Telling the Life Story

God has given us His Word, and it is His desire for us to read, study, and meditate on His words to us. And, we can also speak the Word, declaring it boldly and making known His truth. 1st Chronicles 16 says:
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
25 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.

Some strong words there - we are instructed to "proclaim" and "declare."  We have the capability to speak God's truth, to represent Him and to share His wisdom in the situations of our life.  We can declare His faithfulness and in so doing, help others to see that there is a God who loves them and desires for them to know Him. We represent Christ in this earth, and He equips us in order that we may bring Him glory by our obedience.

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God may open doors for us to declare His truth, and when He does it, we can be prepared and empowered to do so. Our understanding of the past can direct our future. But, we have to stop living in the past. Isaiah 41 states:
21 "Present your case," says the Lord. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob.
22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come.

It has been a brutal series of weeks for those who are pro-life - and just yesterday, the U.S. Senate has confirmed a radical, pro-abortion state attorney general who tried to lock up pro-life journalists and voted in favor of partial-birth abortion while in the U.S. House.  And, that's just the beginning of his track record.  You have people in power who are promoting abortion, and doing so in part at taxpayers' expense.

The widespread legalization of abortion in America took that unfortunate step forward through the court decision Roe v. Wade, and there is a movie that has recently been released that looks into the details of the dreadful U.S. Supreme Court decision.  Movieguide.org recently ran a story on this new film that is named for the decision and offered quotes from filmmaker Nick Loeb.  The article says:

While abortion is one of the most polarizing topics today, Loeb hopes his objective look at the story will “change people’s hearts and minds.”

On Fox and Friends, Loeb said, “We wanted to make a movie that told the story of how Roe came to be and how it was really decided,” adding, “When I first went to go make the movie, and I had heard about Roe v. Wade, the first thing I thought was ‘Why would I want to make a pro-choice [movie], because really what everybody knows about Roe is the woman’s right to choose, but nobody really knows about the whole story of how it got there and how it was really decided.”

Loeb notes that the case was heard twice, and that two justices had members of their families working for Planned Parenthood at the time of the decision.

One of the key figures in the film is Dr. Mildred Jefferson; about her, Loeb says: “Dr. Mildred Jefferson was the first African American to graduate Harvard Medical School, if she was pro-choice today, everyone would have heard of her. But because she is pro-life and was the second president to National Right to Life, no ones heard about her.” He says that, “She was a huge force in the movement, to start the pro-life movement.”

In the article, Movieguide included a part of its review:

Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Dr. Mildred Jefferson square off in a national battle between the pro-life and pro-abortion camps. The movie seeks to uncover the truth about the landmark court ruling and reveal the various motivations, lies, and connections surrounding the event.

ROE V. WADE offers an ultimately powerful perspective on the 1973 court case by viewing it from Dr. Nathanson’s viewpoint, including how he went from being pro-abortion to being a pro-life Christian activist.

In another Movieguide article, Loeb is quoted as saying that Nathanson, whom he plays, "...made up statistics that they would then leak to the media to help change public perception. That was a big part of getting Roe passed and pushing the abortion movement forward. That doesn’t reflect great on the pro-choicers..." He also stated, “I really wanted to play Bernard because he resembles a little bit of me in my life. I am not a doctor or an obstetrician but I started off in life as pro-choice...Although my family is conservative, I grew up in New York and my father was, I think, socially liberal and pro-choice, just like many people I grew up with. I followed suit.”

Roe v. Wade is a pivotal decision in our nation, and while we know the basics, such the legalization of abortion, I am not sure how many people really realize the backstory.  Names such as Bernard Nathanson and Norma McCorvey, who was the "Roe" in the decision, are perhaps familiar regarding the case.  That's why we need to know history.  How did we get to the place where we are?  And, how can we take those lessons and move forward?  Telling the story is an important component, not to relive the past but to contribute to greater understanding and effective solutions.

As believers, we need to be emboldened to tell what God has done.  He has given each of us a story - of redemption, of faithfulness, even, as we will hear on today's Meeting House, of struggle and pain. We may be involved in an episode of a story right now, a situation in which the outcome is far from clear.  But, with Christ in our lives and our hope and faith in Him, we can trust that, as He has worked in the past, He is working to bring glory to His name in the future.