My son returned from scout camp last week excited to show me what he had bought from the scout shop. “Dad, look at this!” he said. He had a tool with several attachments including a compass. “Do you know why we need a compass?” he asked. “It’s so you don’t get lost in the woods.” I patted him on the shoulder and told him he was exactly right. “You see, this red arrow is always pointing north, so if you line yourself up with the compass, you will always know what direction you are facing.” He thought that was pretty cool. When we are hiking through the wilderness, in unfamiliar territory, surrounding by trees it can be very easy to get turned around and lose our bearings. We can become confused, and find ourselves wandering in circles. One person says “I think this is the right direction,” and another person says, “I think that is the direction.” But how will you know unless you have a fixed reference point to guide you. That’s why a scout always carries his compass, so he can navigate through confusing terrain without getting lost.
We need a compass to guide us through the difficult moral issues facing our world today. There are so many voices in our culture (celebrities, politicians, professors, classmates…) telling us “this is the right way,” “no this is the right way.” Unless we have a fixed reference point, showing us true north, it is easy to get confused. This is the case with the issue of abortion. Over the last couple of months this is an issue that has dominated the headlines. We’ve seen it in the news. We’ve read about it on social media. We’ve heard our leaders deliver speeches. From the moment and the Supreme Court announced their historic ruling last month overturning Roe vs. Wade (and even before that) it has been the focus of conversation everywhere, and everyone has an opinion. It was a ruling that many of us have been praying for, for a very long time, wondering if we would ever see it become a reality. Meanwhile, it was a ruling that angered many others who have taken to the streets across the country in protest. If you have paid any attention at all, you realize that we are being bombarded with arguments every day that are becoming louder and more aggressive and more intense. If we are not grounded, it will be easy for us to become confused.
Charity recently received a message from someone close to us who said, “I thought overturning Roe vs. Wade was a good thing. Doesn’t that mean babies are being saved? But the people around me are all saying it is a bad thing and that our country is moving in the wrong direction. You are a woman that I respect. What do you think?” She was able to share some insight with him.
One author writes
If you think overturning Roe ends the abortion debate, you are living in a dream world. The worldview assumptions that make abortion plausible to millions of our fellow citizens are deeply entrenched in American culture and they won’t go away without a fight. In fact, in many ways, overturning Roe is just the beginning of the fight to save unborn lives. Now we can finally get in the game. But are we prepared? [i]
I’ve spent a lot of time reading different articles and books over the last month and I have become convinced that we need to spend more time in the church talking about moral issues like abortion. As Christians, we have a compass to guide our understanding of these issues. We don’t have to wander around in circles with everyone else or be confused by all of arguments that being made. We can ask, what does the Lord have say about this issue? At the end of the day, this is all that matters. It’s not the loudest voice that should sway us. It’s not what our politicians say, or what the celebrities say, or what the people on Twitter say. What does God say?
Scripture is clear: all human life whether big or small is sacred. This is the message we find in our passage this morning. Psalm 139 is probably one of the most familiar chapters in the book of Psalms. It is a psalm of David. Here in this paragraph David reflects on how the Lord created us. He was involved in our lives from the earliest moments of our existence. God knew us, and loved us, even before we were born.
Psalm 139:13–16 (ESV) tells us,
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
We can hear the sense awe and amazement in David’s words. As he considers God’s knowledge and presence in our lives, David is humbled. Compared to the infinite greatness of God, human beings are so small, and yet he cares for us. He knows each and every one of us by name. He is always with us, wherever we go. There is nowhere on this earth where we are hidden from his eyes.
Life truly is a miracle. We’ve experienced this for ourselves. Maybe you have come home from the doctor’s office and hung a piece of paper on the refrigerator showing a picture from an ultrasound of your unborn child. She is so tiny, but you can see the form or her fingers and toes and face. Or maybe you remember holding your little grandbaby in your arms for the very first time. In those moments we realize that life is a miracle.
We’re going to look at three basic questions this morning. These are questions raised by a Christian author, Scott Klusendorf. He is a phenomenal pro-life speaker. I will post links on our church website where you can read some of his articles and from other Christian teachers as well. He has a way of stating the biblical view so clearly. The three questions are:
- What are the unborn?
- What makes humans valuable?
- And what is our duty to the unborn and to the mother?
The first question that confronts us in the abortion discussion is: what are the unborn?
Our passage here addresses that issue and tells us that the unborn are human beings created by God. In verse 16 (NIV84) David declares, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
David didn’t have the ultrasound equipment or the fancy medical technology we have today, but God gave him tremendous insight about the child growing inside a mother’s womb. From the earliest moments of your existence, you were a person known by God. You were not merely a clump of cells or a potential life, but you were a part of the human family.
Someone might object, “That’s just your religious view.” No its not. Actually the science of embryology points the same conclusion: “from the earliest stages of development the unborn are distinct, living, whole human beings.”[ii]
From the very first day of conception, all human chromosomes are present in that tiny life. We know that genetic information is contributed by both parents: 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 chromosomes from the father. When combined at conception a unique, genetically distinct human organism is formed.
Authors Frank Turek and Norman Giesler point out,
Though tiny, this new creature has all of the genetic information that fully developed person has. No new genetic information will be added throughout the baby’s lifetime… the genetic content is equivalent to fifty complete sets of Encyclopedia Britannica. This is no tissue blob. It is an incredibly complex new individual creation… In other words, there is nothing genetically different between a human zygote and the person reading this sentence. Both you and the baby have a distinctive genetic code. As a result, you are each unique, you are each 100 percent human being, and you are each unlike any other creature ever conceived.[iii]
We often hear pro-abortion advocates chant the slogan “My body, my choice,” but the reality is (according to science and Scripture), the child growing within the mother’s womb is not a part of her body. We are talking about a new, distinct, individual human life living within. Some have tried argue that the skin cells on the back of your hand are living cells, so how is that any different from the cells of an embryo? There is a huge difference. The skins cells on my hand are just a part of me. But the embryo developing in the womb is a whole human organism distinct from the mother.
It is fascinating to learn about the stages of development, and how the unborn child is literally woven together in that unseen place. Very early, by the 22nd day of pregnancy, the child’s heart is already beating with his or her own blood (often with a different blood type from the mother). By the fifth week the eyes, legs and hands of the baby are forming. Already, by the sixth week, brain waves can be detected. The mouth, lips, and fingers are present. At week seven the baby is kicking and swimming. Every organ is in place by week eight, and the baby has a unique fingerprints. In weeks 9 and 10 fingernails and teeth are growing. The baby can now turn its head and make facial expressions. By week 17 the baby is entering REM sleep and can dream.
The words of David, in the psalm, resonate when he says in verse 13 (ESV), “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”
How does our culture avoid the conclusion that the unborn child is a unique human life? They resort to attractive euphemisms to hide the truth. If you were to walk into planned pregnancy, to talk to someone about abortion, they won’t call themselves pro-abortion but pro-choice. They will not use the phrase pregnant with child, but talk about the product of conception. They don’t speak of destroying a life, but terminating a pregnancy. They don’t consider this a moral issue but a matter of reproductive health. A person might use whatever words they want, but it doesn’t change the harsh reality. Abortion ends an innocent human life.
I like the example one author uses to describe the tiny new life developing within the mother. Think back to the days before digital photography, before you could take a snapshot with your cellphone. Some of you don’t understand what that means, but there was a day (a long time ago) when cameras used something called film. You put the film in the camera, and sent it away to be developed, and eventually you received a package of pictures. Then Poloroid came out with the instant camera. You could snap a picture and within a minute or so a piece of photo paper emerged from the bottom of the camera and developed before your eyes. Just imagine you had one of those Poloroid cameras, and you managed to take a picture of something unique and valuable. Maybe it was a snapshot of your child’s first steps. This is a momentous event. It is the kind of moment you would want to cherish forever. You wait anxiously for the picture to emerge from the camera, but as it does I grab it away and tear it up. You would be furious, wouldn’t you? “What are doing? That picture was special!” you say. I respond, “no it wasn’t, it was just a white piece of paper with brown smudge. Why would you care about that?” And you answer, “no, it was more than that, it was my child’s first steps. The picture was already there, you just couldn’t see it yet.”
When you were still developing in your mother’s womb, you were already there, we just couldn’t see you yet. Many people just assume the unborn are not one of us. But science and scripture tell us something different. They are a part of the human family.
The second question that confronts us in the abortion discussion is: what makes human life valuable?
Our passage speaks to this issue telling us that every human life is precious because were created by the hands of almighty God. Again, look at verses 13-14 (ESV).
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
David uses words that describe a great artist who is skillfully at work to produce a beautiful masterpiece. You knitted me together… I was intricately woven…
I have known several people who have enjoyed knitting. They have bundles of yarn in a basket beside their chair, and spend hours at a time weaving together different colors and designs until their work is complete. Here is the quilt I knitted for my niece! Here are the little socks I’ve knitted for my grandson. I look at what they have made and think, “Wow, that is incredible.” It requires tremendous skill to produce something so intricate and complex. I certainly don’t have the patience for that. But they delight in the work of their hands.
Scripture tells us that the Lord is brilliant artist who delights in the work of his hands We are his creation. Just like that handcrafted blanket, you are one of a kind. You didn’t roll off an assembly line somewhere, to look identical to the person next to you. You are unique in your own way. There has never been anyone else, in all of history, who was quite like you. You are special.
It doesn’t matter what the circumstances might have been that brought you into being. Your life is beautiful because you were made by the creator God. No life is an accident. No life was a mistake. God doesn’t make mistakes. Every life has value and meaning and purpose because it was given by God. He is the author of life, and delights in his creation.
Not only are we unique from one another but human beings are unique from all other living things. We know that the Lord has filled this planet with all kinds of amazing creatures, but unlike any plant or animal only humans were made in the image of God. That means we are designed to reflect his glory in a way that no other creature can do. Truly David was right when he declared, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Most people would agree that human life has value but it’s important to ask why? Is because of who we are as human beings or is it because of what we are able to do? That’s a pretty big distinction.
Think of it this way. Picture two women: one is tall and the other is short. Is the life of the tall woman worth more than the woman who is short? Of course not. Our lives have equal value regardless of size. Or imagine two men living in different parts of the world. One has an apartment in New York City, while the other has a home in Timbuktu. Is the life of the New Yorker worth more because of where he happens to reside? Of course not. Our lives have equal value no matter the environment. Or consider two people at different stages of development. One is a toddler just learning how to walk. The other is a fully grown adult who has graduated from college. Would you say that the life of an adult is of greater worth than that of the toddler? Not at all. Our lives have equal value regardless of our level of development. Or consider two children who depend on their parents to varying degrees. One is a newborn, who relies on her parents to feed her and change her diaper and protect her. The other is a teenager who is fairly independent. She picks out her own clothes and packs her own lunch and drivers herself to school. Would we say the life of the teenager is worth more than the newborn? I hope not. Our lives have equal value regardless of how much we might depend on others. Those are all characteristics that might change over time, but the value of your life doesn’t change. It is grounded in who we are as human beings made in God’s image.
This applies to the unborn child as well. It has been said that there are only four key differences between who you are right now and who were you before you were born. Those differences are: size, level of development, environment, and degree of dependency. Just because you were smaller then than you are today doesn’t mean your life was not valuable. Just because you hadn’t learned to speak or walk or ride a bike doesn’t mean your life had no value. Just because you hadn’t yet made the short journey through the birth canal doesn’t mean your life had no value. Just because you were more dependent then on your mother than you are today doesn’t mean that your life was less valuable.
Those who criticize the pro-life position reject this notion. The unborn, they argue, have no right to life because of their size or their level of development. They measure the value of a life on arbitrary traits. If you have certain abilities, if you possess certain qualities, only then is your life if worth protecting. But we had better be careful, because those same qualities can change during the course of our lives.
Scott Klusendorf writes,
…it’s far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely with respect to talents, accomplishments, and degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal in fundamental dignity because they share a common human nature. In short, humans have value simply because they are human, not because of some acquired property they may gain or lose during their lifetime. If you deny this, it’s difficult to say why objective human rights apply to anyone.[iv]
It isn’t what you can do that makes your life valuable, it is who you are as a human being
The third question that confronts us in the abortion debate is: what is our duty as Christians to our unborn neighbor and her mother?
The short answer is that we are called to serve them with the love of Jesus Christ.
That means speaking out on these issues. Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 31:8–9 (NIV84). Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us,
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Christians need to willing to open our mouth and speak on moral issues. If the church is silent, only one voice will be heard in the debate, and that is the voice of this world. I don’t have to tell you that voice is getting louder and more aggressive by the day. Unless we respond, that’s what the people around us will accept. It’s what our young people will learn. I was listening to a speaker this week who travels to college campuses and speaks with college students. He expected many of them to embrace the pro-choice argument, but what he didn’t expect was that many of the Christian students he spoke with had no idea their faith had anything to say about this issue. They had never heard it from the pulpit. They had never talked about it in youth group or Sunday School. I’ve become convinced that I need to preach on these things much more often than I do. We’ve talked about these things in the past, we have included it in our doctrinal statement, we have studied these things, but not nearly enough.
We need to study and read and equip ourselves with the truth so that we are ready when others ask why we are pro-life. This is becoming more and more difficult in our day. There were a couple of stories in the news recently about the way people were treated for taking a pro-life stand. A professor at a medical college was at an event to welcome new students and their families. She was not speaking on abortion at that event, but she is known for her pro-life beliefs. When she approached the podium, a large number of students and their families got up and walked out. Many of the reporters who wrote about this celebrated the actions of those who tried to cancel her for her beliefs. Another story involves Jim Harbaugh, the football coach at the University of Michigan. Normally, I don’t like to say anything good about the Michigan football team, but I applaud his courage. People are up in arms, angry with him, because he recently spoke at a prolife event. We need the courage to speak on behalf of the unborn.
We need to get involved with local pregnancy resource centers. We’ve recently had the opportunity to learn about the ministry of Heartbeat of Hardin County here in our community. It is amazing to see how Christians can walk beside women and families who might be thinking that abortion is their only option, but to show them another way. These centers care for the needs of women by providing diapers, formula, baby clothes, and cribs, counseling and more. That makes a tremendous difference, when a young woman or a young family knows they are not alone. One of the criticisms people often raise against the pro-life movement is they claim we do not care about women. “You are pro-birth,” they say, “not pro-life.” But this is a false argument. Christian pregnancy centers do far more to help the needs of women than planned parenthood, without any federal funding.
Christians can get involved in foster care and adoption. Charity and I have met some incredible people who have opened their hearts and their homes to serve children.
And when we speak on this issue, we need to minister to women who carry the guilt and heartache of abortion. The church has something to offer that the world is missing, the grace and forgiveness found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our culture tries to ignore the trauma inflicted by abortion, but it is there. An article last week in World Magazine says,
[A recent] study revealed that 64 percent of women who seek abortions said they felt pressured by others to have one, more than half thought that abortion was “morally wrong,” less than 1 percent said they felt better about themselves, 78 percent felt guilt, and 60 percent felt that “part of me died.” That doesn’t even account for the physical toll the multibillion-dollar abortion industry… has inflicted on [women].[v]
Our culture has no answer, and no way of caring for brokenness and suffering caused by abortion. But the church does. We proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, whose love brings healing and redemption. Maybe you know someone who has suffered that grief. Maybe you have carried that weight in your own life. Know that God loves you. Christ’s arms are open to you. He is gracious and merciful and forgiving. Each us can find healing in Christ, no matter what we’ve gone through or where we have been. Scripture says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24 NIV84). The answer to our guilt and shame isn’t to bury it in our heart to pretend that all is well. The answer is to come to Jesus and allow him to make us into a new creation.
More than a Political Issue
There is a lot more to be said about this issue, more than we can discuss today. There are lot of arguments being made right now against the pro-life view by politicians and celebrities and people on social media that are just bad arguments. We need to be able to refute them, and speak the truth.
It takes us back to the person who is hiking through the wilderness, who has gotten turned around. All these voices are saying this is the right way, this is the right way. Unless he has a compass to direct him, he will be confused. We need the compass of God’s Word to guide us.
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[i] Scott Klusendorf, “If Roe Goes” seminar by Summit Ministries
[ii] ibid
[iii] Geisler, Norman L. & Turek, Frank “Legislating Morality,” p.155
[iv] Klusendorf, S. (2009). The case for life: equipping christians to engage the culture. Crossway
[v] https://wng.org/opinions/the-return-of-an-old-pro-abortion-argument-1659015191