Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
God grants us the
freedom to choose, but the choice is between life and death. Nevertheless it is still our choice.
Put in those
terms, as Moses did, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would choose anything but
life. But it gets complicated.
In our world
today it’s hard to hear these words about choosing life without calling to mind
the whole debate concerning abortion and the way it’s been framed as a question
of pro-Life or pro-Choice.
We all have heard
the arguments on both sides.
The pro-Life
people argue adamantly that the unborn child has a right to life, and that
abortion is murder and should be banned.
The pro-Choice
people maintain that a woman has the right to make her own reproductive
choices, that is, to determine whether or not she gives birth to a child.
The way this
issue has been formed, as a conflict between the rights of the mother versus
the rights of the child, there will likely never been any consensus about what
is right, though some of us may try.
Personally, I
find myself in the middle. I believe
that it is indeed the right of the woman to choose what happens to her, but
that the moral obligation in most circumstances is to choose life.
This is in keeping
with the teaching of our Church on this matter.
Our social
statement on abortion lifts up the sanctity of life and questions whether it is
ever appropriate to talk about absolute rights.
In this regard, talking about a woman’s rights versus the rights of a
fetus is simply wrong. It’s not either
or.
And our Church acknowledges
that there are some situations where choosing abortion is morally
justifiable. Three situations are
specifically mention: when a woman’s life is in jeopardy, when the fetus is not
viable, and in cases of incest and rape.
But the abortion
statement leans toward maintaining that these decisions are best made by those
involved, weighing all the considerations.
My point is that
there is a middle ground, and I believe that it is Choose Life. Namely, that the woman has the right to
choose, but that the moral imperative is to choose life in most every
circumstance.
Having said that,
one of the criticisms of the pro-life position is that it is too often just a
pro-birth position. That is, there is so
much more to life than simply birth. And
to advocate for life, is to advocate for those things that are crucial to life
beyond the delivery room. Caring for the
child throughout that child’s life.
Moses put it this
way.
We choose life “by loving the LORD your God, walking in his
ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances.”
Today’s lessons
are once again part of the holiness tradition.
Often times in
our teaching we focus on confession and absolution. And the Gospel is viewed almost entirely from
the standpoint of what Jesus has done for us that we might be forgiven and
saved. He died to take away our sins.
The holiness
tradition is different.
The holiness
tradition begins with the supposition that how you live your life matters.
If you live and
upright and Godly life you will experience enumerable blessings.
But if you abandon
the ways of the Lord you will experience the consequences of those choices.
We have a choice.
But the choice is
between life and death.
In the Sermon on
the Mount Jesus teaches us about life and living. And when we consider his teaching we quickly discover
that Jesus was concerned not just about the letter of the law, but the Spirit
of the law. And also, in keeping with
that, the choices we make will have consequences.
Consider his
teaching on murder:
“You have heard that it was said to those of
ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to
judgment.’ 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,
you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will
be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the
hell of fire.”
What Jesus is
saying here is that to choose life is more than simply not murdering
someone. It also involves how we treat
one another.
In our highly
polarized society, how often has anger, or insults, or accusations of
foolishness been at the core of our behaviors?
Just watch the
news. Just watch the news.
Day after day,
cutting one another down and showing one type of disrespect after another has
become the norm.
Too often we fail
to honor and respect one another.
I also believe
that when we listen to Jesus teaching there are other implications.
Health care, for
example.
I rather imagine
that if Jesus was alive today he would say “It’s not enough that you do not
murder. You also should provide the
healthcare that is essential to life.”
During one of our
classes a while back the question was asked whether we determined what is sinful
or not.
My response was “Yes,
and no.”
Yes in that there
are many things in our modern world that were not addressed in the Bible because
they simply did not exist at the time.
But no in that it
was Jesus taught us that we are to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as
ourselves.
We are too love
one another.
But what does
love involve in a particular circumstance.
One example of an
issue that goes beyond what the Bible addresses is the whole field of medical
ethics.
There are choices
today that the Bible could never have anticipated.
End of life
choices, for example.
This is something
that surprised me when I became a pastor.
I had no clue when I became a pastor how frequently life and death
decisions are made at the end of a person’s life.
We are moving
toward the day when every single death will involve a choice on our part. When do we keep people alive at all cost, and
when do we allow them to die.
When I entered the
ministry, no one had prepared me for all the times that I would have to help
people with the decision to let their loved one die. Many times I was the one to tell the doctor
to stop treatment.
Underlying those
choices was always the question of what is the loving thing to do in that circumstance. What is God’s will?
Divorce is
another issue that Jesus addresses that is very relevant to today.
It’s complicated.
There is a story
told about a young man that approached Billy Graham with a question about
divorce. He explained that he and his
wife just didn’t love each other anymore.
His question was whether God really wanted him to remain married to
someone he didn’t love anymore.
Billy Graham
replied “No, God doesn’t want you to be married to someone you don’t love, so
get on your knees and pray that God will help you to love your wife again.”
So that is one
side of the question.
But at the same
time, marriage was never intended to be a prison. Some marriages should end because of the
abuse and harm that is part of the relationship.
The question is
how can we best live in a health enduring relationship.
Here is where the
Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the Law come into play.
One of the things
that humors me is when people avoid getting married because they are afraid of
getting divorced. And so they just live
together.
According to the
letter of the law they will never have to divorce and feel that pain.
However, if their
relationship comes to an end they will grieve just the same.
A relationship is
a relationship, and God desires that we choose lifelong faithful relationships. That is to choose life, not death.
Choices. Life is full of them.
And the choices
we make affect the quality of the lives we live.
We are free to
choose, but the choice we make has consequences.
That’s life.
Amen
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