Do not murder

Well, Lord, you know our hearts.

You see through this body of flesh,

and you see the imagination, the inclinations of our hearts.

And Lord, as this song says, you know how messed up we can be,

that we can leave and we can be prone to leave the God that we love

and the God who loves us and who's done everything to save us.

Lord, help us in our need.

Help us in our brokenness.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So just this week, I received a phone call to pick up a package that I had ordered.

And so I thought I had the option to just have it delivered to my place

or I can just go pick it up.

And I thought I'll just, if I go pick it up now, I'll have it sooner,

so I'll benefit from it.

I'll just go pick it up.

That's fine.

You don't need to deliver it.

So I leave.

And I live in Vanier.

So if some of you know what Vanier is like, you'll understand what I'm about to say.

So I leave my house.

About one minute after I left my house, I'm still in Vanier.

There's a lady who comes up to me.

And I'm in my car, but she comes up to me.

And she's probably mid-50s.

And so she's dressed up in a bathing suit top.

It probably cost about 10 cents to make.

It's very, very small.

And she has these jeans that goes up here.

So I'm just wondering what's going on.

And that's not everything.

She has a big gas tank or gas can in her hands.

And she comes up to me and she says, can I get a ride?

And I'm just like, I thought I saw, I thought I knew I didn't see, I've never seen everything that has to be seen.

But this is something else.

Anyway, she comes up and she's very insistent.

So I'm like, okay, just get in.

She's like, I need a ride to the gas station just down the road.

And she's already in my car.

And I'm like, well, let's just go.

It's not far, right?

So I drive her there.

And she's explaining to me how her car is out of gas.

And how I'm probably thinking that she's a hooker with a gas can in her hands.

And in my head, I'm like, well, yeah, sort of.

But no, no, it's okay.

It's fine.

I understand.

I'll drive you there.

So I drive her there.

And once we get there, she thanks me.

She's very grateful.

And she says, God bless you.

And so I say, God bless you, too.

And then she says, your good deeds will come back to you.

And I'm like, we were there.

God bless you was good enough.

You didn't have to say your good deeds are going to come back to you.

I don't believe that.

It's not true.

But anyway, I left that place.

And just thinking about what she said, your good deeds will return to you.

And so I go pick up my package.

And I get there.

And I didn't bring my number, the little code that you need to have to pick up your package.

I deleted the call that they gave me, the voicemail that they left.

I deleted it on my phone.

I didn't have it with me.

And so I'm there.

I drove out a little while.

I thought it would be a good drive.

Didn't pick up my package.

I was pretty frustrated.

And then I was like, well, you know what?

I'll just redeem my trip out of my way.

So I'll go to the store and pick up this thing that I need.

Wasn't there.

I thought I'd just go grab a slice of pizza right next door.

Well, it turned out that I would have to drive about two miles out of my way because of all the one ways to get to that restaurant, which I could see from where I was parked.

Anyway, if this was a sci-fi movie, I would have taken on my huge blasting gun thing.

And I would have just, like, destroyed something.

I was so frustrated.

So, with a story like this, it might seem a little bit odd that we're going to look at one of the commandments, the sixth commandment on you shall not murder.

But I think there's something pretty insightful when we look at the Bible.

So let's look at that.

If you have your Bibles with you, you can turn to Deuteronomy.

We'll look at the Ten Commandments.

And we'll look at the sixth one today.

You shall not murder.

Sorry, just flipping over here.

Okay, so with the opening words of the Ten Commandments.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall not murder.

So we come in a place in the Ten Commandments.

We're doing a series in the Ten Commandments.

And we come to this place where it might seem a bit strange.

You shall not murder.

As Canadians, we think, you know, we're not murderers.

The murderers are over there.

And that we're fine.

And this might not apply to us.

And so what we need to do with this commandment is that we look at the first few commandments that teach us to love God with all of who we are, all of our being.

We love God.

And now we love our neighbor as ourselves.

And part of loving our neighbors is not murdering them.

That seems to go without saying.

And in fact, when Israel received this commandment, they weren't the only ones in the land where they believed that murder was wrong.

Their neighbors also believed that murder was wrong.

But here's the difference.

How do we define what is murder?

See, their neighbors might have had their definition of murder.

But they were commanded not to murder.

So you would think things are all right.

Correct?

I was having a conversation with a co-worker about what is right and what is wrong.

And in that conversation, when I asked them if they could define what is right and what is wrong, they started telling me what they believed.

And so they said, you know, stealing is wrong.

Murdering is wrong.

Lying is wrong.

And so I said, you're saying like the Ten Commandments, right?

Like, is that what you're trying to say?

And they're like, no, no, of course not.

But isn't that pretty obvious?

Like, isn't that what our society believes?

We hold on to some of the things of the Ten Commandments because they seem so true and so proved in time and in history.

So in looking at this commandment, how do we define murder?

How do we understand murder in the Canadian context?

Those are questions that we're going to look at today.

So first of all, it's not hard to convince people that murder is wrong.

We can build a lot of bridges with people in our culture that murder is wrong.

And even in Canada, we have laws that provide consequences for murder, despite the fact that they might be a little bit loose if we look at what the Bible says.

But anyway, in a time when we're trying to avoid referring to the Bible, it's hard to come to a good conclusion of what is right and what is wrong.

And in a time when the culture is shifting so quickly and deciding to put the Bible in a box or put it beside and not refer to it, it's difficult to come to a true understanding of right and wrong.

And so when we open the Bible and we cross-examine our Canadian laws and what the Bible says, we'll probably come into a contradiction or some tension.

And in fact, if we really look at it, we'll quickly see that in our age of moral relativism, there's a lot of conflict with what the Bible says.

So, first, let's define what is murder.

If I can have the first slide, please.

So, murder, according to the Bible, is the act of killing a human being for personal and illegitimate reasons.

The fruit of withholding forgiveness and harboring anger.

Can we say that together?

Let's just read that together.

Murder is the act of killing a human being for personal and illegitimate reasons.

The fruit of withholding forgiveness and harboring anger.

Just last week, I was in Toronto and I was reading the news and there was a man in Peterborough, as you probably heard the story,

who got into some road rage with a cyclist and got out of his truck and took a bat and started beating the man.

And the other man was full of blood on his head.

He was so angry that they both couldn't come to a right understanding of how they should divide the road and how they should drive and share the road together.

And his anger led to that.

And so, when we take revenge into our own hands and we continue that flow of anger that starts in our heart,

the conclusion, the logical conclusion of that is death, is taking death away or taking life away from the person.

However, the opposite, withholding revenge, invites God into our circumstance.

How tangible is the presence and power of God in our lives when our perpetrator expects retaliation, yet there is nothing, there is no retaliation but forgiveness.

How powerful would God seem when we withhold revenge and show forgiveness?

See, taking revenge in our hands is easy, but it does never repair the damage or the hurt that's already created.

And so, we see here that the Bible defines murder as killing a person for personal and illegitimate reasons.

And you might be wondering, well, what about things like war or capital punishment?

Well, we can't really go too deep into that today.

There are other things we're going to look more in depth.

But just very basically, the Bible says that capital punishment is a thing that can be done.

It's talked about in Genesis chapter 9.

Genesis 9 · chapter mention

And I was having a conversation with someone saying,

you can't be pro-life because you Christians believe in capital punishment.

I said, I never said that I believe in capital punishment.

Like, I don't know if I would want to apply that in our land these days.

But, so anyway, we got to talk about that.

And the person was saying that's inconsistent, being pro-life and pro-capital punishment.

But here's the thing.

If we don't value the life of an innocent person to the point where we would take away the life of the one who took it away,

doesn't that devalue the first life that was taken away?

Shouldn't there be a price that is paid?

And if there's no price, then the value of that life is reduced.

And so, what about war?

What about when two nations go to war?

Doesn't the Bible say, do not murder?

But then two pages later, it gives prescriptions on how to have war.

Isn't there a contradiction there?

Well, the Bible gives permission for nations to have the sword for justice.

So, when other nations try to destroy innocent people or try to abuse and oppress those who are vulnerable,

then another nation has the authority from God to come and establish his justice as long as they are following his path and following his rules.

So, trying to understand all these nuances, I'm just giving a little bit so that when you look at the Bible,

you'll be able to navigate through those pages in Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy.

When we try to look as Christians, and even for non-Christians,

how does the Old Testament provisions for these things apply to Christians now?

How do we understand that?

Is there a link there?

Is there no link?

A lot of Christians seem to say that there's no link.

How does that work?

Well, we have a commandment that says, you shall not murder.

And I'll give you this example.

When I was young, I loved to play with Legos.

And I loved it so much that I always tried to extend the amount of time I would play with Legos.

So, I'd always try to go later and later and try to push the boundary.

But my parents would say, put your Legos away at 7 o'clock because you need to sleep.

Okay.

So, I'd do that.

Now, what if they would have told me,

Jonathan, you have to put your Legos away before 7 o'clock when I was 15 years old?

It wouldn't have worked.

I didn't play with Legos then.

So, they would say, Jonathan, turn off the computer.

Turn off the video games at 10 o'clock or something like that, right?

But the principle underneath all of these laws that my parents would try to, you know,

maybe not that.

It wasn't that bad.

But that they would try to give me was to protect that sleeping time that I needed.

I needed rest.

I needed to protect that so that I wouldn't be so tired the next day.

So, the principle of Jonathan needs rest was translated at one age, put your Legos away at 7 o'clock,

and then translated to another age.

When I was older, turn off your computer.

Turn off this.

So that the principle is weaved in through this.

So, it applies throughout.

But it looks different.

So, I think this is similar to how we're going to look at you shall not murder,

which is the clear commandment, the clear principle, and is given specific applications.

And so, here we have specific applications in the Old Testament.

How does that look like in the New Testament times?

How does it look like for the church?

How does it look like for the church?

Well, so we're going to look at that.

But right before, I want to talk about the opening story

so that this will help us understand what comes after when we're looking at murder in our day and age.

So, thinking about the opening story, I was so frustrated.

I was so angry at the circumstance, the things that happened.

What produced my anger in the opening story?

What produced my frustration?

See, I imagined to myself that I would be a winner picking up my package.

I idealized a picture-perfect scenario without conflicts or errors.

See, I imagined, although it was going to cost me in gas and maybe a bit of time,

that, you know, I would go out for a drive and it would do me good.

You know, I can use a bit of a change of scenery from the downtown.

I could go out for a course and, you know, I would get my package sooner.

I would waste minimal time because I'm going to be efficient, right?

And I would do two or three things at the same time in the same trip.

And I imagined myself to be a winner at the end.

But here's the problem.

When things don't work my way, I feel like I was cheated.

I feel like something was robbed from me.

As though the universe now owes me something.

Or dare I say that God owes me something because I was a good boy this week.

See, I was good.

I was a good Christian.

I obeyed God.

I said no to some of the sins that I was able to see.

And, you know, doesn't God owe me?

And oftentimes in life, we'll look at the big picture of life and we'll say, you know, this is what life ought to look like.

You know, we'll do well in high school.

We'll go get ourselves a university degree.

Get a good job.

We'll have a good pension plan and good health care benefits.

And then we'll, you know, get a nice house.

We'll marry and have two kids.

And there shouldn't be anything that interrupts that plan because that's my goal.

Right?

And so, without even knowing it, without even noticing, we can refute the first three commandments by thinking in the depths of our hearts.

No, there isn't just one God.

I am one God too.

I am the master of my own destiny.

And no one can stop me.

No one can prevent me from achieving what I want.

And God will have to accept me for my reputation.

My name and my reputation will go on forever.

And no one dare prevent that.

So what is the logical conclusion of this mentality, of this line of thinking?

What happens when something interrupts this trajectory that we're creating, this plan that we have?

What if someone comes along the way and is a disturbance, very inconvenient to us?

Well, when one loses all sense of God's supreme authority,

they will take their destiny in their own hands, even at the cost of others' lives.

So here's the second slide.

Here's my second point.

Murder is an attempt to assume God's role as Lord and giver of life.

Murder is an attempt to assume God's role as Lord and giver of life.

See, when we try to tell God, no, you don't have any room in my life,

and that we're the ones who create the destiny of our lives,

and we don't allow God to have his word in it,

we can assume his role.

And the logical conclusion of that is that if anyone dares to prevent us,

we will take God's role in anger and in wrath against this person

and try to eliminate them from our lives,

even at the cost of their lives.

So let's look at what is considered murder.

And who is worthy to decide this?

So when Israel received this commandment,

I mentioned earlier that they had something in common with their neighbors.

But at the same time,

as their Canaanite neighbors believed that murder was wrong,

they also sacrificed children for the worship of their gods.

See, part of their worship was to offer their firstborn child

or some of their children to these burning altars.

They would place them on there so that the child would burn to death,

and that would be their form of worship.

And so when Christians today live in Canada,

they and their Canadian neighbors believe that murder is wrong.

But is there a parallel here?

Like in the days of ancient Israel,

are there things that Canadian law allows that the Bible would consider murder?

Is there a disguised form of worship in Canada

that demands the lives of the innocent?

So when we open the Bible,

we look at texts that just appear there.

We'll look through a book of the Bible,

and we're going to look at what the Bible tries to say.

And sometimes it maybe feels more positive,

and other times it feels more negative.

And as you've already noticed,

today we're going to look at murder,

and we're going to talk about some things that are quite dark,

and things that I believe that the devil would not want us to talk about.

And I would share from firsthand experience

that the devil doesn't want us to talk about these things.

And so let's just try to talk about things that involve life and death,

and how in Canada we might even support the killing of innocent human beings.

And so we're going to look first at abortion.

And I understand that some of you might not be pro-life.

You might not believe that abortion kills a human being.

And I understand.

I was there a few years ago.

I didn't really care.

I didn't really think about it.

And I didn't really try to understand.

So I understand where you're at.

So let's just, you know, if you can give me a few minutes,

we're going to look at a case for life.

And this might be the first time you hear this.

It might be the first time you hear a case for the pro-life position

as to why abortion is the killing of a human being.

So what is an abortion?

Is it actually killing a human being?

If you ever had a conversation about abortion,

you probably heard the slogan,

my body, my choice.

Now there's something very insightful about these words,

my body, my choice.

First, it says two things,

that science is important,

and that human rights are important to understand the issue.

When we talk about my body,

it talks about a scientific claim.

When we talk about my choice,

we're talking about a human rights claim.

So first, it says something about science and rights.

Second, it assumes a definite scientific position.

I've talked to a lot of people about abortion,

and I've talked to people,

and they would often say,

well, we don't know when life begins.

Well, the slogan, my body,

says that the pre-born child

is definitely the mother's body.

It's not saying that we don't know

if it's the mother's body,

we don't know when it begins or whatnot.

It's a claim.

It is a claim.

And the third is that it assumes,

if it is not the same body as the mother,

that it is not her choice.

If it is her body,

if the baby is the mother's body,

then it is her choice to do

what she wants to do with her own body.

If the baby is not the mother's body,

then, by implication,

it is not her choice.

That's just the logical implications

of what that claim is saying.

And so first, let's look at the science.

When we look at biology,

the claim is that an embryo or fetus

is no different than the mother's tooth or nail.

It is her body.

But is that really true?

Is that really true?

If we were going to go on

a crime scene investigation,

what would we look for

if we wanted to find the criminal?

We'd look for evidence.

We would look for pieces of hair,

handprints.

We would look for, you know,

maybe a piece of skin that got scraped off.

And what do we do with them?

We bring them to the lab

and we examine.

And we look at the DNA

because the DNA is unique

for every human being

and is the same in all of our bodies.

So I have one DNA code

that is throughout my body.

My nails have it.

My eyelids have it.

Everything.

Okay?

So if the baby is the mother's body,

then we should expect

that the DNA of the baby

is the same as the mother's.

So here's the thing.

When an egg is fertilized

by the seed,

there is a fusion

that creates a new human entity.

At that very moment,

there's no such thing

as a fertilized egg, by the way.

It doesn't exist.

The process is so fast

that instantly we have

a new human being,

a whole,

a distinct,

and a living human being.

But, and here,

continue with the rights claim.

So a claim that following,

a claim following

and depending upon the premise

to allow the killing

of a pre-born human being.

So if that is true,

then we cannot give

the right as a nation

to the mother

to take away,

or to the physician,

to take away the life

of their child.

You can look at

science textbooks,

even Dr. Christopher DiCarlo,

who came to do a talk

just last year,

I believe,

at Dig and Delph

at the Ottawa Little Theatre.

He's the professor

of bioethics

at the University of Toronto.

He will say that life begins

at fertilization,

and he's an atheist.

Christopher Hitchens

is an atheist.

He would say that abortion

is killing a pre-born human being.

So, just to give

a last illustration

about the argument

that we don't know

when life begins.

We don't know

if it's a whole,

distinct,

and living human being.

So let's suppose

that it's not clear.

Let's suppose

that we don't know

when life begins.

If you've been

to a construction site,

and they have to demolish

an old building,

they'll place DNA

in the building

and they'll have people,

you know,

put a,

sorry,

did I say DNA?

Sorry, dynamite.

Close.

They'll place dynamite

throughout the building

and then they'll

explode the building.

They'll go poof,

like you've seen

in the cartoons.

So,

let's imagine

that the person

who's in charge

of blasting the building

asks his fellow workers,

asks his fellow workers,

so do you think

there's anyone left

in the building?

And the person

comes back to him

and says,

well, I don't know.

Should we just go anyway?

Maybe.

Let's just do it.

See,

that would not pass, right?

That would not pass regulation.

You have to make sure

that there's someone

in there or not.

You have to make sure

that no one

is left in the building

before you blast it.

Because

we err on the side

of caution.

So,

if we don't know,

if we're not sure

if it's a human being

or not,

wouldn't we want to err

on the side of caution

in the mother's womb

to say that

we're going to

take away the life

of this entity

or not?

Wouldn't we want to be

more careful

than just say,

I don't know.

Wouldn't we want to

look at science

and see

if it is a human being,

if it is whole

and distinct

and unique?

So,

here's the next slide.

If I could have that,

please.

So,

abortion

is the intentional

and deliberate

killing

of a whole,

distinct,

and living,

pre-born

human being.

So,

I'm just saying

what science is saying

and even the Bible

says that,

that human beings

are human beings

in the womb.

That Jesus

was called Jesus

and Lord

when he was in the womb.

that John the Baptist

leapt for joy

in the womb

and the Holy Spirit

fills human beings

and he was filled

with the Holy Spirit.

So,

he was a human being,

little John the Baptist,

not born yet,

human being.

But,

when we look at science,

we know that

fertilization

marks the beginning

of a human being's life

and that from that moment on,

they are whole

because they have the DNA

to grow

into being

full-grown adults

and they are

distinct

because their DNA

makes them unique

and they are living

because they are growing

at a rapid pace.

So,

even if,

if you are

pro-life,

you might not be pro-life

in every case,

you're,

you're thinking,

well,

you know,

it is a compassionate answer

to some circumstances,

isn't it?

Like,

isn't it

the more compassionate thing

to offer

when,

say,

a woman was raped?

And I'll use that example

because that's usually

what people bring up.

And so,

we'll talk about that.

First of all,

rape is a horrible thing.

Absolutely horrible.

And as a nation,

we don't do enough

to prevent that.

We don't do enough

to punish that.

And so,

we should do a lot more

to punish the rapists.

But here's the problem.

What if the child

of the mother

who was conceived

by rape

was born,

was brought to term,

was born,

and,

and the mother

found out,

discovered,

or just thought

that the child

looked a lot

and reminded her

of the rapist.

Would it be okay

for her to kill

the child now

after the child

is born?

Of course not.

That would be wrong.

So,

what's the difference

between that

and a couple weeks earlier

or a few days earlier

or a couple months earlier

when the child

was in the womb?

Science says

there is no difference.

That they are

the same human being

except they're smaller,

maybe less developed.

Do we give more rights

to people

who are more developed

than others?

My nephew

is about this tall.

He's a little bit

quite less developed

than I am.

Do I have more rights

than he does?

No.

I asked this question

to a university student

who was clearly

on the football team.

He must have been

6'5",

350 pounds,

just a big guy.

I asked him,

do you have more rights

than I do?

No.

Just because you're bigger,

you're more developed,

you're probably older than me.

No.

That's not how it works.

So we can't base

our arguments

on those things.

So,

where am I here?

Yeah.

Okay,

so the question is,

if a mother delivers her child

and the child reminds her

of a rapist,

is it okay for her

to kill the child then,

after the child is born?

No.

Why would it be okay

before the child is born

if the child is the same?

So what is the difference

between a human being

in the womb

and one out of the womb

when we have already

established scientifically

that a human being

begins at fertilization?

Now,

some of you might have

had an abortion

because a medical practitioner

encouraged it to you,

saying that in order

to remove the cancer

or maybe an ovarian cyst

or different circumstances

maybe even alleviate

some cultural pressures

and maybe even to save

the mother's life,

that it would be necessary

to have an abortion.

Well,

I can't spend 20 minutes

to give a full case on that,

but there are medical practitioners

across the world

who will say

that there's never

an actual need for abortion,

that there are other procedures

that can take place,

but there's never actually

a need for that.

So,

if you have had an abortion,

Jesus can bring forgiveness.

Jesus can cleanse you from that

and send you off clean and free.

I was talking to a man

who,

you know,

big guy

in the streets of Toronto

about abortion

and he said,

you know,

like I had a girlfriend

back in the day,

he was,

I think he was 50,

he looked much younger,

but he said,

back in the 80s,

we had two kids

and,

well,

she got pregnant twice,

rather,

and the child,

she decided to abort

the children both times

and here I am today,

20 some years later,

and I was just thinking

about it last week

and,

like,

what do I do?

Do you think God

can forgive me?

The answer is

that there is good news,

that God is faithful

and just

to forgive us

our sins

when we come to him

and confess them to him.

So,

if that's you today,

if you've been through that,

you can confess it to God,

confess it to a friend,

I would be more than thrilled

to talk to you about that

and to go through

that process with you.

Now,

you might be wondering,

Jonathan,

are you saying that,

actually,

no,

I'll skip over here.

Sorry.

I know that this is an issue

that's on your mind

because it's coming up a lot.

What about euthanasia?

What about physician-assisted dying?

Some of you might be thinking,

why not help the people

out of their misery

if they have the right laws in place

with proper limitations

and safeguards?

It can be done safely, right?

So,

that's where we're heading

with our Canadian laws.

So,

in a culture

that used to consider

the needs of the vulnerable

and the dependent

people,

such as the young,

the elderly,

the suffering,

the disabled,

it's hard to believe

that when we can simultaneously

offer special parking spaces,

wheelchair accessible ramps,

senior discounts,

children's hospitals

to provide care

and alleviate possible barriers

to the more vulnerable population,

yet offer death

as an alternate solution.

at the same time.

So,

let me propose to you

a scenario.

Just recently,

I called the suicide helpline

for a friend,

but I want to create

a hypothetical situation here.

Usually,

when you call them,

they give you two options,

but we'll talk about three options.

First option,

they'll say,

I will equip you

so that you can talk

to your friend

and that you can counsel

your friend.

Second option,

you tell your friend

to call me

and I'll take care of it

and I'll talk to your friend.

But let's think

of this other option.

Bring your friend over

and we'll help them

out of their misery.

Wouldn't that be strange?

Doesn't that give you,

doesn't that make

your stomach twist?

That's what the laws

are right now

in Canada,

is that we want

to protect those

who are in crisis

of suicide

and yet at the same time

offer them death.

My friend,

who's a police officer,

came back from work

one day

when I was visiting

and said,

well,

I asked him,

like,

how was your day?

And he said,

you know,

I was on the highway,

gave a ticket

and brought three people

to the hospital

because they tried

to kill themselves.

And that's what we do

as a society.

We want to protect

those who are

thinking about suicide.

So,

it is a bit strange.

And when we think

of the word euthanasia,

in the original language,

it talks about

good,

you,

good,

death,

thanasos.

So it's talking about

suggesting a good death.

For some of us,

death might feel

like a compassionate solution

to a crisis

or undesirable situation.

But let's remember

what the Bible says

about death.

That the Bible teaches

that death

is not a solution

but an intruder.

And that death

will be completely

eradicated

from the created order.

If I can have

my second point,

please.

So death

is the emblem

of human rebellion

against God.

To side with death

is to side

against God.

who creates

and sustains

life.

So what do I mean

by that?

Death is the emblem

of human rebellion

against God.

In the garden,

when human beings

rebelled against God,

God cursed creation

and limited their days.

Death

was

on the earth

now

for the first time

because of human sin.

So death,

when we think

of death,

when we think

of human rebellion,

death should be

the first thing

that comes to mind.

death.

And to side

with death

is to side

with that human rebellion

against God

who creates

and sustains

life.

Now,

it is an awful reality

when suffering

is so difficult

and overbearing

that death

seems to be

a better friend

than the suffering.

suffering.

But in the Christian

worldview,

suffering produces

perseverance.

Suffering is something

that God uses

to create in us

his image

that

in our suffering

we are not

doomed

to destruction

but God

is there,

he's alive,

he's active

in our lives

to produce in us

something,

a new creation

that we've never seen

before.

And it can seem

helpless

and hopeless

especially when

the glory of this life

is what we live for.

See,

for the common person,

our hope is usually

centered

in the goodness

of life,

the things that

bring us

great joy,

maybe a particular

time of health

in our life

or a great achievement

or the breathtaking

experience

of beauty

and pleasure.

Those are the things

that we can

live for

and once

that seems

no longer attainable,

it seems like

the best option

is to cease

from existing.

But for the Christian,

our hope is centered

on the person

of Jesus

and his promise

to make all

things new.

And we are always

looking forward

to this future glory.

Paul summarizes

the future glory

in 1 Corinthians

and I'll read that.

For this perishable body

must put on

the imperishable

and this mortal body

must put on

immortality.

When the perishable

puts on

the imperishable

and the mortal

puts on

the immortal,

then shall come

to pass

the saying

that is written,

death is swallowed

up in victory.

O death,

where is your victory?

O death,

where is your sting?

The sting of death

is sin

and the power

of sin

is the law.

But thanks

be to God

who gives us

victory

through our Lord

Jesus Christ.

And so what we have

in this situation

of, you know,

you call the suicide

helpline,

we want to help

the person

who is thinking

of killing themselves

and offer

to kill the person

who wants

to kill themselves.

we have a contradiction,

a dissonance here

in the way

we perceive

the crisis.

But

euthanasia

or

assisted

or

physician-assisted suicide

lessens the value

of the life

and suffering

of the other person

in crisis

seeking help.

It lessens their life

and their value.

So here's

what I would suggest

is one of the

big problems

in our culture.

We often

weigh our lives

next to the

American dream

or the Canadian dream

and we lose control

or when we lose control

or independence

or we are abandoned

to loneliness

when we feel

indignity

or lose

our self-image

and feel as though

we are

burdens to others.

we

this place

we come to

a place of

struggle

where we

cannot

live up to the

expectation

that we set

ourselves

to live up for.

And so we strive

for success

in the eyes of the world

or people

that we seek

to please

whether it is

the best grades

at school

or a university

degree

a promotion

at work

a particular

lifestyle

and so on

so forth.

let's have

our next point

our next slide

our worth

is not measured

by our interests

abilities

knowledge

success

or relationships

but by the costly

death

of Christ

on the cross

there's a problem

there's a problem

in our culture

and that

wants us

lures us

to place our worth

in things

in activities

in different pleasures

and experiences

of life

but God is calling us

to put our worth

our value

completely on him

not half and half

completely

on the death

of Jesus Christ

when we think

of that value

of the life

of Jesus

that God himself

would die

to save

sinners

that place

is value

that is

far surpassing

anything

on this earth

and anything

that can try

to define

your worth

that the person

of Jesus

dying on the cross

for you

for me

to make us

right with him

so that he can have

us for all eternity

and that we can have

him

for all eternity

I'll read these words

of one of my

favorite songs

as of late

from

the Gettys

it's called

My Worth Is Not

In What I Own

My worth is not

in what I own

not in the strength

of flesh and bone

but in the costly

wounds of love

at the cross

my worth is not

in skill or name

in win or lose

in pride or shame

but in the blood

of Christ

that flowed

at the cross

as summer flowers

we fade

and die

fame youth

and beauty

hurry by

but life eternal

calls to us

at the cross

I will not boast

in wealth

or might

or human wisdom's

fleeting light

but I will boast

in knowing Christ

at the cross

and here's probably

my favorite line

two wonders

here

that I confess

my worth

and my unworthiness

my value fixed

my ransom

paid

at the cross

see when

when we try to

inflate

our worth

beyond

what we are

and try to make

ourselves into gods

or whether

we try to

deflate

our value

and our worth

and make

ourselves

like

I don't know

insects

and think that

we're no longer

we no longer

possess any worth

we look to

Jesus

we look to the cross

and we cling

onto Jesus

he's our only hope

he's the only one

who places value

on your life

on my life

and so let me ask you

what competes

with Christ

in your hearts

this day

to be the worth

of your life

and what competes

with

with that

that will make you

in five years

from now

believe it

believe the lie

and not hold on

to Christ

as the worth

of your life

if the gospel

grips you

are you willing

to surrender

your ideal life

to God

will you allow him

to move you

to inconvenient places

will you pray

for God

to show you

his power

in your weakness

let's pray

Father

we're thankful

that

that you are God

and that we don't have

to pretend to be

or try to

make ourselves

into God

but

that you are God

and

at the same time

you are holy

and you love us

you love us

more than we can imagine

Lord

even in the depths

of our sin

and our sinfulness

even though

we can't see it all

Lord

you see it all

yet you love us

and you sent

Jesus

to purchase

all of us

for all eternity

Lord

would you grip us

with that truth

Lord

would you help us

to come to you

when it's difficult

to seek forgiveness

for things

that we'd rather

keep secret

and to allow you

to do the mighty work

of cleansing

in our lives

Lord

thank you

for your love

would you grip us

with your gospel

this day

in Jesus name

Amen