Grace That is Greater Than All My Sin

From LifeDate - Spring 2005.

Grace That is Greater Than All My Sin
by Cynthia Chapa, President, Texas Lutherans For Life

I was shocked. A Lutheran woman who had undergone an abortion confided to me that awareness of the ministry of Lutherans For Life convinced her to keep her past a secret! How, I wondered, could the Christ-centered message of LFL become a deterrent to this guilt-ridden soul, a reason for not seeking spiritual help?

She explained her thinking: The existence of LFL was a signal to her that the Lutheran Church is pro-life and that fellow Lutherans would therefore certainly condemn her for the dark sin in her past. She feared she might even be excommunicated. Consequently, as she experienced the pain and anguish of post-abortion trauma, she was afraid to approach even her pastor for help. She agonized alone over the grief of taking her own child’s life, suffering deep depression and seriously considering suicide. Yet, she kept her secret, feeling God could never love her, believing that she had committed an unforgivable sin.

It was not until she heard the words of another post-abortive woman—“No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God loves you”—that she dared to seek healing. Even then, her pastor, who lovingly extended forgiveness in Christ, felt ill-equipped to help with her ongoing self-recrimination. Fortunately, a pregnancy help center offered a post-abortion Bible study that led her gradually through the stages of grief and reconciliation to a place of healing.

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20).

It cannot be repeated often enough—LFL is For Life. We do not seek in this ministry to condemn but to call to repentance, hope, and healing. It is a ministry of love and compassion, saying “no” to the sin but “yes” to the sinner. The springboard of our efforts is the Gospel of Jesus and His love for all people, born and unborn—the babe in the womb, the mother in crisis, the post-abortive woman, the terminally ill, the disabled and chronically afflicted. We have heard God’s message of love and forgiveness in our own lives, and we yearn to express that same message to those around us, to those suffering from destructive choices and to those vulnerable to ruinous future choices.