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“Read the card first” we say to our children when they receive a gift. We want them to be polite and to know who the gift is from.
“From God” reads the card on that first Christmas gift! God makes it clear from the very beginning. The announcing angel was “from God.” The gift of Jesus was “from God.” Jesus frequently referred to Himself as being “from God.”
The source of the gift bestows value on the gift. The slick, mass-produced Christmas card we receive from our bank or our insurance agent is nice. The handmade Christmas card our grandchildren send surpasses this a thousand fold! When the gift is “from God,” nothing can surpass it!
And then there is the “to” part of the gift. We can take the angel’s message to the shepherds personally. “For unto you …” (Luke 2:11). “From God,” “unto you.”
We at Lutherans For Life pray that you will be blessed this Christmas season and that you will rejoice with family and friends in the great “from God” gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation found in the Christ Child who was born “unto you.”
As you are well aware, this article is more than an Advent/Christmas greeting—although we are very sincere about that! We also want to give you an opportunity to support the mission and ministry of Lutherans For Life with your prayers and with a year-end gift. As we do not receive funds from any church body, we value and depend upon gifts from people like you. Your gift will enable us to carry out our mission of “equipping Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.”
But before you decide, please read on to see how this “from God” gift of Christmas is the heart of what we do.
Why We Need Your Help
David often prays for deliverance from his enemies. He does so in Psalm 17. “Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of this world whose portion is in this life” (Psalm 17:13-14a). I suppose today we would describe such folks as “worldly,” the “eat-drink-and-be-merry” crowd concerned only for this life.
Still, God blesses them. “You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants” (14b). David’s point seems to be another cliché, “You can’t take it with you.” But in the midst of David’s jab at his enemies, the Holy Spirit’s pen inscribes an indelible truth—children in the womb are a treasure! Actually, they are a treasure from God!
Our culture holds children up as a treasure. We say so in our headlines. “Five Die in House Fire—Including Two Small Children.” Child victims compound the tragedy of a mass killing. We see children in the womb as treasure too. Entire industries exist to market products we just cannot do without as we care for pregnant moms and their precious unborn. Yes, we see children as treasure—if we want them, if they are convenient, if they do not get in the way of our “portion in this life.”
How can our culture move so quickly from treasure to trash? How can we have hospitals delivering precious treasures in one wing and discarding the “product of conception” into the trash in another? I believe one answer to our ability to maintain this treasure/trash dissonance lies not merely in the corruption of the culture, but in the silence of the saints. We have forgotten the “from God” part of the equation.
It is too easy to view the unborn treasure as coming from us, the product of our lovemaking, the result of our will and our design and fulfillment of our desires and our plans. When the unborn is a treasure from us, then we control the meaning of “treasure.” If our parameters are not met, then the path to the “trash” becomes easier to justify and navigate.
But (I love that word!) when we see the unborn as a treasure from God, then He controls the meaning of “treasure.” It becomes all about His love and His will and His design and His plans. Anyone can see the unborn as a treasure. Only the Christian can see the unborn as a treasure from God, created by Him, redeemed by Him in the blood of Christ, and someone to be called by Him in Holy Baptism.
Life is from God. New life is from God. Life’s quality is from God. Life’s purpose is from God. Life’s span is from God. That makes life, born and unborn, a treasure! The more we equip the saints with resources to understand this message, the more that message will translate into changed hearts and into actions that can change lives and, eventually we pray, influence our culture.
A Simple, Profound Story
I have had the opportunity lately to speak in a number of our Lutheran elementary schools. I always emphasize the “from God” value of each human life and the children love to see, touch, and hold the life-like models of unborn children I always bring with me. I hear, “Look at the babies!” quite frequently! It helps them visualize the reality and humanity behind what is in “mommy’s tummy.”
At one school, a young teacher spoke to me afterward. She related how someone from Lutherans For Life had showed such models in her school when she was a little girl. “It made a profound affect upon me then and I have never forgotten it.” She spoke of how understanding that value helped her make good decisions in her teen years and how she has been teaching that value every chance she gets.
What a profound affect one little unborn baby model had on this teacher! What a lasting effect that has now influenced hundreds of others! Now multiply this by the many thousands of presentations and resources LFL has shared over the years. We cannot begin to measure the impact nor understand all the lives that God has touched, lives He has changed, and the lives He has saved for now and for eternity!
God will Use You
You are a treasure from God! God uses you and people like you to provide the financial resources necessary for us to continue His equipping ministry. I invite your continued prayers and your continued support as we strive to uphold not just the treasure of life, but the treasure of life from God.
So I again ask you to consider a gift to keep LFL sharing not just the value of life, but the “from God” value of each human life!
And remember, take the “from God” “unto you” message of Christmas personally!
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Please remember, we count on people like you to keep LFL serving and equipping God’s people. Also remember that because we are a non-profit ministry, all of your gifts and contribution are tax deductible.
