SHED BLOOD AND A CULTURE OF SACRIFICE

By James Wilson

I met Jesus in April 1970 in an encounter both dramatic and intimate while proctoring an exam in a public high school in San Diego, California.  Two years prior I helped two friends abort their pregnancies; I found a doctor willing to perform (then) illegal abortions and borrowed the money from a relative. I had nothing to do with creating these pregnancies but in my mind there was no higher value than having your friends’ backs; I did what I believed needed to be done.  When I met Jesus He did not condemn me for what I had done in 1968.  It did not come up at all for a few weeks.

            In a Holy Spirit show of irony this hippy (me) was led into one of the most traditional and structured denominations; they even practiced “going to confession.”  When I asked the pastor what I should do next – as a new member with no previous experience of church – he told me to show up for confession the coming Saturday.  When I asked how I should prepare – seeing as how I lacked even a grasp of what might be called sin – he told me to write down everything I could think of in my past that might stand between me and God.  He said I should include even the apparently trivial and then he said something I thought odd but encouraging.  He said if some sinful incident came to mind after my confession I was not to worry about it; if the Lord had wanted me to deal with it then He would have brought it up in time for the confession.

            I was surprised at how much I remembered of clearly out of bounds behavior even to someone as clueless as myself; I had a laundry list by the time I got into that little booth I had only seen in movies before.  Midway through the exercise I heard a voice as clear as my own saying, “Don’t forget the abortions.”  There was no condemnation of me as a murderer of the unborn; neither were excuses offered on account of my ignorance.  There was only the instruction.  I walked out of that confessional convinced of two things.  Abortion is murder – the unjustified killing of a human being – and I dare not condemn those who have done what I did; I must speak the truth about this heinous act in love and humility.

            California leads the nation in elective abortions; our lead is far in excess of our share of the national population.  Our legislature recently adopted a law permitting even non-physicians to abort pregnancies despite the fact I could not abort my dog unless I have a doctor of veterinary medicine perform the procedure.  In each case we are doing – as I did – what seems the only realistic option in the face of emergency.  But we are so committed to aborting all unwanted pregnancies we forget Ludwig Von Beethoven was an unwanted pregnancy; we forget God knows more about what is both best and most realistic than we do.  And we forget substitution of our best for His is key to many sins. 

            Shedding innocent blood is sin that – when it becomes a social pattern – pollutes the land and atmosphere under and over wherever it is welcomed.  California taxpayers fund thirty thousand abortions yearly – on top of the multiple thousands paid for by the panicky parents seeking them.  It always seems like the only way out of a bad situation until we consider the overwhelming medical odds against any one pregnancy resulting in a live birth.  Truth is there is simply no way a pregnancy comes to term without the intervention of a loving God; if one were truly unplanned it would self-abort.  With the large numbers of couples desperately seeking to adopt there is no way a woman must be saddled with raising a child she does not want.  When we choose to bail out on a baby we are shedding innocent blood and spitting in God’s eye at the same time.  But what should we do?

            The first thing is to adopt the 40 Days for Life approach.  Bless and do not curse those with whom we disagree.  The second is to repent of our role in creating a culture where dealing death is so easily rationalized.  The silence of pastors, leaders, and everyone else is the reason it flourishes.  And last is to commit to a lifestyle in which we sacrifice ourselves for others – as Jesus did and does – instead of expecting others – whether unborn children or the driver one lane over – to sacrifice for us.