This sermon was written for The Vigil of Repentance in Remembrance of the Victims of Abortion, held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN, on September 12, 2015. You may find out more about this service, and all of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod's efforts in the protection of the unborn by clicking this link. You may also play the audio of this sermon by clicking here.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
My dear friends in Christ,
Our Lord tells us, through His servant David, in the 139th Psalm, that our Lord is intimately involved in the forming of life, even from the moment of conception. But it goes further than that. If our Lord knits together every boy and girl formed in their mother, He has also guided even the process of conception, the making of this tiny human person. It doesn’t matter how this child came to be, this child is beloved by God, whose sin, that original sin we have all inherited from our first father, Adam, that child’s sin was paid for by the death of Jesus Christ. Every single person, whether a single second from conception or the oldest living person, whether the world esteems them valuable or able to contribute to society, whether they lay in a hospital bed forever, every single person is valuable, loved by, cherished by, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, for the blood of Christ was spilled for them. And thus they should be valued by us.
But, we have failed our Lord and we have failed our neighbors in our care towards those for whom Christ died. In our many sins, we have failed. But today, we recognize that we all have been negligent in our duties to protect those who are the least among us. The least among us are those who will not receive the life given to them by their Creator but are killed through methods devised by wicked humanity. The least among us are those who are suffering from the grief and shame of having an abortion. The least among us are even those men who have had their children killed, even who have encouraged their children to be killed, and who are even now suffering under their grief.
We have not spoken out often enough against the heinous murders that go under the name abortion. We have elected politicians who pass laws that encourage, enforce, and protect abortion in this country and we keep allowing them to do so. We, as a Church, have failed to bring these children into this world, to find a home where they can be loved, to care for these orphans. We have been silent too long and have even allowed places to be called “churches” that encourage and applaud so-called bravery when it comes to people who have had abortions.
But we have also failed to support women in their need when it comes to pregnancies. We have failed to give them the support they need, financially, emotionally, and certainly, in Christ, spiritually. We have failed generations of men, who skirt the idea of being a father, who don’t know how to be a daddy, who don’t want to be a daddy, and we forget those whose choice was taken away from them by the one who would be the mother of their child.
We in this country have bowed down at the altar of Molech, an ancient demon who demanded the sacrifice of children for the turning away of his wrath. And at his altar today, we find not the taking away of sins, but the giving of convenience. We all are guilty. It is easier to abort a child than support that child through a poverty-stricken life. It is easier to abort a child than work with them through their mental or physical disabilities. It is easier to abort a child than have her be a girl. There are thousands of convenient reasons to abort a child, yet none of them are good or are according to God’s Law. We should be fighting to take away every reason a person would have to abort a child.
But, we don’t. For these children, these women, these men, there is pain. And there should be pain in our hearts as well. There should be. We should feel the terror of God’s Holy Law upon us as we realize how we have breached this Law and sinned against God and against the people whom He loves.
But He loves… that’s the key, isn’t it? We love because God first loved us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Before the foundation of the world, God loved you in Jesus Christ. God knew your sin, and before He even created you, He knew all that you would do to trespass against Him. And before the foundation of the world, God’s plan was to send His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, to come and live righteously for you. He would take care of the orphans. He would speak peace to those in grief. He would comfort weary hearts and souls and minds.
And He would die. He would die, bearing into His body the sins of the entire world, even the sins of murder through abortion. By His death, not the death of anyone else’s son, but through the death of the Son of God, God’s wrath would be turned away from His people. It would be turned away from you. God’s wrath was poured out upon His Son, not in child abuse, not in some wicked scheme, but because the Son of God would love you so much that He would take the punishment we deserve to give to you His peace.
And peace He speaks to you. His peace He gives to you. The chastisement of our sin was upon Him and it brings to you His peace. His peace is forgiveness. His peace is reconciliation with God. His peace is restoration to our neighbors. His peace never speaks condemnation to you, but it brings to you eternal life.
That we have bowed down to Molech is a sin Christ died for. That we have given our children over to death is a sin Christ died to forgive. That we have shame through our allowing of this heinous practice, that we suffer still under the griefs and burdens of allowing or committing abortion, that we suffer in any way, these our Lord counters with the promise of everlasting life won for us upon His cross and in the promise of the Resurrection of the Dead.
He does not condemn the broken-hearted. He does not turn away the repentant sinner. There is peace for those who suffer, there is peace for those who mourn, there is peace for those who cannot find peace on their own, for there is always peace in Christ. Our Lord tells us, yes, that abortion is wrong. We should repent for our part. We should work to erase this grisly practice from ever occurring again. But, for those who suffer, those who mourn, those who cannot carry their burden on their own, there is Christ. And where Christ is, forgiveness, life, and salvation reign supreme.
The Prophet Isaiah says, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we desired Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
And our Father will not lay that iniquity on us. He will not, He cannot, for He has already laid our sins upon Jesus and none can take those sins from Jesus when they fall at His feet, seeking and finding the forgiveness of those sins, finding the resurrection from the dead, finding a life forever with Christ, safe and secure in His peace. There is peace for you, and there is peace enough for the entire world. You are forgiven, my friends. You are forgiven and set free from your sins. You are whole in Christ. You are His beloved brothers and sisters. He loves you, He loves His creation, He loves those who think they are unloved or unlovable. He loves you, and even today, He brings to you His peace, His forgiveness, His life, and His salvation, and it shall not depart from you, even while we fight this battle in the world, in our hearts, in our lives, and even in the Church. None shall take what was won for you on the cross. None. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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