MAID in America

In the guise of ‘compassion’ and/or ‘justice,’ Americans continue to degrade the value of human life. 14 states now have MAID (Medical Aid In Dying) laws. Have you heard of them? In short, these laws permit, with some limits, physicians to prescribe pills that will prematurely end the life of people who are terminally ill. The state of New York outlines the law’s intent this way – “when a terminally ill, mentally competent adult patient, who is likely to die within six months, takes prescribed medicines, which must be self-administered, to end suffering and achieve a peaceful death.” 

If you are like about two-thirds of American adults you read that and thought – “So what’s wrong with that? It’s a good idea.”  In purely practical terms, I could agree. I have watched both my parents and my wife struggle through months of sickness and suffering and eventually die from cancer that ravaged their bodies. Some part of me wondered about allowing them to choose an earlier exit from it all.

BUT, they and I share a high view of human life and the sovereignty of our Creator God, Who alone holds the keys to life and death!

Theologian Brad East wrote - “The church’s moral teaching has always held that murder—defined as the intentional taking of innocent life—is intrinsically evil. It follows that actively intending the death of an elderly or sick human being and then deliberately bringing about that death through some positive action, such as the administration of drugs, is always and everywhere morally wrong.”  (https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/12/why-christians-oppose-euthanasia)

A great tragedy has come over the evangelical Christian church in which most pastors are silent on the issue of the sacredness of human life. The line has steadily eroded over the last 40 years from a firm insistence that all life must be protected and cherished to a more utilitarian view that couples the value to life to some supposed ‘quality of life.’  Tolerance for abortion has crept into our minds. Widespread acceptance of capital punishment, despite the revelations of so many mistaken convictions, is now common among us. I heard not a peep of protest about the proposed travesty of a firing squad execution that our government proposes to stream live from our pulpits!

One advocate for life and speaker on Christian ethics, Heidi Janz, who has multiple disabilities and speaks with a voice synthesizer, says “The silence has been deafening, We’re just collectively shrugging our shoulders. I think we’re going to have a lot to answer for.”

We seem to have forgotten a key truth of our faith – that God will redeem our suffering for His purposes. Our very salvation came at the cost of suffering by Jesus at the Cross. Few seem to be willing to accept that God can use and does use pain. I am not trying to sugarcoat the awful pain and loss of dignity that came with the long process of death that my parents and wife endured when I say that in each of those experiences a new and amazing depth of love and grace were uncovered. There were long nights when I sat with my Dad’s head lying in my lap as we listened to songs that reminded us of God’s grace. My Mom and I shared faith and hope in the darkest moments and my faith grew. Bev and I fell more intensely in love even as her strength ebbed away and I became less her husband more her caregiver. Yes, it was hard for me and even harder for them – BUT truly God’s love was present in a way we never knew before the ‘awful.’  I cannot imagine what would have been lost in their lives or mine IF they had chosen to end life prematurely.

Christians are called to the highest love, a love that goes beyond bliss, romance, or mutual affection. Our love is modeled on that of Jesus ‘who came to serve, not to be served.’   Consider the consistent theme of the New Testament.

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34, NLT)

"Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." (Romans 12:10, NLT)

"Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2, NLT)

That kind of love provides purpose and value to each person for we are, together, the Body of Christ. "Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Ephesians 4:16, NLT)

Another common argument offered in support of MAID, is framed as ‘death with dignity.’ To be sure, dying is an ugly business! Frequently there is a decline in self-care, a growing reliance on others for even the basic physical needs. Yesterday I went to visit a man in hospice care, a man who once gave voice to faith, who shared my hope in Christ Jesus. When I entered his room, I saw a man now totally dependent on care, who did not even recognize me, and who talked in confused jumbles of words. It was my privilege to offer my hand, to extend care to him, to pray with him knowing that even in this greatly diminished state he remains a child of God!

We must regain our understanding that we belong to God – from birth to death. That we do not own our bodies, not can we claim radical autonomy. The inspired Word says clearly – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”  (1 Corinthians 6:19) That statement is not qualified in terms of good health, convenience, or practical value!  God owns me and I surrender what others claim to be my ‘right’ to self-determination to His will.

Is that a hard truth? It is! But, it is a foundation of life’s sacredness.  

Let’s live well, investing ourselves in the highest and best for the glory of God, even as we remember what the Word tells us about our mortality: “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) IF we reject the modern fascination with youth and accept the fact of dying, we will live better lives.  And the fear of death will be tempered by the hope found in Christ Jesus who promises that “There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”  (John 14:2)

Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

A Beggar and A Rich Man

How much do you care for the poor? It’s not an easy answer in part because it can be hard to actually define what being ‘poor’ means.  Are you poor if you drive a car more than 10 years old or use a smartphone that is more than 3 years old? Are you poor if you cannot afford to eat in restaurants regularly? Must you be homeless to be poor?  Most Americans, even those who are poor by our standard of living are relatively well off compared to many in developing nations in the world.

Rather than assign an economic measure I would say that an almost universal indicator of poverty is being ‘invisible person.’  For whatever reason, when a person is no longer seen, no longer given human worth, they have become poor. Now let ask the question again – how much do you care for the poor?

No one knowing even a little about what Jesus taught can miss the fact that He cared deeply for those who were invisible, impoverished to the point of becoming ‘worthless’ in the eyes of others.
Consider a teaching story He told … 

 “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury. At his door lay a diseased beggar named Lazarus. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.

“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.’ “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to us.’ “

Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them about this place of torment so they won’t have to come here when they die.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read their writings anytime they want to.’ “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’ “

But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’”" (Luke 16:19-31, NLT)

Let’s get one erroneous conclusion out of the way quickly. The rich man was not condemned because of HIS WEALTH! Jesus pointed out his willful ignorance of the plight of a poor man who lay right at his doorstep. One of the main points of the story is that value in God’s eyes is vastly different from value in human eyes and in His grace, God makes possible a great reversal.

A man who had everything – the right clothing, the right food, the right home – but who lacked a right heart loses it all.

In Jesus’ telling the poor man is named unlike the rich man. In this he is made a person not just an object. His plight is terrible – a beggar, diseased, and set upon by scavenging dogs. It is a horrific existence made worse by the fact that relief was steps away, but denied by the blindness of the rich man. We know nothing about the spiritual practice of Lazarus but we are told he entered into paradise.

Note, too, just how entitled that rich man is even after death! He asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus to comfort him in his torment! He still thinks of himself as better than the poor beggar to whom he now ‘looks up’ to see.

Dear Christian, will you ask the Spirit to help you to see the poor, to give dignity to those denied it by the blindness and assumptions of others?

Jesus spoke often about caring for widows, orphans, and children – people who were often invisible, powerless, and living on the edge of survival in His time, mostly dependent on the charity of others. His message is consistent that pleasing God includes being aware of human need and caring enough to become involved.

He summarized His mission succinctly - "And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost.”" (Luke 19:10, NLT) Yes, we rightly understand He seeks those who are spiritually lost, reconciling them to His Father. But, a wider view of that statement, drawn from His earthly ministry, cannot ignore His care for the poor.

Indeed, in His announcement at the synagogue in Capernaum, He quoted the prophecy of Isaiah that says - " The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn." (Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV)

The first generations of Christians in the Roman Empire were noted for their care for the lowest, the least, the poor and powerless. Slaves were welcomed to their worship. Social distinctions were erased when one became a Christian. This was the inspired revelation that they experienced. "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:26-29, NIV) 

Can we practice the usual social discrimination of our culture and claim to ‘in Christ?’
It is possible to allow ourselves to not see the poor – whatever the reason for their poverty- and claim to like our Lord?

The questions beg our answer. Hopefully, we will take up the Call to care before we challenged by our Lord Jesus at the Day of Reckoning before His throne.

The word from the Word as I close comes from Proverbs 31. "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice." (Proverbs 31:8-9, NLT)

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

What Jesus Makes Possible

I love conversion stories! In my Christian tradition we often call this a person’s “Testimony.”  When a person tells the story of an experience of the grace of God, I’m moved. What joy it is to hear about - violent people who become peacemakers,
hopeless people who find new life,
addicts who learn to live in sobriety,
loveless people who discover the transformative love of the Father.

All of those stories illustrate the key principle of a passage in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

When God’s Spirit touches the human heart and there is a response of faith, something real and wonderful happens. A whole new way of life becomes possible. The assurance of eternity with God in Heaven is written on the heart of that one who comes to Christ Jesus.

Have you been ‘saved?’ 

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes of the predicament of humanity in chapters 1 to 3.

Sin came into the world, separating us from God. As a result of sin, death, both spiritual and physical, was the lot of Adam’s children, including you and me. The famed verse says that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23, NIV) 

But, through faith, we can receive a gift that changes everything. Romans uses three words to describe what it means to be ‘saved.’

We are justified. (Romans 3:24 “We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”) 

In the court of Heaven, we were indicted and bound to be condemned at the Judgment. But, when we believe and receive Christ, God declares us ‘not guilty,’ not because we are deserving, but because Jesus extends grace to us. It’s more than a pardon. We are released from all guilt!

We are redeemed. (Romans 3:24 “We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”) 

In the world in which Paul lived people were sold into servitude to settle debts! It was a terrible thing. However, there could be redemption! If family and/or friends put together enough resources to pay off the debt, the person enslaved was redeemed, set free. You and I, in our natural state, are slaves of sin, but there is a Redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son. Jesus tells us of His mission to pay the ransom for our freedom. (Mark 10:45) “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Our love for Him is such that we become servants of God, living to please Him. As Paul says “You were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

We are given the gift of righteousness.  "Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, … God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:25, NIV) 

Paul has in mind here the Jewish rituals of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. In the Holiest of Holy places, the Ark of the Covenant was kept. the mercy seat that was the lid of that box that contained the 10 Commandments. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest carried blood for an offering on behalf of the people that satisfied the holy demands of God.

A system of sacrifices turned away God’s wrath from the sinner. Shocked at that language?

Perhaps that is because our concept of God is so impoverished. He is a loving Father, the glorious Creator, and the Judge of all the earth. We are, “by nature objects of wrath,’ except that God, mysteriously and wondrously, offered His own Son as the final sacrifice for sin, once for all time.            

Yes, those are hard concepts for us, but we must go beyond a superficial and emotion-based grasp of the amazing gift of God. When our minds are filled with the wonder of salvation – that we are justified, that we are redeemed, that God has made us right at great cost – there is an unshakeable assurance that fills our mind and heart, compelling us to joy and faithful love.

Have you been ‘saved?’  Trust Christ Jesus with your life and accept the offer of forgiveness and renewal … and salvation is the gift He gives.

Here is a word from the Word. Oh, may the promise of God that saves us from the human predicament cause us to sing today.

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." (Ephesians 1:13-17, NIV) Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55