A Day I Never Thought Would Come

I was born in 1979, just six years after the Supreme Court effectively made abortion the law of the land in Roe v. Wade. My entire life has been overshadowed by the legality of the vile practice of abortion. Since becoming a Christian in 1994 I have done whatever I could to help bring an end to this era of death. I have longed for it, prayed for it, voted for it, and raised money for it.

But, in retrospect, I realize I never saw a true path to ending it. I believed my efforts were faithful, but I never really saw how they could be fruitful. The deck always seemed stacked against reversing the decision. And then came this glorious day, June 24, 2022. A day which will be remembered in eternity as one of justice, righteousness, and faithfulness. It is a day so many of us have desired for so long. Roe v. Wade is overturned.

In a serious and tightly argued opinion that you should take the time read, the Supreme Court argued that its precedents on this issue have been based on rights never included in the constitution, weak legal arguments, and specious science. They state definitively, “All in all, Roe’s reasoning was exceedingly weak, and academic commentators, including those who agreed with the decision as a matter of policy, were unsparing in their criticism.” The Court’s decision ends with these words,

Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives. The judgment of the Fifth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

And there it is. It is so ordered. When I read those words, I wept. Roe is over. Abortion is no longer considered to be the law of the land.

But now what?

Let me suggest three things.

1. This Is a Time for Christians to Praise

Psalm 146:1 commands, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” That is a command we should always obey, but on days like today we feel the urgency of it more than normal. After decades under an iniquitous legal ruling, and after the massacre of over 60 million lives, God has given our country a precious gift.

Oh, how we must praise the Lord today. We must praise the Lord for this decision, for the lives it will save, for the wisdom of the court’s conservative majority, for the presidents who appointed them, and for the governors, lawyers, and attorney generals who fought this case all the way to the Supreme Court. We must praise the Lord for his faithfulness, justice, mercy, grace, and love.

This is a remarkable day, and we must praise God for it.

2. This Is a Time for Christians to Work

Christians should not be confused about what has happened today. This is an unmitigated and glorious victory, but it is not the end of anything. Now that Roe has been overturned our real work begins.

Christians must have growing passion to fund efforts to eliminate abortion through crisis pregnancy centers and other options. We must work to elect faithful men and women who will protect the rights of the unborn. We must labor to enact legislation and constitutional amendments at the state and national level to ensure that the laws of men reflect the Law of God.

The Supreme Court said clearly that theirs was the decision to, “return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

Ending Roe was the work of demolition. Now the work of construction begins. That work will happen state by state, election by election, person by person. And, Christian, that work begins now.

3. This Is a Time for Christians to Love

The enemies of life are going to make this fight ugly. This decision will be opposed ruthlessly with blades, fire, bullets, and blood. We need to brace ourselves for this.

But Jesus says that our weapon is love and identifies that love as how people will know we are Christians (John 13:35). As we enter into the darkness that will comprise the wicked opposition to God’s gift of life, we must ensure that we replace that darkness with the light of our affection and the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

We must love our opponents. We must love broken and desperate women who feel that the only hope they have is found in turning to an abortionist for care. They must see that the loving care of Christ is better, more tender, more faithful, and more life-giving than anything in the culture of death.

We must love the surviving children of abortion with our commitment to bring them into our homes and love them as our own.

We must love these precious people with mouths that proclaim freedom in Christ, and with arms that wrap them in an embrace of love, demonstrating what that love is like.

This is Just the Beginning

Roe is overturned. It is a glorious day. But our work is not over. By God’s grace, it is only now beginning. May he make us faithful as the work continues.