As you know, today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Preparation for today’s worship has been a struggle this week. I’ve struggled between two desires. One is to enjoy celebrative worship. I believe Sunday morning is a time for celebration. We should celebrate, forgiveness, eternal life, the resurrection of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the grace of God. But the other desire I have is to be confronted with the truth. Unfortunately, the truth about Sanctity of Life in this country is nothing to celebrate. So today is still a day for celebration, but also grief and confession.
The sad truth about the sanctity of life in America is saddest when it comes to what we do with our children. Take all of the soldiers who ever fought for our country, beginning with the Revolutionary war through the gulf war and add up all those who died. Then multiply that number by 22 and you will have the number of abortions performed in this country since Roe verses Wade. That breaks down to 4,400 every day, 180 per hour, 1 every 20 seconds.
Very, very few of these abortions are a result of rape, incest, or endangerment to the life of the mother. The primary reason parents opt for abortions are interference with work and career, affordability, and fear of raising a child alone. When I hear these statistics combined with these reasons, I can’t help but conclude that we don’t see human life as sacred. I can’t help but fear for the future of our nation.
I can’t help but grieve when I see the pictures of tiny babies with hearts that beat and fingers with fingerprints, unwanted and disposed of when there are thousands of couples like Joel and Sandy waiting and praying for a child. I can’t help but grieve when I see people imprisoned and fined for littering, yet doctors go unpunished for bringing a merciless ending to defenseless human life. I can’t help but grieve when I walk through assisted living homes and see the despair and loneliness of the aging, with no one to talk to, and few to comfort them. Human life is holy. It’s a gift from God. Human life is the greatest work of art every created. It’s a priceless treasure. It shouldn’t be vandalized or discarded.
We know this from the creation account in the book of Genesis. Everything that God created was good. So it’s is a crime when any part of God’s creation is neglected, spoiled, or abused. The pictures of the Exxon Valdez oil spill are horrifying. Those responsible should be prosecuted. The conditions in some of our livestock farms are abhorrent and oppressive. Those who mistreat animals should be prosecuted. When I was growing up in Michigan, Lake Erie had more dead fish on its beaches, than live ones in the water. Factories were pouring poison into the water and air. They should have been prosecuted. What God made was good, and he put us in charge of maintaining it.
And by the grace of God things are getting better. Lake Erie is in much better shape. Air standards have improved in Southern California. There is hope. We can change. But why don’t we preserve and protect that most valuable for of life, human life? People continue to go unpunished for committing the greatest crimes against creation: the crimes against humanity.
It was man and woman that God created in His image. People were created in His likeness. It was man and woman who were given rule over all livestock and creatures on the earth. It was man and woman who were created last. When God got done creating at the end of each day, he took a look around and said, “That’s good.” When God got done creating humanity, he looked around, and said, “That’s very good.”
Whenever human life is neglected, abused, or destroyed, it’s like we are harming God himself. Jesus said, “Whatever you do unto the least of my brethren, you do unto me.” A tiny fetus qualifies as “the least of my brethren.” Whatever our doctors do to a tiny fetus, created in the image and likeness of God, they do to God Himself. For one hour today we have taken time to glorify, honor, and praise God. In one typical hour in American hospitals and clinics, God is “slapped in the face” 180 times. Creator God is being punished for our mistakes.
With advances in medical science we have learned a great deal more about human life in the last 20 years. The pictures speak for themselves. It takes just 3 weeks after conception for a heartbeat to be heard. It takes just a few moments after conception for that tiny embryo to begin forming complete with its genetic code. Tiny babies that science calls fetuses can feel pain 24 weeks.
When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about ending a marriage Jesus responded by saying “what God has joined together, let no one separate.” No one came up to Jesus to ask him his opinion on abortion, obviously because it wasn’t a practice back then. But if they had, you can be sure He would have said, “What God has created in his image, let no one harm or destroy.”
What is our responsibility toward the unborn, toward the unwanted, to those considered too old or too frail to be useful? I believe the believer’s responsibility is similar to a German citizen’s responsibility to Jews during WW II. As prophets and priests, we need to take a stand like Dietrich Bonhoeffer did against an evil institution. Dietrich is a 20th century martyr. He stood up for the truth when most of his colleagues ignored the problems.
We also need to be sensitive to opportunities to rescue unwanted human life, not with violent protest or hostility, but with loving, gentle persuasion. If you read the book or saw the film Schindler’s list, you saw an ordinary German businessman who did extraordinary things to save all those he could. He used his influence and wisdom, not force, to rescue as many children and adults as he could from the Nazis.
When someone you love or know confides in you an unwanted pregnancy, you may be the only voice of truth they will hear. Planned parenthood and school counselors won’t tell them the truth of the pain, guilt, and depression they will experience when they abort a child. Parents, husbands, and boyfriends may be pressuring them to take the quick and easy method of ending the inconvenience.
But you can tell them that God created that child and that human life is very good. You can tell them of the options and offer to help and support them. You can have an influence if you love God and love human life. You can be a modern day Schindler.
When I was in Sunday school and youth group our youth leaders would drag us to the Old folks home to visit and sing. As a teen I always dreaded going. I was shy and didn’t like to talk with people I didn’t know. It took me out of my comfort zone. If my parents hadn’t forced me, I don’t think I would have done it. But you know, by the time our visit ended, I never regretted spending time with these people. They always seemed to appreciate it.
Whenever you visit a retirement home, become pen pals with a prisoner, adopt a child, or help the homeless you are ministering to Jesus himself. Jesus is the advocate for the poor, for the unborn, for those that society devalues and wants to get rid of. Whenever you reach out “to the least” of humankind, you reach out to image-bearers of God, to people that God cares about dearly.
One of our elders gave me a copy of an article in USA today that seemed a fitting conclusion for a Sanctity of Life message. It’s a story of 72-year-old Florida woman named Kaye O’Bara. When this woman married she prayed to God for children and he answered her prayer by giving her two daughters. But she never could have imagined the kind of life she would have as a mother.
When her oldest daughter was 16 she fell into a diabetic coma, and returned to the cradle or a vegetative state. She has been that way for 30 years. Her last words to her mother before falling asleep were, “promise you won’t leave me, will you, mommy?” 5 years later Kay’s husband died, and 15 years ago her other daughter suffered a heart attack, and has been in need of constant care ever since.
You would think that Kay would be bitter and depressed with her life. But that’s not so. She’s described as one of the most energetic, high on life people around. When people enter her home, they often cry not from the sight of the young women, but from the faith and love in that home. They describe the atmosphere there as “a divine place.” They feel the presence of God in that home because human life, no matter how frail, is treasured and honored.
Kaye O’Bara, when asked about her situation just says, “what I do is not a burden, it’s an honor. I asked God for two daughters. I didn’t put restrictions on it.”
Taking care of and nurturing any form of human life is an honor. Carrying a child, even an unplanned child is a privilege. When God got done making the first human beings, he looked down and said, “That’s very good.”
Treasure life as a priceless work of art. Treasure the life God has given all human creatures, whether in the earliest or latest stages of life. Treasure, uphold, empower, rescue, and care for all those He created in His likeness. Amen.
