Thursday, May 28, 2009

Our God is Pro-Life

Excerpt from Genesis 2:4-7

"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.  In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

Reflection by Kenneth L. Samuel

Aside from gay marriage and stem cell research, nothing has caused as much debate and disharmony in Christian circles as the issue of abortion.  There are strong arguments on both sides of the issue in just about everyone's congregation and in just about everyone's conscience.  Perhaps this reading from Genesis can help to guide us.

Reading Genesis, can anyone doubt that God is "pro-life"?  Didn't God speak life, give life and sanction life for all that is alive?  And didn't God say that all which God had enlivened and inspired and animated was "good, and very good"?  And was not God's original design for humanity eternal life?  Indeed, was not humanity's first sin against humanity the taking of a life (Cain's killing of Abel)?

But the whole truth is that God has not just ordered and ordained human life.  God has seen to it that the proper conditions for the sustenance, the growth and the development of human life were in place before God even placed humanity in the garden, and gave humanity responsibility for maintaining the garden.  A mandate to live without the responsibility for creating and nurturing the elements that sustain life is, in actuality, a death sentence. 

Some children in America are killed before they are born, due to abortion.  But many children in America are killed after they are born, due to the systemic neglect of life-sustaining elements, such as access to good health care, adequate education and employment opportunities.  Many persons who think they are pro-life are really pro-birth only.  God is the real pro-lifer, and God calls us to be the same.

Prayer

Dear Lord, we are so grateful for the life you have given us.  Now, help us to take responsibility for sustaining our lives, and the lives of others.  Amen.

About the Author

Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, United Church of Christ, Stone Mountain, Georgia, and the author of  Solomon's Success: Four Essential Keys to Leadership.