Rescue Those Being Taken to Death
I was asked to give the benediction and closing prayer at the Grand Traverse Area Right to Life banquet. This was what I said.
Good evening, everyone! My name is AJ Garcia and I’m the Teaching Pastor at West Side Community Church in Traverse City.
It has been such a delight to spend an evening with you all—sharing a meal together, laughing together, and praying together. Thank you to Ashley Moeggenberg and the Right to Life team for all that you do to protect life in Michigan. And thank you to everyone involved with putting this beautiful banquet together. Could we take a moment to show our gratitude for them?
As we leave, I’d like to offer a final thought from Proverbs 24:10-11. The author writes, “If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited. Rescue those being taken off to death and save those stumbling toward slaughter.”
When it comes to abortion, the right to life, and the dignity of the preborn person, do you think we are living in an easy time or a difficult time? It has never been easier for a mother to choose to terminate her child than it is today. We are living in a chaotic time that disregards the word of God and dishonors the goodness of God and dismembers those made in the image of God. Maybe you disagree, but I’d say the time we’re living in is difficult. The question is: What are we going to do about it? “If you do nothing… your strength is limited [or small].” Although it sounds like an observation, it’s more of a warning against inaction. This is a charge for the righteous to be courageous. It would be easy to do nothing. It’s difficult to do something.
What is the thing we are to do? “Rescue those being taken off to death and save those stumbling toward the slaughter.” Friends, to whatever degree of authority God has given you, that is the responsibility you have to protect against death and preserve life. Fathers, God has given you the authority in your home as the head of the house. This comes with a high responsibility to protect your wife and children from harm and to preserve them for holiness (as we read about in Ephesians 5). Pastors, God has given you the authority in your church as elders. This comes with a responsibility to protect your flock from wolves and teach what accord with sound doctrine (Paul teaches this in Acts 20 and Titus 1). And lastly, civil magistrates, God has given you authority in our land. This comes with a responsibility to “punish those who do evil and praise those who do good” (which is what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2).
What will you do? And in whose strength will you do it? The late great R.C. Sproul once wrote, “The Christian life requires hard work. Our sanctification is a process wherein we are coworkers with God. We have the promise of God's assistance in our labor, but his divine help does not annul our responsibility to work.”
What we do not need is more Christless Conservatism—we need Christ. We need Christ to strengthen his church to protect the vulnerable and to preserve that which is holy, beautiful, and good. Amen? Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, you are the Potter and we are the clay. Form us however you please; make us whatever you want; take whatever you’d like. We are so quick to forget your goodness; so prone to wander from your love. When we drift away and get distracted by lesser worldly things, would you draw us back? Thank you for the assurance of salvation, that you promise to keep us forever. Thank you that we have a gospel worth preaching. Help us not only believe the gospel, but love the gospel, and live the gospel, and give the gospel. We pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
