Lutherans for Life: Unchanging
Only another --and greater--certainty can deliver us
by Pastor Michael Salemink, Executive Director, LFL
Springtime brings changes. Weather, wildlife, and wardrobe are switching. Timepieces, taxes, and athletics are shifting. Improvement? Erosion? Or just over and over again? Whichever, we rarely and barely keep up with all the moving targets.
The sanctity of life has also seen its share of changes. Medical ultrasound machines arrived in the 1940s. Chemists first synthesized hormonal birth control in the 1950s. The “sexual revolution” started in the 1960s. Abortion access became mandatory in the 1970s. In vitro fertilization commenced in the 1980s. Physician-assisted suicide gained acceptance in the 1990s. Pill abortions arose in the 2000s. CRISPR genetic engineering originated in the 2010s.
Public regulations and political regimes continue to fluctuate. Novel measures using death as a solution keep emerging. As the hymnwriter memorably said, “Change and decay in all around I see.” It echoes the Apostle: “the present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31, in a discourse directly addressing marriage and sexuality).
The whole creation convulses in the aftershocks of humankind’s fall. Since the forbidden fruit, sin and death have remained a constant of our race and our universe. Whatever our size or skills or circumstances, brokenness retains its hold. Evil may change clothes but never its core.
Pastor Michael Salemink
Only another—and greater—certainty can deliver us. The grace of Almighty God stands universal. The love of Jesus Christ still prevails as it always has and ever will. His work of creating proclaims every human life special—fact. His labor of redeeming proves every human life precious—truth. His activity of calling pronounces every human life priceless—reality. From the beginning—both the first moment of creation and the split-second of fertilization—until eternity this Gospel endures.
We speak this truth because it changes even the hardest and darkest hearts. We show this love because it saves lives in the most desperate situations and despite age, appearance, or ability. And we receive every neighbor as a gift and privilege because we delight together in a steadfast, faithful, and unchanging God.
