June 22, 2022
For freedom Christ has set us free;
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For you were
called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for
the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5)
This has been a week of weeks. There are many passages we could reflect upon for this momentous week, the week that Roe V. Wade was overturned. So in good Lutheran form, let us ask, "what does this mean"?
It means we are still a very divided nation. There are many who are jubilant. There are many who are furious. There are even people who are ambivalent.
But beyond what we observe, what does this mean? It does not mean that abortion is illegal in the United States. It merely means the Court has recognized the Constitution of the United States does not say anything about abortion and therefore there is no Constitutional right to an abortion. In this context the issue then becomes a matter of law. As there is no federal law on the matter, it falls to the states. In some states abortion is illegal or heavily restricted. In other states it is yet legal with some or few restrictions.
But from a Christian standpoint "what does this mean"? The Epistle lesson for this Sunday is a good passage for us to reflect upon.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
I dialogued with one man who said that if God did not support the notion of choice (as in pro-choice) then why did He put a tree of knowledge in the garden for Adam and Eve to make a choice about. I didn't take me long to realize that for him "freedom of choice" is essential to being human. Indeed, freedom and liberty... these are words that go with the character of our nation, of our Constitution. And yet even our Constitutional republic built on liberty recognizes that we cannot be free to do anything or everything. There have to be constraints on behavior because people do bad things.
As important as the issue of abortion is, the problem is much deeper. Abortion is a symptom like other symptoms we are seeing play out before us: anger, rage, conceit, arrogance and so forth. And we can see this on both sides of this and the other issues that are such hot button topics right now.
The problem is that from a spiritual perspective we think we are free but we are not. Not really. In the gospel the Samaritans reject Jesus and James and John asked if they should call fire down to consume those who hate Jesus. Just deserts for those who have decided to accept Christ? But Jesus says no and rebukes them. Perhaps it is because Jesus realizes they are yet spiritually bound to their sin, as are all people. That is our natural state in this world. We are all born spiritually bound to sin.
Freedom only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Spiritual life can only come as a gift from Christ. Just as he said “you must be born again”. Life is a gift from someone else, from our mother and father, and from our Redeemer.C. Freedom and love
The wife of a retired pastor from a former church was trying to argue that because we live under grace and not under law that we have to be pro-choice in the matter of abortion rights because God is gracious and merciful. This is to confuse grace with license, forgiveness with permission. God does not grant permission to sin. God doesn’t say it doesn’t matter. In fact what does the text say: Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
The problems with this world are fueled not by freedom but because we submit to the yoke of slavery… slavery to sin.
A friend posted that she is pro-life in that she supports the single mother who is poor and cannot afford to raise another child, the woman who has been raped and is pregnant with the rapist child, the girl molested by her family member, the wife in an abusive relationship trying to leave it behind who is with child. Yes, these are situations that just should not be. These are situations that reflect the depth and evil of human sinful corruption, what people can do to one another. And yes we have to think about women and their hurts and needs. The answer is freedom but not the license to chose to make the problem worse by ending life of little girl or a little boy. No, the answer is in freedom. Using our freedom as an opportunity to serve others. Prolife is not just anti-abortion – it is pro life – life as God created it to be.
And there is something else the overturning of Roe V. Wade means. It means a lot of women are afraid. It doesn’t mean a miraculous end to abortion. It’s still going to happen. It doesn’t mean a miraculous end to the break down of the nuclear family designed in the image of God with all the problems that comes with the loss of the nuclear family as the building block of our society. It doesn’t mean a miraculous end to poverty, to emotional trauma of assault and abuse
It means there is opportunity now, more than before, not only to save the lives of unborn little girls and boys but to love our neighbors including pregnant women who are facing problems so great they would consider terminating the life of their child.
The work is not finished with the overturning of Roe V Wade… it is only beginning. We have a long way to go, and we may never get there, before our society sees the answers the problems caused by sin is not the termination of a child but dealing with and repairing the deeper problems.
As Christians we understand the issues before are far more complex than just outlawing a medical procedure that stops a beating heart in most cases. It is far deeper because the issue, the problem, is about the nature of our souls and our spirits… what is in our hearts… how people treat others… how people do indeed make bad decisions but how also people suffer because other make evil decisions to harm them.
If we obeyed the commandments (which are given for our good) to not
murder… to not commit adultery life would be far better. If sexuality was expressed within the confines of marriage as God designed it between a man and a woman, if women were not assaulted or abused, if women and their children had the support of family and community they need to raise children, so
much of this problem would go away. But human being are by and large
bound to sin. The end of Roe V. Wade does not mean that miraculously the world the world has suddenly become a better place.
So how can we help? We are not going to force people to follow God and his wisdom for our lives. People are going to find a way to do what they want. The answer is not calling down fire on those who do evil.
The reality of a world fallen in sin remains with us. As Paul says the works of the enslaved flesh are sexuality immorality, impurity, sensuality, enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalry… dissension, and so forth
We can help in two ways. The most important – give what we are given. Forgiveness. We have sinned. We have contributed in our own ways to the mess. And God in Christ forgives us. He set us free. Free from judgment. Freedom from condemnation. Free to live… really live
Life is the gift of the spirit and the fruit of that gift is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentles, and self-control. We have been set free not to fall back into the self-serving sins of our bondage but rather free to help others, free to love others. This includes not just the unborn child but the struggling mother, the struggling family, the struggling born child.
God is very much pro-life because He wants life for all of us, real life, life as He created it to be. While there are so many who can't understand this, God has set us free in Christ so we can, so we can act and make difference by loving and caring for others.
