September 9, 2011

This Sunday, September 11, is a Sunday to remember. We remember the attack on our freedom ten years ago. We remember the nearly 3,000 victims of that attack and their families. We remember how life has never been the same. Many congregations will undoubtedly do something special this Sunday, at the very least including it in prayers. Many pastors, including this one, will no doubt say something about it in their sermons.

Now, please do not think me unpatriotic for what follows. I am not. Four generations of Lambs have proudly and willingly served in the armed forces; and, with the exception of the Korean War, have served in combat in every war from World War I to the war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I cannot help but make the connection. The next official Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is January 22, 2012, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Will that be a Sunday our churches will remember? Will we remember the attack on innocent life and the fabric of our society? Will we remember the 54 million victims of that attack? Will we remember their families and those wounded by a, now legal but lethal, decision whose lives will never be the same? Will we do anything special that Sunday in our worship services, prayers, sermons?

I do not pose these questions pessimistically, but with optimism and hope that many, many of our congregations will indeed not only make Sunday, September 11 a day to remember, but will begin to plan even now to make Sunday, January 22 a day to remember.

The Church has, in the power and victory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power to change hearts and minds when it comes to the war on the sanctity of human life. We have, in the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power to heal and help those affected in this terrible war. 

May this Sunday be a Sunday to remember our great freedoms and the price paid to defend our freedoms. May January 22, 2012, and every Sunday, be Sundays to remember the great value our God gives to human life and the price paid by our crucified Savior that attests to that value.