Exchanging Darkness for Light and Speaking Light to the Darkness (Sermon Audio)

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
— Isaiah 5:20 —

This Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday and with it, we remember the lethal decision of the Supreme Court in 1973 to legalize abortion in our country. In the 47 years since Roe v Wade, and its accompanying case (Doe v Bolton), more than 61 million babies have been aborted in our country.

Put into perspective, this means that 61 million babies created by God, made in the image of God, and created for the glory of God, have been killed in the place where God brings life into the world. A mother’s womb should be the safest place on earth, yet in our day it has become one of the most dangerous.

At the same time, countless lies have been used to deceive women to pursue abortions. Uncertain or unaware of other options, institutions like Planned Parenthood have preyed on women, presenting abortion as their only hope. In other instances, men (fathers, boyfriends, and husbands) have pressured women to have abortions. And still other women vulnerable to lies, have aborted their babies because they believed it was the best way out of their situation.

The strand that runs through all of these episodes, whose details are exceedingly painful and complex, is deceit. Abortion providers tell lies about the safe solution found in abortion, Legislators fabricate tales about how protecting the right to abortion secures women’s health. Never mind the physical and emotional damage that comes from terminating the life of a growing child.

For women who go through with an abortion, deceit also plays a role. Instead of receiving the life growing within them, they must convince themselves into thinking that ending a human life—sometimes defining the baby as less than a person, which is another lie—is better than receiving the blessing of newborn. Add to this the growing celebration of abortion advocates, and we have a culture that has made the termination of newborn life normal and needful.

How much more confused can we be? We have called evil (the intentional termination of life) “good” and the good (the protection of life) “evil.”

In our own state, legislators are working this year to add laws to help women abort their babies without obstruction. Rather than having abortion-minded women see the child growing within them or taking 24 hours to consider the matter, or seeking the counsel of parents, two bills (SB21 and SB68) are being proposed in the name of women’s healthcare. These two bills would eliminate any role for ultrasounds, parent’s input, or patience to check a scared woman from seeking an abortion.

With words that sound compassionate and caring, legislators in Richmond are seeking to make it easier to spill the blood of children made in God’s image. What are we to do?

Proverbs 24:11–12 gives us the answer:

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?

We are to work, pray, plan, give, and speak on behalf of the unborn. Like our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to rescue those who are being taken away to death. This is what Christians do. We do not remain silent when we discover that plans are being made to take life. And we cannot, in our day, say that we don’t know what abortion is or who is providing this sentence of death.

Abortion has become a cause for celebration among celebrities and politicians. Even more, it has become incorporated into the political platform of the Democratic party. For this reason, it is unpopular in many circles to stand for life. But it was unpopular to stand for the Jews in Germany too. Popularity, whether social or political, is never a reason for silence.

Because our church celebrates life—eternal life and all life—we stand against the infanticide that abortion brings. And because Scripture teaches that all people, of all ethnicities, at whatever age or stage of development, are endowed with dignity as image-bearers of their Creator, we take one Sunday in January to remember the sanctity of life.

Sanctity of Life Sunday is January 19, 2020. Last Sunday I preached on this subject in preparation. You can listen to that message here and consider what you can do to stand for life and rescue those being taken away to death.

May God end this horrible scourge in our day as we pray and labor to protect the unborn in our country.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

Photo by Sebastian Grochowicz on Unsplash