Heavenly Father, as we come to you on this Sunday when we acknowledge, in a special way, the Sanctity of Human Life, we remember that you – the Creator and sustainer of all life – have revealed yourself as a God of grace and a God of justice.
- You are merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
- But you are also a God who refuses to take a position of neutrality when it comes to matters of justice.
- You have revealed yourself as One who stands with the oppressed and against the oppressor.
- And Lord, we rejoice at the ways in which we’ve seen your justice take hold, to a greater degree, in our society.
- This week – as we honored Martin Luther King on one day and inaugurated our first black President on the next – we were powerfully reminded of how far you have brought us as a society on issues of racial justice.
- When our President was born, not so long ago, a battle was raging in this land to determine whether he should be allowed to sit in a classroom with his white contemporaries.
- Today, he sits behind a desk called Resolute, in the Oval Office.
- Indeed, you have shed your grace upon this nation.
- We pray for President Obama, his administration, and his family. Protect his life. Give him wisdom. Bring him wise counselors, and give him the discernment to sift the wise from the foolish.
- We know that the king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord, and you direct it as a watercourse. Direct our President’s heart toward righteousness, and cause him to lead our nation in that way.
- As we pray for him, and as we thank you for what his presidency represents, our faith is emboldened to pray for justice on behalf of the unborn.
- You have changed the hearts and minds of this nation with regard to racial equity and racial justice.
- We pray today that you would open our eyes, change our hearts, and give us the courage to apply the same to the unborn.
- We must confess to you, Lord, that our laws and our practices in this area are unjust.
- But just as Martin Luther King refused to believe that the bank of justice was bankrupt for America’s citizens of color, we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt for the unborn.
- We refuse to believe this
- not because we see morality gaining ground in our culture everyday,
- not because we believe in the inherent goodness of the American people
- not because we believe in our own capacity to come together and effect a historic change.
- We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt for the unborn because you are a God of justice.
- You have revealed yourself as Father to the fatherless and a defender of widows.
- And though this world will always be filled with injustice, you have promised to work righteousness and justice on behalf of all who are oppressed.
- Do this on behalf of the unborn, we pray!
- Even as we pray for justice to prevail, we repent before you for the sin of 50 million abortions.
- These are staggering numbers; 50 million people, created in the image and likeness of God.
- As a nation, we have defied your rule and made an idol of our own self-determination.
- As your people, too often we have remained silent. Too often we’ve looked the other way as if this wasn’t happening all around us.
- Too often when we have spoken, we’ve spoken words of self-righteous indignation rather than words seasoned with your grace.
- Would you teach us to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly as it relates to this issue?
- And Lord, how we thank you that there is forgiveness for the sin of abortion
- We thank you that any in this room who have participated in abortion are forgiven of this sin and bear it no more if they’ve placed their faith in our merciful Savior.
- Thank you that though you are a God of justice, you have poured out justice on your Son so that we can receive mercy.
- You have been merciful to a rebellious and sinful people.
- You have opened our eyes to historic injustices.
- We ask you to open our eyes to the injustices of today, and have mercy on us as a people.
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