The Most Innocent Neighbor Among Us

I recently attended a banquet sponsored by The Alliance Pregnancy Center (www.alliancepregnancycenter.com). This is a wonderful group of people performing a great service to the northeast Ohio community. While I listened to presentations regarding statistics and needs, the thought kept running through my head, “I wonder what God must think about elective abortion?”

Actually, I know what God thinks about it. While several passages of scripture teach the Creator’s high regard for life, there is one in particular that comes to mind. Amos 1:13 – “This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders...”

Ammon is now known as “Amman” and is the capital city of Jordan. You can see that centuries ago the strife between Esau and Isaac, Arab and Jew, was real. Not only was it real, but it was brutal. Greed for land had bred a cruel genocide – the killing of pregnant women and their fetus. This particular brutality is singled out by the living God deserving judgment (“even for four” is a figure of speech meaning the about to be mentioned item is the worst). I suppose this dreadful act is especially marked for judgment because the fetus has never sinned against any one.

When Jesus was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He replies by giving the Shema of Deuteronomy 6 (“love God”) and then quickly adds, “And the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40). What is interesting about this episode from the life of Jesus is that He was asked for one specific commandment- “ What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus provides an answer that links two commands, one to love God (Deuteronomy 6) and the other to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). It is hardly an act of love to kill an innocent child, whether born or unborn. Amos’ point is: this is a particularly grievous sin against God. It was not Amos’ opinion; it had come from the LORD, who was fully aware of what was happening. Amos was simply God’s messenger.

I have heard and spoken words of forgiveness and reconciliation to women who have chosen abortion. The regret and guilt many bear crushes them. God is merciful and does forgive and a woman need not carry guilt– but there are consequences to a person’s behavior and living with regret can be one of those consequences. Living with “what might have been if…” can be difficult.

Perhaps it is time to offer a preventive rather than a redemptive word, since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So here is my word of preventive therapy: God will take notice of brutality against the unborn.

Elective abortion of an unborn is under God’s watchful eye. If the killing of the unborn in Amos’ day, about 750 years before Christ, caused God to take note you may be assured that He is taking notice today. It does not matter whether abortion as a choice is protected by the Constitution of the United States or not, it is still wrong in God’s sight. Just as He brought judgment and punishment upon the Ammonites for murdering pregnant women and their fetuses – whom He counted as persons – so He will judge the person and nation that violates the lives of those made in His image and likeness today.

We have been led into thinking that national peace and material prosperity are the measures of a country’s greatness. Political leaders tend to dismiss morality as being irrelevant or personal. But the scriptures teach clearly that the morality of a state is what genuinely determines its greatness. This is because the morality of a state is foundational – peace and prosperity are the results of a strong moral foundation.

Loving neighbor as self is one of the building blocks for a strong foundation. Let’s begin to love and provide resources for the unborn child…

the most innocent neighbor among us.