Sanctity of Life

Yesterday was labeled Sanctity of Life Sunday, since it is the Sunday closest to the anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade case, where unelected members of the US Supreme Court made abortion on demand legal on January 22, 1973. Since then there has arisen a rather large and viable pro-life (or anti-abortion as some would call it) business. Please don't label that remark as derogatory; it's just the truth. You can find dozens of websites where you can purchase Sanctity of Life supplies, ranging from church bulletin inserts, to prepared sermons and power point slide shows, to signs and banners. Then there are all of the organized events, complete with bus trips to the seats of power, where large crowds make a stand for life. These all have some value on on the grand scale of things. The negative side is that they are not enough. After 37 years, abortion on demand is still legal. While it seems to be on the decline, it is hard to calculate with the wide-spread dispensing of the morning after pill (RU 486).

I write this piece today, not from sanctimonious perch reserved only for those who have given their lives to the support of life. Whatever I have done in this battle pales in comparison to others I am privileged to know. I cannot help but weep over the relative apathy of the church with respect to this shedding of innocent blood in our country. Deuteronomy 19:13 says, "You must purge from Israel (substitute USA) the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you." Psalm 106:38 says, "They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood." Proverbs 6:17 says that the Lord hates "hands that shed innocent blood."

If there ever was a Scripture that described the abortion industry and the abortion lobby, it is this in Jeremiah 22:17, "But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression and extortion." Since 1973 there have been precious few people who see abortion for what it really is. There is no question in my mind that the quagmire our country is in is connected to the judgment of Almighty God for this abomination. In the early days of the rescue movement, the large majority of the church stood by (myself included) and allowed the rescue workers to become marginalized with respect to mainstream Christianity. They were hauled off to jail and some were financially ruined, while the church stood by, either in silence, or participating in some benign Sanctity of Life observance which lasted for only a few hours.

So many in the church do not want to get their hands dirty, and this keeps the Gospel of Jesus Christ from reaching the people who need it most. Young men and women caught up in a crisis pregnancy constitute some of the "halt, lame and blind" that Jesus commanded us to go and invite to the banquet, so the Master's house would be full. And here in 2010, on Sanctity of Life Sunday, perhaps you went to church and didn't even hear a word about the massacre that occurs daily in this country. Please understand, I am not against helping the poor people of Haiti. I have tried to generate some effective giving towards this area of great need. At the same time, I cannot help but realize that in the Land of the free and the Home of the Brave, in two months we kill babies in the womb in numbers equal to the total dead in Haiti's earthquake.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but did you ever wonder what James meant when he wrote, "Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:8-10) That's a real gut-level check for me. There is so much more to being the body of Christ than "feel-good, positive-thinking." God must be sick with all of our pop-psychology, self-help, image-improving brand of Christianity. I heard a very unpopular, but very helpful and necessary word mentioned several times in a sermon yesterday; that word was "repent!"

"Repent!" was the first directive Jesus preached in Mark 1:14 and it is the last directive He gives to five of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. If I think I have this Christian living figured out, I need to repent. I am amazed when I look at the fruit that has come from the ministry of a handful of faithful people in the Connecticut branch of Operation Save America. From 8-10 AM every Tuesday and Saturday they come to the Women's Health Center at 3787 Main Street, Bridgeport. Every Saturday from 8-10 AM they are at Planned Parenthood, 345 Whitney Ave., New Haven. There they hold graphic signs depicting what abortion really is. But they do so much more than that. Over the years they have gotten the attention of hundreds of women who were contemplating killing their baby. Since 1990, 1,987 babies have been saved and 375 moms and dads have committed their lives to Christ. (How many traditional churches can claim that?) Most of these have been given practical help in every conceivable manner, from jobs to food cards to baby wipes. If you would like to join that church on the streets, you have the addresses and meeting times. If you want to help this ministry financially, you can give to OSA-CT, 632 Merwin Ave., Milford, CT 06460-3820.