Is Human Life Sacred ( Psalm 139:13-16; Luke 1:39-45)
Billy Milton - February 10, 2008
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The story’s told of a cowboy driving along the highway towing a horsebox with two horses in it. The cowboy dozes off and the truck and horsebox leave the road and crash into a gully, overturning in the process. The driver is knocked unconscious and when he regains consciousness he becomes aware that he is in a lot of pain and quite seriously injured. He can hear both horses whinnying pitifully just out of sight around the corner of the gully and he knows that they too are badly injured. He tries to shout for help but he’s too weak. Suddenly he hears a truck stop and a voice shouting, “Is there anybody there?” The cowboy is too weak to reply but he hears the man approaching the horses and then two gunshots ring out. The crying of the horses is silenced! Next minute the gunman appears around the corner, spots the injured cowboy and says, “Are you okay?” The cowboy looks at his smoking rifle, remembers the horses and replies as convincingly as he could, “Never felt better!”
We too would probably be a little nervous if we were in that man’s shoes. We usually place a high value on life - especially when it is our own lives. Jobs with good health benefits command a premium. Increasingly we’re spending thousands of pounds on surgeries and treatments to make our lives longer and more comfortable. Some of you exercise, watch your weight, and do other things to make your life better. However, despite all of that, we live in a world that is showing less and less regard for human life.
Dr. Kevorkian, who is also known as Dr Death, has gained much support and continues to assist in suicides even though it’s against the law. And, while there is a side of us that can understand wanting to bring someone’s life to an end when they are going through a great deal of distress and pain, I believe that its not our place to play God. However, just because of time constraints, I want to focus this morning on the opposite end of the life cycle. Did you know that by far the most dangerous time of your life is from conception to 1 year old? If you can survive that period you stand a pretty good chance of living to a decent age – especially if you are fortunate enough to be born in the Western World.
However, a growing number of people now support killing babies that are born with birth defects. With the ability of amniocentesis it is now possible to find out a lot of information about the baby before birth. Babies that have birth defects are being aborted. Babies of the wrong sex are being aborted. Babies who are conceived at an awkward time for the mother are being aborted. Who should decide who is to live or die?
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
God is the one that has given life. Nowhere in the Bible do I read that he has now given us the right to take it away,
no matter what clothes we choose to dress up the decision to end a life.
We have been ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ by God and that makes us special. Out of the millions of sperm that headed towards one egg, only one succeeded in creating life – and your are the result of that million to one chance. That makes you a one-in-a-million person before you were even born. We have been created in His image. God’s desire is that all of us recognize him as our creator but, more importantly, as the master of our lives. In God’s eyes we all have importance. In God’s eyes we are all precious and valuable from the moment of conception.
I WE ARE VALUABLE BECAUSE GOD KNOWS US
.
God knows everything about us. Even the number of hairs on our head and the number that have fallen out! (Luke 12:7) The thought that God knows everything there is to know may at first make us uncomfortable.
Look at Psalm 139:1-6.
V2 - when I sit and rise
. What I am doing every minute of every day
.
V2 - perceive my thoughts
- feelings of dislike or hatred toward another person
, when we hold a grudge,
fantasies.
V4 - word on my tongue -
whether that word is a blessing or a curse, God knows it.
That’s makes us uncomfortable because we are a little wary about letting people know what we are really like.
Do you remember your first date? Do you remember your tenth date with that same person? First date - dress nicely. Proper manners. Talk is mainly small talk.
After several dates don’t worry so much about how you dress or behave. Tenth date - get to the point where you will belch in front of each other… or worse!
Slowly, you let the other person know what you are like. You talk about likes and dislikes. You start letting the other person know what is important to you and showing your true attitudes.
However, there are always some things you don’t find out until marriage. Am I right? A few more masks are removed as you continue to grow in your relationship together. I suppose the longer a couple is together, the more masks are removed. But, only God knows what is under the last mask. Psalm 139:4 says, “You know me completely, O Lord.”
On the other hand, there is a positive side to all of this. When you take off a few of your masks and people still like you, you can find comfort in knowing that you can be yourself. God knows what is under the last mask and He still holds you up as valuable. He still loves you. And He desires to be loved by you in return.
Since we are valuable in God’s eyes, He looks after his investment. We cannot escape His presence. Look at Psalm 139:7-10. When you are happy, God is there to rejoice with you. When tragedy strikes, God is there to bring comfort. When troubles arise, God is there to help.
II WE ARE VALUABLE EVEN BEFORE WE ARE BORN. When we were created, God was there. Jeremiah 1:4-5 says, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Back to Psalm 139:13-16. The question of when a person becomes a person is a heated one in our world today. Some folk say that its at conception; some say about 21 days and some 13 weeks; some say not until the baby leaves the womb. Not until it’s breathing independently of its mother. Let me describe the growth process and see if it helps make up your mind.
The process of growth of a baby:-
First Trimester
At the moment of conception, your baby’s genetic makeup is complete. The DNA from the egg and sperm have united and determined your baby’s height, hair color, eye color, etc. The head and trunk of the fetus begin forming by the fifth week, along with all the major organs. In fact, your baby’s heart will begin beating in the first month!
Arms and legs begin to form, and fingers become distinct. The start of tiny lips can be seen, and eyelids form, (but they remain closed for a few more weeks). During the first trimester your baby’s eyes will take on the color they will carry throughout life, (though the pigmentation process may not be complete until after birth). Soft nails grow on miniscule fingers and toes, and teeth buds form along tiny gum lines.
During the middle of the first trimester, your baby’s kidneys begin to secrete urine, supplying the first of the fluid that will fill the amniotic sac. (The amniotic sac is the fluid-filled ‘bubble’ that surrounds your baby during pregnancy.)
By the end of the first trimester, your baby has taken on a human appearance. It has bones and muscles that surround the brain and spine, and the reproductive organs are developed (external genitalia will come later). Though they cannot make sounds, the vocal cords are also present. All the vital organs are formed, so now it’s time for growing!
Second Trimester
While the first trimester consists of your baby developing body parts, the second trimester is filled with the growing and maturing of organs. Your baby can bend its neck, arms and legs, and has developed its sucking reflex so that now, if it can find its way, it has the ability to suck its thumb. You will feel lots of movement during the second trimester, as your baby has learned to move around, kicking and responding to the sound of your voice. Babies also learn to swallow during these months.
At about a pound and a half by the end of the second trimester, your baby is developing more fat tissue. With regular periods of wake and sleep, you may be able to tell your baby’s sleeping pattern by the periods of movements you feel. Sexual differences become more recognizable during this time and, for girls, the eggs that they will carry throughout life have begun to develop. Lashes and brows are now growing around your baby’s eyes.
Although the organs are well developed, they are not yet functional on their own. Lungs begin to slightly inflate to prepare for breathing in the next few months. By the end of the second trimester, you can hear your baby’s heart beat with a stethoscope.
Third Trimester
The third trimester is a period of fattening up for your baby, as it gains about an ounce a day. Baby can now open and close its eyes and even hiccup and cry. Fingernails are so long now that the baby can actually scratch itself! Your baby will begin to kick vigorously, and usually will turn its head down in preparation for delivery. For boys, testicles have descended from the scrotum. Its brain begins to fold and become wrinkled, allowing more space for nerves to develop. Babies can live if born during the third trimester, but they need help breathing and will require extra medical attention. During the last month of pregnancy, your baby will gain about two pounds.
Editorial provided by Ami Felker, Public Relations, The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. For more information go to:- http://www.expectantmothersguide.com
Pro-choice or Pro-life.
The big debate seems to settle around whether you are pro-life (therefore against abortion) or pro-choice (supporting the choice of the mother to have an abortion if she so chooses). I think I’m a bit of both. I’m pro a woman choosing to get pregnant but once a woman decides to have sex and conception takes place, then the choice concerning the life of that baby is no longer hers.
At this point I become pro-life. Now I am well aware of the absolutely heart-breaking decisions that some women have to make concerning abortion for a variety of reasons – I’m thinking rape; AIDS, terrible physical deformity and so on but, and I say this with deep compassion for those who find themselves in that position, you cannot build a law around only the difficult cases, and its for that reason, and for the Biblical reasons I will outline, that I do not support abortion on demand. Nor do I think that it’s the woman’s prerogative to decide.
In the OT if a woman was physically harmed and she lost her baby, the one that caused the harm had to pay life for that life. Similarly in our society today. If a woman is harmed and loses the baby prematurely, the man can be sent to prison for manslaughter. However, a woman has the law to back her up if she decides to abort the baby. Abortion has become a way of life and is accepted by many people almost as an alternative means of birth control. However, I believe that the passages we read makes it clear that we are of immense value from the moment of conception. But as I said at the start of this sermon, we live in a world that has a growing disregard for human life.
In America a landowner can receive up to one year in jail and/or a $100,000 fine for harming a single Bald Eagle, its egg, or even altering habitat. (http://www.reason.org/news/) But, the killing of an unborn baby is not considered a crime at all, as long as the mother approves.
BRITISH WAR CASUALTIES
THE BOER WAR
- 22 000
WORLD WAR 1
- 994 000
WORLD WAR 2
- 451 000
WAR ON THE UNBORN - 6 405 000*. (4.5 times the number of casualties in these three great wars combined)
*England and Wales alone, not counting illegal, since abortion was legalized in 1961. (www.johnstonsarchive.net)
Surely, whether or not you are a militant pro-lifer, you can admit that these figures make appalling reading and we as a nation should hang our collective heads in shame at such wanton killing of that which God calls precious. God is with us from the very start; He is there watching us grow every step of our development. He is there at the end of our lives, however prematurely that might be.
Can I just say a quick word to those who have had an abortion? I have spoken to many mothers who have aborted a baby and the response is one of regret on almost every single occasion. (I know many women apparently have no conscience about the matter at all – I just haven’t spoken to that group.) I remember speaking to one lady who had aborted her first pregnancy. She had since gone on to have 5 more children and when I spoke to her, she told me with tears running down her face, that she had a gap in her womb the shape of her first baby that she had aborted. Subsequent babies had not filled that void. I prayed with her that day and she began the process of healing for her pain. For those that have experienced an abortion there is forgiveness. God values everyone, and that includes the mother who felt for whatever reason that they had to get rid of her unwanted baby, and He wants to heal their lives as well.
CONCLUSION:
I hope you have been able to see this morning that you are of tremendous value to God. I hope you’ve also heard that having an abortion is not the unforgivable sin. As with all sin, there is forgiveness for those who ask for it. If you’re struggling with this from your past don’t hesitate to confide in someone in the church that you trust & you can work together with them towards experiencing that forgiveness.
You are valuable and God’s desire for your life is that you give your life to Him for safekeeping; make Him the Lord and Saviour of your life, so that your sins might be forgiven and you might experience that healing and overwhelming peace that comes with forgiveness. Put your past to rest and experience his forgiveness this morning – let’s pray.