Text: Psalm 22:1-8
Focus verse: “To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Verse 5)
The words every pregnant mother and father fear hearing are, “Your baby is going to die; she is incompatible with life.
“But you do have options,” the doctor goes on. “We can therapeutically terminate the fetus.”
Silence. Silence from the doctor. Silence and screaming all at once in your mind. Why, God? Why us, why my baby? Why have you left us, what have we done? What do we do?
Therapeutic termination—murder? Murder the one You have given me because a doctor has tried to predict the future? No, surely not! Which of us is compatible with life? Your Word says that we are already dead in trespasses and sins. Our lives were never ours; they are Yours. You are the One who has come to us to care for, love, and protect us! You are the One who loved us and sent Your only Son to die that I and my children might live. In my Baptism, I received Your Spirit, which brings me life and reminds me of the love and compassion You showed me.
You gave me this life to care for, to love and to protect. So I will cry to you, Lord, because You are the one who rescues us. We trust, and You do not put us to shame. You love us with an everlasting love, which brings us everlasting life.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we give thanks that you have shown us that true life is more than what we see or comprehend because You have made us eternally Yours. Forgive us when we do not value the life You give to us, which You have sanctified in our baptism and into faith. Keep us to life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Brittni Brown, Deaconess Intern)
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
κήρυξον τὸν λόγον. Preach the Word.