Jesus Is Our Life :: Psalm 139
Because You, You possess my inner being and character, You have woven me in the womb of my mother. I will be brought to a thankful confession on account of this: Because I have been fearfully and wonderfully set apart. Your works are leaving us in wonder, and my whole being continues to know it very well (vv 13-14).
[Introduction]
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Therefore, I am going to talk to you about life ... not only life that begins at conception, but life to its fullest ... life in the womb, life of the vulnerable, life of the aged, life to its natural end ... your life, my life, our life with God and our life together. To diminish the value of one category of life is to diminish all life; it is against the fifth commandment.
Part of the miracle of life is the God-given capacity for men and women to be fruitful and to multiply. By procreating, you and I participate in and reflect God’s own creative nature.
He made me, and he made you. He has given us life.
He knows me, and he knows you. He is life.
He’s with me, and he’s with you ... our life together.
He blesses me, and he blesses you ... and we’re able to bless each other.
And in the wonder of wonders, the Author of Life became just like me and just like you with fingers and toes and mind and heart to love and be loved. That is what Psalm 139 is about.
We prayed this Psalm of David today because it reflects God’s deep, personal, and continual knowledge of life. I hope then you will pray this psalm for the rest of the week, too. Psalm 139 emphasizes God’s intimate involvement in life ... his omnipotence over life, his omniscience of life, his omnipresence in life ... his loving purpose for your life and mine. And it culminates in a plea that God will guide us to everlasting life.
3.
Before we get there, we really should return to the beginning.
The Biblical account of creation tells us how God created man and woman and gave them life. With Adam, יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים ... (the LORD God, if you prefer) ... formed the man of dust from the earth. He formed his inward parts ... literally his kidneys, or better still, his seat of thought and emotion. And he breathed into (the man’s) nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And then, from the man’s rib, he built woman. He gave her a body of flesh and blood, just like the man, with a living soul, so that they could be fruitful and multiply.
The result is reflected in you, me, their sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We were created NOT from the dust of the earth or from a rib of man. Nor did God breathe the breath of life into us like he did with man in the garden. Instead, he wove us together in the womb of our mothers. This is where we see life unfold.
What a miracle! And what a wonder!
We should therefore care about all stages of life ... not only in the womb but all the way to its natural end. The Creator has woven us together and has wonderfully set us apart ... that is, he has distinguished us from all of creation. Now we have the ability to conceive and to protect and to love life ... and to speak well of one another’s life ... to guard and protect one another’s life ... to love one another! This is foundational to the will of God.
In his intimate connection with life, Yahweh has searched for us and known us. He knows when we sit and when we rise. There’s not a word on our tongue ... or even a thought ... that he doesn’t hear and know from afar before we even speak or think. As the Lord told Jeremiah, before I formed you, in the womb I knew you ... and like Jeremiah, he consecrated you ... which is literally setting you apart. Your life is that important. His eyes saw our unformed substance ... in other words, he saw the moment of conception, our embryonic stage. Every single one of our days are now written in the book of his life ... all the way to its natural end!
2.
And yet we don’t truly value it. Admit that today, for once. We don’t actually value all life.
Now, I’m sure you want to do that. I’m sure you all value YOUR life and will confess that you are pro-life.
But what about the life of your neighbor?
We fail to value the life of our neighbors by setting limits on our generosity to them ... helping them and supporting them in every physical need. We fail to value life by neglecting the vulnerable who live next door, improving and protecting their life. We fail to value life by throwing money at various problems, prioritizing cost containment over quality of life. We fail to value life by using contraception, failing to be fruitful and multiply. We fail to value life by turning a blind eye to the twelve states and the District of Columbia that have legalized euthanasia, which they prefer to call dying with dignity. We fail to value life by prioritizing our needs over the needs of the aged. Our failures to value life are even seen when we avoid the Divine Service ... where God gives us eternal life through his Gospel proclaimed and received.
Therefore, repent.
Forgive and be forgiven. And give thanks, praising Him for providing the means of life.
JESUS IS OUR LIFE
3.
I wonder now, who here heard the voice of Christ speaking Psalm 139 as we have been praying and meditating on it? In one way or another, all of God’s psalms ... including Psalm 139 ... speak about our Lord and His work to give us eternal life. That is why God included the Psalms in His Scriptures. As Jesus said in John 5:39, These bear witness about Me.
Psalm 139 is definitely no exception.
Could there have been a better way for God to search for me and come to know me? To know when I sit and rise? He is not a distant God. He is the One who is near. He knows every thought, word, and deed because Jesus has lived them. ... He knows what we have done and left undone. He knows who speaks with malicious intent and who rises up against him.
By being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus has become one with us ... one of us. As our epistle says, he has flesh and blood in common with us. By living the sinless life, he was then able to bear our sin and carry it to the cross, where he slayed all wickedness. [Jesus became] the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sin of the whole world. ... He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
In his work of saving souls, Jesus has demonstrated that all human life has absolute and equal value. Every human life is a gift from God ... from conception until its natural end.
[Conclusion]
Though we will face struggles in this life ... though we will face pain ... though our bodies will most likely crumble and die ... save for the return of Christ first ... we need not fear death. God has given each of us new life through his life. He was born to bear the sins of the world. He was born to die and rise on the third day. He has washed us in the sanctifying water of Holy Baptism, so that it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me. He has clothed us in the robes of his righteousness, and He has prepared his Supper that gives eternal life. Therefore, now we can stand with each other before God, united in the new life he has and continues to provide.
Now we can pray ... Lord, search me, and know my heart.
Try me and know my thoughts.
And see if there is any grievous way in me.
Then lead me in the way of eternity ... in Jesus’ name.