Respect All Life

I pastored a church that had a parsonage directly behind the church offices. It was convenient for me because a sidewalk connected our back door with the back door of my office. It was convenient for the church because we shared a back yard and that meant I would keep it mowed, along with the yard in front of the office.

One day I was walking the yard in preparation to mow and I noticed a small hole in the ground about the size of a man’s fist. When I investigated the hole I saw that there were four baby rabbits in it.  I knew they were too small to survive on their own.

I called the local veterinarian and she explained how the mother leaves them and checks on them at morning and night.  She said they would probably be fine. The hard part came after I mowed around them. The children found them and I had to keep them from playing with the baby rabbits.

The veterinarian was pleased with our concern for the rabbits. Their family soon became involved in our church. She told me later that anyone who cared for the welfare of wild rabbits would also be concerned about the welfare of her family.

This week we observed another anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It is a sad reminder that our generation has lost their respect for life. I think about the mass shootings and terrorist acts that have taken place in the last couple of decades. The blame that goes around includes guns, medications, and radical religious ideas. No one blames a culture of death that trivializes the termination of the least among us. It is time for us to stop and remember that life has value and is worth living.

Respect for life is about respect for all life. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the sky…your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”(Matt. 6:26 HCSV) Jesus valued life. Respect for life means that we value and honor life.

Bro. Robin

The Cost

We have a tradition at Christmas that we started a few years ago. Joyce makes everyone new pajama pants and we wear them with a t-shirt of our choice all day on Christmas. It is again that time of year and we are all picking out our flannel for the pants. Joyce told me that she had found the perfect one for me so one afternoon we were off to the fabric store. She was right. It was black with deer heads and I liked it.

We took the fabric to the counter and they measured out three yards. There was only another three-fourths of a yard left so Joyce said she would take it and they told her she would get an end of the bolt discount. The attendant punched in the numbers and on her screen was a total of 3375.000 yards at $5.99 a yard for a grand total of $20,216.25! The machine quietly and automatically added the numbers to the paper receipt along with the words, “Reason: End of Bolt Discount.”

Joyce looked at the screen and said, “Ummmm…ma'am, I think there is a mistake. I only wanted 3 yards of flannel for pajama pants. That's rather high…”

She then looked at me, laughed, and said, “I love you honey, but not that much.”

We have all had a good laugh as we shared this story with our friends. Some have asked for pajama pants for their families. We could clothe everyone we know with that amount of cloth! Others have said it was a good thing we got the discount. I thought about it later and remembered the words of a chorus:

“He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

(Ellis J. Crum)

Paul said: “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors…” (Romans 8:11b-12a NKJV)

Jesus looks at our sin debt and He does not laugh or dispute the cost. Jesus loves us that much and more.

Bro. Robin