November Newsletter Article

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works, and my soul knows very well.

Psalm 139:13-14

            Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, this past month we hosted a Anthony Horvath, who gave a compelling presentation at Christ The King Lutheran Chapel for the college students, members of our youth group, and some congregational members as well on the topic, “We Chose Life: Why You Should Too.”  As I was listening to his presentation, he raised a number of excellent points about our Christian understanding of life.  In his explanation to the fifth commandment (you shall not kill) in the Small Catechism, Luther writes that, ‘we should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.’  We believe that all people are our neighbors, especially the unborn.  The following are some of the salient points to Anthony Horvath’s presentation that I wanted to pass along to you.

1.      We live on the front lines in the battle for life.  The prevailing notion most of us have about the abortion issue in society is that it is a political battle waged in courtrooms and elections.  In those spheres we usually see ourselves as tiny, insignificant numbers – our opinion matters, but our own influence is minor.  Horvath agrees that in courtrooms and elections personal influence is slight, but he disagrees that this is ultimately a political or legal battle.  The battle for life is not a matter of statistics, but rather a very personal battle.  It is not a war waged in Washington, DC, but anywhere people find themselves confronted with unexpected pregnancies or pregnancies with complications.  Chances are that you know someone or a couple who have either contemplated or gone through with an abortion.  Perhaps they were grappling with that very question and did not know where to turn for support or advice.  Horvath suggests that one of the most important things Christians can do is be the kind of people others would approach when they face such a difficult decision.  Of course, there are no guarantees that others will listen to our guidance or accept our help, but every life is valuable and it is worth the effort to make ourselves available to those who may be facing these critical decisions.  The front lines of the battle for life are right here – please don’t take it for granted that you could be of valuable service to others struggling over such a question.

2.      Doctors are not infallible.  This is not to say that doctors cannot be trusted – far from it!  Doctors, however, just like pastors, professors, police officers, farmers, etc., can make mistakes.  According to Anthony Horvath, 90% of parents consider terminating a pregnancy if they are offered the option along with the information that their child will or will likely be born with significant health problems, such as Downs Syndrome.  In Mr. Horvath’s case, a genetic screening in the 20^th week of his wife’s pregnancy with their daughter revealed that she would almost certainly be born with Spina Bifida, a difficult condition to live with, but until she was born and had lived a few years, there was no way to actually determine the extent to which the condition would effect her life.  In many cases, parents are put on the spot with these critical questions and because the circumstances are often discovered with little or no advanced warning, parents have little chance to educate themselves so that they understand the spectrum of the possible outcomes for their children.  There are, sadly, documented cases of misdiagnoses when it comes to pre-birth genetic screenings, one in particular that was only revealed when the procedure to abort the baby failed and a healthy boy was born.  Even sadder is the fact that we will never know the exact failure rate of such tests because a large portion of these children are aborted.  This is not to say that a correct diagnosis of any kind justifies an abortion, but rather that people who would ordinarily never have considered such a choice sometimes find themselves facing it with little or no warning.  According to Mr. Horvath, the time for making such decisions is not just after being presented with unhappy results of a pregnancy screening; the time to make a decision for life must take place long before parents find themselves thrust into the confusion, sadness, uncertainty, and grief that accompany those circumstances.  Even if the results of the test are 100% correct in diagnosing a serious future health problem, research shows that parents of disabled children overwhelmingly enjoy parenting a disabled child in spite of the drastic changes to their lifestyle that are often required by their children.  Everything we have in this life is a gift from God, and that includes our children.  Don’t wait and hope you never face such a decision; think about it now and talk it over with your spouse, which bring us to the last point.

3.      Victory begins at home.  Here is a provocative statement: “Making abortion illegal is not the most important thing we can do for the lives of unborn children.”  Should people be allowed to electively decide to end the lives of their unborn children?  Of course not, but simply making it illegal does not address the heart of the problem with abortion.  The heart of the problem is that many people believe, for a great number of reasons, that it is morally acceptable for a mother to decide to end the life of her unborn child.  Mr. Horvath said very briefly in his presentation that were everyone to be Christian, there would be no battle over abortion.  Now, to be fair he did not have time to flesh this particular idea out, and at face value it seems a bit outlandish, but he does have a point.  Only a change of heart in society will make people think differently about abortions, and such change can only begin at home, on the real front lines of this battle for life.  Let it not be forgotten among us that seeing these babies born is truly only the beginning of our love for them – we desire above all that they would share with us in the joy of the forgiveness of sins won for us on the cross and the hope we have in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and we desire this for their parents as well.  In other words, what we hope for all people is not merely that they have life, but that they have eternal life.  Such hope and faith are given only by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit uses Christians to reach out and love and care for their neighbors, and this victory most definitely begins at home!  We don’t have to wait until people find themselves in a difficult pregnancy to show them God’s love and seek to help them – the time to show them God’s love in Christ is now. 

            The battle for life is ongoing, and we are all living on the front lines.  There is much to discourage us in the battle, but we look in the wrong place if we endeavor to make a difference through politicians, elections, and legislation.  Instead we must always be reminded that the battle against sin and death has already been fought…and won!  The solution to sin and death is nothing we can work for, persuade others into, or win for ourselves; sin and death were conquered by Jesus’ all-sufficient death on the cross.  In the battle for life, Christ has the victory and gives it to us!

            To him alone be all the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

                        Pastor Bakker