Advent and the Pro-Life United Methodist

December 1, 2007 Pastor Harley Wheeler

Luke 1:43 "But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

This Scripture adds layers of depth to reasons that one is a Pro-Life United Methodist Christian. The respect that we give to scripture leads us to take up the voice of Elizabeth. She, speaking with the wisdom and insight that God has given her, declares the triple miracle that has taken place; her pregnancy, Mary's pregnancy, and the supernatural knowledge she has been given as to Whom is resident in Mary's womb. This scriptural 'gush' over the pregnancy of Mary and this declaration that the unborn messiah is an accomplished fact, even though He remains unseen, points us to a respect for human life in the womb.

Recently, I was emailed by a man in Missouri. His wife, who grew up United Methodist, read in Focus on the Family Citizen Magazine that the United Methodist Church was pro-choice in its official position. She felt that never hearing about this in all her years of attending a Methodist Church was a form of false advertising. The husband wondered how someone can stay in a church that is pro-choice concerning abortion.
Why did he email me? It seems that a Google search of "United Methodist Church stance on abortion" turned up the Thompson UMC website, where you will find some very pro-life statements!

Now picture these scenes:

1. A long -time Methodist feels shock at hearing her church called pro-choice.

2. Myself in 1990, reading with a fearful heart, my church's position in the Book of Discipline on abortion, and feeling a wash of relief because what I read there was a pro-life statement!

3. And somewhere, I am certain, a liberal clergyman reads that Dr. Dobson or one of our General Board officials called the UMC a pro-choice church, and he breathes a sigh of relief, since that statement in the Discipline must not be a real position.

That is the state of things in our church.

This is an issue that none of us can take lightly. We can feel our loyalty to the church rise or fall on what we understand that our church says on abortion. I am standing, admittedly with a sense of defensiveness, on my own interpretation of what is the definitive statement of my church on abortion on demand. I replied to my friend in Mo. with the following analysis of the UM statements on abortion.

The Discipline, para. 161J states that: "in continuity with past christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection."

It is instructive that paragraph 162C states "children are now acknowledged to be full human beings in their own right, but beings to whom adults and society in general have special obligations" (Children are not defined, and logically, an unborn human life is a child.)

It irks me to have the denomination called pro-choice, as I have heard conservatives and liberals describe it. You just can't take the pivotal staement above and call that pro-choice. If you define pro-life as opposition to ANY AND EVERY abortion, then very few of us are pro-life. That, in essence was my reply to the Mo. inquiry.

As an example, the newspapers recently reported that the Cleveland Browns placekicker, Phil Dwason and his wife were told by the doctors that her (third) pregnancy was in an either/or crisis; either the baby would have to be aborted or she would DIE. This is a rare and sad event. Happily, the brave doctors found a way to save her life AND her child's, but there you are, a tragic conflict of life with life. In this case, a doctor is morally obligated to lay all the options before the couple. A responsible democracy would not want to pass a law dictating that medical decision. I am very pro-life and I like the above statement in The Discipline very much, and I choose to use it to help define that corner of my moral theology. I am pro-life, and don't see how we could legislate the Dawson's decision for them. However, I am pro-life and I do believe that we need to enact legal protections for life in the womb.

The regard of the Savior's family for His living reality and worth in the womb, demands no less. That is what this advent reading says to me.