Sometimes it happens this way. I preach a message and I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. It is as if a mental rewind button in my mind is connected to my heart. I press rewind and my own words haunt me and my own heart is left in a place that is not settled. That is the case with the message “Life in the Balance” I preach October 19.
Press Rewind: Sanctity of life is not a political platform whose primary purpose is to oppose abortion. It is the “DNA” of God’s creative purpose for humanity. Hear the question that demands an answer: “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalm 8:4 NLT)The answer is rooted in the creation of man. From the inception of man, life is sacred and from conception, life is sacred.
Then I wonder: Geoff, do you really get it? Do I see how “fearfully and wonderfully” I am made? Do I marvel at the thought that the God of the universe deigns to make me in His image so He can relate to me with His heart?
Press Rewind: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3-4 NIV) The words of Mother Teresa cannot be dismissed: "A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God, is in a tremendous poverty." “Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” “My gift is to see the face of Jesus in its most distressing disguise.”
I stare at a picture of Mother Teresa holding a baby without arms and I pray: “Let me see what she sees?” And I ask myself and anyone who will read this: Where is God calling you to where people will really know that you value life? Sanctity of life is a verb. And I wonder, as I grip the hand of God tightly, how far will my reach be to the world?
Press Rewind: The church expanded during the Roman plagues because of the compassion they expressed. Dionysius’ words: “The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner.”
The vision of Christians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries running toward the cities and homes filled with the plague while pagans run away arrests me. Would a modern Dionysius say the same of me?
Press Rewind: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4 NIV) He is an image bearer who carries the gift of human life. Sacred. From God. Called to protect it. So, honor sanctity of life. Be be sanctity of life. Live sanctity of life. Because, life is in the balance!
Press Rewind: Dear God: Today I do not write on a critical issue, but the critical issue of all life.
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In His Adventure,
Pastor Geoff