Posted By cmbuuck on January 13, 2017

Life Affirming News

HERE WE STAND

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason…I am bound by the Scriptures…and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. “I cannot and I will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. “I cannnot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.”

Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, 1521

We dedicate this issue of Life Affirming News in memory of Dr. Jean Garton

Lutherans For Life mourns the death of our dear sister, Dr. Jean Garton. Dr. Garton became a leader in advocating respect and protection for every human being following the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. She served instrumentally in the formation of Lutherans For Life in 1978 and accepted the position of its first president.

In her plenary address, co-founder and former president of Lutherans For Life, Dr. Jean Garton, said “I’m going to make sure I’m with the right group … If you read the media, they’ll tell you that people who are ‘anti-choice’ are rabid, rigid, ranting, raging, radical rebels. But I know that you are patient, pious, peaceful, prayerful, passionate, patriots. That’s you … The naysayers have tried to bury us many times. But the truth is that this great pro-life movement of which Lutherans For Life has been a part since the very beginning, this great movement is alive and well and growing. But with our public, persistent pursuit of protection for the unborn and now, increasingly, the ‘long-born,’ there is a price to pay—and no surprise about that. When Jesus sent out His disciples … He said He was sending them out like sheep among the wolves. And not much has changed … We need to be prepared for the incredible battle ahead.” She thanked those in attendance for the “natural, needful work that all of you do.”

Standing Firm as a Follower

Lynette Auch / Life Date / December 7, 2016

I don’t believe there could be a more appropriate theme than “Here We Stand”—based on Ephesians 6:13—as we step into the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” It reflects our human struggles as described in the prior verse in Ephesians: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (6:12 NIV).

These struggles drove Martin Luther to search for answers from Scripture for the hopeless, broken, and sinful state of humanity. Luther’s conclusion was that we have a “righteousness that God gives freely by His grace to people who don’t have righteousness of their own.”* This is the foundation of the Christian church today.

I was blessed to have Christian parents who brought me to be baptized and shared with me the faith that Luther speaks of. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to study beyond eighth grade—despite both having had dreams of being in the medical profession. But that did not stop them from becoming leaders as a husband, wife, farmer, mother, father, church, and community member. My mother, especially, was a pillar of the faith!

I was inspired and intrigued by the thoughts of Mike Donehey, lead singer of the Christian group Tenth Avenue North, who noted that Jesus did not ask anyone to be a “leader.” Curious, I did some research. I found numerous examples when Jesus invites individuals of the Bible to “follow me”—but with no mention of being a “leader.” Even Jesus didn’t consider Himself a leader. “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19 NIV).

With that in mind, that leaves us with only One leader: Our Heavenly Father. We are all followers.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).

We are “God’s handiwork” (or “handmade” by God) with work already prepared for us to do. Let us say “yes” to the opportunities before us and say Here I Stand … to speak the truth, reflecting the love of God.

• in defense and protection of the precious, vulnerable, human lives—that are each “hand-made” by God—from the moment of conception to natural death.

• to teach our children and grandchildren who they are and WHOSE they are. Scripture reminds us that we are NOT our own. We were created by God in His image, fully human, male and female, as spiritual beings—body, mind, and soul. We belong to Him. Losing our way in sin, we were bought back—redeemed—by the blood of Christ Jesus and called to love and glorify Him by living holy and honorable lives.

• in defense of marriage as God designed it between one man and one woman and remembering sex is a gift from God to be shared within the marriage bed only.

• in obedience to God and His commandments as the “great Leader.”

“[Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ … And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39b).

My mother was the leader she was because she was a follower of Jesus Christ—the ultimate Follower of His heavenly Father. With Jesus as the example, I prefer to be a follower rather than a leader. It takes the pressure and focus off me and my shortcomings and places the focus on the heavenly Father and His will for my life. Leadership is simply the byproduct of being a follower of the heavenly Father. As followers of Christ Jesus, we will “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might … Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:10, 13).

Standing Firm in Silence

Virigina Flo / Life Date / Winter 2016

Stand firm in your faith. Hold your ground. Never give in to things that go against Scripture. Use your voices so your beliefs will not be stamped out due to lack of being heard.

We live in an uncertain world that is on shaky ground. It’s like an earthquake challenging our ability to stay on our feet and not get sucked into the wide-open crevasses of anti-Christian ideology. The world’s challenge to Scripture seems logical to some as our freedom and our rights become the core of the discussions—making Christian positions seem out of date and no longer relevant to the world we live in now.

Life issues are often right in the center of any discussion regarding freedom and rights. Yet the world, while focusing on personal rights, puts the most vulnerable at both ends of life’s spectrum at risk by failing to acknowledge the most fundamental of all human rights—the right to life!

How can we remain silent when life itself is in question? Standing firm and trusting in Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of life, and being willing to use our voices to speak up and share the truth about the value of human life is so very important as the world crumbles around us.

In this culture that ridicules our core beliefs, we tend to fall back when the fighting gets tough. Let’s remember what Martin Luther said: He could do nothing other than to stand firm and not go against his conscience and the clear teachings of Scripture.

But is simply standing firm in our beliefs but keeping it to ourselves enough? We surely can stand firm silently. That’s fairly easy. But there are things going on around us today that we cannot discount or ignore, things like God’s creation in the womb being disparaged and killed. Nor can we close our eyes to the danger of minimizing the value of human life at life’s end. Using “quality of life” as the value system by arbitrarily measuring who deserves to live and who should die is a pure and simple act of the devil. It reminds me of John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus overcame death, yet the world is so anxious to use death as a solution to life’s problems.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13).

This is our 2017 Life Sunday theme verse. From it we know Jesus is the whole armor of God, and we can lean on Him to avoid any fears we have of speaking up. We, as Christians, were given a voice, and yet we often are afraid to use our voice for fear of offending someone or being labeled as a radical or nonconformist. We are all guilty of not wanting to be unpopular, so we keep silent. Offending someone should never be our goal but rather speaking the truth in a loving and caring manner—that’s how we use our voices For Life.

Arguments from some about when life begins, which inexcusably focus on eliminating the rights of the baby in the womb, are a perfect opportunity to speak the truth in love. We need to do this because this is not an abstract issue. It is a matter of life and death. For example, Planned Parenthood’s harvesting and selling of baby parts in order to use them in research is totally acceptable to many. These babies are valuable because of who made them—not just for their “parts.” How can we not be outraged at the very thought of ripping apart babies so small and so vulnerable?

My heart goes out to those struggling with guilt from the secret sin of abortion—a burden carried by millions. These women and men should not be deprived of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them when they have a repentant heart. We need to speak up and let them know they can have the forgiveness Jesus bought for them through His life, death, and resurrection.

And, when the end of life is near, may we be willing to speak up for those who are the most vulnerable here as well. States across this nation are considering legalizing assisted suicide. We have a voice. We need to use it! Do not let the voice of the evil one be the most vocal. Be voices For Life!

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