Nehemiah 8:2-10; I Corinthians: 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Did you know that on October 10, 1997 at 3:50 p.m., our former President Bill Clinton released a proclamation designating October 12th as “National Children’s Day?” Did you know that at 4:30 p.m., less than one hour later President Clinton issued another proclamation? His veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act!
Since the Supreme Court Decision, Roe vs. Wade, was enacted 37 years ago our country has been on a steady decline when it comes to attitudes towards life. I will admit that this is only one part of the whole picture as to why we have become, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “a culture of death.” There are other issues related to this: a decline in church attendance by Christians resulting in a lack of moral guidance; a materialistic self-centered culture resulting in a rejection of anything that hinders “my own personal lifestyle;” an obsession with youthfulness which results in a lack of appreciation for the elderly; in-vitro fertilization and natural selection of only the best gene pools in reproductive medicine; an increase in civil law suits perpetuating an attitude of vengeance instead of justice; and many more issues related to the sanctity of life.
Whether or not we buy into these issues we are all affected by this “disease” called the “culture of death.” This is what Paul was trying to teach the people of Corinth in his analogy of the body. If you have a bad back, or an arthritic hip the rest of your body is affected by the pain in that area. If you have the stomach flu, the rest of your body is affected by fevers, chills, and muscular ache. That is the way sin is in our life. When one person sins the entire body of Christ is affected by that person’s sin.
Paul spoke of this in his letter to the Romans, “. . . through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death” (Romans 5:12). He continued his teaching with the hope of good news by saying, “. . . and just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). That is the good news of Jesus Christ. Because God became human, because God suffered and died for our sins, because God rose from the dead, sin and death have been conquered. Through one man’s righteousness all people can be saved.
This means that just as one sin affects all people, one act of goodness can surpass the effect of that sin. This is why Jesus so confidently proclaimed from the prophet Isaiah (61:1):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
therefore he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives,
Recovery of sight to the blind
and release to prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the Lord.”
By the sin of our first parents the entire human race had been separated from God. By the presence of Jesus in the world, the entire human race has been restored to its right relationship with God. This is the faith that has been revealed to us. Because of this faith, then we are called to be a holy people, a holy presence in our world. By our presence, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we help to sanctify the world.
We can only do this though by truly living and practicing our faith. When we live our faith we will walk in the ways of holiness. When we practice our faith we become closer to God and God’s presence in our life will make the world holy.
So, today we are given a choice. We can choose the way of sin. We can choose to continue to allow women the legal right to have an abortion. We can choose to be self-centered and materialistic. We can choose to reject the sanctity of our elderly. We can choose to ridicule and oppress the poor. We can choose to be vengeful, unforgiving people. By so doing we are rejecting the power of God’s holiness, and thus contributing to the dis-ease of the “culture of death.”
Or we can choose the way of holiness. We can choose to be like Christ by recognizing the sanctity of human life. We can choose to help the poor by refusing to buy into our materialistic culture. We can choose to care for the sick, the suffering, the imprisoned. We can choose to forgive the sins of others, especially those who have hurt us. By so doing we will help bring about spiritual health and holiness to our broken world.
The choice is yours. In the words of Moses, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live” (Dt 30:19).
What choice do you make?
