How many of you are dog lovers? I have a dog. Milo, an Egyptian Pharaoh mix, who thinks she’s part human. Milo tries to do everything we do…sometimes, she even tries to talk. I’ve heard that if you live long enough with your pooch, you begin to look like it, or it begins to look like you. I did some research, and it appears to be true¹  

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So I took a selfie of my doggie and me^{2 .}…very little resemblance, thank the Lord!

I am people and Milo is dog, and that’s that way I like it! But life is something else, isn’t it?

Today is an important day in the life of our Cathedral and indeed the wider CEC communion. On the 3^rd Sunday of each year, we pause and take some time to call attention to, and commemorate the sanctity of human life and all the wonderful elements associated with being alive. And we have much to celebrate today: so many of our family and friends did not live to see 2017, but we made it, praise the Lord!

I am grateful for this opportunity to spend some time with you exploring this life-business, as we try to better understand where and how we fit in with our own little orbit, and how we cross-section with everyone else on this journey. At a fundamental level, it is important that we fully understand this principle: ALL life, and all LIFEFORMS, come from one source, and that is God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit: – Three in One³, triune yet separate.

It is also very important that we fully understand that each one of us: you, me, all the wonderful people that we know, and even the…not-so-nice ones, every single person, was created in the image of God. We bear His image⁴ -three parts: physical, psychological, spiritual, making one complex being.

Our body is not our mind, and our mind is not our spirit. They are all separate, but they are still united, and we, of our own strength, cannot separate them. This is one of the mysteries of life. God designed it that way, and because He is the great I Am…no questions asked! God is a master craftsman, and His masterpiece is: man: you, me, and everyone around you.

Now, we know that ALL life forms come from the same Creator and are created each with its own unique intention and purpose. If you take a closer look at the very early stages of development in living organisms⁵, you will see with amazement that they are very similar in appearance and characteristics.

  

There is a strong similarity is the design of lifeforms. The REZ youths and I did a little study session on this a few months ago. Fascinating stuff! Last month, the entire nation was mesmerized watching the birth of two bald eagles babies⁶, in the wild, with a high-level zoom camera watching every twitch.

 

I admit…I was one of the gawkers…24 hour vigil…so amazing. Like so many other forms of living organisms, these bald eagles were not made in the image of God, but we cheered them on nonetheless, because they represented life, and the beauty of being alive. We weren’t waiting for the birds to get life…they already had it! We were celebrating their birth…a big difference! See, life begins at conception, not at birth. If we are willing to celebrate the lives of birds, and cats, and puppies, and even nasty lizards, how much more should we be celebrating the life of a child!  Irrespective of what society would have us believe, God’s creatures really don’t wait around until they are born to be alive. Let me say that again: God’s creatures don’t really wait around until they are born…to be alive. That is undisputable truth. Consider the way a baby moves in his mother’s womb⁷…

…how he rolls around, kicks his legs, often times violently, right Mom? Sometimes, it hurt! …how he hiccups, and pees, and poops.These are not functions of something UN-ALIVE! Consider for a moment, how a little baby girl snuggles up under her mother’s ribs, inside the womb… responds to her mother’s voice, and yawns when she is tired. A clump of lifeless cells CANNOT imitate life in this manner. The fact that an unborn baby is still a baby is simply indisputable.

We can agree on this basic fact, so why then, do we get so uncomfortable and squirm when we talk about the unborn? Why is the subject of abortion so acrimonious, divisive and disagreeable? The answer is clear, but it is complex. So before we continue, let us agree to open our hearts and our wills to the bidding of the Holy Spirit, that He would guard us from any misunderstanding or disrespect. And that He would allow us to find His truth, because that is what we desire.

So, the uncomfortable feeling we get when we try to discuss the issues of abortion lies deep in our psyche. Literally! There is a fancy academic term for it: it is called COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, which is fairly modern in definition, but not in substance, it is a phenomenon that is as old as Adam and Eve. Cognitive dissonance⁸ is defined as the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change…it is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values at the same time, performs an action that is contradictory to their beliefs, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with these values. Simply put, cognitive dissonance is when we have one set of beliefs but our attitudes and actions say something different. This is what Adam faced in the Garden of Eden, and it led him to disobedience and sin!

Let’s look at a more modern example: you’re invited over for dinner by some good friends. Now, you love meat…all kinds of meat. In fact, when you’re home, and no one’s looking, you love meat so much that you actually set aside all your utensils. You use your fingers and dig in with everything you’ve got: pork, steak, barbeque chicken, curry goat, oxtail…no discrimination here! Safe to say, you’re NOT a vegetarian. So your good, good friend invites you over for a fun evening, and you are excited to spend some time hanging out…well…and eating meat, of course. You get there, and the table is beautifully decorated with all kinds of goodies…you’re hungry. You look over at the platters: vegetable salad, re-fried beans, pasta…you look again…you see broccoli, and carrots! You begin to feel faint…right…nauseated even. Cognitive dissonance IMMEDIATELY kicks in! It is the only thing that can save you! Your thoughts and beliefs are screaming one thing: leave! Say you have a contagious illness and leave this house immediately…this is a trap! This is what your mind is telling you. However, your actions say something completely different. You quickly do some mental push-ups, you sit down politely, you fluff your napkin in your lap, and you eat your greens energetically. Even thank your host for her kind hospitality. Right? Cognitive dissonance is a powerful force…it a state of mental stress that propels us to act in ways that are totally opposite to what we really want to do. In many ways, it helps us survive a crisis.

Folks, cognition dissonance is what lies at the center of the abortion controversy for believers. I don’t, for even one moment, believe that we stand in opposition to the fact that life begins at conception, rather than at birth. As Christians, we don’t dispute the fact that God fashions life purposefully out of NOTHING…out of dirt…black dirt, and white dirt, and red dirt, even yellow dirt…whatever color muddy clay He chooses, and He uniquely and wonderfully creates each one of us…in HIS own image…filling us with potential and purpose for HIS divine will at OUR conception. No, we don’t dispute that at all. We are not held in some kind of wait-and-see-what-the-image-will-be pattern for nine months until we emerge from our mother’s womb. Not even cockroaches and caterpillars follow that pattern…much less us! No! At the point of creation, when that sperm meets that egg, and the 46 chromosomes begin their life dance together, we take on the very image of God, right there, right then. This plan is beautifully written in Psalm 139:13-16. ”For You formed my inwards parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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.” This passage is very clear and leaves nothing out.  Imagine, for a moment, take a moment and picture in your mind, how tenderly God molded each one of us in our mother’s womb and laid out the individual plans for each of our lives.

How many of you have ever seen an ultrasound? Don’t you just love them? Fascinating technology! I introduce you to baby Leo…he lives in England. This precious baby started his smile from in the womb at 31 weeks¹⁰…4-D imaging; here, he is 5 months old…same enchanting smile.

Sovereign God, how awesome you are! My brother is having a baby, due this July, and I have seen his sonograms. Even at 24 weeks, I know without a doubt in my mind that this baby has my brother’s 23 beautiful chromosomes…same peanut head, chiseled jaw-line, and long, scrawny fingers!  The image of life mimicking life is amazing! This baby is not waiting until July to see if he will be alive and counted as a human. He’s alive right now, and is living it up in his mommy’s tummy! We’ve seen it on the 3-D sonogram!

So, if we know with our heads, and we believe with our hearts, that we are hand-crafted by God, and made directly in His image, long before even our mothers even knew us, why then, do we find it ok to allow ourselves to sin against God by taking the life of the unborn child that He so purposefully made? This is the great conflict for all of us. It is the tricky part of this entire abortion debate. Friends, this is cognitive dissonance in its ugliest form. It is called free will. It is also called choice. This is the summation of a woman’s right to choose: my life, my body, my choice…my right to choose my attitude, my prerogative to select my perspective, and my decision to orchestrate my course of action, even if it runs counter to what I believe. Now that’s my head talking. But there are two other parts to this wonderful creature called me. Because I was made in the image of God, I am more than just physical…I also have a mind (soul), and I also have a spirit. This is what causes the abortion debate to SEEM so complicated. The truth is, cognitive dissonance is not always a bad thing…because it helps to sound the alarm bells of our conscience. The entire abortion debate becomes really simply when we fully understand the power of choice and how it connects, reconciles, and, restores us to our image-bearer: God.

So let’s take a deeper look at the AMAZING POWER OF CHOICE. The current laws in the United States, Roe vs Wade, to be precise, protect the rights of women… and men, because 50% of every baby belongs to the dad… to terminate a pregnancy if they do not want their conceived child. It does not give credence to the reason for the abortion, and there are many, many reasons given for why women reject their babies. Much research and data have been compiled to capture these statistics. Some of the reasons women cite are deeply emotional and painful; these are called “hard cases”, as opposed to relative cases which are less complex. Let’s take a look at the data¹¹:

We see here, that the overwhelming majority of babies are aborted not because of hard cases, where the women have been the victims of rape, incest, and other violent crimes, or where the health and welfare of the mother or babies were in jeopardy. Statistics show that most women reject their babies because of timing or inconvenience:

• I already have children and do not want any more. (30.9%)
• I want to delay having a child until later. (21.1%)
• Having a child at this time will disrupt my education or career. (19.9%)
• I am not emotionally ready or stable. (9.8%)
• I can’t financially afford a baby at this time in my life. (6.6%)
• I don’t know or have issues with the father of the child and don’t want to be a single parent. (4.4%)
• The baby is at risk. (3.1%)
• I am too young, and my parents are going to be very upset. (…I am Christian, and I feel ashamed. I will disappoint too many people…and so on… (1.5%)
• Other reasons (1.6%)
• My physical health is at risk. (1.1%)

These figures show that the numbers of women who choose abortion due to violence against them are actually very low…less than 4.2%. Another very interesting point, surprisingly, is that of the number of women choosing abortion, 70% said they were Christians.

Since 1973, when Roe vs. Wade was passed, almost 59 million babies have been aborted in America. These numbers are hard to wrap our heads around. Let’s think about them for a little. Here in South Florida, we have approximately 6 million people. The amount of babies aborted here in America could fill Miami and her suburbs almost 10 times! Let’s look at it another way. The island of Jamaica has 2.6 million people. Let’s say we remove every single Jamaican from the island and replace them with babies who have been aborted. We could refill the entire population of the island. Let’s do that another time, a 3^rd time, a 15^th time, 20 times…we could still replace the population. In fact, we could replace the entire population of Jamaica 22 times, before we even get close to the number of children who were aborted in America alone. If we use the figures from China, our minds get fuzzy…we could refill Jamaica over 900 times, with millions of babies left over! The data is sobering.

Let’s take an objective look at the legal side of the matter. Laws are very important in helping us keep the peace and protecting our persons and property. Without laws, we would have nothing but anarchy. How many of you know the movie, “The Purge”? In this box office film, the government decided to appease the people’s desire for freedom of expression and abandonment, so on one week-end each year, for 24 hours, in total dystopia, the laws are abated, and people are free to do whatever they want: run around in the buff, terrorize, steal, vandalize, even murder. The dastardly acts must be done in the specific time-frame allowed by the law to be discounted. Seriously? In the movie, people had to create some inventive ways to protect themselves during these black-out periods! Just imagine! Now, truth be told, when I saw this movie, I personally began to fantasize. There were at least 2 people that I could think of who would make this purge-thing worthwhile, right? For a second, I got caught up in fantasy of The Purge and the thrill of lawlessness. Can you imagine that? In reality, thank the good Lord, we have very stringent laws in place to protect us, and we don’t have a purge…no we don’t. Yet, people still choose to terrorize, steal, vandalize, rape, even murder. Why? Because moral values are not hinged on the law. It’s a heart issue!

The American judicial system permits women to abort their babies. This is also the law. It is a fairly one-sided law when you compare it to other legislature that protects parties on all sides, even in conflicts. For example, our basic laws restrict us from harming other people: assault, battery, murder, and so on. Everyone in America has equal rights of protection under these laws. The laws designed to protect unborn children are different: they are contradictory and flawed. For instance, the mother of the unborn baby can terminate its life at any time…without repercussions. In this case, the baby is called a fetus. However, if anyone else causes the death of the baby, such as in the case of a car accident, violence, murder, etc., magically, the fetus becomes a child, and the perpetrator is criminally charged and prosecuted. Did you know that this particular law is not new or unique to the United States? Take a look at Exodus 21:22-23¹²: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, and no lasting harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any lasting harm follows, then you shall give life for life…” Whaaat????? Did you know that was there in the Bible? I didn’t! This is good stuff! In this passage, the Bible does not specifically address what would happen if the woman took it upon herself to harm her child, but it clearly shows God’s position regarding the unborn child. I had ascribed the genius of this law to legislatures on the Hill. The Bible, wow! Roe vs. Wade completely flies in the face of this mandate. This law has also taken the rights of parents over their children and turned them over to the state: schools, courts, etc. so that minors who become pregnant can make life-altering decisions outside of the protective shield and love of their parents. 40% of minors who have had abortions report that their parents had not been informed. That’s 1 out of every 2 children. This has led to immeasurable brokenness and pain for many families. So the earthly laws say it’s ok to terminate a pregnancy…but the Judeo-Christian moral laws forbid it. Morality simply cannot be legislated. What a dilemma, right! And every day, we have young girls, as well as adult ladies, single and married women who find themselves in the emotionally charged and difficult circumstance of dealing with an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. How do we reconcile this dissonance? We cannot pretend that this is not a tough, tough situation. We, simply can’t. But, we do have a soft landing…as in every other difficult point in our lives, we go to the Word, and we ask God for guidance.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 2:15¹³,“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” God created man and made a covenant with him. He gave him free will. Adam knew what God wanted him to do, and he knew what his choices were. Adam and Eve experience cognitive dissonance and used their freedom of choice to disobey and grieve God. There were grave consequences. Later, God met Moses on Mount Sinai and gave Him 10 Commandments for the Jews to follow. There were many other laws that would set His chosen people apart from the rest. This Covenant was law; they were mandates that had to be obeyed. “I am your God…thou shall have no other God but Me.” Honor thy father and thy mother…” “Thou shall not kill…” But the Israelites still had free will. They still had choice. Overwhelmingly, they chose to abandon the law and sin anyway. See, the presence of the law did not guarantee compliance. Sometimes laws are like yokes around our necks! God understood the plight of His people. He entered into a New Covenant that would supersede the Law. He asked His only Son, Jesus, to enter the fallen world as a man Himself and offer another way for us to reconcile with the Father. Jesus would come to earth and offer grace and salvation. It seems like a simple enough solution, and its simplicity is the essence and beauty of the Gospel. Well, it is really not that simply. Because we are created in the image of God, 3 parts in 1 person, when Jesus took on human form, He subjected himself to these mortal facets as well. All throughout the New Testament, we see instances where Jesus felt the hardships of the physical elements and times when He struggled and agonized in His spirit over the burdens He knew He had to bear. And He had choice. Like us, Jesus, the man, also had free will.

So how does this apply to the subject of abortion and the rights of a woman to choose? It boils down to love. When we love with our spirits, that is, our heart and soul, law takes a back seat. We know, very well, the eloquent passage captured in 1Corithians, Chapter 13¹⁴, “⁴Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; ⁵it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things…⁸Love never ends…^13…so now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” This passage underscores the importance of real love. We are also very familiar with the teachings of Jesus explaining how love is the greatest commandment of all. Don’t get me wrong; our beliefs and our values are still embedded in the laws of God; this has not changed. The 10 Commandments do not disappear because we have a New Covenant with God. The difference now is that our actions and our behaviors are no longer motivated by these laws, and the fear that when we disobey, the punishment is swift and sure. Our attitudes and actions are now motivated by the love we have for a God that is holy, and loving, and merciful, and full of grace. When we love God, we fear Him. We are anxious to please Him. The temptation to sin is still ever present, but we fight our fleshly pull to follow our emotion and feelings, and instead, we make conscious decisions that will always honor Him. This love supersedes everything else and acts as a catalyst to help us find harmony and not dissonance in our soul.

Please allow me to share a personal story. In 1997, I was pregnant with my 3^rd child. Cellphones weren’t very common those days, and although I owned one, they were like bricks, so I kept mine in my handbag. I also didn’t have caller id, texting, messaging, etc., on the phone. I had gone to my Ob/Gyn the previous week, and they had been frantically trying to reach me without success. Apparently, my protein levels were reportedly hovering in dangerously high levels, and my care team was very concerned about the health of my baby. After submitting myself to a number of preliminary tests, I was advised that there was a very high possibility that my child would be diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. I felt faint. Confused. Broken-hearted. Angry. Yes, angry. I was happily married, had 2 beautiful children, and was one month away from my lifelong dream of going to medical school. I was a good Christian, obedient and giving. Why me? Why now? My husband and I were referred to a specialist for additional tests. We spent many hours in prayer, pleading to God for answers, and for peace. In our very first meeting with the geneticist, he flipped through his calendar and asked us to set a date for a possible termination of the pregnancy…citing health concerns, of course. My husband and I felt a heavy sense of violation and ended the consultation immediately. Although broken-hearted and afraid, abortion was not one of our options. Now, I want to be very clear: it was life that chose US…WE didn’t chose life! My husband and I didn’t reject the option of abortion because we are good people, nor because we are religious. Our reality was frightening. The thought of raising a special needs child was very intimidating, particularly because of timing and of overwhelming financial constraints. Abortion was an easier alternative…after all, we would be sparing the poor child a tough life. No one would know, and God would be merciful and forgive us. Right? Even the medical professionals said so. BUT my husband and I were not alone in our choice, and it made all the difference. We knew God. See, it was not our rational minds that made the decision to give our baby a chance to live; it was our spirits! Our rational mind could deal with the sin issue, the law issue, but it was our spirits that took the higher ground. Because we knew God, and because we feared God, and because we loved God, we were able to love our unborn baby unconditionally. This is what made the decision for us. When you know better, you do better, and we knew better. That is the amazing power of choice! My beautiful daughter is 19 years old this year. She is learning to spread her wings in adventure as she navigates her way through her first year of college. And her unbridled passion and love for life is contagious! We did go through with the gestational tests, amniocentesis, to be specific, primarily because we wanted to be fully prepared for the challenges of raising a child with Down’s Syndrome. The results were negative; my baby was normal. Imagine that! Why did God take my husband and me through this traumatizing journey? I don’t have the answer. But this, I know…my baby girl is not an accident, nor is she an afterthought! I bask in her beauty and her potential as she sets out to find her purpose in life. The same is true for my other children, and the same is true for yours.

The love of God is sure to help us find harmony and not discord in our spirit. But is takes courage. COURAGE. Love by itself falls short because it is mostly a FEELING. But when we have the courage and the boldness to ACT on this emotion, there is nothing we cannot accomplish…this is the embodiment of choice. Simple, right? NOT!…if it were, we would not have half the struggles that we do. How do we find this level of courage when we are faced with all kinds of doubt, insecurity, confusion, fear, worry, pain, grief, and even shame?

The truth is that we cannot on our own. But we can with God’s help.

Let’s take a look at how Jesus handled choice and what it means for us today.

1. Jesus was asked to give up His life so that others may live. This was not an easy decision to make and follow through. We know He was heavily burdened with the knowledge and the reality of what he would face on the cross and was tempted to take the easier way out. We also know that Jesus experienced moments of physical weakness and emotional agony, knowing the crucifixion was drawing near. Let’s look at Matthew 26:36-39¹⁵,“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him, Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Jesus was asked to give up His life for the sake of another, and the weight of the responsibility caused Him great sorrow.

Mothers too, are asked to give up their life so that another may live. Unlike Jesus, this does not include the weight of sin or the physical death of the mother. But she, in many ways, is asked to give up her life as she knows it for her baby. In the case of an unwanted pregnancy (an undesired mission), the women often feel crippling fear and trepidation. They experience weakness and doubt, and are also tempted to take the easy road out. It was unconditional love that allowed Jesus to experience and encompass love for His creation. In the same way, this love gives the pregnant woman the strength to carry a baby that she really doesn’t want. She is able to sacrifice herself for others so that they, too, can have life. The passage in John 15:13¹⁶ puts it best, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends.” Your life for a friend, imagine your own flesh and blood…your own image-bearer.

2. Jesus suffered greatly through the ordeal of the crucifixion. He suffered physically, and He suffered emotionally. In every pregnancy, there is some degree of suffering, but in cases where the child is unplanned and unwanted, the suffering can be magnified greatly. Jesus drew strength from the unconditional love He had for the plight of man, who was vulnerable and fragile. The argument can be made here that man contributed to his own plight through his sinful nature. The love that Jesus had was greater than the sin that man had for himself. This led Jesus to look past His own suffering and endure His own pain for the sake of another. We know that God was not always happy with man. In fact, in Genesis 6:5-6¹⁷, we see that God was sorry that He had made man. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Although God regretted that He made man, still, His love was greater than His regret.

So too, it is for the woman facing the painful journey of an unwanted pregnancy. She finds herself sorry that she got pregnant and resents her baby, but her love through Christ is even greater than her regret, and it leads her to find grace and mercy for her unwanted child, who is quite blameless in the dilemma of his mother. There still will be suffering to some degree. There still will be hardships. There still will be burdens to bear. But the woman’s love for her child will ‘bear all things, endure all things, and sustain all things”. The unconditional love for the plight and frailty of the child gives that mother, and father, the strength and the courage to face their mountain and deal with it. This is real choice.

3. Many people abandoned Jesus in his greatest time of need. Some were ashamed of him. Others were fearful that they would be judged if they associated with Him. Still others scattered because they were too confused to process what was happening.

Many women, who find themselves dealing with unwanted pregnancies, also experience abandonment and social rejection. Unfortunately, this is especially true in the church. Remember the statistics: 70% of women who have abortions consider themselves Christians. In the midst of their crisis, they often find themselves lonely and disparaged. Without love and courage, it is easy to run and hide. Abortion becomes attractive because it can be done before the shame becomes public. It is only the love of God, passed down to the love of the innocent baby that can provide the kind of courage to overcome such depth of despair. Courage, spurred by love, is a mighty and powerful thing.

The events surrounding the birth of Jesus captures the crisis of the unwed mother best. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was betrothed to Joseph but not wedded to him. Pregnancy was not a part of this arrangement because the law stipulated that Joseph could not have carnal knowledge of Mary. After she conceived, the law says she should have been stoned. Joseph found himself in a grave and extremely embarrassing position. This couple was a man and a woman in crisis! The law could not help these 2 young people. I am reminded of the famous quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr¹⁸:

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.” Joseph was a man in the midst of challenge and controversy, and the law was not on his side! But Joseph and Mary had a greater arsenal of power. They both knew God, and they knew the power of His love. Through the love that Joseph had for God, the love that had grown in him for Mary, and the love that he knew he would have for her child, Joseph found the courage to choose life over death. Imagine the pressure from his family and friends. They may have called him a fool, coward, a wuss. But Joseph took on a pro-life stance and made the decision to embrace his betrothed rather than cast her aside. Such love! Such courage! Such grace! And look at the child that was spared. The Son of God. The Redeemer of Man. Every child was created for a unique purpose, and God will use each one for greatness, regardless of the circumstance of his conception and his birth. This was the case with Jesus, and this is the case with every other child.

So…we’ve talked a lot about the philosophy behind abortion, courage, and choice. But what do we do with this information? How do we put it into action? It is our responsibility, individually and collectively, to empower others to make choices that are godly and sound. It is up to us, the older ones, to set the example for the younger ones by showing love and compassion, particularly when they are at their weakest emotional state and facing tough decisions like abortion. It is up to us the older ones who have experience the full love of Jesus Christ to take this love and extend it to those who are in pain. Without judgment! Our responsibility, as Christians, is to love our brothers, all of them, from the womb, to the tomb, and everywhere in between. Let us not join others, who, in their self-righteousness and piety, stand on a soapbox, and meeting a certain woman…such as Jesus did during one of his teachings on the Mount of Olives, publicize her sin, and set out to stone her. “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. That certainly rules me out. I would imagine it rules you out too.  Jesus said to the woman, “Go, and sin no more.” Woman, you have already been forgiven for conceiving out of wedlock; go and sin no more. Don’t compound your sin by terminating the life of your unborn child. The woman in the middle of the crowd was pro-choice, just like we all are. But in the presence of God, cloaked in His abiding love, she was emboldened, and her powerful pro-choice stance became the mirror–image of her powerful pro-life stance! This young lady, once full of guilt and weighed down by shame, was now liberated to have life and have it abundantly. But she would still need to make a sacrifice. Perhaps to lose her source of income. Perhaps to lose her companionship. Perhaps to lose her home. Her freedom. Her independence. Her dreams. Who knows what else? So too must the unwed mother, who is staring down the barrel of condemnation and shame. She is empowered. The choice is hers to make. She is pro-choice. But she must also be pro-life. It was not the law that saved the prostitute from being stoned. It was love. And the law shouldn’t be the deciding force to save the life of the baby either. It has to be love and courage. Only then, will we see a shift in the hearts of men. The law will lose its grip over all of us.

So…for the woman facing an unwanted pregnancy, married or single, “old” or young, rich or poor, victim or no victim, the choice should be a simple one. What Would Jesus Do? He would do exactly what He did for the 3 years of His ministry while He was here on earth. He would do what He did with the prostitute. Jesus would choose life. We have the power to do the same.

Through courage, we can choose to carry that other child that we did not plan for, can’t afford, aren’t prepared to raise, are ashamed to bear, and yes…can’t stand to live with. Through courage, we can find the strength to say yes to choosing loving alternatives…like adoption, which do not cause harm to our babies and grievance to God who created that precious life. Through courage, we can find the strength to sacrifice our own life for the sake of another, and rely on God to provide the means, the way, and the people to lend assistance and build us up where we are weak. And that is the function of the church. As a congregation, it is not enough for us to know the truth and not act on it.

If we expect to reach people, we must be prepared to use our actions just as much, if not more than we use our words less. James 2:14-17¹⁹ reminds us of this: “¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. A hungry man will barely be able to listen to you when his belly is empty, and the pangs of starvation tunnel through his belly. How will he concentrate? And for women who are grappling with the decision to abort, particularly young girls: teenagers struggling with shame, fear, confusion, financial anxiety, and maybe dashed dreams because of an unwanted pregnancy, our prayers alone simply fall short. Words are just not enough. Like the mother-to-be, we are also called to make a sacrifice. We literally need the entire village. Let use our time, talent, and treasure to help these young ladies through their pregnancy and way beyond, where the real challenges lie. This is one of the criticisms of the pro-choice movement: that we are quick to convince women to keep their babies but slow to stay the course in helping for the long haul. I implore you to step away from the comfortable zone of detachment or condemnation and walk alongside that hurting woman who needs that water from the well, both for her dehydrated body and her thirsty soul. And if you meet her after the fact…after she has made the ill-fated choice to terminate her pregnancy…for God’s sake, and for love’s sake, don’t throw that stone. Invite her to come with you…to meet the One who is the fountain of life…the only One Who can restore her to her place of dignity and grace. This is the Jesus that we know.

With each new generation, the issue of abortion becomes more complex. Today, we face the millennial generation: our future leaders, doctors, nurses, teachers, judges, lawyers, politicians, and even pastors. Millennials are perceived as over-sensitive with a strong sense of entitlement. They can be very demanding and often times come across as bratty and spoiled. These millennials demand their “own space” and platforms to “express” themselves. This generation is very vocal, opinionated, and love to pick up causes. They are motivated by feelings and do not place as much emphasis on critical thinking and long term consequences the way their predecessors did. Millennials easily spiral into tantrums and become very defensive at even the slightest perception that someone is “telling” them what to do. Because of their sense of detachment and strong focus on independence, abortion is an easy choice for the millennial. Alternatives to abortion: such as adoption and even keeping a baby that they don’t want, are not easy options them. On the other hand, millennials are powerful. They are also very passionate and gregarious, big-hearted and ardent. When they pick up a cause, their loyalty is deep. When you look at the pro-life movement across America, it is teeming with millennials and youths. God has a purpose and a plan for this passionate generation…the next leg of runners in the relay race of life. To reach millennials, we must have a relationship to them. Our actions with this generation, is what will win them over, not our words. We are Christians, and we are the standard-bearers for the Word of God. We must stay the course and not waiver, judge, or condemn. Let us continue to share the love of Christ with more of our actions and less of our words.

Let us pray for God to give us the courage to make tough morally-sound choices, even when it is unpopular. Let us pray for strength to overcome fear, doubt, and anxiety. Let us pray for passion, power, and purpose. Let us accept forgiveness when we sin and allow God to make us new. Let us use our time, talent, and treasure to help the unwed mother during the difficult period of the pregnancy AND after the baby is born. Let us find a pregnancy center or other place of benevolence and help out, supporting those who are broken and full of despair. Let us refrain from judgment and fling our arms wide open to receive the broken, tired, weak, and despondent.

Psalm 82:3-4²⁰ puts it best: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

May we never lose our courage to choose, and in choosing, may we always choose life. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Lorraine Phillips-Tracey