God wants to enter our existence and share it with us. Why would He do that? Because we are so precious to Him. In the Christian message there is not a single part that does not also contain an answer to the problem of evil (2 Cor. 5:7). The Churches teach that everything is created and sanctified by God – therefore we speak about the dignity of life. Does a human being then have some strange right to destroy it?
Within a very short time, two small babies have been murdered in their homes by their mothers. This touches deeply the heart of every one of us. But it is also a cry of deep distress from these mothers. What is the value of life as understood by society, which should protect these little ones? Christian teaching has disappeared from schools and from people’s minds. Whose fault is it? What has the Church in Finland done about this? The sound of hymn-singing is no longer heard!
Human life must be absolutely protected and respected from the moment of conception. “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.” (Ps. 139:15). Mother Teresa was able to see the poisonous power of sin in a society marked by roughness and bitterness, when she was asked about abortion: “If a mother can kill her own child, what is left of the West to destroy?” (Time, Dec. 4, 1989, p. 13).
Truly effective action for the Christian Church is not the ballot box but the prayer bench. Only when righteous and upright Christians pray – both for the end of legalized abortion and for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom – will the fruit of light drive away the works of darkness and finally the sowing of death (Matt. 6:10; John 3:19–21; Eph. 5:9; Jas. 5:16).
We do not pray only for His Kingdom to come, but we also pray: “Thy will be done.” (John 10). And that has meaning now! God’s will is that the child may live. How directly the words of Jeremiah speak to us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jer. 1:5). What words, what a promise!
How then shall we endure? These news demand our attention and our help. Let us remember that we live by faith, not by sight (Rom. 8:24). And faith is real, because Christ is real! And what more does a human being need than hope! The God of hope, given in the Holy Spirit as a promise, is invisible to the human eye. But God’s promise is that those who want to please Him must believe in Him (Heb. 11:6).
So we return again and again to faith. It is faith in Christ Jesus that saves us and our children from the power of evil. When the Creator speaks, encourages and comforts His creatures, He has at His disposal the entire Scripture. Amen.
Turku, 23 October 2023
Arto Kaarma