In my sermon this past Sunday, September 22nd 2024, I made a statement on human rights and the sanctity of life, including an important amendment before Floridians this November. I realize that not everyone from our church community was able to be at the service, so I wanted to reprint it here to make it available to all. Here is the transcript of what I said, along with some added comments and links.

I’ll begin quoting Jonah 4:10-11, which led into these remarks:

10 And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

What God tells Jonah he fails to realize about the inhabitants of Nineveh is this:

If you feel that compassionate about the destruction of a plant you didn’t create, don’t I have the right to be concerned about the destruction of people and animals I did create? I care about them because I created them just like I created you Jonah—and all of Israel!

And this is the very foundation of human rights.

Human rights and Civil rights that extend to all people—Jews, Ninevites, black people, white people, brown people—these ideas are rooted in a creator God and based upon the Judeo-Christian worldview.

Our own founding document says this: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And yet, these truths are not self-evident. Look back through human history, and what do you see? People groups oppressing one another and committing genocide against people who look and act and live in different places than they do. That is the story of humanity without God—because without the existence of a creator God, this life is simply the survival of the fittest race.

And without the book of Jonah and without Christianity as our foundation for civil rights—namely that there is a creator God who extends compassion and mercy towards all people, regardless of their race or gender or ethnicity—civil rights has no ground to stand on.

And that is the danger with our society today, that is moving more secular and away from Christianity. America is post-Christian, which simply means that while most people no longer ascribe to Christian belief, our culture remains built upon a Christian foundation.

This is why we still care more about people than we do about plants—although we should care about plants, and animals, and all of God’s creation. We are to steward it well.

Yet we hold the sanctity of human life as sacred and holy and precious.

And that encompasses a human life in a great American city to a human life in the Congo of Africa to a human life alone in a nursing home and even to a human life in the womb of its mother.

And so with great care, let me cross into politics and speak to the issue of abortion for just a moment, because biblically speaking, human rights extend to preborn life.

I say that because of Psalm 139:13, which alludes to God’s creative power to grow and tend to organic life, it says: For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [See also: Jeremiah 1:5, Job 10:11-12, Isaiah 49:1, 5)

If you’ve been around our church for any length of time, you know that I don’t often mix political issues in my sermons. And if you’re thinking right now—just stay out of politics, please. We have enough political division throughout the week. Just talk about the Bible.

Let me explain why I feel the need to speak to this…

I bet that there were white people in white churches during slavery and segregation who told their pastor to just “stay out of politics” and stop denouncing segregation as unbiblical—but he simply could not stay out of politics. Because there are certain political issues that call for Christian preachers to cross the lines and speak to what the Bible speaks to.

As to the abolition of slavery in England, it was the preacher John Newton who preached to his church about the abhorrence of slavery, and he would mentor William Wilberforce, who put his faith in action and went into politics and ended slavery.

Where the Bible draws a straight line, we must draw a straight line, even when that line leads to something as politically charged as abortion is.

And I know this is a very personal issue for many of you, and there is real emotion and possibly even real pain when it comes to this. I don’t bring this up to condemn anyone who has had or knows someone who has had an abortion, because there is grace and kindness and forgiveness available in Christ.

I also know that there are complex situations that surround the conversation on abortion, tragic things like rape and incest.

However, those are a very small percentage of abortions. (Here is a link to a Fact Sheet: Reasons for Abortion) The vast majority of abortions are elective abortions, for legitimate fears that people may have. But as Christian’s who place a supreme value on human life, we must speak up and speak against this inhumane practice.

This is why political involvement is so important, and we should all be involved and vote. We are privileged to live in a country that gives us the opportunity to effect change, for good [and for the flourishing of all of God’s creation.]

In November, we will get to vote on several amendments proposed to the Florida constitution. This year, there is an amendment, #4, titled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.”

  • Not only, as Tony Dungy points out, is it vague in its language. It may eventually allow for abortions at anytime during pregnancy, and eliminate parental consent for minors.
  • The language of the amendment itself on the ballot reads: “The proposed amendment would result in significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year in Florida.”

Which is why, along with thousands of other Christian leaders and churches in Florida, I encourage you to get out and vote and vote no on Amendment 4, which is not a partisan issue, but a way to protect human life. (For more on Amendment 4, see this resource from One More Child)

I would also point you or others to resources on why and how we are pro-life, for the child and for the mother, as well. In fact, we are working with several partners, such as A Door of Hope and New Life Solutions, that look to come around and help those considering or impacted by abortion or who struggle with adequate resources to raise a child.

If you have questions on any of this, or want to talk more, I would love to do so.

I understand that on such a contested topic, there may be some in our church community who view this issue differently than I do. Please feel free to approach me about this, so we can have charitable discussions on this topic, as some have already done.