The Lukan Case For Life

My new great nephew!

At the congregation I attend I enjoy the opportunity to teach the adult Sunday school class and we are currently making our way through Luke's Gospel.

Normally, in most Lutheran congregations, it is the pastor who teaches an adult class. Since my pastor serves two parishes he has to leave shortly after our class starts and therefore he, by necessity, turns it over to myself or if I'm not there an elder. Our pastor always leaves notes and a series of questions for us to go over and I pretty much stick to what he wants us to cover while interjecting fun stuff from additional materials that I find in my theological library.

One of the best resources around concerning the Luke's Gospel account is Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr.'s two volume contribution to the Concordia Commentary Series over at Concordia Publishing House. This is a wonderful resource that can be used by lay persons and clergy persons alike (the textual notes are mostly for the clergy persons and those with a working understanding of both Hebrew and Greek). I can't recommend Dr. Just's commentary highly enough and it's my go to resource when I teach!

Which brings me back to the subject of the post...

We are steadily working our way the infancy narrative and I came across this marvelous textual note concerning the word “baby” in the verse from Luke 1:41 “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” Dr. Just writes:

41. βρέφος—“Baby, infant” is used for babies both before and after birth, implying that an unborn child is a fully human person. The word occurs eight times in the NT, six of which are in Luke-Acts. It refers to John the Baptist while in his mother’s womb in Lk 1:41, 44; to Jesus after his birth in Lk 2:12, 16; to the young children brought to Jesus in Lk 18:15; and to newborn babies in Acts 7:19; 1 Pet 2:2. St. Paul describes Timothy as knowing the Scriptures ἀπὸ βρέφους, “from [the time he was an] infant” (2 Tim 3:15). The biblical usage of this term has important ramifications for human-life issues. It supports—even mandates—a concern for the sanctity of human life from conception onward and makes disregard for such life morally reprehensible.

It would be nice if our wicked culture understood what physicians knew two thousand years ago; that a infant hidden from our view by his or her mother's womb is still just that; an infant. Since infants deserve our love and protection after they are born, shouldn't infants who are not yet born deserve just as much love and protection against a culture that seems to celebrate their destruction in the name of choice, freedom, or whatever slick term the PR firm that organizations that brag that they terminate a life every ninety five seconds use? I think they should. Don't you?

Bunnies, Blenders, And Babies

What a fantastic commercial! Who doesn’t love commercials with cute bunnies? There’s really nothing more to say is there?

Live By The Sword…

Like so many unborn babies he killed in their mother’s wombs, Dr. George Tiller was himself killed in a place where he should not have feared for his life, the lobby of his church. In the place where poor miserable sinners should only hear the peace that passes all understanding, the Gospel of Jesus and His cross, they heard gunfire.

Tiller ran the Women's Health Care Services clinic, a very high-profile abortion clinic in Wichita, KS and was one of the few doctors in the country that still performed late-term abortions. Dr. Tiller never shied away from reporters asking for him to defend what he called a moral decision to provide a choice for women. He was very proud of his work and didn’t consider killing babies a violation of either his Hippocratic Oath or God’s Law.

What Dr. Tiller’s murderer did was wrong. A Christian is a citizen of two kingdoms and bound to laws of both. As a Christian we are called by God to obey the laws of our country. Murder is unlawful and needs to be both condemned and punished as the state is given the authority to do.

In addition, how we treat our enemies and folks we just plain don’t like is laid out in Romans 12:17-21;

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Moreover, what Tiller’s murderer did is dangerously harmful to those who profess to be Christian. In an age where harassment of Christians and the values they hold dear seem to be in vogue and when the Homeland Security Department can publically and unapologetically state that those who are prolife are potential domestic terrorists, this murder’s actions is likely to have farther reaching implications than just the death of one abortionist.

Tiller’s murder might have thought that his vigilantism an appropriate end for one who killed so many of those who could not defend themselves but it’s likely that that unlawful sword that he swung will be used a weapon itself against the faithful and those who would defend the unborn.

Do All Lutherans Look At Abortion The Same Way?

Do all Lutherans look at abortion the same way? No they don’t, plain and simple.

The largest Lutheran body in the United States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) has on their website Dig Deeper what they call “Abortion (Lutheran view)”. Quoting from The ELCA Social Statement on Abortion :

A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born, nor does a pregnant woman have an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy.

The statement does go on to say that abortion should be a last resort but the fact that they start the explanation with the statement declaring that the unborn has no right to be born is telling in a gut wrenching kind of way.

Here’s the statement from my little corner of Lutheranism, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod:

The LCMS believes that abortion is contrary to God's Word and "is not a moral option except, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother"

I’ve had my share of criticisms of the LCMS but on this matter the LCMS is right on target. By coming right out of the gate and stating that abortion is contrary to God’s Word, the LCMS clearly sets itself apart from apostate groups like ELCA who claim to speak for all Lutherans. The statement is short and sweet, to the point, without any having to link to additional documents that celebrate the "Gift of Our Diversity" as justification for the taking of an unborn life.

So, do all Lutherans look at abortion the same way? Again, no they don’t.

What A Horrible Anniversary

On January 22, 1974, the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.

Isn't it amazing that so many talk of slavery as this country’s original sin that must atoned for and in the same breath can speak of abortion as a protected right to terminate those who can not defend themselves. The idea that murder is a choice to be held up as an honored right proves that sin knows no limits or boundaries.

Come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Planned Parenthood Offering Gift Certificates

Just in time for Christmas, some Planned Parenthood facilities in Indiana and Illinois are offering gift certificates for their services.

Not sure what to give that favorite sister, daughter, or significant other? Why not lift their spirits with gift of an abortion?

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Planned Parenthood gift certificate.

From the FOXNews story;

Planned Parenthood said the stocking-stuffers — that range in value from $25 to $100 and can be ordered online — are redeemable for health services at clinics throughout the two states and can go to any service offered. "We decided not to put restrictions on the gift certificates, so it’s for whatever people feel they need the services for most," Struben-Hall said.

Read the whole story here.

Update: Aaron D. Wolf does a much better job than me of dealing with this repulsive story over here at Chronicles. Thanks to Herr Benjamin Ulledalen for bringing the article to my attention!

Denmark’s Successful Eugenics Program Reduces Down's Syndrome Births By Half

According to the British Medical Journal, Denmark’s pre-natal screening program has halved the number of babies with Down's Syndrome. The new national screening ”also resulted in a sharp decline in the number of chorionic villus samplings and amniocenteses carried out, even before full implementation of the policy.”

So what were the by the numbers results? Read the published results from the study;

The number of infants born with Down’s syndrome decreased from 55-65 per year during 2000-4 to 31 in 2005 and 32 in 2006. The total number of chorionic villus samplings and amniocenteses carried out decreased from 7524 in 2000 to 3510 in 2006. The detection rate in the screened population in 2005 was 86% and in 2006 was 93%.

The number of parents that had to bear the burden of unwanted children was halved! No longer will the parents have to be concerned with a child who will need lifelong care and supervision, which of course would be a drain on family (and the state).

That’s what I call a successful program. By the way, just so we're all on the same page here, let’s all call a thing what it is; the name for this is eugenics. And just in case you missed it, all this reported success, this is before the full implementation of what will be a nation program. This is sickening and unholy!

Read more from the full study here.

A Liturgy For The Affirmation Of An Abortion

Jackie Bruchi reports for Stand Firm, a traditional Anglican blog (not to be confused with Scott Diekmann’s excellent blog of the same name) another sign of the coming apocalypse; Affirming A Choice, A Liturgy by Diann L. Neu distributed by Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

For what it's worth... and it ain't worth much, Diann L. Neu is Co-Director of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (W.A.T.E.R.) in Silver Spring, Maryland. W.A.T.E.R. is "a feminist educational center, doing work locally, nationally and internationally organizing programs and projects, publications and workshops, counseling, spiritual direction and liturgical planning which help people actualize feminist religious values in the service of social change."

I’ll let the author of this abomination introduce her liturgical masterpiece;

Women may need encouragement to consider such a liturgy because traditional churches and society do not provide them.

This liturgy affirms that a woman has made a good and holy decision to have an abortion. It provides strength and healing after making a difficult choice. It brings closure to an often intense and emotional process. It is intended to be celebrated with friends. (emphasis mine of course)

The liturgy includes preparations and the following prayer:

Blessed are you, Holy Wisdom, for your presence with [name]. Praised be you,Mother Goddess and Father God, that you have given your people the power of choice.We are saddened that the life circumstances of [woman's name and, if appropriate, herpartner's name] are such that she has had to choose to terminate her pregnancy. Such achoice is never simple. It is filled with pain and hurt, with anger and questions, but alsowith integrity and strength.

Unbelievable, unreal and unholy!

HT: Elephant’s Child