What are you for?

We've just, for this year, scrapped the usual Advent Lectionary (as far as preaching goes) and are taking some time with some of the major (and minor) players in the Infancy Narratives. Matt preached today on Zechariah (excellently by the way, hope you'll check it out), next week I'll cover the Visitation and then Advent 3 Matt will probably talk about Joseph. Not that the regular Advent readings aren't good and beneficial, but our congregation hasn't heard these major stories and we wanted to catch them up.

And I know it was a really excellent sermon because it was brought home to me on a whole new level (I trust by the Holy Spirit) just how absolutely foul and vile abortion is. If you link to the sermon you will note that Matt is not preaching about life issues at all, he talks almost exclusively about Zechariah and his obedience/lack of faith etc. But the subtext (in Scritpure itself) about life and babies and women m'a vraiment frappe (cliche's always sound better in French, I think).

That God, first of all, should choose to move creation and humanity forward by means of conception, pregnancy and birth should be enough for us to honor this process and each life it produces. But that he should then choose this same method for saving humanity from certain eternal perishment takes it to a whole 'nother level. John the Baptist was set aside and chosen to be a prophet even BEFORE he was concieved.

The current Episcopal church crisis over homosexuality and the Scriptures is certainly reason enough to leave (for Any Believing Denomination, for heaven sake, just get out!), but I am convicted today and deeply sorry for my own sin in staying in a 'church' that supports the even more foul crime of killing God's most beloved--babies. May God have mercy on us all.