Caring for the Unborn

What a privilege it is to consider God’s Word together this morning. Jesus said about himself:

I have come that they may have life, and have it
to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)

As followers of Christ, it only stands to reason that we will be a people who value unborn lives, as well as work to ensure that others can have a full life, which includes spiritual, emotional, and physical well being.
I was at my health club a couple of years ago, trying to keep my New Year’s resolution about getting in better shape, and laboring on the stair climber toward that end. I had my headphones in and was listening to the Bible on audio, which was another of my resolutions.
So, I’m sweating and listening to the Bible, when I look over and notice that down on the soccer field was a group of young adults playing dodgeball. At my health club the cardo machines look out over this huge indoor soccer field, and there were some young adults playing dodge ball, and I immediately thought to myself, “that’s odd what group of young adults plays dodge ball in the middle of the day.” It was about noon. I was working out over the lunch hour.
Anyway, it didn’t take me long though to figure out that the group was a special needs group, a group of young adults with physical and mental disabilities. They were having a blast. They were playing and laughing and goofing around. It looked like they were having lots of fun and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The longer I watched them the more encouraged I became by the fun they were having.
Admittedly, the competitive level of their game was not very high, but their enjoyment was off the charts. Yet, did you know that of the prenatal tests given in Illinois, those that come back positive, indicating that a child will be born with disability of some kind, that almost 90% of the time parents make a decision to terminate the pregnancy?

In fact, so prevalent is the decision to abort based upon prenatal tests that indicate Downs Syndrome, which is just one genetic disability for which screening is done, that Paul Wolpe, the ethics director at Emory University, says this is the end for Downs Syndrome. Mind you, it is the end for Downs not because we have figured out a way to prevent the genetic mutation that causes Downs, but because virtually every prenatal test that indicates a baby has Downs results in that child being put to death.
One syndicated columnist notes the inconsistent reality within American culture, in which we whole heartedly cheer participants in the Special Olympics but abort some 90 percent of all future participants in those same games.
Last Sunday was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It’s the Sunday dedicated to highlighting God’s passion for LIFE and focusing on the priority of protecting and preserving LIFE throughout our nation, whether born or unborn.
Scripture is very clear that LIFE is God’s idea and his gift to us. The Bible opens with the declaration that “In the beginning God created.” (Genesis 1:1). We are not the result of a random act, but rather the intentional act of good Creator, who longs to know us and be known by us.
So, life is good, and beautiful, and to be cherished. But life is also broken and difficult at times, because of sin’s entry into the world. Many, many people struggle with chronic disease and disabilities. How would God have us to live in these twin realities, embracing the gift and beauty of life, while enduring the difficulties?
Turn with me in your copy of the Scripture to the Gospel of John 9, as we consider a passage that will help us understand God’s heart and purpose for all people, even the disabled. As you turn to John 9, let me share a little bit about what is on my heart this morning. Many wish the abortion debate would just go away, tired of the controversy and the name-calling played out daily in social media.
We are turned off by the harsh rhetoric and careless labels that are thrown around. I want you to know that I will work hard to avoid all of these this morning. My prayer is that everyone suffering under the guilt of participating in an abortion will come to know the forgiveness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and that we will all experience this morning not only the ministry of truth from God’s Word, but also the reception of grace from God’s presence among us.
So, my aim this morning is not primarily political. My aim is primary theological and spiritual. As a pastor, I don’t feel a vocational responsibility for changing the American mindset on the matter of abortion, or the American laws governing abortion. In other words, this morning is NOT about rallying votes for a particular political platform. But, as a pastor, I do have a calling and I do feel a responsibility for helping us think and act biblically.
Interestingly, you might be surprised to learn that two thirds of the women who get abortions in America are professing Christians. That means that some in this church have had abortions, and my heart is that every one of you would know God’s forgiveness and healing and the freedom from shame and guilt that comes through faith in Jesus. I pray that you would feel sought by God and cared for by God. The center of all that we believe is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), and we are all sinners in need of God’s gracious care. Jesus came that we might have LIFE, and LIFE TO THE FULL (eternal life), rather than the eternal condemnation that we all deserve because of our sin.
You can know forgiveness this morning, by simply confessing your sin to God, and beginning to trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection for forgiveness and life eternal. You can do that right where you are seated, by talking to God, like you would talk with your best friend—simple, honest, direct conversation. After all Jesus described himself as the “friend of sinners.” If you wanted help in praying for forgiveness, I will be available after the service, and it would be my pleasure to lead you in prayer.
Well, follow along as I read John 9, and let’s consider a passage that helps us understand God’s purposes for all people, even the disabled.
As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:1-7 (NIV)

Note first that the man was disabled from birth, and the disciples ASSUMED that there was a direct correlation between a specific sin and the man’s disability. They assumed that either he had sinned in the womb, before he was born, or that his parents must have sinned, but Jesus rejected both of these conclusions. Jesus rejected both of these as possible explanations because he knew that disability, as well as disease and ultimately death too, were in the world long before this man or his parents were born (Romans 5:12–14; 8:18–25). Sin entered the world with the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden and is the reason we all suffer, to varying degrees.
Note secondly, the explanation that Jesus gives for the man being born disabled. Jesus says that the man is born disabled in order to bring glory to God. Jesus said, so “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Follow me here!

Jesus said that the cause of the disability was not past sin, but rather future POSITIVE effects that will come from the blindness, namely God receiving more glory.

Is that how we look at disability? Do we view disability as a unique opportunity to display the works of God, that God’s glory might be seen in someone’s life?
And if you’re thinking, “Well of course THAT blind man brought God glory, because he was healed by Jesus. What about the countless disabled folks who are not healed? How can they bring God glory?” That’s an understandable question, but we must admit that none of us are perfectly healthy. The death rate among humans is 100%. We are all disabled to some degree. Our bodies are breaking down, and complete and total healing is promised to us only in heaven, when we receive our resurrected bodies. Until then we are all disabled to some degree, suffering and moving toward death, but as long as we live, we ALL have the opportunity to bring glory to God and the responsibility to do so.
Here’s my main thought for this morning.

Every child conceived is to be born for God’s glory.

He came that we might have life and life to full, and a full life is a life that brings glory to God.
Now, a quick caveat. I am not meaning to make a medical statement here. When I say that “every child conceived is to be born for God’s glory.” I’m not meaning to offer a medical commentary. I’m meaning to make a theological statement. In other words, I realize that there are some very difficult birthing experiences in which medical doctors must make hard decisions about when and how to best care for mother and child during deliver, and in some cases I realize that may mean choosing to save one life at the risk of losing the other, and I don’t have expertise to address those types of situations.
But, you should know that the vast majority of abortions, 99.9% of them to be exact, are not sought because the mother’s life is medically threatened. The truth is that almost all abortions in America are decisions of convenience. In fact, 75% of those who have abortions identify some element of convenience as their primary motivation. When asked why they are seeking an abortion, women most often cite that having a baby would interfere with either their work, or their schooling, or their ability to care for their other children.
However, it is clear from Scripture that as doctors practice medicine that unborn children should never be put to death out of CONVENIENCE, even if they have a disability, because every child conceived is to be born for glory of God, according to John 9.
In fact, it would be fairly easy to make an argument based upon Scripture, that those with disabilities have a UNIQUE opportunity to bring particular, or even a greater amount of glory to God through their lives.
For example, we know from Scripture that

God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27 (NIV)

We should be very careful that we are not SHAMED by our treatment of those who are slower and weaker than we are, because in every disability, whether genetically from the womb, or circumstantially from an accident or disease that happens in the course of life, God has a design, a purpose, for his glory, and for the good of his people (Romans 8:28).
In fact, Scripture is clear that God is intimately involved in the process of human conception and gestation, actually giving LIFE to us in the womb and creating a living soul, with a particular personality and purpose. King David wrote in the Psalms…

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13 (NIV)

Now I realize that these are song lyrics. The Psalms are poetry, which means that this is not a scientific statement. So, what does King David actually mean by these lyrics? Does King David mean that God is to blame for birth defects? Is he knitting together broken bodies? No! That type of conclusion would be inconsistent with the balance of Scripture. What David means is that God is active in the womb, bringing people into existence and stamping them with his image (Genesis 1:27).
Job said the same. Job was the man of the Old Testament made famous by his suffering. His suffering drove him to question God, and in a moment of desperation he accuses God of treating him unfairly. In fact, he reminds God that he, as an earthly master, has treated his servants fairly, and cries out to God for fair treatment, as one of God’s servants.
But look at why Job says his servants have a right to be treated fairly by him, and by implication why he has a right to be treated fairly by God.

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? Job 31:15 (NIV)

Note what Job doesn’t say. Job doesn’t say that his servants deserved fair treatment because they are human, like he is. Instead, Job says his servants deserved fair treatment from him, because God formed them both in the womb. God designed and is intimately involved in the process of reproduction, giving life to individual human beings.
Over and over in the biblical narrative we learn that God is active in the womb. We even learn in the book of Jeremiah that God knows us “before” we are even formed in the womb. Look at what God spoke to Jeremiah.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

Imagine that! God knows us before we are even embodied. That is to say God knows our personality and our character and the plans he has for us before we are even conceived.
As I continued to watch those young adults playing dodgeball at the health club, it occurred to me that my prayers for my three children, who are neither physically nor mentally disabled, are focused upon asking God for little more than what those young adults were experiencing in their dodgeball game. I don’t pray primarily that my children will be SUCCESSFUL. I pray that they will know God’s JOY while bringing him glory.
All three of my children played college sports: football, basketball, and track. But my prayers for them are not primarily that they win or excel in their efforts. And don’t get me wrong. I certainly want my children to win and excel, but my deepest and most urgent prayer request is that they would enjoy the gift of LIFE that Jesus offers to each of us—while bringing glory to God.
Now, even as I claim that every child conceived should be born for God’s glory, I need to admit that I cannot biblically identify when life begins, and I realize that to say that it begins in the womb is not nearly specific enough for some. There is debate about exactly when life begins, because identifying that particular point would allow us to justifiably terminate pregnancies prior to that moment.
I believe it begins at fertilization. But I can’t prove that biblically, because I can’t find anywhere in the Bible that it says as much. Other, sincere and devout Christians believe life begins at implantation, which is when a fertilized egg is attached to the lining of the uterus. This is important because when you believe life begins has implications for contraception. Some contraceptives prevent fertilization while others prevent or interrupt implantation.
But simply because we don’t have clarity on when life begins doesn’t mean that we are free to do as we want in the womb. Where we lack clarity theologically, it would be most wise to tread very lightly so as not to disrupt God’s person making activities in the womb.
Remember the Bible was written as salvation history, a description of how God has worked in the world to save us from our sins. The Bible was not written as a science textbook. It was never the intention of the biblical authors to provide scientific descriptions of reality, and certainly not reproductive biology. That just wasn’t on the minds of the ancient biblical authors, and we need to be careful not to read our modern debates and biases back into the text.
However, along the way, as the authors of Scripture were describing salvation history, they did, at times, touch on some elements of science, and even reproductive biology, and Scripture indicates that life begins in the womb as God actively works to form us. This is an important reality with far reaching implications.
This means that while the human reproduction process involves science which we CAN understand in many respects (i.e. biological and chemical process that make sense to us), we must admit that it also includes realities that we cannot understand, as God is at work doing what only he can do creating a person in his own image—creating a living, breathing and eternal soul, given life for the purpose of bring him glory.
Sadly, even though the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion was overthrown in 2022 by the Dobbs decision, and right to an abortion was declared unconstitutional, Illinois continues to not simply allow abortions, but to promote abortions. Illinois has become the abortion capital of the Midwest, and is even being described as an “abortion destination” state. The map on the screen depicts the varied legal realities and the unique position of Illinois. What can the Church do?

Pray for life and life to the full.
Listen in love and pray in faith for healing.
Give your money and volunteer your time.
Serve in foster care and/or adopt.
Write your senators and congressman.

Pray for life and life to the full for the people of our state. The Caring Network website offers great guides for prayer. It includes prayers for politicians and policy makers, an especially important group in this election year. And as you pray, this guide will equip you to have pro-life conversations with your friends and neighbors.
Listen in love and pray in faith for the healing of those wounded by abortion. A lot of women and men to carry the guilt and shame of abortion all alone, without every telling anyone what they have been through. Healing comes as we listen and pray for one another. Don’t leave this morning, without knowing you have been forgiven and starting the process of healing through prayer. Maybe you have lived with the notion that abortion is to heinous to be forgiven by God. That is not true. Don’t leave this morning without know you are forgiven by God.
Give your money and volunteer your time – the work of organizations like Caring Networks require money and take energy. I would encourage you to give to Evangelical Child and Family Agency or Bethany Christians Services, or organizations like these. There are lots to choose from. It takes tremendous amounts of energy to council women considering abortion, and the Church most mobilize, bringing its wealth and time to bear on this issue.
Serve as a foster care parents or adopt – We can save lives by opening our home to those without a family. Many within our congregation have adopted and we have a fund that those attending GEBC came apply to receive monies from, which are meant to offset the costs of adoption. There is currently $40,000 available to help with adoption in this fund.
Write your senators and congressman – Speak up by contacting your senators and congressman, letting them know your desire that abortion be made illegal in America.
Jesus said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)

QUESTIONS
Doesn’t a democracy allow for freedom of choice? Can’t we simply say, “If you don’t like abortion, then don’t do it.”?

This is like saying if you don’t child abuse, then don’t beat your children. Beating my children is not wrong simply because I personally dislike it. Beating my children is wrong because children are intrinsically valuable human beings, with worth and dignity, who have fundamental rights. Abortion is the same. It is not simply an activity that we can encourage people to not do, if they don’t like it. And we can’t allow them to do it, if they like it. It is wrong, fundamentally to kill children in the womb and we must prohibit they activity for that reason.

Who exactly is having abortions?

3 out of 4 are women who claim that having a baby would interfere with work, school or their ability to care for their other children.

69% percent are economically impoverished.
61% percent are already mothers.
50% have already had one abortion.
44% are college aged.

In a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, they found that 1in 5 women (20%) having abortions are Evangelical, born-again Christians. That’s 12,000,000 children, over the last 43 years, basically the population of New York City, put to death by an even greater number of parents who claim to be born-again. It’s an important matter for Christians to lobby their senators and congressman, asking that the laws of the land be changed, making it illegal for women to get an abortion. But it is an even more urgent matter, that Christians urge other one another to stop having abortions.

Why does the government have the right to tell women how to use their bodies?

According to Romans 13, that is the very purpose of government, to constrain unrighteousness. And the government does that all the time, telling us we can’t steal, slander, and murder.

What about in the case of incest and rape?

First, those are horrific experiences. If you have been raped or are trapped in incest, GEBC is eager to help you heal and will support you in the process of healing. But, that being said, it is pretty simple for me. Two wrongs don’t make a right. The wrong of rape and incest is only compounded by the sin of abortion.

Remember the evil thing already happened. Killing the baby won’t make that pain go away. Pregnancies caused by rape and incest can be adopted.

We can’t kill everyone who reminds of painful events. A civil society can’t harm innocent human beings who remind us of something painful. Hardship doesn’t justify homicide. Giving the choice between inflicting evil and suffering evil, I would choose the latter.

What about cases where the mother’s life is being threatened medically?

First, we need to acknowledge that the vast majority of abortions, 99.9% of them are not because the mother’s life is medically threatened.

Because these situations are so rare and every situation is unique, it seems like a distraction from addressing the real problem to begin offering any solutions. Almost all abortions in America are decisions of convenience and selfishness.

What about when the unborn baby is known to be profoundly disabled by birth defect?

When we talk about putting to death babies that are profoundly disabled, the obvious slippery slope is in defining what is profound. I have a sister-in-law with Downs Syndrome, she is a person of tremendous joy and a blessing to our family, but that is a birth defect.

Are IUD’s immoral in that they may prevent implantation after fertilization?

Good and sincere people will disagree here. Lots of potential ambiguity. Beth won’t prescribe IUD’s, but Grace will. It’s is beyond my pay grade, but there are folks who are qualified to give a God-honoring answer.

Did God the Father kill God the Son?

God the Father sent his Son to be put to death by sinful man. God the Father did not put Christ to death in the womb of Mary. There is a big, big difference. Jesus laid his life down willingly. God the Father, protected the infant Jesus from the slaughter of Herod.

Doesn’t Exodus 21:22 devalue the life of an unborn baby by not penalizing someone for accidentally putting an unborn baby to death?

Exodus 21:22 is difficult because the translation has significant uncertainty. For example, there is no indication that the child delivered prematurely has died.