancy. Ronda’s future in-laws, her mother, and her fiancé, all pressured her to get an abortion during the first trimester. And Ronda admitted that she gave abortion serious consideration, until memories of a high school friend’s emotional devastation following an abortion strengthened her resolve to let Emily live.
Shortly after Ronda told Norma that story, the 2 went shopping with Ronda’s girls. Norma was stunned when she saw Ronda’s bumper sticker, “Abortion Stops A Beating Heart,” which had a vivid red heart on the side. Norma saw Emily’s heart in that sticker; it just about destroyed her when she realized that “my law” (as she once fondly referred to Roe v. Wade) made it legal to snuff out young Emily’s life. Norma asked to be taken home immediately.
Norma was forever changed by this experience. For her, abortion was no longer an “abstract right,” because it had a face in a little girl named Emily. In time, Norma began going to church, and was baptized into Christ. It was in becoming a Christian that she experienced the comfort and forgiveness from God that she needed. (Christian Reader July/Aug. 98)
