Ethics of Life

All right, we're cooking. Let's do it. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to our course

! We come today to our eighth and final class. This is it. We've come to the end. So you'll

! remember that after spending a couple of weeks looking at the sort of general principles of

the Sixth Commandment, we then started to move sequentially through a number of different topics

beginning at the beginning of life, where we discussed abortion and life in the womb and

moving through some topics like capital punishment and war and self-defense. So today we come to the

end of life and we're going to discuss the topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide. So as we begin

our last class here, let's go ahead and open with a word of prayer. Let's pray together. Triune God,

our Creator and Redeemer, you are the author and giver of life and to you all life rightly belongs. It is

yours and yours alone to give and to take away. And we worship and thank you for that fact, for your

wisdom and for your goodness and for your faithfulness. We praise you. As we consider the

topic before us this morning, we ask that you'd grant us wisdom to consider these things rightly,

grant us trust in you and your word that all your ways are good. And Father, how could they not be

good considering what you have done to rescue us and to demonstrate your love for us? You have given us

your Son in love. You've given him up on the cross. You've given him to us in the resurrection,

proving that you are trustworthy and that you desire our greatest good no matter what comes in this life.

God, we thank you and praise you for the giving of your Son and for the pouring out of your Spirit.

We ask that you would be glorified in our time together this morning. Lead us by your Holy Spirit

into truth, into holiness, into love. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Amen. All right. Well, as I mentioned, we're considering the topic of euthanasia this morning.

So let's begin by asking, what do we mean by that term? Well, literally, the word euthanasia just

means good death from the Greek root words eu, which means good, and thanatos, which is a Greek word

for death. And that's kind of quite general, but I'm sure as you all know, specifically how this word

is used today and how we'll talk about it today, it has a more specific meaning. Euthanasia has come

to mean the act of intentionally ending the life of a person who is elderly, terminally ill, or sometimes

suffering from an incurable injury or disease. And closely related to that is what is called

assisted suicide or physician-assisted suicide, or sometimes is even called medical aid in dying.

Sometimes people distinguish those two things, euthanasia and assisted suicide. Here's one

definition. It says, in cases of euthanasia, another party acts to bring about the person's death

in order to end ongoing suffering. In cases of assisted suicide, a second person provides the means

through which the individual is able to voluntarily end their own life, but they do not directly cause the

individual's death. So you see how they distinguish those two things. Now this issue of euthanasia or

assisted suicide most often comes to focus in the case of oftentimes terminally ill patients who are

experiencing chronic pain and therefore no longer want to live and may even wish to be put to death.

So that's what we're talking about this morning. Now what is the morally right thing to do in such

cases? How as Christians should we approach this question? That's what we're going to think about this

morning. And I think the first place to begin is again with a return to the sixth commandment.

God commands his people in the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. And when we considered this

commandment in depth a few weeks ago, we saw that it refers both to what we might call premeditated

murder, that's usually what we commonly mean by the English word murder, but it also refers to any

accidental causing of a person's death through things like negligence or even carelessness.

And there's really no indication anywhere in scripture that this commandment is lifted or lessened

when someone is terminally ill or elderly or in great pain.

Remember that under the sixth commandment, what stands under that command, under that prohibition,

is the reality that God is our creator and God is the author of life and that life is his and his alone

to give and to take away. And moreover, the sixth commandment points us to the fact, to the reality,

that all humans are created in God's image. And because humans are bearers of the image of God,

that means that the unlawful taking of the life of another human is prohibited.

Even we ourselves do not have the right to take our own life.

So the sixth commandment would seem to give a clear indication

that Christians should view both euthanasia and assisted suicide as wrong.

Now, are there any passages in scripture that deal explicitly with this issue?

Well, the reality is, is that there aren't, but there might be one. There might be one.

In his book on ethics, Wayne Grudem points out the passage in 2 Samuel 1, verses 1-16.

2 Samuel 1:1–16

Now, you probably don't remember what's happening in 2 Samuel 1, verses 1-16,

2 Samuel 1:1–16

but I'll tell you, this is what's happening.

So, in that passage, a man comes to David after Saul has just died.

Saul, remember, was the king.

At the end of 1 Samuel, Saul dies, which would make David the king.

So a man comes to David saying, Saul just died.

And then the man recounts how Saul had been gravely wounded

and then begged this man to take his life.

In effect, Saul was asking this person to perform an act of euthanasia, of mercy killing.

So, as the man recounts to David, he followed through with Saul's request.

He killed Saul and then comes to David to tell David about it.

And in the context of the socio-political environment at the time,

the man seems to be coming to David to say,

See, I've done this good deed that hasn't just put Saul out of his misery,

but has made you king.

Right?

So he's actually trying to ingratiate himself into David's favor, it seems, at that point.

And what is David's response to the man?

He's not happy about it.

Go ahead.

Yeah, Ivor, you were going to say something, too.

Do not touch the Lord's anointed.

That's right.

That's right.

He says, you can't touch the Lord's anointed.

Right?

So that's one level.

Right?

Saul was the king.

So you dare not lay a hand on him.

But what's interesting in that passage is that David also says,

You've murdered him.

In effect, David says that even though Saul was gravely wounded,

and it's unclear whether this man's even telling the truth,

because at the end of 1 Samuel, it seems like Saul falls on his own sword.

So perhaps Saul fell on his own sword and he didn't actually die.

So he was asking this man to finish that job that he tried to do.

But in effect, regardless of whether the man's telling the truth or not,

what actually happened, David says to this man's account,

The fact that you've done that, you're guilty of murder.

That it was wrong for him to take Saul's life in that way.

Even though Saul was in great pain.

Even though Saul was probably not going to recover.

So this passage seems to be an example where the sixth commandment is applied

as forbidding the taking of another person's life,

even if they're in extreme pain,

even if they're unlikely to recover.

However, the life of a human being must still be respected,

and it must be acknowledged that it's not our place as fellow human beings

to put ourselves in the place of God and end that person's life for those reasons.

Yes.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, there's definitely...

And that's why I say that this passage sort of talks to this issue, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, Susan's making the point that it seems like one of the big issues,

one of the things that made this especially egregious

is the fact that Saul was the Lord's anointed.

He was the king, and you're not supposed to lay your hands on the king.

And David exemplified that in his whole life with Saul, right?

As he was on the run, he said,

I'm not going to lay my hands on the Lord's anointed.

So yeah, that's definitely a strong feature of this passage from 2 Samuel.

But it is interesting, right?

That David says, you still murdered him, right?

He uses that language of murder,

kind of referencing back to the sixth commandment.

So, you know, I don't think we need to put a lot of stock in this 2 Samuel passage.

It just seems to be one of those places where there may be an analogous instance.

So then it would seem that, given what we've been talking about in this whole class, really,

that the taking of someone's life,

even when they're in extreme pain or chronically ill, terminally ill,

is not something that we're permitted to do.

Now, whereas the Bible does condemn the act of killing of another human being,

most Christian ethicists realize that there is an important distinction to be made

between killing and what we might call letting die, letting someone die.

One writer puts it this way.

He says, killing is actively doing something to a patient that hastens or causes their death.

On the other hand, letting die is passively allowing someone to die from other causes

without interfering with that process.

In the first case, the cause of death is the cause of death is the cause of death.

In the second case, the cause of death is the disease, the injury, or aging process

that has already been occurring in the person who dies.

And he says, while the Bible prohibits actively killing someone,

in the case of letting someone die, the moral decision is more complex.

So, there are certainly cases, right, where it would be wrong to let a person die.

Like, we can all sort of feel that, right?

It seems that we should intervene and try to help a person recover when,

first, there seems to be a reasonable hope of recovery, right?

And two, when we're able to help.

That seems to be a fairly straightforward application of Jesus' command

that we love our neighbor as ourself

and do for others what we would wish they do unto us.

However, there are cases where it may be right to allow a person to die.

In cases where, one, there's no reasonable hope of recovery,

sometimes called a situation of futility.

And two, it's the patient's wish in that instance to be allowed to die.

And or, we're simply unable to help.

We don't have the means or the capacity to be able to help.

In those instances, it may be the right thing to allow a person to die.

In these cases, that act is morally distinct from actively murdering a person, right?

Now, what we're coming up against here are all sorts of end-of-life issues, right?

Which can become very complex very fast.

And the medical situations can become very complex, right?

What are we able to do with medical technology?

What are we permitted to do with medical technology?

When is it right to simply entrust someone to the Lord

and realize that we are finite human beings

and we live in a fallen world and we cannot live forever?

When is it time to just say it's time for palliative care

and let this person go, right?

And I think determining, along with doctors and ideally Christian medical professionals,

what is a reasonable hope of recovery?

What is it that one can and cannot do?

And what is one able to do?

Those are not always clear-cut decisions.

We live in a fallen world and not every decision

is going to be straightforward in those end-of-life instances.

But I think granting that and granting much grace

as we need to make and decide how we're going to handle some of those hard issues,

I do think there is a difference, right?

There's a clear distinction between what we're talking about this morning, right?

Between killing and letting die.

Even if there are some challenging and heart-wrenching questions

about when it's appropriate to let someone pass away, right?

I think there's a clear distinction between the difficult decision of removing someone

from, say, an extreme medical life support system

that's very different than a person choosing to end their own life

because they've received a terminal cancer diagnosis, right?

So it's in those instances that we're talking about today,

and I believe that the Bible's clear that we should view

those instances of euthanasia or assisted suicide as morally wrong.

that God numbers our days,

and we should entrust ourselves into his hands,

and our life is his to give and to take away

in his good and wise providence.

Now, what are some of the reasons that people give

in support of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide?

I think there are at least three,

and I think each one of them can actually kind of be captured by a single word,

and you see these words used a lot in conversations around these issues.

The first reason is summed up in the word freedom or choice, right?

The argument goes that people ought to have the freedom

to choose to end their own lives,

especially if they are terminally ill.

In fact, just last fall in the United Kingdom,

there was a bill before Parliament about this thing

called the Terminally Ill Adults Bill in the House of Commons,

and advocates of legal suicide,

a group called Dignity and Dying,

wanted to push through this Terminally Ill Adults Bill

in the House of Commons,

so they did actually a sort of poster campaign

in the London Underground

with posters making just this argument,

this argument for freedom or choice.

And the posters were part of a Let Us Choose campaign.

Choice is what was being appealed to there.

And the posters showed,

they're actually pretty disturbing posters, actually.

They showed a woman,

a middle-aged woman in her pajamas,

happily dancing in her kitchen

with the words,

let us choose, plastered there.

And then in big letters, it said,

my dying wish is my family won't see me suffer

and I won't have to.

All over the London subway system.

It's got a lot of pushback, by the way.

Felt like, even in the UK,

that felt like a bridge too far.

But do you see what's being appealed to

in this campaign, right?

Choice, freedom.

I should have the right

to be able to end my own life,

especially in those circumstances, right?

And I think in our culture today,

that idea of individual autonomy

is perhaps one of our highest values, right?

Anything that restricts my freedom

or limits my autonomy

is viewed with suspicion at best

and outrage at worst.

And that goes so deep

into our cultural mindset

that appealing to freedom

or appealing to choice

or suggesting that in an instance

someone's freedom or right to choose

might be taken away,

that almost immediately gives credibility

to the argument, right?

No one should say that I'm not free

to make this choice for myself.

But what does Scripture say

in light of that?

In 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20,

Paul says,

you are not your own.

You were bought with a price.

So glorify God in your body.

According to Scripture,

we're not autonomous, actually.

We are creatures before a creator.

And even more than that,

Paul says,

you were bought with a price.

This is a reference to the work of Christ.

That through Christ's sacrifice,

he has bought us for himself.

We belong to him

through his self-giving love.

So flourishing

is not found

in radical autonomy

or radical self-determination

or self-rule,

but in conforming ourselves

to the will

of our loving and good creator.

So the argument for choice

or freedom only goes so far.

There is a limit

to where our freedom ends.

And this is one of them,

I think,

according to the Bible.

Now, the second reason

people give

for supporting

euthanasia,

physician-assisted suicide,

is summed up in the word

compassion.

Compassion.

That's a word you'll see

very often.

Some people are in

unbearable, unending pain,

and they often only have

a few months or years

to live.

They will die soon

in any case,

the argument goes.

Therefore,

it should be right

to act

to alleviate that pain.

Surely it can't be right

to allow someone

to suffer so terribly

when we can do

something about it.

Sometimes it's phrased,

right?

Now, let me say,

of course,

as human beings,

we should treat

our fellow human beings

with compassion,

right?

Those who are suffering

need care,

love, support,

tenderness.

But there are two things

that should be,

I think,

said in response

to this argument

from compassion.

And the first

is that

there's no biblical

prohibition

that I'm aware of

against palliative care.

Christians should promote

every lawful means

to alleviate suffering

and pain

in those who are

terminally ill

or dying,

right?

So compassion

does want us

to move,

to reduce

or alleviate

pain and suffering,

right?

But second,

there is kind of

an unspoken assumption

in this

kind of argument

from compassion

that we should just

end the compassion,

that we should end

the suffering

by ending the person's life,

right?

There's sort of

an unspoken assumption

in that reasoning

that suffering

is meaningless,

right?

that it serves

no purpose

and it should be

just ended,

avoided,

or stopped

at all costs,

even at extreme,

ultimate cost.

And indeed,

we have to admit

that in a kind of

naturalistic

or in a secular

worldview,

suffering is

by and large

meaningless,

right?

it serves

no purpose

and should be

avoided at all

costs,

if that is

your worldview.

But in the

biblical worldview,

we see that

in Christ,

even our

suffering

and our pain

are not

actually

meaningless.

That God

uses even

the evils

of this world

for our good

and for his

glory.

That's not to

say that suffering

itself is good,

but God

in his goodness

is able to

bring good

even out of

those things.

And yes,

he permits

those things

for his

redemptive

purposes.

So let's go

to the third

reason,

and the third

reason is

summed up

in the word

dignity.

Dignity.

You'll see

this term

quite a bit.

In fact,

even that group

from the UK

I mentioned,

their whole

organization was

called Dignity

in Dying.

Now,

this word

dignity,

I think,

combines a bit

of the

previous two

reasons.

Dignity

involves,

and it means

kind of having

the autonomy

to choose

when my life

should end,

and dignity

also means

not having to

suffer physical

pain,

right?

But I think

this argument

from so-called

dignity,

I think it

strikes at a

deeper reason

than just

those two.

Because when

you think

about it,

aging,

being sick,

being weak,

being in

pain,

these things

make a

person very

dependent.

we're no

longer

strong,

we're no

longer

independent,

we're no

longer

contributing

to society,

at least in

the ways that

our kind of

capitalist market

economy recognizes,

right?

And so,

we feel that we

don't have any

dignity.

In other words,

we feel shame.

We feel as if

our life no

longer has any

worth.

And so,

the argument

goes,

to preserve

someone's

dignity,

they should be

allowed to

end their

life.

But friends,

what does

scripture say?

What does

God say?

God says

that his

power is

made perfect

in our

weakness,

that our

values not

determined

by whether

we can

or can't

contribute to

society.

Our

worth,

our

purpose,

our

meaning is

not

determined by

the level

of our

independence,

or our

productivity,

or our

physical

appearance.

In fact,

God says

when we're

weak,

then we're

strong.

And,

like our

physical pain

and suffering

that we talked

about under

the heading of

compassion,

God uses

even those

moments of

weakness and

dependence for

our good to

conform us to

Christ.

Now, maybe

another thing

that we might

say on this

front is just

that facing

terminal illness,

facing the

prospect of

pain, maybe

even prolonged

pain, and in

some rare

instances, pain

that palliative

care cannot

alleviate.

that's very

scary.

And as

Christians, we

would never

want to

minimize that,

minimize the

real sorrow

that people

face when

they're in

these situations.

And it is

understandable

that people

are very

afraid.

afraid.

And it's

understandable that

we don't

want to face

such a

fearful and

painful future.

Is there

any comfort

for the

fearful in

times like

these?

Well, in

Christ, friends,

there most

certainly is.

You know,

our God knows

what it's like

to face

pain,

to face

death,

to face

rejection from

his closest

friends,

to face

shame.

And our

good shepherd

promises to

walk with

us with the

deepest of

compassion as

we traverse

those dark

valleys.

Jesus'

compassion is

literally a

suffering with

us, a

compassion.

Right?

He will

enter in

with us

into those

dark places

and be

with us

each step

of the

way.

And the

promise is

that in

the gospel,

because Christ

suffered for

us,

when we

suffer,

we will

become like

him in

our sufferings.

I think it

was George

MacDonald,

who wasn't a

very orthodox

guy, I'll just

say that for the

record, but I

think it was

George MacDonald,

he said some

good things every

once in a

while, I

think it was

George MacDonald

who said,

Christ suffered

not so that we

might not

suffer, but so

that in our

sufferings we

might become

like him.

Right?

Paul sort

of puts, I

think, a good

point on this.

He says that

the afflictions

of this life,

because of the

death and

resurrection of

Jesus, are

preparing for

us an eternal

weight of

glory beyond

compare.

That God is

able to take

the sufferings

of this life

and prepare

for us through

them something

of eternal

worth and

value in the

new heavens and

new earth.

In fact, do

you remember how

that goes?

How does Paul

talk about our

afflictions in

that verse?

What does he

call them?

A momentary

light affliction.

Light and

momentary

afflictions compared

to the eternal

glory that is

waiting for us

in Christ.

So I think we

need to say that

things like

freedom, things

like compassion,

things like

dignity, that

those things are

not actually

found in

assisted suicide,

in euthanasia.

They're found in

Christ.

And as we walk

with him,

together with

one another

through suffering,

he promises

neither to leave

us nor forsake

us, and he

promises to work

all things, yes,

even those most

strenuous,

difficult things.

God will work

even those for

our good and

for his glory.

Now, as we

kind of wrap up,

I want to talk

a little bit,

are there any

reasons, are

there any reasons

in addition to

God's commands

in scripture,

some of these

commands and

also some of

these gospel

principles, are

there any other

reasons that we

might give

against euthanasia

or assisted

suicide?

Well, one

reason we

might sort of

offer against

it is the

sort of precedent

that it sets.

One writer

puts it this

way, he says,

if euthanasia

is allowed for

some patients

who are suffering,

then how can

we prevent it

from being applied

to more and

more patients

who are suffering?

And with the

increasing cost

of health care

for elderly

and extremely

ill patients,

there's likely

going to be

growing pressure

on people to

ask that their

lives be taken.

Moreover,

nations that

have allowed

for physician

assisted suicide

find that a

society can

quickly move

from merely

allowing the

right to die

to the belief

that there is

an obligation

to die

on the part

of the elderly

and the

very ill

people

who are

quote,

draining

resources

from society.

And this

author says,

in such

situations,

it becomes

likely

that a

number of

elderly

people will

be put to

death

against their

will.

So the

argument here

is that

what begins

sort of as

a right

to die

begins to

transform into

social pressure

as an obligation

to die.

So it's

the kind

of precedent

that this

move sets.

It's the

kind of

door that

it swings

open.

And the

reality is

in some

states and

countries,

actually in

most states

and countries

where euthanasia

and assisted

suicide have

been legalized,

there does

seem to be

a slippery

slope.

In Canada,

for example,

medically

assisted

dying

accounted

for 5%

of the

deaths in

the country

in 2023.

That means

1 in 20

people who

died in

Canada died

by taking

their own

lives with

the help

of a

doctor.

That's

staggering.

And in

a culture

like that,

that is

going to

lead to

a place

where people

begin to

hold their

lives so

lightly and

that pressures

begin to

think,

well,

I guess I

should just

end my

life.

It's hard

to see how

that's not

already

happening.

in a

place like

Canada or

in a

place like

the

Netherlands

where the

numbers are

also very

staggering,

very

sobering,

very sad.

And I

think that

leads to

another

reason.

These are

all kind

of related.

And the

second reason

is this,

is that our

laws should

ideally protect

the vulnerable.

But euthanasia

and assisted

suicide moves

in the

opposite

direction.

Here's how

a group of

pastors in

the United

Kingdom

express this

in a joint

letter that

they wrote

to the

members of

parliament.

Remember

last year

there was a

big debate

in the

United

Kingdom

around

physician

assisted

suicide.

Here's an

excerpt from

a longer

letter that

they wrote

to parliament.

said protecting

protecting the

most vulnerable

members of

society should

be our

primary concern.

The health

care system

is already

rife with

inequalities that

disproportionately

affect the

poor,

elderly,

ethnic

minorities,

and those

with

disabilities.

Rather than

addressing these

disparities,

this bill,

that is the

assisted dying

bill,

risks

It's

exacerbating

them.

Especially as

polling shows

that 21% of

disabled

individuals fear

that assisted

dying laws would

pressure them to

end their lives

prematurely.

In the state of

Oregon, in the

United States,

where assisted

suicide is legal,

43% of those who

chose assisted

suicide cited a

fear of being a

burdened on

loved ones as a

factor in their

decision.

In other words,

legalizing assisted

suicide opens the

door for

vulnerable members

of our society to

be at risk of

ending their own

lives prematurely.

Friends, that's

not the sort of

culture or society

we want to sow

towards, where

death is seen as a

viable option to

solve problems of

pain, loneliness,

financial hardship,

or simply the

feeling that one is a

burden.

One more thing

to add.

Rather than

investing in

assisted suicide,

we should rather

invest in

palliative care.

Again, this was an

argument that these

pastors in the UK

took.

They said in that

same letter, they

said, improved

palliative care should

be the focus,

ensuring that

patients can die

with dignity and

support rather than

expanding the

option of assisted

suicide.

In the UK, there

was a lot of

observation that the

palliative care

system was so

underfunded and

receiving so little

support and that the

passage of such a

bill would put people

in those situations

in such hard,

moral places.

Now I understand

that the UK system

is different than

ours because they

have a national

health care system

and things like that,

but it's hard to

see how the same

would not be true

in the United

States, even given

the differences.

So again, rather

than focusing on

expanding assisted

suicide, focus on

expanding the kind

of lawful and

God-honoring care,

palliative care that

we can give to

those who are

nearing the end of

their days.

Seems like a much

better way to focus

our resources.

Okay.

Well, let's wrap up

there.

On that happy note,

here we end our

class.

We've got a little

extra time for

conversation together.

We can reflect on

our topic today if

you'd like or we

can reach back to

previous topics that

we've covered or

maybe ones that we

even haven't.

So we can just have

a good 15 minutes

of just questions,

conversation,

reflections, things

that have stood

out to you in

the class, whatever

it is you'd like to

talk about.

Yes, Matt.

Sometimes I think

there's an issue

regarding giving

palliative care and

contributing to the

death of the patient.

Oh, interesting.

Yeah.

You know, that

could be a complex

call.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

There is no denying

the fact, Matt.

That's good.

Matt is saying that

sometimes administering

palliative care can seem

to be contributing to

the dying of a patient,

right?

Does it kind of speed

their dying process?

I think this is where

as Christians we need

to just trust our

brothers and sisters

in the medical field

and realize that in a

fallen world there's

no sort of perfect,

clear-cut, straight-line

way to handle these

things.

You know, I think

maybe it's true,

right?

Maybe it's true that

some methods of

palliative care do speed

someone's end of life.

I think we just have to

move in matters of

conscience on that.

Yeah.

Did you have more you

wanted to say on that,

Matt?

Was there other things

you were thinking?

No, you said it well.

Yeah.

A second issue that I've

heard, and not very

often, not of late,

about saying I agree

with it, but just

mentioning it, that

some Christians have

said at times, ah,

you know, this person

hasn't come to Christ,

or this person hasn't

repented of their sin.

Let's not, you know,

just give palliative care,

you know, to ignore this.

Let's let them suffer

the oath that God

will bring them

closer to Christ.

Yeah.

Or closer.

Yeah.

That doesn't seem

like a good...

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I just mentioned

that just makes

things as complicated

as...

That's right, just

to add another

complicated level on a

complicated issue,

yeah.

Yeah, should

calculations of

someone's conversion

play into how we

treat end-of-life

issues.

I think that's

very difficult,

you know.

Yeah, I wouldn't

be very persuaded

to place a lot

of stock in that

because God...

Ultimately, God

is sovereign in

salvation.

He uses the means.

He uses creaturely

means to bring that

about, but I think

our job in those

instances is to

honor someone and

to honor God as

best we can and

please God and not

to think, well, if

I do this,

it might produce

this outcome in

them spiritually,

right?

The other thing

is, too, is we

don't know what's

happening in

someone's mind and

heart when they're

on their deathbed,

when they're in

their dying moments.

You know, it's so

hard to know what

they're understanding,

what they're not

understanding, you

know?

I think being with

loved ones or

friends or neighbors

as they're dying,

praying for them,

sharing Christ for

them, even if we

don't know if they're

awake or hearing us,

I don't think those

are lost efforts.

You know, in

previous cultures

and generations,

you know, it's

interesting in our

culture of death and

dying today, it's

very rare that

someone will die

surrounded by their

family and friends.

They're often

separated from

these things, but

that has not always

been the case.

often we accompany

our dying loved

ones, we accompany

them to the grave

and we accompany

them into heaven

with singing, with

support, with

presence, right?

We're there with

them.

So, anyway, I'm

rambling now, but

yeah, I would

hesitate to play

God with someone's

conversion when we're

talking about end

of life, but I

would certainly not

cease to sow good

seeds in those

moments of love and

prayer and gospel

words.

Yeah.

Yeah?

I sense the kind

of, like, internal

contradiction or

tension in a secular

worldview of death

where it seems like

there's this

simultaneous fear of

death, desire to

put unending effort

toward extending life

with massive

intervention to add

on a few more

months or even

completely disrupting

the elderly

ability to see

loved ones, like

the COVID, for

example, the COVID

extending a few

more years.

Yeah.

But that seems to be

in tension with

this view of

dignity.

Yeah.

And I wonder what

you think about

that.

Oh, yeah.

I kind of wonder if

one led to the

other and it's

sort of...

Yeah, it's a really

good observation.

And I sense that, too.

And I think that, you

know, there's a

theologian and

Christian philosopher

named John Frame who

would often say that,

you know, any worldview

outside of the biblical

worldview will

eventually, whether it

ends in rationalism or

other, will eventually

get to a place of

irrationality.

And I think that's

actually what we see

when it comes to

sort of secular

approaches to death.

On the one hand,

it's something to be

avoided at all costs,

but then you see at

the same time an effort

to kind of normalize

and naturalize it,

right?

It's just natural.

It's passing on.

It's, again, all these

sort of non-Christian

theologizing, really,

about what death is

and what it means.

And they don't

actually harmonize,

right?

They don't.

I think there are

deep contradictions

there.

And I think that's

where Christianity

can come in and say,

do you see this

tension, right,

in your own thinking?

Let me share with you

how I think about

those things and

how my belief in

God and in Jesus

Christ actually kind

of treats that a

little differently and

maybe actually makes a

little more sense,

right?

That the reason why we

recoil against death

is because it's not the

way life was intended

to be.

That God didn't create

us as humans to die,

that that's an intrusion

into the good,

right?

So, yes,

our visceral reaction

against death is

there's something right

there, right?

And yet,

Christianity also comes

and says,

but in order to

approach death

with courage,

we don't actually

have to normalize it

or naturalize it,

right?

We can say actually

that God's acted

in a way such that

death isn't the end.

So,

there may be

opportunities to

witness to Christ

there,

to evangelize there,

as we find those

kind of fractures

in the thinking of

our friends and our

neighbors,

trying to hold

together these deep

questions within a

world,

do they can't

actually hold them

without deep

contradiction.

Another example

where I saw this

in some preparation

for this morning,

in language of

freedom,

right,

around these issues

of choice.

It's very interesting.

I spent some time

looking at that

campaign in the

United Kingdom

that was arguing

for that assisted

suicide bill,

and so much of

the language on

their website was

basically,

we have to give

people the freedom

to choose to end

their life.

Otherwise,

they'll be forced

to end their

lives in awful,

undignified ways.

Well,

isn't that interesting?

So,

we have to give

people freedom

because if we

don't give them

the freedom,

they'll be forced

to do something,

right?

So,

they don't have

freedom.

They're totally

enslaved,

so we have to

give them freedom,

but giving that

freedom means they

die.

It's so

contradictory,

right?

And of course,

you can see

that it's just,

it's,

at one level,

it's just

fear slogans,

right?

Like,

you don't want

someone to end

in this poor way,

so you have to

agree with us

and give them

this,

but even the

rationality falls

apart,

right?

So,

if someone has

freedom,

then they should

have freedom

to not go down

those terrible

paths,

right?

That there are

other options

than these that

we've kind of

narrowed it into.

Yeah,

Beth,

did you want to

add to that?

Well,

I think sometimes

there's a temptation

as Christians

to think everything's

a slippery slope

or to think,

like,

to put ourselves

in a culture war

on minor things,

but for this one,

it feels like a

gen,

you explained it

well,

but it feels like

a genuine slippery slope.

Yeah,

yeah.

because when you

start to take

subjective things

and put objective

medical patient care

conversation in place,

it can get really

just twisted really

quickly.

Yeah.

I think people

have seen that

in conversations

in responses

to ultrasounds

and second level

more detailed

ultrasounds

if there's a complication

in utero.

immediately,

it's like,

well,

let me,

I have to lay out

your options

and there's always

sort of a

presented bias

and then it puts

the pressure

on the patient

to,

like,

really weigh

the options

almost on equal footing

and I think ethically,

in terms of

biblical ethics,

it's like,

when you do this

to end of life,

I thought you exposed

well that within

the dignity avenue

there is the shame

element.

Yeah.

And then there's

this sort of

subjective thing

of like,

how much suffering

is too much suffering.

Yeah.

And then you,

like,

what does that do

to the landscape

of mental health?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think it just,

I think it's just

a sort of devastating,

like you said,

door that has swung open.

Yeah.

because all of a sudden

it feels like the,

it feels like it might

affirm the really dark,

destructive work

of spiritual darkness

that like,

to affirm a person's

already sense of worthlessness

or burden

or unlovability

or what is there.

and I think that

that as Christians,

like,

for us to speak up

and have a sense of like,

unity and rally

against those

who are already suffering

is so important.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah.

That's well said, Beth.

Yeah.

Tom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

Right.

That's right.

Yeah.

Because it's not worth it.

Yeah.

You can't imagine

it's ever passing

or being beneficial.

Right.

And I think we,

I've read stories

of where that's happening

where people are starting

to get permission

to do this.

Yeah.

Because they kind of

want it.

Yeah.

They're depressed

or they're encountering

some issue that

someone else

that God has given

a joy in it.

But for this other person

to know.

So it's really

very frightening.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so much of the work, so much of the legislation now that's being proposed really tries to say, no, no, no, no, this is just in extreme circumstances.

This is just for the terminally ill.

We're going to put as many kind of guardrails and definitions around it as we can.

But you're right.

I am persuaded by what you're saying, Tom, that even though they sound objective at first, they do feel a bit arbitrary.

What is stopping from just the next step over, right?

Who is going to define what is an unbearable situation?

And especially when we're making those arguments on the basis of human autonomy, who are you to say that my pain is not unbearable?

Right?

It just, I do, I do think we need to be just very, very cautious here.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm wondering kind of on the other extreme of things, like how much as Christians we should have like antipathy towards like death.

Because, you know, assisted suicide, I think we all have like kind of like an inclination against that.

Yeah.

On the other side of things, we have this kind of phenomenon in the tech world going on right now, like transhumanism.

Oh, yeah.

Which is where we hate death so much.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, on the one hand, we don't want the medical field to help people die.

Right.

But on the other hand, how much do we want the medical field to try to help people, and of course this is only going on at like the top 0.1% right now.

Sure.

Yeah.

But assuming we can, you know, the medical education will trickle down, how much do we want the medical field to extend life for everyone?

Does that make any sense?

Oh, it makes total sense, you know, and that's why this class needed to be 16 weeks, not eight weeks.

Really good point.

There is the other extreme where, as humans, can we take it into our own hands to say, no, we will use whatever means possible to extend physical life as long as possible, regardless of the cost, regardless of the kind of creaturely boundaries we have to break in order to do it.

You know?

You know?

And I think there's also a very dangerous thing we're stepping into there.

And also I will say that I could be wrong about this.

I'm not a tech guru, obviously, but if I were to take all of your mental processes, translate them into ones and zeros and present a big stack of paper with your everything that is in your brain in a big stack of papers and ones and zeros, that is not human life.

Right?

So some of these dreams of, like, uploading myself into a database and then I'll live forever, I, again, from our perspective, they seem pretty far-fetched.

But I think there's also, like, definitionally, that's not what it means to be human.

Right?

And that's where so much of these questions get to on this transhumanism front is, what does it mean to be human?

And not, here's the other thing, too, not just what are we able to do, right?

Because technology, we're able to do all sorts of things.

Right?

AI is another good question.

Right?

Like, we can do all sorts of things or AI can do all sorts of things.

Right?

But what sort of people do we want to become?

Right?

Do we want to create a culture where we're just extending people's life indefinitely in the face of the fact that, look, humans are only going to live 80, 90, 100 years.

And there does come a point where, again, we see this in Scripture, where we have to embrace the fact that God is sovereign and we will die.

And the goal is not to avoid death forever, but to be ready for death when it comes.

And to see in Christ the ultimate answer to our spiritual death and our eternal death.

And that one day he will even conquer our physical death.

Right?

But that's where our hope lies.

So, yeah, there's so many issues here that are so well raised.

But you're right.

Yeah.

Okay, one more.

Richard, you get the last word.

Perhaps some of you remember the old saying, come grow old with me.

The best is yet to be.

But Jesus invites us, come suffer with me.

The best is yet to be.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well said.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Death.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

Sorry for the heavy weight this morning, friends.

You know.

J.R.R. Tolkien was asked one time, oh, Tolkien, what's the Lord of the Rings all about?

You know, you wrote this massive fantasy novel.

How would you sum it up?

And he said, well, it's about what all mythologies and all great mythologies are about.

It's about death.

So, we're talking a lot about death this morning.

But, hey, we're also talking about death in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Right?

So, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

And we also know that death is a defeated enemy.

Enemy though he is.

So, all right, friends, let me pray and then we'll head upstairs.

Father, thank you all for this class.

Lord, we've dipped into such heavy matters, such weighty things, such sobering topics.

Lord, there's been so much cause for reflection, for grief and lament at times.

And yet, not without hope, God.

Lord, we trust that having walked through your word again when it comes to life and its value

and its gift.

God, I pray that we would be strengthened again to live for you, to trust you, to go

forth with courage and joy, knowing that your ways are good, that you are the God of life,

that you offer us indestructible life in Jesus, your son.

And you promise one day to take all death and dying and sorrow and wipe it away and make

all things new.

Lord, help us to be that kind of hopeful, resilient, loving people, courageous, even in the face

of suffering, even in the face of dying, because of your deep love for us.

What indeed can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, you say, Father?

Nothing, not even death itself.

We thank you and praise you for that.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.