“Getting Personal”
Text: 1 Kings 3:16-28 & Psalm 139:13-24
1/26/2025
In the name of the Lord of Life, dear friends in Christ. Our sermon text for this Sanctity of Life Sunday is the Old Testament lesson that you just heard read a few minutes ago. Now, that passage may very familiar to many of you, but do you remember the context and circumstances surrounding it? Well, here’s a summary. King David was about to die, but before he closed his eyes for the last time, he named his son, Solomon, to be his successor. So, King Solomon now ruled over the nation of Israel. He recognized the huge task that was ahead of him and he felt unqualified. Knowing that, he humbly prayed for wisdom in order to do a good job ruling over God’s people in Israel. The Lord granted that request and made Solomon the wisest man on earth; not just in terms of knowledge but also with impeccable judgement when making decisions. The writer of 1 Kings relates this incident in our text as proof of Solomon’s God-given wisdom.
You may be wondering what all that has to do with Sanctity of Life Sunday. Actually, a lot. But the lesson for us today is not gleaned from focusing on Solomon. Rather, as odd as it may sound, I would direct your attention to the two women in the account. Forget for just a minute that they were prostitutes. Instead, let’s focus on them both being mothers. They both had just given birth to a baby boy but one of the infants died in a terrible mishap overnight. Now, each of them was claiming the living baby. Well, as is often the case in the courtroom, they each had their own version of what happened. To quote my father, Solomon was facing a conundrum. There was no way to prove which one was telling the truth… or perhaps there was? King Solomon offers a seemingly bizarre solution. He says he’ll take a sword and divide the child into 2 parts. That way, each mom can have half. As crazy as that sounds it was actually a very shrewd tactic. You see, regardless of the unsavory occupation of these women, the innate love of a mother for her child comes shining through. Isn’t that what Solomon was counting on? I can assure you that he would not have followed through with slicing the baby in half because he knew that the real mother loved her son enough that she’d do anything to save his life, even if that meant giving him up.
Why is that? Well, those of you who are mothers know the answer. From the moment you discovered you were pregnant; you developed a very personal bond of love with that child in your womb. Even though you had never seen him or her, you cherished that child. And because of that motherly instinct, you would not allow any harm to come to your baby just like that mother in our reading. And this issue of having a personal relationship of love with a baby in the womb often is experienced by the father, the grandparents, and other relatives. I certainly had those same protective feelings in me when my wife was pregnant with our 3 children. That’s because it was my daughter or son growing in her womb. I would do whatever I had to in order to keep them safe. Now that I'm a grandpa of 10 beautiful children, my attitude hasn’t changed. Throughout all 9 months of the pregnancy, I prayed for those little ones. I loved each of them unconditionally even before I ever saw or held them. God help the person who would even think of harming them. So, why would I be so protective of those children even while still in the womb? Because I have a personal relationship of love with them.
Now let’s apply that to the Sanctity of Life. Considering those innate loving and protective feelings, how in the world could an expectant mother ever be convinced to end the life of her baby with an abortion? The answer is really quite simple. The proponents of legalized abortion have managed to make the relationship of the mother to her child very “impersonal.” Going all the way back to the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, this has been the tactic of the pro-abortion crowd. If they can persuade you that a tiny embryo is just a blob of expendable tissue and not a baby, then you won’t get personally attached. Those protective instincts won’t kick in. That’s the reason why ultrasound machines are so successful at Crisis Pregnancy Centers. If the pro-lifers can show a woman her baby in the womb, the great majority of them refuse to go through with an abortion. Why? Because when they see their baby on that screen, they develop a personal relationship of love with him or her.
That may work for the mother and perhaps the father of that child, but what about the rest of us? I mean, sure you may care about other people’s children, but not with the same kind of love as your own. Unless… you start to get personal about it. A long time ago, when I was working down at the Omaha Police Headquarters, I had a conversation with a middle-aged woman about abortion. I was on my lunch break, minding my own business, when she sat down near me and brought it up. She was quite adamant that it was simply a woman’s personal choice to decide whether to abort her baby or not. I said, “Oh really? Do you have children?” “Yes,” she replied. “Well, how would you feel if your daughter or daughter-in-law chose to abort your grandchild?” She stammered, “Umm... well... I’m... sure she wouldn’t.” I pressed on, “But what if she did? Would you still respect her ‘right’ to make that choice?” Again, she sputtered and said, “I... uh... I guess not.” I asked, “Then why is it all right for others? Those babies are somebody’s grandson or granddaughter!” That’s when she got uncomfortable and left. However, I’m pretty sure I got through to her, and do you know why? Her attitude changed when it was personalized. It was a whole new ball game when it was her grandchild. Why? Because she would have a personal relationship of love with that baby and the protective instinct would kick in.
So, is it possible for us to feel that way about children in the womb? Even children who are not our own? Yes. If, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you begin to look at life the way God does then it will get really personal for you. In the Nicene Creed you just confessed that the Holy Spirit is the “Lord and giver of life.” In other words, God Himself is there creating each and every new life in the womb. When we were reading the words of Psalm 139 earlier, we heard David describe God’s creative action beginning at the point of conception. To every human life He gives a soul and that’s what makes us precious in His sight. God loves each and every life He creates regardless of gender, race, physical or mental capacity. Based on that, you can be sure that with every human life it gets very personal with God. Because of His deep, unconditional love, He is very protective of that life.
Although every human being is conceived in sin, God still loves us. You are His handiwork and He has a very personal attachment to you. That’s why it pained Him so deeply to see us in our lost condition. He would do whatever it took to save us and protect us from eternal destruction. And that’s the reason why He sent His Son into our world of sin to rescue us. God became flesh so that He could personally redeem our lives from sin, death, and the devil. He did this for every soul that ever has or ever will exist. Yes, even for those who might reject Him someday.
Knowing God’s personal relationship of love towards all human life puts things in a different perspective, doesn’t it? If we begin to love every life the way that He does then it gets very personal for us too. If it gets personal then we will be motivated to do whatever we can to protect that precious gift of life. Sadly, some people have backed off on their zeal for this issue ever since the Dobbs decision was handed down by the Supreme Court in 2022. It’s true this ruling overturned Roe vs. Wade which legalized abortion in 1973 claiming it as a constitutional right. But don’t be fooled. The battle is not over! In fact, it’s just started because now each state gets to decide whether they will make abortion legal or place restrictions on it. Make no mistake, abortions are still being performed in the United States legally. So, we have a duty to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves, whether it be a child in the womb, a severely handicapped person, an elderly person with Alzheimer’s, or anyone in between. They are all precious in God’s sight and therefore they are to be precious in our eyes too.
But there are other precious lives involved in this issue that are often overlooked. I was reminded of this a short while back when a friend from the Army admitted privately that she had aborted her baby decades ago. She volunteered the information and I’m convinced she did it because she wanted to get that burden off her shoulders. I could tell by her words and her tone that she still felt the guilt and pain of what she got talked into. Sadly, there are millions of women like her that need to hear of God’s deep, personal love for them and the peace of forgiveness He offers. We can and should be that voice of God’s mercy.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, all these lives are just as precious to God as you are. Recognizing that, it gets very personal for us as Christians because having the mind of Christ in us we are to love all human life, especially those precious unborn children, and cherish them the way that our loving Lord does. And that in turn will give us the courage to speak up for and defend them, as well as all others who cannot speak or defend themselves. May God give us the right words so that we can “speak the truth in love” and not words of condemnation. May He inspire us to work diligently to end the senseless slaughter by legalized abortion and to protect all those lives which are precious in God’s sight. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!