The wicked draw the sword and ubend their bows

     to bring down the poor and needy,

     to slay those whose way is upright;

their sword shall enter their own heart,

     and their wbows shall be broken.—Psalm 37:14–15

Introduction

January 22 is the 44th anniversary of the historic Roe versus Wade Supreme Court decision. In those 44 years, there have been over 58 million abortions. Pastor John began preaching on Sanctity of Life Sunday on January 18, 1987. This is the 30th Sanctity of Life sermon we have preached.

How shall we approach the issue this year? I would like to address head on a challenge that the pro-choice movement charges us with answering. What about discovering your unborn baby has a disability? They would frame the question in such a way as to ask whether an abortion is not just permissible in that case, but actually merciful. 

They would say it is merciful because the baby will not be flourishing and will have a low quality of life. People who pose these questions often present extreme examples to make us feel the force of the question even more. Trisomy 13 is a condition in which there are three copies of the 13th chromosome. The impact of Trisomy 13 is deadly. Many children die before birth. Of those who are born alive, half die within the first week. Many doctors give the grim assessment that Trisomy 13 is “not compatible with life.” What would you do if you heard those words?

The pro-choice community says that you should have the choice to abort that baby because “even if they survive the first week, what kind of quality of life will they really have?” This is a real question. Some forms of Trisomy 13 affect only some cells, other forms affect every cell in the body. These children cannot see or hear in any meaningful sense. They will never be able to do things independently. They cannot walk or feed themselves. They cannot speak and we don’t really know what they understand about many things, including the concept of family (parents, siblings, etc).

That is why some in our culture say that if a child is not going to have a certain “quality of life,” it is merciful to abort them. Some also say if an adult (young or old), loses a certain “quality of life,” then it is merciful to help them end his or her life.

I don’t resent those questions. On the contrary, I welcome the question because I think the answer defines us as a community. We should celebrate the fact that we choose life, and by choosing life, we choose flourishing. I believe the biblical text read a moment ago has something vital to say on this issue. This text says that one characteristic of those walking the way of the wicked is violence against the vulnerable. We also see the grim way Almighty God will respond. These two verses form a powerful proverb: Those who practice violence will come to a violent end. In fact, Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:52 offer perhaps the pithiest summary: “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword,” which is the main point.

Main point: Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Outline

1. Live by the Sword (v. 14)

2. Die by the Sword (v. 15)

1. Live by the Sword (v. 14)

The wicked draw the sword and ubend their bows

     to bring down the poor and needy,

     to slay those whose vway is upright.

This text obviously describes a violent way of life (sword, bow, bring down, slay). One characteristic of the way of the wicked is that they prey upon the vulnerable (the poor and needy). The text also refers to “those whose way is upright” as belonging to the group called “the poor and needy.” The upright in this example follow the way of the righteous, keep God’s commands, and have done nothing deserving of death—they are innocent. So one characteristic of the way of the righteous is that the righteous often find themselves in vulnerable positions. The pathway laid out for God’s people is not often a way of life that sits comfortably above suffering in a position of power, but often we find ourselves living uncomfortably in a place of vulnerability to the wicked.

The question then becomes what should our response be? Should we who are vulnerable take a page out of their playbook and fight back? It sounds logical: Fight fire with fire. The next verse needs to guide our response. We are called to believe verse 15: Those who practice violence will come to a violent end.

2. Die by the Sword (v. 15)

Their sword shall enter their own heart,

     and their wbows shall be broken.

We should not pick up the sword in personal vengeance, because the same boomerang principle will apply to us (we started living by the sword, now we die by the sword). We should instead leave vengeance to the Lord and believe justice is coming like an unstoppable freight train with a full head of steam.

Look at the verses that precede verses 14–15:

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

     though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land

     and delight themselves in abundant peace. 

The wicked plots against the righteous

     and gnashes his teeth at him,

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

     for he sees that his day is coming.—Psalm 37:10–13

If their day is coming, then earthly appearances can be deceiving. It looks like the righteous have less and so they are losing and the wicked have more so they are winning. The opposite is true. “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked” (v. 16). Why is having little better than having an abundance? Look at the word “For” in verse 17:

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

     but the LORD upholds the righteous.

The wicked look so strong (almost invulnerable), but they are really weak compared to Almighty God. They will not get away with it; they will meet a violent end. The righteous look like they are going to fall, but the Lord upholds them. How would you like to see the Lord show his strength—by upholding you with his arms or by breaking your arms? It is better to be in the boat with the righteous and heading for safe shores (even if it is not a luxury liner).

We have seen different expressions of God’s justice in the Psalms. There is a final judgment coming, but sometimes a picture of the final judgment breaks into the present. It could be called “boomerang justice” or “poetic justice.” An example is the proverb: Those who practice violence will meet a violent end (not just at the final judgment, but here on earth as well). They swing the sword and it ends up striking them instead. It is the boomerang effect. Psalm 7:15–16 says the same thing:

He [the wicked man] makes a pit, digging it out,

     and falls into the hole that he has made.

His mischief returns upon his own head,

     and on his own skull his violence descends.

There is poetic justice in the wicked falling into their own trap. As I have said before, everyone who grew up watching Looney Tunes knows this principle well. Wile E. Coyote is always trying some new Acme trap that he lays out for the Road Runner, and it always ends up backfiring. He rolls the big boulder down toward the Road Runner, but it misses and goes up the next hill and comes crashing down on top of him. Perhaps the most poignant example in the Bible is when Haman is hanged on the gallows that he prepared for Mordecai in the book of Esther.

Connection Points Between Psalm 37:14–15 and Abortion

There are three obvious points of connection between Psalm 37:14 and abortion. Abortion is (1) slaying, (2) the poor and needy, (3) who are upright (innocent, not guilty).

First, abortion is a gruesome form of slaying. It is violent. I believe it is more barbaric to dismember babies than to fight adults with a sword and bow. I can’t even read the description of what is done to an unborn baby. It is horrific. I can’t even go there.

Second, this is violence against the vulnerable. Unborn babies are the poorest and neediest group imaginable. They have no voice and so they cannot cry out for help. They have no visibility because they are hidden in their mother’s womb. They have no physical power or political protection. In the end, their safety (humanly speaking) depends upon the protection of their parents. If the parent wants them dead, there is not much to stand in their way.

We used Andy Crouch’s definition of injustice in the last message. He says that “injustice is a social system in which some people have authority without vulnerability at the expense of other people having vulnerability without authority.” It is hard to imagine a more vulnerable group of people than unborn children.

Third, they are upright in the sense that they are innocent. It is also obvious that these children have not done anything deserving death. They are innocent.

The Boomerang Effect: A Callous Community

Now these three connections are probably not new for many listeners. But this text did commend a new connection for me. I asked myself if there was a boomerang effect at work within abortion itself. The answer is clearly “yes.”

Here is what I mean: I am not saying that those who get an abortion or those who provide the abortion are going to meet a violent end in this life. What is the boomerang effect? When you lift the sword against innocent life, it pierces you too. Your heart hurts—a part of you dies too. Many try to drown out the pain with alcohol or drugs or other things, but it doesn’t work. When you participate in the death of an unborn baby, it has a deadening effect on your heart too.

But there is more. Think about being part of a community that thinks and reasons in a pro-choice way. A pro-choice culture is callous about the lives of the vulnerable. If you are in a culture that is callous toward the vulnerable, then what will happen when you are vulnerable? Why do you believe they will care for you when you are in that position?

I will give you an example. I have heard many stories of people who are in a relationship and it becomes physically intimate. They are callous toward God’s commands for purity. They are living by the motto, “If it feels good, do it.” Then they are interrupted with the consideration of responsibility. She is pregnant. What are they going to do about the life living inside of her?

We often only put this upon the woman. But I have heard so many stories of young men at this point who pressure their girlfriends into an abortion. Sometimes the girl feels forced to choose between her boyfriend and the life she is living now, and the child that would change everything and seemingly make everything harder and more complicated. So she decides to move forward with the abortion.

But guess what she tragically discovers in her vulnerable position? If he was callous toward life and responsibility toward the vulnerable, he is often going to be callous toward her in her vulnerable position. Selfishness and shirking from responsibility and commitment will be like a relational boomerang that comes back to hurt you.

We can see all these dynamics in a true story told by Christian hip-hop artist, Lecrae. On his 2014 album, Anomaly (which debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 chart), he has a testimonial song entitled, “Good, Bad, Ugly.” He talks about his role in taking the life of his unborn child in 2002. Tony Reinke shared Lecrae’s story at the Desiring God website back in 2015.

He said “my soul got saved, my debt had been paid, but still I kept running off with my crew, sex on my brain and death in my veins.” He then talks about a girlfriend he had and how they practiced sexual immorality together. Then the realization hit that she was pregnant.

We heard a heart beat that wasn’t hers or mine
The miracle of life had started inside
Ignored the warning signs
Suppressed that truth I felt inside
I was just having fun with this, I’m too young for this
I’m thinking me, myself, and I
Should I sacrifice this life to keep my vanity and live nice?
And she loves and trusts me so much that whatever I say,
she’d probably oblige
But I was too selfish with my time
Scared my dreams were not gonna survive
So I dropped her off at that clinic
That day a part of us died.

Why would someone commit such a callous injustice against an unborn baby? In last week’s sermon we mentioned the link between injustice and idolatry. We see it here very clearly in Lecrae’s testimony. He said he knew abortion was “me choosing my life over yours.” “I’m thinking me, myself, and I—should I sacrifice this life to keep my vanity and live nice? … I was too selfish with my time, scared my dreams were not gonna survive.”

Parents sacrifice their unborn children on the altar of personal advancement and personal freedom. There are certainly some that do so because they think they are saving themselves from financial destruction, but that is where they need to see that people are willing to bear some of that vulnerability so that she and the baby have what they need to make it. [Many abortion providers sacrifice these children on the altar of financial and political advancement. I believe that many of them believe in what they are doing, but they also benefit from it in many ways.] Would they still do it if they had to pay for it?

He was trying to drown it all out. “Had it not been for the conviction of the Spirit, who I was suppressing with drugs and alcohol, I don’t know if I would have felt anything. But I was so callous and so hard-hearted that it was almost second nature to say: ‘Oh, well, you ought to get an abortion.’” He convinced his girlfriend to get an abortion and even dropped her off at the clinic. She went through with it (she loved and trusted him so much, he knew she would oblige). And then he explains what he did next. Here comes the boomerang effect.

“After the abortion, I really pretty much shut it out of my mind, literally to the point—it is shameful—I ignored all her calls. I quit dealing with her altogether. The last time I saw her I remember she was curled up on a bed crying, and I pushed all of it out of my mind. And what I kept were pictures of her, as a memorial in some sense.”

The baby died and he also chose to put the relationship to death. If he was callous toward life and callous toward responsibility, that boomerang is going to come back and hit her too. If he runs from responsibility with a baby, he will often do the same in other relationships.

The Spirit’s Work Within a Christian:
Conviction, Repentance, Restoration

But true believers have had the callous heart of stone removed. The Holy Spirit breaks through with conviction and repentance. The gospel is the answer for the shame and stain of abortion. Healing can’t be found at the bottom of a bottle or the end of a needle or under the sheets. Guilt stains can’t be drowned out, but they can be washed away by the blood of Christ. The bloodstain of abortion can only be washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Lecrae may have had a moment where he chose his life over his child’s life, but the gospel testifies to Jesus on the cross choosing the lives of others over his own life.

There is power in the blood, and so repentance and restoration are available to all. Christians are not those who have never participated in abortion; they are those who bring their participation into the light and under the blood. The rest of the article about Lecrae tells the rest of this gospel story.

By God’s grace, he was willing to face his sin honestly and openly, to weep and confess, and to draw near the blood of Christ. He’s now married to his wife, Darragh, and they have three children. By publicly confessing his sins, he was paving the way for others to do so. “It takes a strong person to be vulnerable,” Lecrae said in an interview last year. “When you’re hurt, you hurt other people, but when you’re healed, you try to heal other people.” 

And that’s what makes Lecrae’s story such a powerful force of healing in the lives of many now. Openness with sin and confidence in the forgiving power of Christ bring eternal healing from the deepest stains of guilt (Hebrews 9:22). This message of hope is urgently needed for millions who live in the shadows of shame and regret in our society.

Gospel-Shaped Community

A pro-choice culture helps men maintain a selfish pursuit of sexual intimacy without personal responsibility. A pro-life culture puts the stress on self-sacrificing masculinity. Listen to Lecrae again: “I think it is a bigger issue of men standing up and saying, I am going to be a dad, and I am going to take leadership, and I am going to be a force in my community to break a lot of these cycles.” The church has an opportunity to step up and model this masculine responsibility, and to step in and care for mothers and children—particularly in vulnerable urban environments.

But the gospel takes us further in shaping us as a community. Believing the gospel does not only help people who have participated in abortion find repentance and forgiveness. It saves us and shapes us so that we look at flourishing in a different way. How is a pro-life community different than a pro-choice community on the question of life and flourishing?

Do you remember the Trisomy 13 situation from the introduction of the sermon? I had a specific individual in mind. Her name is Angela. Andy Crouch wrote the book Strong and Weak. He mentions his sister, Melinda. Melinda had a child that she named, Angela. Angela had Trisomy 13. They heard the doctors say “incompatible with life.” She overcame the odds and she is now 13. But what quality of life does she have?

Andy Crouch says, “She could not meaningfully see or hear; she could not walk; she could not feed or bathe herself. She knew nothing of language. We could only guess what she knew or understood of her mother, her father, her grandparents, brothers and sisters. Early on she would respond to voice and touch; in recent years, even as she had grown physically, she had long seasons receded further into an already distant and unknowable world.”

In his book, Andy Crouch asks the question: Is Angela flourishing? He has one of the wisest answers I have ever heard to this question. It is worth quoting in full (Strong and Weak, pp. 30–34):

If your definition of flourishing is the life held out for us by mass-affluent consumer culture, the obvious answer is that Angela is not flourishing—never has and never will. She cannot purchase her satisfactions; she cannot impress her peers; she cannot even ‘express herself’ in the ways we think are so important for our own fulfillment.

But perhaps the question actually has things backwards. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he told a parable that turned the question on its head, ending with the question, “[Who] was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Luke 10:29, 36).

If we were to similarly turn the question of flourishing around, maybe we would be asking, “Who is helping Angela flourish?” We might be asking, “Who is flourishing because of Angela?” And even, “How can we become the kind of people among whom Angela flourishes and who flourish with Angela in our midst?”

Flourishing is not actually the property of an individual at all, not matter how able or disabled. It describes a community. The real question of flourishing is for the community that surrounds Angela—her parents and siblings, her extended family, the skilled practitioners of medicine and education and nutrition who care for her, and in a wider sense, the society and nation of which she is a citizen. The real test of every human community is how it cares for the most vulnerable, those like Angela who cannot sustain even a simulation of independence and autonomy. The question is not whether Angela alone is flourishing or not—the question is whether her presence in our midst leads us to flourishing together.

Then the question goes one step further. Is Angela helping us flourish? Is she the occasion of our becoming more fully what we were created to be, more engaged with the world in its variety and complexity, more deeply embedded in relationship and mutual dependence, more truly free? 

If flourishing is something that is true in a community, is it true here? Are we becoming more fully the caring community we were created to be by the blood of Christ?

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.—1 John 3:16

Christ gave his life for us—how can we be a community that takes the lives of others? We will give our lives for the needy. We will not deal with people in a selfish way that says what can I get or take from you. We don’t look at people and say “You have value based on the benefit you bring to me.” The caring love of the cross also crucifies the callous, uncaring nature of a community. It also clarifies our values. The value of every person in our community is not achieved by abilities—it is given by God. A received identity because we are made in the image of God. Children are gifts from God matter how they come.

A pro-life community values the vulnerable among us as a sovereign gift to us. We reject the pro-choice mantra of the sovereign self (we decide if the child inside should live or die). Late modernity has this as its mantra: the absolute sovereignty of the self. God sovereignly puts these children among us as gifts to help us become the community we need to be. Their physical lack of independence and autonomy reminds us of our spiritual lack of independence and autonomy.

The pregnancy and abortion crisis before us gives us an opportunity to live with authentic authority and vulnerability. What authority do we have that we can use for the sake of the child and the parents? Financial support for pro-life causes, crisis pregnancy centers, March for Life, writing to our elected officials, etc. Don’t forget about the authority we have in prayer—don’t just protest at the Governor’s Mansion—go all the way to heaven’s throne. What are some of the ways that we can share the vulnerability with the child and the parents? Take on some of the vulnerability of being a sidewalk counselor, a safe family, or through adoption, foster care, etc.

Conclusion

We once played a game in seminary. There was a group of about five married couples. We played guys vs. girls. We got destroyed. What was worse, they couldn’t help but laugh at how bad we were losing. You read a bunch of letters scrunched together and as you sound it out – and you can discern a particular popular saying. We were terrible and they triumphed. I have not played that game since. I am convinced that guys can’t win that game—why play?

Abortion is different. Don’t hear the numbers— 58 million—and give up. Look at how bad the losses are. Justice will win in the end. I call you to believe verse 15. We don’t put confidence in our circumstances and we do not put confidence in our abilities. In prayer, we put confidence in God’s character—he is righteous and just and the defender of the weak. And as I have said before, you can’t help but pray for justice if you long at all for the return of Christ. Every time you say “Maranantha”—come quickly Lord Jesus—you are praying for the time when Jesus will come riding on the white horse with a sword coming from his mouth that will destroy the wicked. This is not a time to stop; it is a time to charge forward. Our hope is not ultimately in who is in the white house, but who is on the white horse. In just a little while, Jesus will come and there will be justice and all will be new.

 

Sermon Discussion Questions

The following outline and discussion questions have been prepared to accompany the sermon on January 21/22, “Abortion: The Bow That Will Break” (Psalm 37:14–15). The questions can be used for discussion in small groups or for personal reflection.  

Outline

1. Live by the Sword (v. 14)
2. Die by the Sword (v. 15)

Main point: Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Discussion Questions

• What does verse 14 say about the way the wicked treat those who are weak and vulnerable? What does verse 15 say about our response to violence against the vulnerable and innocent? Does this mean we should do nothing to help them?
• Does a pro-choice culture have a boomerang effect?
• What kind of community can a pro-life church cultivate?

Application Questions

• What ways can you use your capacity for meaningful action (authority) on the issue of crisis pregnancy and abortion? How can you share the load of vulnerability? How could you do these things as a small group?
• How are you personally cultivating a culture and community where all life has God-given value (not merely valuing what someone can do for us)?

Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to participate in cultivating a gospel-shaped community where all the members of the body flourish.