I Favor Life

The sanctity of human life has been emphasized during this past week. Many churches celebrated, “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday” on January 16; others today, January 23. Thousands participated in a “March for Life Rally” in Washington D.C. this past week on the 21st. And, close to our hearts, we remember the passing of our son, Peter (January 28, 1996), during this week. He was with us for almost 23 years, living through cystic fibrosis and a double lung transplant. The following text is from a devotional that I gave on January 19, 1997 on Pro-life Sunday at Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church, Hudsonville, Michigan.

Terminal illness was injected into our lives in 1973. Marlene and I were twenty-nine. Stephen was three. Peter was nine weeks old. Being forced to deal with the incurable disease of cystic fibrosis caused me to ask new kinds of questions, "What's a life for? What is the purpose of a life that will have to struggle with a chronic illness?"

I remember thinking, "If we are not raising a child to be able to live a useful and productive adult life, what are we raising him for? What is the use of raising a child if he will not live to adulthood?"

The question haunted me. "What's a life for if it is not for leading a productive adult life? What do you plan for? What are your goals?"

Peter once told me that he didn't think he would make it through high school. (By the way, as a teenager, I didn't think I would make it through high school either, but that was for a different reason.) Peter wondered whether he would live that long. But he did graduate from Unity Christian High with three scholarships, scores of friends, and admiration by the staff.

What about college? What is college for? Why go to college if it seems unlikely that you will complete it and get a decent job? Peter graduated from Calvin College with a B.S. Degree in Computer Science, earned the degree while going through increased illness, while experiencing extended hospitalizations, and while toting along oxygen tanks during his final three semesters. But he never held a job as a result of his college education and never had clearly-identified career goals. What was his college education for?

When his lungs became too diseased to continue to function, Peter underwent a double lung transplant. New lungs--lungs from someone who died as a result of a self-inflicted handgun accident. What were those new lungs for?

Peter's life was prolonged because of the gift of someone else's lungs. His life was extended by five months--months where he rode a bike once, jogged alongside me once, helped with computers at Marlene's, Stephen's, and my schools for one week. But he never had a regular job. We never got any financial pay-back from those Christian school and private college education expenses.

The question remains, "What were all these things for? Why raise a child who is only going to die? Why give all this support? Why spend all this money? Why not terminate a life like this before birth? What was this life for?"

When dealing with the "what is life for" question as a twenty-nine year old parent, I discovered that I was asking the wrong question. The question cannot be, "What's a life for?" The question must, rather, be, "Who is a life for?"

Answering the question, "Who is life for?", gives meaning, direction, and strength to our lives. To the question, "Who is life for?", we simply answer, "Jesus Christ."

So the issue is not "what" but "Who," and once that is resolved, once that central issue is settled, God's grace is sufficient for each day.

When we conclude that life is not first of all for ourselves or for others, but first of all for Christ and for the glory of God, then we can see each life and each moment of life as a treasured gift--whether sick or well, broken or whole, diseased or healthy, short or long. Once we come to grips with the "for Who," (or to satisfy the grammarians among us, once we come to grips with the "for Whom") we can deal with any life or death situation.

When we honor Christ, we honor life. We are then able to live by standards that are different from the world, kingdom standards. These are the standards of a God who thinks differently than we do about days and dollars and duties. Once we commit to kingdom standards:

• we live each day for Christ, one day at a time;

• we hope, not in ourselves, but in God's grace;

• we view each life as precious and valuable in God's sight;

• we determine to find richness and joy in each life, regardless of age or condition;

• we recognize that basic spiritual values take priority over financial and vocational success;

• we find our personalities transformed as a result of our responsibilities, commitments, and sacrifices;

• we pray for and receive strength, courage, endurance, and persistence;

• we become a source of strength and help to others as a result of what we have learned;

• we have a better understanding of salvation because of a new appreciation for what it meant for God to give His Son.

The challenge for us now is to live for Jesus Christ. It's a really basic issue. Not what to live for, but Who to live for. We live for the One Who cared about the sick, hungry, lame, blind, discouraged. We respect the lives of the unborn, the chronically ill, and the elderly. We remember that Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you serve the least of these, you serve me."

And, oh yes, for me, belonging to Jesus means being pro-life. Peter would want me to tell you that he filled out the organ donor form on his driver's license, and you should, too.