One fall Saturday morning, an energetic husband decided to surprise his wife by cleaning out the flowerbed. With hoe in hand, he went to work first on what he thought were nothing more than tall weeds. But, as he was chopping away and feeling pretty good about himself for being so helpful, his wife came out of the house screaming at him to stop. When they settled down, she explained to him that what he thought were only weeds were in fact perennial flowers lying dormant until the spring. What could have been beautiful life in its own time never had a chance. But, the only reason he was destroying them was because he didn't know their real value. More often than not, that's the way it happens, even on the human level.

Yet, if you're not confused about how complicated that can get, I don't know how. I am. In many Baptist churches today, this is a Sunday set aside for celebrating the sanctity of human life. But, in all candor, I am preaching this sermon primarily because several months ago I was asked to write a Sunday School lesson for The Baptist Standard on this subject and it made me think of several matters we have never discussed. So, though we have not marked our church calendar to celebrate the sanctity of human life today (I hope we do every Sunday), could we be having a more timely conversation? 

As I said, I'm confused. In this city this past week a reward of some $20,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who brutally and savagely tortured a newborn puppy. That information came to us simultaneously with the news about the difficulty one of George Bush's cabinet nominees is having with gaining Senate approval, in part, because of his pro-life agenda. Confused yet? Whether or not John Ashcroft should be our next Attorney General is one thing. And, if you think I'm going to make that an issue from this pulpit then you have yet to learn about me that I am very picky when it comes to deciding what hills I want to die on. Beyond that, I do not believe that the primary mission of the church is the moral reform of the world by political means. I believe the primary mission of the church is to proclaim and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ so that people's hearts may be changed by its unique power. And, because Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, we are free to be either of those and still be Christian. It does seem, however, that we are more confused than ever about the value of human life. And, that is a subject the gospel of Jesus does address. 

Oddly enough, many who would agree with that can't all agree on the best place to start the conversation about the sanctity of human life. Some believe the starting point on the issue of abortion, for example, to be that of human rights. It does seem that a better place to begin the conversation, as with all matters of morality, is, if you will, at the beginning. "God created man in his own image." (NASV) You will find those words in the twenty-seventh verse of the very first chapter of the Bible. The Bible tells us, from the beginning, that the very character and person of God gives definition to our own. Therefore, it is the character and person of God that should inform, from the beginning, two fundamental matters that have to do with the sanctity of human life.

First, the character of God, in whose image we have all been made, should define how we live. More than one of us in this room has sent his children out into places we cannot go with them reminding them, "Don't ever forget who you are." It's our way of saying that fundamental to finding the courage to maintain moral integrity is staying close to a sense of your own identity. Part of our dilemma when it comes to the matter of abortion is that we have forgotten who and whose we are. We are not self-perpetuating and fully independent beings. We are uniquely tied to the creator of the universe and fully dependent upon him. Not only did he create us, he stamped the very image of his own person into each of our consciences and souls. Therefore, how we live should be profoundly shaped and influenced by an identity with that character.

Some boyhood friends of mine once captured a baby javelina while on a hunting trip and brought it home intending to raise it as a pet. But, they soon learned the hard way that, no matter how much they babied it, it was still just a wild pig. After it was fully-grown it broke out of the backyard more than once and terrorized the neighborhood ladies putting their wash out to dry. It even bit some people, including yours truly. Finally, it had to be destroyed. The sad part is that the pig had to pay the price of humans not knowing that you can't tame what is naturally wild. What it is, it is. What and who we are, we are. We are the children of God created in the image of our heavenly Father. 

Endorsing pro-life agendas is one thing. Living in pro-life ways is altogether another. If a Christian engages in sexual behaviors in his private life, for example, that are abhorrent to the character of the one who created him, it may lead to an extra-marital pregnancy and a situation in which he finds himself facing the abortion issue on a totally different level than the one he espouses when he votes the pro-life party line or amens the preacher's sermons on the sanctity of human life. One of the greatest needs of the church is for individual believers to bring their private morality and their public agendas more in line with each other. A good place to start with public reform is with private integrity and honesty and for us to remember, especially in our most private moment, who and whose we are.

It seems that this is one of the fundamental issues that is the driving force behind so much of what creates unwanted pregnancies and drives people to get abortions in which, at least publicly, they'd often say they do not believe. When you forget who and whose you are, you will have to go looking for love in all the wrong places. When you must have the approval of any one else other than God to believe that you are a person of worth and value, whether you admit it or not, you have turned the reigns of your conscience over to someone who is not God. It is only in relationship with the God who created us that we come to discover our true worth and gain the power to live out of that worth rather than searching endlessly and hopelessly for it somewhere else.

Kristi Coleman, who has done some marvelous work with unwed teenage mothers, has shared some alarming statistics with me. It turns out that, at Sunset high school, out of some 2,000 students, ninety give birth each year. Even more alarming is the fact that, at that school, by the time those who are freshmen become seniors, fully one-half of the girls will have been pregnant at least once. By the way, there is good evidence that the birth rate per capita would be just as high in any white school Dallas if it were not for the fact that in the Hispanic culture abortion is not as socially acceptable as it is in the white culture. Now, let me ask you. Do you think we can affect that situation even so much as one smidgen by preaching to them how terrible it is to get pregnant out of wedlock or to get an abortion? It seems to me that the only ultimate hope for helping to transform lives and empower them to live differently is by introducing them to a love that will set them free from having to look for it in all the wrong places. All of which leads to the second fundamental matter that grows out of our sense of identity with our Creator.

Not only should being created in God's image affect how we live, it should affect how we love. Abortion is a terribly complicated matter. The whole issue of the sanctity of life is, as well. In truth, if we believe in the sanctity of human life, should we not also be asking other questions, too? How about euthanasia? Is it ever right to end any human life under any circumstances? What about war? What about capital punishment? We can scream all day long about how wrong abortion is. But, if we turn a deaf ear to the cries of the minorities who are put to death by our criminal justice system in disproportionate numbers is that not a form of immorality too? How is it that people who have money enough to work the legal system to their advantage suffer the death penalty less often than those who do not? 

You may believe that abortion as nothing more than a convenient form of birth control is immoral. But, it takes absolutely no moral courage to believe that. What takes courage is love those who believe and behave differently than you do. I've had my heart softened toward those who've had abortions, not because I agree with the course they chose, but because I have yet to meet one person who has had an abortion who is not dealing with great inner pain, guilt and self-doubt. Let me say something to those of you who've had abortions. God still loves you. Nothing has changed that. And, he still has a place for you in his kingdom. As a church, we must find redemptive ways of touching and helping to heal all who suffer. A church or a convention that only condemns abortion and does nothing to stem the tide of those things that lead to abortions in the first place is practicing a more subtle, even if socially acceptable, form of immorality.

For example, what steps have we taken to minister to latchkey kids? There is good evidence that teens often take advantage of that unsupervised time after school is dismissed but both parents are still at work to have sex. For churches to enjoy the wealth that two-income tithes produce without plowing some of that wealth back into programs that minister to latchkey kids is its own form of immorality, too. Martin Luther King had a dream. I do, too. I have a dream that one day this church will open its doors to this community wider than ever and invite the children in. I dream of a day when we will have an after school program second to none so that children and youth of all ages will have a safe place to go after school. To study. To play. To get something wholesome to eat. And, in time, to hear a word about the Jesus who is not only neither a Democrat nor a Republican but is also neither white nor black, Hispanic or Asian, but who created the whole human rainbow because there are lots of different colors in the rainbow of his image, the one in which he made us all. The Jesus who loved them enough to die for them so they won't have to kill themselves looking for a love they'll never find anywhere else. We ought to wear this building out serving this community and discipling those whom God has laid at our doorstep. We will give account to God for how we have loved, or failed to love, this community.

We are being frighteningly naïve in believing that we can change this world by shouting louder from the pulpit the difference between right and wrong or by agitating to make certain that our political candidates get elected. We will not change this world by putting it in a moral straightjacket. Because, even if we could get this world to behave in ways we believe to be more Christian it would not in fact be more Christian unless Christ had changed peoples hearts. The truth, as seen in the cross of Christ, is that only those who love their enemies alter the world for what is eternally good. If we want to influence this world toward a more sanctified view of human life, we must start by loving it as it is, as Christ has loved us. (Ephesians 4:32) 

Is there room in this church for those who differ from us? Is there room in this church for those who've had abortions? Our gospel must embrace all for whom Christ died or it is not the gospel of the Christ who rose again. A moment ago the gospel from the Sermon on the Mount was read from this pulpit. The Sermon on the Mount is the heart and soul of everything Jesus taught. And, what he taught us was that, when you are being shaped by the character of God who created you, the first thing that happens is that your private morality is transformed. Christians, the salt of the earth and light of the world, accept their personal responsibility for shaping the world in positive ways by, first, maintaining a private morality that will not undo their public influence. (Matthew 5:13-16) That includes a commitment not to harbor resentment toward others (Matthew 5:21-22) and to strive for a view of human sexuality that is higher than only wild pigs might practice so much so that it alters the way you even think about others not just behave toward them. (Matthew 5:27-28) And, last of all, it means to love even those, especially those, whose morals and values differ from yours. (Matthew 5:43-48)

When I was in college I traveled with a student team to Indiana to preach a revival one spring break. One evening during the service a woman came wandering into the sanctuary. She'd never been in the church before that night. But, she and her husband had been having a terrible fight that evening. She'd left home, not knowing where to go. As she drove around that dark evening, the warmth and brilliance of the light in the church attracted her inside where she heard the gospel and accepted Christ. 

Let's turn the lights on around here! Let's leave them burning. Low and high, let there be light! So that all who are wondering lost and lonely might find their way into this place, hear the gospel of transforming and eternal love and discover just how beautiful their life can be, all life can be, in God's own good time!