Sanctity of Life — Sermon by Rev. Craig Stephans

let us pray oh father I pray that your

gospel the good news of Jesus Christ

will be proclaimed and heard and applied

to all of our lives by the presence and

power and conviction of your holy

spirit amen please be

seated I did something for the first

time this past weekend I should say we

as a family did with some reputation we

bought something via Facebook

Marketplace some of you may be

experienced in that sort of thing it's

you just never know am I getting a good

price is this something that I need does

it even exist are the people

real but after negotiating with someone

and feeling confident Jack and I went

out and got the item and you know those

prices are completely arbitrary it's

totally based on self-interest you know

is it worth it is the trouble worth it

is the trip worth it or for the people

selling you know how much is this worth

to me I've sold a couple things via

Facebook Marketplace mainly my

motivation was just getting rid of them

and putting a little bit of value on it

so someone would come and get it and

take it away didn't have any care or

concern for it but it makes me wonder

what is the foundation for how we value

something what determines the

value like I said for so many things

it's self-interest it's what is in it

for

us motivational speakers that I've

listened to in the past who are training

you to speak would emphasize that you

know you've got to get inside your

audience's mind and who are all tuned in

to the radio station wi FM what's in it

for me

that's a very

cynical approach to the way that we

value things but it's so often true in

the world you know if you have the right

connections you can buy somebody you can

buy a person almost anywhere in the

world if you know the right people and

how to go about it that person that you

buy according to one organization a

nonprofit that helps take people out of

human

trafficking you could buy someone around

the world anywhere from $45 upwards to

$50,000 for a really valuable person and

that's the state of the world another

organization indicated that they thought

there was about 40 million people around

the world in some form of slavery

whether it's forced labor by government

or individuals whether it's sexual

exploitation however it is that many

people being bought sold and used us for

someone else's self-interest and

Indulgence some of them being like the

stuff I just wanted to get rid

of but what is

God's foundation for valuing people is

it that arbitrary as well is it based on

a person's characteristics or how

they've done in

life that's the good news for us God

does have a foundation for how he values

each and every person if reminds me of a

friend of ours A good friend of ours who

lives in Charleston who has two

daughters and when we were visiting them

one of the daughters the oldest one was

in her teenage years like 16 or 17 and

it came to that point where she came to

her dad and said can I go out with my

friends this weekend and spend the night

with them out at this

place and he began interrogating her you

know much to her chag grin and she was

perplexed he started asking her things

like who are you going with who else is

going to be there will there be boys

there who's

chaperoning where else are you going to

be what are you going to be doing who's

going to be driving all of those things

that you know dads are thinking well

yeah obviously but his daughter was

perplexed like why why are you

interrogating me why don't you just

trust me and he said the most valuable

thing that I have that I could loan to

someone is my car

and if someone asked to take my car for

the

weekend I would ask him all kinds of

questions about where are they going

what are they going to do who's going to

be with them when are they bringing it

back that's the most valuable thing I

have and I would interrogate someone and

probably wouldn't let him take it how

much more am I going to be concerned

about people taking you to be with them

for the weekend you are my treasure you

are so much more Val valuable than

anything that I have I don't know if she

really accepted that but I

do and I think that is true for how God

values each and every one of

us you know we think of the things in

this world that have so much value that

God has created and wouldn't we like to

have some of this or

that but the most valuable

thing is each and every person

who is made in God's image and likeness

and each and every person who is made in

His image and likeness is a person for

whom Christ

died and so to know the value of each

and every person we

look not to the things of this world not

even to their own characteristics not

even to what they've done or haven't

done we will confess in a little while

falling short on both of

those to know the value of each person

in God's eyes which for us is the true

value we look to the Cross we look to

Jesus Christ

crucified there on the cross is the

payment for each and every person's soul

yes for this all the people who have

been created collectively but also for

each and everyone on his or her own God

is

determined your value and my value

individually as worth the cost of

sacrificing his son on the cross that's

the payment for each one of us in fact

this is what Paul emphasizes in his

letter to First

Corinthians in chapter 6: 19- 20 Paul

says do you not know that your body is a

temple of the Holy Spirit within

you whom you have from God you are not

your own for you were bought with a

price so glorify God in your

body Paul is emphasizing the value of

each person twofold one is that the

person was bought with a

price and he says later in 1 Corinthians

in chapter 7: 23 that that

price has freed us from becoming slaves

we are

redeemed from slavery by the price with

which we were bought and that

price with which we were bought is

Christ crucified he has purchased us or

redeemed us for God and Paul also says

your body is a temple of the Holy

Spirit another way to emphasize the

value of each and every person not only

purchased for God but filled with God if

you haven't done this I encourage you to

read in the Old Testament about the

details of Solomon's

Temple that he that he created for

God the details of it are Exquisite and

they can seem tiresome as you're reading

it but read the details and really

imagine what that Temple looked like and

would have felt like imagine a Nave like

this except instead of Windows and

painted walls

it is all covered with

gold the

walls the doors the accouterments all

covered with pure

gold the statues of the Angels being

solid gold and in that in that Nave the

the light would be from the golden

candles that are lit

continually imagine that pure gold

everywhere shining reflecting the

light God commissioned Solomon to create

this as the only kind of structure on

Earth that as much as possible could be

created to be worthy for the presence of

God solid

gold artistic designs on the walls in

Gold beautifully crafted miraculously

put

together that that's the only place the

only kind of structure in which God

would

dwell except for you Paul says do you

not know that you your body is a temple

of the Holy

Spirit and you are of Greater worth than

the gold which made the temple such an

Exquisite beautiful place God dwells in

you that's how much he values

you and it is the blood of Christ that

not only purchased you for God but

cleansed you and made you a worthy

vessel for the Holy

Spirit and as I said on the evening

during the evening service on Christmas

Eve that three truths we can know that

are made clear through the Incarnation

and birth of Christ is that God Made You

In His Image and likeness and he loves

you and that Jesus came to save you and

to die on the cross because he loves you

and that the Holy Spirit of the father

and the son is present to make known to

you salvation

and to pour the love of God into your

hearts because he loves

you that is your worth in God's

eyes the value of his son the value of

making his home in you the value of

coming to you and constantly wooing you

with his goodness and Grace that you

might receive him into your life that he

might come and live in

you Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:8

1 Peter 1:8

you were ransomed from the feudal ways

inherited from your forefathers not with

perishable things such as silver or gold

but with the precious blood of Christ

like that of a lamb without blemish or

spot people are bought bought and sold

used discarded based on their value in

silver or gold and you would think that

man there's got to be at least a certain

amount of silver or gold that would

equal my

worth that if someone would offer my

family we will give you this much gold

if you give us him

like you know depending on what day it

is you would think there's a certain

amount high or

low but all of that is cheap in God's

eyes compared to the true worth of you

you weren't bought you could not be

bought with silver or gold in God's eyes

your sins could not be cleansed away and

forgiven with silver or gold you could

not be made a worthy vessel for the holy

spirit with silver or gold and no no one

else can either you are of infinite

value more than the most valuable

Treasures of creation you were bought

and purchased by the Son of God who has

no beginning or end who is one with the

father

he died to purchase you for

God one of my favorite books and

probably the longest book I've read is

Lay Miser all by Victor Hugo written in

the 1860s and um I first became familiar

with the musical which I love and then

read the book and in that book is

probably one of the best Christian

characters who presents a true image of

Christ that I think it may be in

literature in fiction and it's the

bishop Bishop that the main character

Jean valan encounters early in the book

or early on in the musical Jean valan is

a man living in France who is in prison

for stealing a mouthful of bread and

then he gets about 15 years added on to

that so he's a prisoner they were slaves

for 19 years he's released on parole and

he immediately goes out and he steals

some fruit from an orchard and then he's

taken in by a Christian

Bishop to spend the night at his house

but instead of receiving that graciously

Jean valan knocks him in the head grabs

a bunch of silver stuff and runs off and

he's apprehended by the police who of

course assumed that he stole these

silver items from the bishop they take

him back to The Bishop's house and when

confronted with this man that he

welcomed into his house who stole from

him and now is back

rather than condemn him the bishop said

to the police yes I gave him this silver

I gave him these

treasures and the the police release him

they go

away and if you know the musical you

know how the song goes but the bishop

confronts Jean

valan not only giving him additional

candlesticks to bless him but he says

this and this is from the song I'm not

going to sing it but I'll read

it but remember this my brother not

slave not prisoner my brother see in

this some higher plan you must use this

precious silver to become an honest man

by the witness of the martyrs by the

passion in the blood God has raised you

out of Darkness I have bought your soul

for God now now the bishop knows that it

is Jesus who bought Jean Val Jan's soul

but he is trying to emphasize and

reiterate the value of this man who is a

slave who saw himself as a prisoner who

saw himself as a dog that he was worth

more he says I've bought your soul for

God change repent turn to God and if you

know the story and the musical the next

scene is Jean valan having this epiphany

starting a new life and it goes from

there a story of

redemption the text that we read from

Isaiah is the prophet speaking the words

of God

and he says this for Zion's sake Zion

being Jerusalem being the place of the

people of God for Zion's sake I will not

keep silent and for Jerusalem's sake I

will not be quiet until her

righteousness Goes Forth as brightness

and her salvation as a burning

torch he will not keep silent until he

sees God's purposes fulfilled in the

people of God until he sees the people

of God experience God's salvation and

live in righteousness until what he says

in verse two the Nations shall see your

righteousness and all the kings your

glory and you shall be called by a new

name that the mouth of the Lord will

give he will not be silent until he sees

God's truth manifest in people's lives

as they start living for God and by God

and with God as the people God created

him to

be he goes on in verse three you shall

be a crown of Beauty in the hand of the

Lord a royal diadem in the hand of your

God how much more should we not be

silent about the value of each and every

life until we see people who are living

against God away from God without God

become the people that God called them

to be we must not keep silence declaring

that each and every person is made in

the image of God and is one for whom

Christ died and is one to whom the Holy

Spirit has come to show him or her the

love of God that he or she might be

saved and that God might receive what

Jesus Paid for on the

cross many of you know

have heard or seen the video of our

friend and member of the church Dirk

Hardison who was assaulted about a week

and a half ago maybe just a week ago at

his front door on Price Street as he

opened the door to two guys who he

thought were Amazon delivery man and

they proceeded to demand money and then

hit him on the head a hammer with a

hammer enough times to require 13

Staples and stitches in his hands Dirk

asked me to make sure that all of you

know not to open your door to just

anyone be sure who it

is he's also thankful that he's doing

well he's recovered his life was

valuable and precious in God's sight

although to these two guys who came to

the door his life was worth

nothing his life was worth whatever

little cash they could get from

him and too much that is the attitude

and behavior of people in this world

we're only concerned about how someone

can serve our self interest however that

may

be and I know that in preparing for this

sermon examining through my life I

looked at how I have treated People

based on entirely on my

self-interest and I have to repent and

ask God to forgive me and to transform

me in church I know that it's easy to

avoid confronting our guilt confronting

our

actions that have lessened someone's

value because it's difficult we can

experience shame and

condemnation but we have to confront

these areas of our own

life how have we treated

people less with less than the value

that God treats them there's a story in

the Old Testament it is one of the most

amazing stories to me when I read the

Bible and I just happened to read it

recently and again like I can't believe

this there was a good King pretty good

Hezekiah king of Judah around 700s BC

his son named Manasseh was not so good

when he was 12 years old he became king

that's never a good

idea he proceeded to do everything I

think possible that he could do wrong

like he did something of everything bad

that all the previous Kings did he

worshiped the false gods the Demons of

the day Baal ashth not only that he set

up altars to these false gods in the

very temple of

God he worshiped these false gods

everywhere he led the people of

Judah to worship these false gods

everywhere and then he finally sunk to

the lowest of

Lowe's not only building altars to all

the hosts of Heaven in the courts of the

house of the

Lord in 2 Chronicles verse 33 beginning

in verse 6 it says he burned his sons as

an offering in the Valley of the son of

Hanam and used fortune telling and Omens

and sorcery and dealt with mediums and

with

necromancers he did much evil in the

sight of the Lord provoking him to anger

that's pretty much the worst that's the

lowest of the lows for the kings of

Judah he burned his sons in the fire he

sought

necromancers it doesn't get much worse

than that you know the equivalent of

burning suns in the fire for us today

would be abortion from conception to

birth it could be selling children

abusing

children all of

that but we treat people like that

throughout the end of their life not

only can slaves be bought or sold many

of you like me probably know someone who

lost their life because they bought a

pill for $10 or $20 off the street that

had fentanyl in

it imagine that someone willing to make

10 or

$20 and take someone's

life at the end of

life uh Father Brian talked about this

in Canada in in Sunday school how can

has assisted suicide and if you go in

with certain ailments that may be the

recommendation physician assisted

suicide it's only a few

hundred that's the value of someone's

life this evil King manasse despite all

the evil that he

did God sent him off to Exile in Chains

as punishment he went to Babylon and in

verse 12 it says this when he was in

distress he intreated the favor of the

Lord his God and humbled himself greatly

before the god of his

fathers do you wonder what happens next

if you haven't read this awful King

awful

person he called upon the name of the

Lord in his prison in his

distress did God punish him and kill him

and say no way sucker you had your

chance he prayed to God and God was

moved by his intreaty and heard his plea

and brought him home again to Jerusalem

and into his kingdom made him King

again and Manasseh knew that the Lord

was God it says and he led Judah to

Worship the Lord he repented and he led

them away from their idols and to

Worship the

Lord no matter how

you have undervalued people in your life

no matter what you've been a part of it

could be in Deeds or

words God

forgives don't repress it don't push

down there don't experience shame that

is not from God or condemnation that is

not from God bring it into the light and

receive forgiveness for how you have not

loved your brother or sister as

yourself how you've not done what you

should have done or done what you should

not have

done whether it's being involved in

abortion whether it's being involved in

abuse whether it's being involved in

mistreating siblings mothers fathers

friends

the person on the street just confess

it call upon the name of the Lord and

entreat him and he will hear

you and when we think about those who

are doing evil the two guys that

assaulted Durk we want Justice without a

doubt we want Justice

accountability but if God forgave King

Manasseh and he forgave me and you he'll

forgive those guys too their lives are

of value in God's sight as is each and

every person's and wouldn't it be Wonder

to start if we started seeing wouldn't

it be wonderful we started seeing such

people turn their lives to

Jesus and become Witnesses for

him I want to close with the prayer

again that I prayed yes last week from

the book of common prayer morning prayer

a prayer for

Mission because this is the true value

of each and every person as demonstrated

by God in Christ on the cross so let us

pray Lord Jesus Christ you stretched out

your arms of Love on the hard wood of

the cross that everyone might come

within the reach of your saving Embrace

so clothe us in your spirit that we

reaching forth our hands in love may

bring those who do not know you to the

knowledge and love of you for the honor

of your name

amen for