Implications of Image: Part III
Abortion and Birth Technology; 12/31/2023; Remsen Bible Fellowship
Introduction
In Matthew 2:12-18, directly after the Christmas story, we read of a devastating set of circumstances. The wise men, or Magi, had searched out the Christ child. Upon leaving Herod’s court, they had been instructed to bring news of the child back to him. But God had other plans.
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Herod felt as if he’d been “had” by the wise men. In his fury, instead of searching for the One Child himself, he decided to just play it safe: kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. This is a heartbreaking scene to read. Now imagine living it as a parent, sibling, or other family member.
But why does this scene break our hearts? Herod’s hatred obviously seems pretty bad, but why should we care if a child dies?
The topics we touch on this morning could well be sensitive - they are certainly sensitive in nature - and could be especially so for you. I don’t know everyone’s story here. My aim in this sermon, as every week, is to help you think through things with God’s perspective as he gives it to us in the Scriptures. If these things lead you to further questions, or concerns, I always welcome those conversations. We want to be guided by God’s word: not our emotions, nor our mere human thoughts (mine, yours, or anyone else’s). We will all pass away like grass, but the word of the Lord abides forever. We do well to bring our lives into conformity with what it says.
Abortion
The ancient world considered the practices of abortion and infanticide to be normal. Even Judaism had conflicts about whether abortion was morally permissible, though infanticide was clearly seen as a violation of the sixth commandment, “you shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
We, like the ancients, live in a day and society where abortion is seen as morally acceptable. Unlike the ancients, we also live in a time when you can readily access providers and pills to make ending the life of an unborn child relatively easy. We also have so-called moral philosophers like Peter Singer arguing that infanticide should be acceptable as well, considering the fact that infants are dependant upon others, don’t yet have an independent sense of personhood, and cannot provide for themselves. That’s pretty hard to argue with, isn’t it?
Well, not really. As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, the value and dignity of the human person is not determined by your abilities or capacities. It comes from being made in the image of God. There is dignity and value inherent in simply being a human. Genesis 1:27 says, “in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” This is true of every person who has ever existed. The implication is fleshed out further in Genesis 9:5, where God says that for the taking of any human life there will be a reckoning. The reason? Verse 6 grounds the value of human life in the image we each bear: God’s image.
Though we are not told explicitly when human life begins, the biblical perspective seems pretty clear that life in the womb is indeed human life. In Exodus 21:23, unborn life is considered life worthy of restitution. If men are fighting and accidently hit a woman and cause her to miscarry, they are liable for that death. In Psalm 139:13, David speaks of God knitting life together in his mother’s womb - “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In Luke 1:44, John the Baptist responds to the voice of Mary, leaping in the womb of Elizabeth, his mother.
And as medical technology advances and we have a better understanding of how life comes to be, it becomes increasingly clear: from the moment of conception, this is a human child. It’s not “just” egg+sperm. It’s not a potential human life. This is a child; albeit, one in embryonic form.
So what are our moral duties to this child? First of all, do not intentionally do harm. As we discussed before, the prohibition on murder goes beyond just premeditated killing, it also banned carelessness in regards to life. So Christians oppose abortion in all its forms. And this doesn’t change if the circumstances of a child’s conception were wrong or even evil. Cases of rape or incest are often brought forward as when “maybe we should be okay” with abortion. But is it the child’s fault that their father committed some great wrong? No. So we should not approve of executing a child for the sins of his or her father.
But to carry this further, such a stance means we also ought to provide strong support to women who are pregnant - especially if the circumstances are difficult - to help them have healthy pregnancies and the support structures they need in order to not simply carry and deliver, but raise children in a safe setting.
Principle: Children are a Blessing
Abortion, throughout church history, has been clearly seen as a grave moral wrong. It is only in the past 100 years that some bearing the name of Christian have tried to justify the practice, and they simply do not have the biblical arguments to sustain their positions.
But part of why abortion seems plausible in our society is due to a mindset prevalent even among people in the church, including those with children: we see children as a burden. Should we? Psalm 127:3-5,
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Children are a heritage “from the Lord.” “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.” This does not sound like the fairly constant drumbeat of statements like: “do you know where they come from?” “Why would you want more than two kids?” “Just you wait until they’re older, then you’ll know how hard it is.” “I just need to get away from my children, they’re ruining my life.”
But God calls them a blessing. This used to be understood at a more intuitive level, back when economies were primarily centered around the home. Many hands to help on the farm, or in the bakery, or in the carpentry shop were all seen to be good things. But as the world became more industrialized, and mouths to feed simply meant more hours away at work in order to afford feeding and clothing and housing those mouths - as children became, in a real sense, less productive members of the household - this sense has been harder to realize. Then with the advent of the pill and the sexual revolution, having children became a completely optional byproduct of sex, rather than a necessary factor to account for. And so the “burden” took on a new aspect in people’s minds. Why would you sign up for all the work which children are, if you could just take a pill and avoid it?
So people have, for decades now, thought about children not as the normal byproduct of a fruitful marriage union, but as an optional accessory to their self-fulfillment projects. How many kids do you want? “I’ve always imagined having three” or “I liked being an only child, we’ll just have one.” “I’ve always dreamed of a big family.” We tend to think about children the way we think about everything else: as expressions of ourselves. A means to fulfill our own happiness.
Birth Control
But this is not the biblical understanding. Man and woman are given the responsibility, by God, to be fruitful and multiply. His enabling them to accomplish this task, not least through the having of children, is seen throughout scripture as a sign of his blessing.
Now, the topic of birth control, per se, is not directly addressed by the Bible. There is no “thus says the Lord” on this topic, so you won’t hear any from me. But there are a few principles to understand and take to heart.
* Any form of birth control which is abortifacient in nature must be rejected by Christians. This includes not only direct abortions, but drugs like the “morning after pill”, and technologies like intrauterine devices which create an inhospitable climate for fertilized eggs to implant.
* We should be exceedingly cautious about permanent alterations to the human body - like sterilization. Again, there is no specific biblical prohibition here, but to prevent our bodies from carrying on their natural reproductive functions is a major choice which should not be undertaken without serious consideration and prayer. Remember what the apostle Paul says to the Corinthians - your body is not your own.
* Be careful of the other ditch: some Christians read Psalm 127 and create a whole theology of “children are a blessing” out of it, and believe that the desire to have a quiver full of arrows means to just have as many kids as possible. But notice what Psalm 127 actually says: “like arrows in the hands of a warrior.” A warrior is someone skilled in the use of arrows. At the end of verse five: “He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” This is only true if he has good and noble children who are a) able to be pointed to by him as a witness to his faithfulness, or b) literally there with him, and able to defend their father. Children are not an unqualified blessing in the Bible. A wise son is a blessing. But a foolish son is sorrow to his mother (Proverbs 10:1), grief to his father (17:25), and brings bitterness and shame to she who bore him (17:25, 29:15). So there are legitimate questions you need to consider, not only about “can I afford to clothe and feed these people”, but also about your own capacity and willingness to lay aside other hobbies, desires, and goals in order to focus on raising godly children. Because, news flash: it’s a lot of work. Blessed work. But work.
* Which brings us to really the fundamental issue: approach this question as you should any question: in faith. Faith that God will give you wisdom if you ask for it without doubting (James 1:5). Faith that he will provide for all of your needs. Do not make fear based decisions, but do act with wisdom. Don’t just assume that whatever the culture pushes is correct - it often isn’t. Search the scriptures, pray, and realize that there is no greater joy than having godly children. They are a blessing to be received.
Withheld Blessing
But that leads us to another question: what if you can’t have children? This is a common struggle, both now and in biblical times. In the ancient world it carried with it a sense of shame, because a woman's worth was often measured by their ability to have children. Thankfully, I’d say that’s generally not the case today. But it still can be an enormously difficult situation for couples to walk through.
And here is an area where it seems like modern technology is here to help us out. There is a whole industry associated with helping couples have babies. And that seems, at least on the surface, like a good and helpful thing.
But I want to throw a big yellow light out, here. Christians, by and large, have blindly accepted whatever the medical industry has pushed in terms of technology in this area. In ways that have frankly not been wise.
Again I’m a pastor, not a doctor, and the Bible doesn’t speak directly to this issue: but I want to give a few more principles for thinking through these situations:
* Any method of assistance in reproduction which creates fertilized eggs - human embryos - which will not be implanted, which will be frozen or thrown away, must be rejected by Christians. This means that a practice like IVF, as it is normally practiced, should not be considered ethical. (Hypothetically it could be practiced without creating “extras”, but that is not how it is done).
* Separating procreation from the physical act of sex should also give us severe pause: just because we can do something technologically, should we do it? Again, we have a question here of “how do we think about children?” Are they a blessing from God meant to be the fruit of a marriage union? Or are they designer accessories for our modern lives? Do we have the moral right to create human life in a petri dish, only to be implanted into a uterus or fallopian tubes at some later date?
* The third area that ought to give us pause comes from thinking about the rights of the children themselves: the right to grow up in kinship networks of those to whom they are really and biologically connected. Now, adoption will be raised here, and we’ll touch on it shortly. But adoption is pretty much always preceded by bad circumstances not controlled by the parents who end up raising the child. But when we start talking about practices of egg donation, sperm donation, or surrogacy, we’re intentionally cutting the child off from some important connection to their past, their roots, their kin. And that is a dangerous game to play.
So, that’s not really a list of do/don’t do, so much as a list of concerns and cautions that arise from an understanding of human beings being made in the image of God, and every life (no matter how small) being precious. We should be very cautious about “taking matters into our own hands” - or giving matters into the hands of doctors governed by worldly thinking.
What do you do?
But then, what do you do? What if, like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, you deeply desire children: but unlike Hannah, the Lord withholds them from you? Maybe you’ve had this question, you’ll almost certainly have this discussion with someone at some point, especially if you start to question the validity of practices around IVF and the like. What do you say?
First, it is right to lament the unfulfilled status of good desires. Christians struggle with this, because we think we’re supposed to be smiley and sunshiney all the time. But if you are dealing with health struggles, it’s right to long for the healing of your body. If you have relationships falling apart, it’s right to mourn over those losses. If you are single and want to be married, there’s nothing wrong with struggling over the unfulfilled nature of that desire. And likewise with children. If you want to have children and don’t, it’s okay to be sad.
But as Christians, the most important question isn’t, “how do I get unsad?” or “how can I fix my circumstances?” Those may well be good questions in their time and place. But a more important question, when faced with difficulty, is: “what would you have me to learn, Lord? How do you want me to grow?”
We don’t know the immediate cause of many of our struggles in this life. But we do know that the ultimate purpose in them is for God to bring about our good: and he defines good for us by our growing in likeness to Jesus: Romans 8:28-29,
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
No matter what struggles you face in life, if you are in Christ, he has brought you to these things that he might grow you in your faith. If you walk in faith - confidently expecting him to bring growth, and seeking obedience in every circumstance - then he will bring growth in your life. That’s a promise.
But he isn’t just looking to grow you on the inside, every circumstance brings unique opportunities as well. I want to briefly mention two opportunities that childless couples have to serve the Lord in unique ways.
* The first is adoption. Now, obviously, families who have children by birth also can and do adopt. But some of the questions which make the decision more fraught for a family with kids are removed when you don’t already have children in the picture. You have a greater freedom to just consider the good of the children you are bringing in. This is a beautiful opportunity to model the love of God the Father: remember, if you are a Christian, you are God’s child by adoption. JI Packer called this doctrine one of the most important and neglected in the Christian life. But by practicing adoption, you are putting it on display for the world to see. (good place to share the gospel) To freely bring children who need a family into your family is a clear demonstration of the love of God for us.
* The other opportunity is simply freedom for ministry. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, praises the freedom which singleness gives when seeking to serve the Lord. And while marriage without children still has all the encumbrances of - well, marriage - there is more freedom of time and energy to devote to being a mother and father, a brother and a sister, to other believers. So my exhortation to those without children (or even those whose children have grown and who have different responsibilities than you once did toward them), is to lean into discipling other believers.
Conclusion
This sermon has felt pretty sprawling and scattered. But it all comes back to this: when considering the image of God, we can’t do so without considering what that means for marriage. Male and female he created them. And the central reason for marriage in the Bible - though not the only one! - is raising godly offspring. This means that in marriage, believers should have a fundamental openness toward having children; understanding that the blessing of those children comes not only in their birth, but in the process of raising them toward godly adulthood. And it also means that we recognize that for those from whom God withholds that gift, he is opening up other avenues for them to still testify to the importance of family - his family - the church. Our earthly families, as important as they are, are not eternal. The church is. And so we all strive together to honor his image in everyone. And we don’t do that by making our children an idol. Rather, we seek to use whatever circumstances and gifts God has given us to raise up - in our homes, our church, our community - disciples of Jesus who will testify to coming generations of the greatness of our God.
Psalm 78:4, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
