The End of Roe v Wade

Praise God that the legal, political, and moral horror of Roe v Wade is no more.

  • Roe v Wade was a legal horror, for it made up a fictional right found nowhere in the constitution, presented as facts falsehoods about the history of abortion jurisprudence, and thereby distorted subsequent legal decisions for the past several decades.
  • Roe v Wade was a political horror for it was a raw assertion of judicial legislative power (as noted in today’s opinion; see, for example, p. 10), rescinding laws then in existence passed by dozens of state legislatures, removing most questions concerning abortion from state legislatures and assigning them to the courts. By so doing, Roe v Wade played a central role in the politicization of the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court.
  • Roe v Wade was a moral horror, treating unborn children early in pregnancy as no more important than an appendix, and propagating the view that we as individuals are autonomous, having the right to do what we wish with our bodies.

Millions have prayed, marched, and organized over these last decades to bring about today’s decision. It has been my privilege to participate in some events – particularly given that, at age 20, I advocated for a theoretical abortion and thus incurred guilt (as discussed in this sermon: text, audio).

We rightly stand amazed at the array of people God used to overturn this monstrosity:

  • On the legal side: The Federalist Society has been instrumental in supporting and raising up justices who try to interpret the constitution as written.
  • Political leaders: George W Bush, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump all played vital roles in bringing about today’s ruling. As imperfect as all three are, and with as many disagreements as they have among themselves, God used all three to answer our prayers.
  • Teachers and preachers: God used Roman Catholics, evangelicals, and secular scholars to make the case against Roe v Wade. In our circles, John Piper’s twenty-five sermons on abortion were particularly powerful, as were Scott Klusendorf’s books and seminars.
  • Workers of compassion: The movement to create Pregnancy Resource Centers around the country began more than forty years ago. Now there are thousands of centers where women can receive tests, ultrasounds, and counseling at no cost to them – and often can hear of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior. We have had the privilege over the years to support such centers in Charlotte – today, the Queen City Pregnancy Resource Center.

While we praise God for the end of Roe, much work remains.

  • Pregnancy Resource Centers may well see a substantial increase in clients. They will need more finances, more personnel, more spiritual support – and protection. A number of such centers have been vandalized by abortion advocates in the last few months, including one in Asheville.
  • Today’s opinion returns decisions about abortion to state legislatures. There will be heated debates in many states, including North Carolina. There may also be attempts to have state Supreme Courts find a right to abortion in state constitutions. Thus we must vote wisely – for state legislators and for judges.
  • Many of our most populous states will see no decline in abortions because their state legislatures have already passed laws that ensure abortion access. Indeed, it is likely that some will travel to such states to have abortions. So the need to teach and to advocate for the unborn continues.
  • Most of all, the worldviews and consequent attitudes that lead to abortion continue to exert strong influence in our society. Challenge those worldviews; question those attitudes. Know and communicate the storyline of the Bible – highlighting our rebellion, our inability to think straight, and God’s compassion and grace through Jesus. Remember that we are not autonomous – we are created for a purpose, to glorify God. We thus do not have a right to do what we want with our bodies. But we find freedom, joy, and fulfillment not in looking inside ourselves and “discovering” who we are, but in following Jesus. Abundant, true life is found only in Him (John 10:10, Mark 8:34-36).

But the most important task remaining is to continue in prayer – prayer for the unborn, prayer for confused, scared, pregnant women, prayer for legislators and leaders, prayer for compassion and witness, prayer for those who may seem like enemies, prayer for our light to so shine among people that they see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Roe v Wade is no more. Praise God for answering so many prayers and using so many people. Today may be an important inflection point in the history of our country. But work remains. May we continue in the work of prayer, the work of love, the work of witness – and so hasten Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:11-12), playing our role in completing the task of filling the earth with the knowledge of God’s glory as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

The Business of Preaching

“”The business of preaching is not merely to make the hearer feel a little happier while he is listening or while he is singing particular hymns; it is not meant to be a way of producing an atmosphere of comfort. If I do that I am a quack, and am a very false friend indeed. No, the business of preaching is to teach you to think. We may have to be severe, to chastise you, and to show you that your thinking has been altogether wrong. And not only so, but also to show you that you have not grasped the doctrines, because the comfort that is given by them is a deduction drawn as the result of working them out for yourselves.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans 8:17-39 – The Final Perseverance of the Saints, p. 24.

Similarly, Ray Stedman from “The Glory of Preaching,” presented at the 1982 Congress on the Bible: “It is the business of the preacher to change the total viewpoint about life of every member of his congregation, and to challenge the secular illusions of our day, and strip them of their deceitfulness, and show people how human wisdom fails, . . . and point out to them what that failure is doing to them if they follow it. The instrument is the exposition and proclamation of these mysteries of God.”

Admit Your Need

Who is God? What is man? What is the relationship of man to God?

These are questions of worldview. The answers we give to those questions shape how we perceive and interpret the world around us.

Time and again, Jesus warns us that the attitude we assume in answering such questions, and the presuppositions we are often unaware of, can twist our thought processes and keep us from seeing the truth God has revealed.

Let’s look at three of Jesus’ statements in this regard.

First, Luke 18:24. A wealthy man who desires eternal life has just walked away sorrowful because Jesus has told him to sell all he has, give it all to the poor, and follow Him. Jesus then says: “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

Why is it difficult for the wealthy to enter the kingdom? One reason: Many rich people, like this man, think they are in control. They think that their wealth protects them from the vagaries of life. If they believe in God, they furthermore think that they have something to offer Him – that God needs them, that God even should be thankful to have them on His side.

Jesus offered this rich man eternal joy – the very life the man said he wanted! But he walked away, because he assumed that Jesus asked him to give up more than he was to gain. He assumed that he just needed to tweak his life in some way to make himself acceptable to God, worthy of eternal life. He assumed that his wealth was either a sign of God’s favor or in and of itself useful to God. Instead, Jesus revealed that it was a barrier between him and God. The rich man’s assumptions were deadly.

We’ll consider the second and third statements together:

Matthew 18:3:   “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 11:25-26: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

Jesus says that some truth – indeed, the most important truth – cannot be known apart from God revealing it. Although this statement is perfectly reasonable once we admit the possibility of a Creator God, many today begin with the assumption that Jesus’ statement is false. They assume that (a) we are rational beings and (b) we can come to know all important truths through reasoning and experimentation. With those assumptions, there obviously is no role for revelation.

But children know they need revelation. Children know they don’t know many things, and they need others to teach them. So they ask question after question – sometimes to the point of driving their parents crazy!

Children also know they are dependent creatures, who need the shelter and protection that others provide. Children thus know they are not self-sufficient – either intellectually or physically.

Note that this attitude is the opposite to that of the rich man in the earlier story. Jesus, in effect, told the rich man to become dependent on Him. And the rich man went away, sorrowful in his self-sufficiency.

Jesus tells us that all of us must assume the dependent attitude of a child. We must cease assuming that we can know all that is important apart from His revelation. If we continue to believe we are self-sufficient, we will never know what is of greatest importance. We will never see the revealed truth that is right before our eyes – the truth that the Father has revealed to little children – to both literal little children, as well as to those who have become like little children and so entered the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus tells you, He tells me: “You are needy people. Admit it! You need revelation; you need guidance; you need empowering. Acknowledge it! You need forgiveness. Confess it! Quit assuming that your intelligence, your riches, your education, your accomplishments, your position, your reading, or your moral life qualify you to come into God’s presence, or to stand as judge over Him, His Word, and His actions. Instead: Come to Me – humbly, broken, and contrite, like a little child – and I will give you exactly what you need! Come to Me – repentant, seeking, asking – and I will choose to reveal the Father to you.”

This is Jesus’ challenge: Quit trying to establish your own righteousness, your own brilliance, your own status. Quit assuming it’s even possible to do that. Instead, like a child, acknowledge your neediness. Come to Him. He promises to you rest, peace, and fulfillment.

Who is God? What is man? What is the relationship of man to God? Jesus reveals these answers – to those who become like little children.