Psalm 139:14-16/Ps 51: 5 /Luke 2:11
Anniversaries are usually happy occasions. Some we celebrate with a big get together. Others, it’s just nice to observe quietly. Some anniversaries catch me by surprise. Honey, do you remember what we were doing 5 and a half years ago today? Oh, that’s right. Anniversaries are opportunities to think back on God’s blessings. To celebrate them. Our wedding, How about our baptism? That’s an anniversary worth putting on the calendar. God’s grace applied to you in that special way.
But some anniversaries are not so happy. For those who lived through World War 2, there is Pearl Harbor day. Then of course, there is the more recent September 11th. Both recall vicious attacks against our country that snuffed out the lives of someone’s son or daughter, father or mother.
We just had that kind anniversary on January 22nd. Forty years ago, our Supreme Court legalized abortion. Sadly, some look at that as a date to celebrate. They celebrate it as the anniversary of a new found freedom.
But to me it’s a painful reminder of how twisted and dark the human heart can be. Yet here let’s be careful not to shake our heads too hard at people who think this way. They are the victims of a terrible deception that calls something evil, good. For truly each of us can say, there but for the grace of God go I.
Yet today, my concern is not the law of the land. It’s not who is president or what the Supreme Court does. For in a way, it really doesn’t matter what is legal or illegal. It’s what is in our hearts. It’s who is in our hearts. That’s where I want to go today in God’s Word. That we remember. That we continue to confess to this fallen world.
God gives life
There are times when God seems far away. There have been times in my life where I did something where I wished he was far away. But in Psalm 139, King David helps us to realize that’s not the case. In fact he marvels that the Lord is so near. He marvels at how the Lord knows us so well. There is no place so dark or distant where our God is not with us.
But David marvels at something else. At life, the life God gives that is a wonder of his doing. Listen. 13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
By the Holy Spirit, King David shares with us some awesome and important truths. A mother’s womb is a kind of sacred place. For the life that is there is ultimately God’s doing, his giving.
Of course, the question arises when things do not go the way they normally do. What about when our child is born with spinal bifida or has Down’s syndrome. Some of us have family members whose life is sadly different from ours in those ways. We have our Jennifer. We wonder why God allows that to happen. I can’t say. But there have been times when I have found those parents and their children have taught me a lot about what it means to love.
But most of the time we are not left with such questions. In fact, the more we learn about that life that God gives, the more we realize how true David’s words are. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Look at this picture. That is you and me at 12 weeks. 10 fingers and 10 toes. Eyes, ears a little mouth to one day say, mama. That’s a baby, a gift of God, only smaller. That’s a life, a baby, a wonder of God’s doing.
Today, an ultrasound can show us that baby in the womb in great detail. Maybe you’ve seen the amazing pictures of babies there. You can then understand why the abortionist doesn’t want a young mother to see that. She might see that wonder of God’s doing, growing inside of her.
And notice what David says about that life. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. God has a plan for that unborn life just as he has for yours. Who are we or anyone else to cut short God’s plan? For God gives life. A life that is a wonder of his doing.
Today doctors tell expectant mothers how important it is to take good care of themselves. No smoking or drinking. Take that prenatal vitamin. Eat good meals. After all, they are not just caring for themselves. Yet the best of care cannot prevent something so sad. Every one of us is born, a child of tragedy.
What do you mean pastor? Let me explain. In my family, in yours, the birth of child, a grandchild is something we rejoice over. The pictures sail over the internet. We claim our bragging rights. He looks like you. She looks like me.
But it doesn’t take long before we realize what our parents soon realized about us. King David confessed it in Psalm 51. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (5) You see, It doesn’t take long for us to see a certain family resemblance. Not in the face. Not in the color of our eyes. But in our hearts, in our behavior. A family resemblance that came down to us all from our first parents Adam and Eve. A resemblance that resulted from a tragedy long ago. A dreadful choice that terribly affected us all. And since that time, we are not born in the image of God. We are born in the image of our sinful parents. We are born, children of tragedy.
That’s why no one had to teach us to fight or argue or defy our parents. No one had to teach us to be selfish. For we come into this world with a heart problem, a dark propensity that lives in us, even now. We come into this world with hearts far from God. Jesus said it this way: Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander, (Mt15: 19) And here we could add. Out of the heart comes the tragic thinking that taking the life of an unborn child is a right we should all have. Out of the heart comes the choice to make an innocent baby die because of their own bad choices.
When you think of it, why would God want anything to do with us? All too often we have wiped our feet on his will for our lives. Look what we have done with his gift of life. Why not let us die and be done with us. But here’s the surprising thing. God gives life. Not just a life that we can cradle in our arms. Not just a life of 70 beats per minute in my chest. Not just a life that ends at the grave. But so much more than that. God gives life through One special life born for us all.
Just weeks ago, we celebrated that life. We heard the angel tell us how very special that life is: A Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. It’s pretty amazing. Long before we were born, long before we could cry out for God to save us, Christ came to do just that.
During this Epiphany season we look to God’s Word and see again and again who that Savior is. Who is this One special life? At the river Jordan, later on a mountain, God the Father spoke from the heavens: this is my beloved Son. In this Word we also witness his miracles that give sight to the blind and help a lame man to walk. We hear people say he does all things well.
But then we follow him to another place. A place where they nail him to a cross and lift him up to suffer and die. Wait! This is the Son of God who has done nothing wrong. This the Son of God who could crush his enemies without lifting a finger. Why is he there? We know, don’t we? He’s there for you and me. He’s there to save you from your guilt. For on him, the Father put our tragedy, all the ugliness that has come from our hearts. He’s paying the price so you can be forgiven. He’s dying the wages of your sin so that you can live. This is love not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And not just for you. For all. For that father or mother, that grandparent who looks back now with a terrible regret. How could I have done that? How could I have pressed for that abortion or paid for it? God put it all on his Son that each of us is now forgiven.
And how can you know? This One special life born for you,
who lived for you and died for you. He rose back to life. And because he lives, you will too. Not just at 70 beats per minute. Not just until they put your body in the grave, but always .…The gift of God is eternal life though Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes, God gives life through that One special life born for us all.
That brings me back to this sad anniversary. Where do we from go here? I don’t think the answer is changing the law. It’s about changing hearts. So here is where go. We go back to living our lives as God’s people. For what does Jesus say: You are the light of the world. Be a light in your world. And one light we can shine is this. God gives life. God gives life. He gives life to the child who he wants to be born. He gives life through Jesus who was born for us all. Go shine that light in this dark world. Amen.