Rev.
Matthew Versemann
Waverly,
Iowa
Life
Sunday
January
22nd, 2012
“GOD
LOVES LIFE”
God’s
PEACE is ALWAYS YOURS in Jesus.
Hear
the Word of God from Psalm 139,
“For
you (O Lord) created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise You, because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made.”
DEAR
FRIENDS IN CHRIST,
More
than 24 years ago, Pam – and her husband Bob – were serving as missionaries to
the
The
doctors urged Pam to abort the baby for her own safety, and told her that the
medicines have caused irreversible damage to her baby. But Pam refused the
abortion, and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son
would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam
said the doctors didn’t think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of
tissue.
Page 1
While
pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times, but refused to consider an
abortion. She remembered making a promise to God with her husband: ‘Lord, if
you will give us a son, we will name him Timothy, and we will make him a
preacher.
Pam
ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed, and eventually
gave birth to a healthy baby boy on August 14th, 1987. Pam’s
youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, hospitals, on the
mission fields in the
In
Deuteronomy 30, God’s Word says, “Behold this day, I set before you life and
death….now choose life, so that you and your children may live…and the Lord is
your life.”
God’s
love for life at every stage of existence hasn’t changed. What has changed is
our culture. Most cultures – including our own – that once had strong Christian
underpinnings, have fallen back into what is really ancient paganism. For it
was paganism that did not believe in the Triune God and that made ‘gods’ out of
sex, death, and themselves. It was paganism that put sex and death, orgies and
human sacrifice, at the center of their religious paganism. In ancient times,
when people killed a baby to improve their status, it was rightly called ‘child
sacrifice’. Today we call it: “My choice”. In ancient times, when people
ingested the flesh of a dead child, it was called ‘cannibalism’. Today we call
it “My Right.”
We live
in a culture in which the claim is made that “The Freedom To Choose” must be
protected from those who would impose their moral or religious beliefs on
others. But behind or underneath that claim is the assumption that we are all
our own little ‘gods’, and that there is no GOD, who defines what is right and
wrong.
Page 2
I fear
that, as Christians, we often punt the ball when it comes to abortion. We
justify both our inaction, and our voting for those we know support abortion,
with such myths as: “Well, I’m personally opposed to abortion, but I can’t
force my beliefs on others.”
I once
read an article by Dick Conklin that exposes the fallacy of that argument. He
writes:
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am
personally opposed to all of the rapes that are sweeping our country; and I’d
never participate in such an act. But I have no right to impose my morality on
others. Rather, the rapist should have the right to choose. The decision should
be only between the rapist and his attorney.
Yes, I know that there are those far-right,
anti-rape groups, who use emotional pictures of victims to dramatize their
anti-choice position. Most of them attend churches which hold similar view.
That makes this a religious issue – a clear separation of church and state.
Everyone knows that making rape illegal
won’t stop all the incidents. It will only make criminals out of the rapists.
Therefore, the only alternative is legalization. That’s why I support ‘rape on
demand’. After all, you can’t legislate morality.
Therefore, we need to vote for pro-choice
politicians who will protect permissive rape laws. Why, with liberalization,
rape will become quick and efficient, performed out in the open, under ideal
conditions. How could we ever go back to the days of ‘back alley’ rapings?”
I hope
you see that our own logic is ‘marred by sin’ when Christians say, “I’m personally opposed to abortion, but I
can’t force my beliefs on others.”
Page 3
Proverbs
24 says, “Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death. Do not stand back,
and let them die. And do not try to disclaim your own responsibility by saying,
“you didn’t know about it”. For God, Who knows all hearts, knows your heart
also. And He knows that you knew. And He will reward everyone, according to His
deeds.”
Martin
Luther said, “The command to love our
neighbor is not only violated when a person actually does evil; but also when
he fails to do good….for if you see anyone being condemned to death innocently,
and you do not try to save him; although you have ways and means to do so, you
also have killed him. And it will do you no good to plead that you did not contribute
to his death, for you have withheld the love and service by which his life
might have been saved.” In other word, none of us are innocent.
We have
lots of excuses for our inaction, “But
pastor, we can’t legislate morality, or force our morals on others.” That’s
not really true. Every single law imposes someone’s morality. The question is:
‘Which morality is the best morality to have as our morality?” Let me show the
fallacy here. If you buy into the myth, “but
we can’t legislate morality”, would you also be willing to say, “I’m personally opposed to drunk driving, but
I can’t force my morality on others. The drunk driver should have the freedom
to choose, whether or not he wishes to drive drunk.” Or, would you say, “I’m personally opposed to muggings, but I
can’t force my beliefs on others. The mugger should have the freedom to mug
whoever he chooses.”
The truth
is that every law is the legislating of someone’s morality. The homosexual
movement is working hard to legislate their morality. Those in favor of abortion
are working hard to legislate their morality. While it is true that we can’t
force anyone to become a Christian – even God doesn’t force His forgiveness on
us, He gives it to us as a gift, through faith in Jesus; nevertheless, our goal
in trying to protect life at every stage of existence, is not simply so that it
can be lived here on earth; but so that all life will have the opportunity to
hear that their sins are forgiven in Jesus. And to give all flesh the
opportunity to have water poured on their baby heads in the Name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit for their forgiveness. Page 4
When
the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, one of the key questions was: “When
does human life begin?” Chief Justice
Harry Blackmun, writing for the majority, said, “We do not need to resolve the difficult question of when life begins.
When those trained in medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive
at any concensus, then the Judicial Branch is in no position to speculate as to
the answer.”
On the
surface, that may sound reasonable, but do you know what he’s saying?
“The
unborn child may or may not be a person, and since we can’t say for sure, we’ll
allow the killing of it.” Do you see how sinful and illogical that is? The
logical position of someone who doesn’t know for sure when a person’s life
begins, would be to protect even the slightest possibility that this is life.
Should
we really be surprised when we turn on the TV at night, and hear another
gruesome story of teenagers killing someone outside of the womb, when the
adults are teaching them that it’s okay to kill children inside the womb. It’s
really not a large leap from one position to another.
As
Christians, we can and do know that life – human life – begins at conception,
in the womb. In fact, God’s Word could not be more clear on this point, that
the life of a baby inside the womb, is the same as life outside the womb. It’s
just at a different stage of development. Did you know that there are actually
six words in Scripture – I don’t think I ever used all of them in a sermon -
that describe life inside the womb, as being as fully human as life outside the
womb. Let me show you quickly.
The
same Hebrew word for ‘boys’ – beneh – used in Genesis 25 for Jacob and Esau
while they’re still in Rebekah’s womb, is the same Hebrew Word for Abraham’s
son, Ishmael, when he’s 13 years old (Genesis 17:25), and for Noah’s adult sons
(Genesis 9).
The
same Hebrew word for ‘man’ in Job 3:3 – gehver – when Job is conceived in his
mother’s womb, is the same Hebrew Word used over 60 times in the rest of the OT
to mean a ‘man’ outside the womb.
Page 5
The
same Hebrew word for ‘baby’ – yeled – which is used of Jacob and Esau inside
their mother’s womb in Genesis 25, is the same Hebrew word used of baby Moses,
after he’s born, placed into a basket, and put into the Nile river to save His
life. Life begins at conception, in the womb.
In the
NT, the same greek word for the ‘baby’ John the Baptist, inside his mother’s
womb – brephos – is the same greek word used for Jesus AFTER He’s born, “You
will find the baby (brephos) wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger.’
The
same Greek word for the ‘son’ – huios -
used of the baby inside Elizabeth’s womb, “And behold…Elizabeth has also
conceived a son (huios).” and of baby Jesus inside Mary’s womb, “the
angel said, ‘you shall conceive in your womb, a son (huios)”, is the
same greek Word used of Jesus outside the womb, 30 years later, when God the
Father says, at His Baptism, “This is My Son (huios), Whom I love. With
Him I am well-pleased.”
And
finally, the same Greek word for ‘child’ – tekna – inside the womb; the angel
said to Mary, “You will be with child,” is the same greek word used by Jesus
of children outside the womb, when He says, “Let the little children (tekna)
come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to them belongs the kingdom of God.” Life
begins at conception, in the womb.
Why
should we love life at every stage of existence? Why should we consider more
than our pocketbooks when we vote? Why should we protect all life, without
distinction? Why should we speak up for those who have no voice? Our love for
all life, flows from Jesus’ love for all life. When you and I were not the
children God wanted us to be; when we were handicapped by sin, rebellious by
nature, and enemies of God; when our sinfulness was an intrusion into God’s
perfect plan; when there was no need on God’s part to save us; when there was
nothing in us that could improve His quality of life; when He could have justly
aborted our lives; it was right there, that God loved your life. It was right
there that God had to make a choice - and your life and my life hung in the
balance. And God’s choice was not to sacrifice us, but to sacrifice His one and
only Son, so that we might become God’s children by adoption, through Jesus’
forgiveness. Page 6
Our
Savior’s love led Him to be more concerned about our living, than His dying.
Philippians 2, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider His being equal with
God, something to be grasped and held onto. But He made Himself nothing, taking
on the very nature of a servant, and being found in human appearance, He
humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
Do you
know what that means when it says, “And being found in human appear-ance, He
humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”?
It means that Jesus’ path to the cross started in a filopian tube. Look at the
value Jesus’ places on life. Look at the trouble He goes to, to save us. He
began His life in a filopian tube without sin, in order to redeem our life that
started in a filopian tube, with sin. He passed through every stage of human
existence without sin, so that by giving us His womb-to-tomb righteousness; no
one could say, ‘I’m beyond God’s grace.” What’s it all mean? It’s means that whether
you’re an embryo in a petri dish, a baby in a mother’s womb, a child, an adult,
or a grandma in a nursing home – you are an individual for whom Christ died,
because God loves and has redeemed all life, in the death of His Son. AMEN.
And
now, may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep our
hearts and minds, in the one true Christian faith, unto life everlasting. AMEN!
