Life Thoughts in the Church Year
Life Thoughts in the Church Year are designed to help pastors and congregations see the church year through the lens of the sanctity of human life. Life Thoughts are based on the appointed readings from Lutheran Service Book.
November 27 – First Sunday in Advent
We have a Father Potter! We are the work of His hands (Isaiah 64:8). An ordinary potter would discard vessels that became flawed. Our Father Potter loved the work of His hands so much He became a vessel Himself—a flawless one—in order to redeem the work of His hands. Imagine, He who could “rend the heavens and come down” (64:1), instead came down in the womb of a virgin! What value this gives to the work of His hands.
December 4 – Second Sunday in Advent
In the prophecy concerning John the Baptist, God says, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned …” (Isaiah 40:2a). “Speak tenderly” is literally, “speak to the heart.” No other message can speak to matters that burdened the heart like the Good News of the coming Messiah.
December 11 – Third Sunday in Advent
We have a God who can sanctify us completely and keep our “spirit and soul and body” blameless (1 Thessalonians 5: 23). Think about the impact of this message upon those harboring “secret sins,” like the sin of abuse or abortion. They need to hear it applied to them.
December 18 – Fourth Sunday in Advent
What can possibly give more value to human life at the moment of conception than the words of the angel to Mary, “And behold you will conceive in your womb …” Our Savior became a single-cell human being as part of the price for our redemption.
December 25 – Christmas Day
“[T]he goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4). And look, it’s a baby!
January 1 – Circumcision and Name of Jesus – A pair of jeans may be ragged and torn, but a designer name attached to them gives them value. Our value cannot be found in the ragged and torn garment of our sinful self. But in baptism, our Triune God places His name upon us (Numbers 6:27 and Galatians 3:27) and clothes us in His holiness. His desire to have every human being so named gives value to every human being.
January 8 – The Baptism of our Lord – The death Jesus died, He died “once for all” (Romans 6:10). He purchased “all.” Thus, He gives value to “all.” Every person we encounter, no matter their size or location or condition of health, is someone for whom Jesus died. Our responsibility is to acknowledge their value and lead them to see its true source.
January 15 – Second Sunday after the Epiphany – The great price paid for humanity’s sins (1 Corinthians 6:20), was more than the death of some great martyr who inspired people to better living. The price was “the Son of God” (John 1:49). When the Son of God pays for something with His own blood, the value of that purchase is beyond comprehension.
January 22 – Third Sunday after the Epiphany – The thread of repentance runs through today’s readings. That seems appropriate for today is the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in our country. Since then, over 54 million babies have been destroyed. We could stand in our churches and call the country to repentance. But perhaps repentance needs to start with us, the Church, for allowing it to happen and so many of us remaining so silent ever since. God be merciful to us for Jesus’ sake.
January 29 – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – An astonishing teaching! He taught as one who had authority (Mark 1:22). He spoke the very words of God (Deuteronomy 18:18). “A new teaching with authority!” (Mark 1:27) Unclean spirits obey Him. Notice how the people laud the teaching not just the Teacher. Through the Word made flesh, God gives us this same authoritative and powerful Word! It changes hearts. It changes lives.
February 5 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – Paul exhibits great empathy. He identifies with people and meets them on their own terms (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). He does so to share the blessings of the Gospel with them (9:23). We can do the same. The life issues, for example, give us opportunity to empathize and identify with people dealing with difficult situations or struggling with guilt and regret because of sin. We do so to share the blessings of the Gospel with them, the only thing that can lift them up and give them hope.
February 12 – Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – “I felt too dirty to tell you in church,” said the woman who led her pastor to the church parking lot to confess the sin of abortion. She felt as the lepers of Jesus’ time, “Unclean, unclean.” But Jesus healed lepers and made them clean (Mark 1:40-42). Jesus heals the leprosy of sin, every sin, with a cleansing that is unconditional, objective, and complete. He makes every repentant sinner clean in His blood.
February 19 – The Transfiguration of our Lord – The disciples were terrified in the presence of the transfigured Jesus (Mark 9:6). They didn’t understand. They didn’t know what to say. The disciples were mystified and questioned what Jesus meant by “rising from the dead” (9:10). They did not yet get the connection between the glory of God on the mountain and their God glorified on a cross. How could they? But we can, as they eventually did, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our God died for all humanity! What else do we need to value every human life?
February 26 – First Sunday in Lent – “You are my beloved Son,” God said (Mark 1:11). Then the Spirit of God drove this beloved Son “out into the wilderness” to face the evil of Satan (1:12-13). Isn’t that just like God? He tells us that we are His children and that He loves us and then it seems He casts us into the midst of an evil world. But He does love us, and the proof of that is not in what happens to us but in what happened to His Son. Jesus faced Satan in the wilderness and won. Jesus faced Satan and death on the cross and won. This victory guarantees God’s love and His presence and is our living and eternal hope.
March 4 – Second Sunday in Lent – As the people of Jesus’ day, we too live in an “adulterous and sinful generation” (Mark 8:38). When in fear we fail to speak God’s truth, are we ashamed of Jesus? When in apathy we fail to speak up for those who cannot speak, are we ashamed of Jesus? All of us in so many ways through our words, thoughts, deeds, and silence profess we are ashamed of Jesus. Where is our hope? “Till then—nor is the boasting vain—Till then I boast a Savior slain. And oh, may this my portion be, That Christ is not ashamed of me!” (The Lutheran Hymnal, 346)
March 11 – Third Sunday in Lent – You do not have to be “wise” or “powerful” or “noble” (1 Corinthians 1:26) by worldly standards to be used by God to take on the evil in this world. As shown by the cross of His Son, He works through seeming foolishness and weakness and lowliness to defeat evil and bring life and immortality. You do not need to boast in yourself to make a difference. “Boast in the Lord” (1:30).
March 18 – Fourth Sunday in Lent – By nature, says Paul, we were all “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:3b). Then come those beautiful Gospel words in verse 4, “But God …” We were rich in sin, but God is “rich in mercy.” We did not love God, could not love God, but God loved us with a “great love.” We were dead in our sins, but God “made us alive together with Christ” (2:5b). It is this unsurpassed and unconditional love for the world that gives such value to all human life.
March 25 – The Annunciation of our Lord – “And behold, you will conceive in your womb …” (Luke 1:31a). The “power of the Most High” (1:35) overshadowed Mary and she conceived Jesus. Here in Nazareth, not in Bethlehem, we see the great miracle of the incarnation of our Lord. The path to the cross did not start in a manger, but in a fallopian tube. We were sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). We have a Savior from the moment of conception. What value this gives to life from the moment of conception! (LFL has resources available to help congregations celebrate the Annunciation. Go to the Store page to learn more.)
