Deuteronomy 32:39 * March 14, 2010 * Life Sunday * Pastor Pagels

In the name of the One who died for us so that we might live with him forever, dear friends:

Today is a special day, but this is by no means the first time St. John’s has observed a Life Sunday. About this time every year we set aside a weekend to celebrate God’s gift of life. What makes this Life Sunday and this Life Sunday sermon somewhat different is that today we will be focusing on death, or to be more specific, “death with dignity.”

“Death with dignity.” Those words sound innocent enough, maybe even noble. Perhaps you have heard someone say something to this effect: “I don’t want to be a burden to others. I don’t want to suffer. The last thing I want is to spend day after day lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. All I really want is to die with dignity.”

It may sound good in theory, but what happens when people try to put the idea into practice? Unfortunately we know the answer to that question. The idea has been used to cut short an unknown number of lives around the world. Some estimate that the “death with dignity” movement is responsible for almost ten percent of all deaths in the Netherlands (where it has been legalized and practiced for years).

Closer to home Montana recently joined Washington and Oregon to become the third state to legalize physician assisted suicide. How long before the creeping tide from the West Coast reaches us in the Heartland? How long will it take for the exception to become the rule?

A person receives assistance ending his/her own life, while other people stand around and call it good. The practice isn’t new, but you have probably heard it described in other ways. It is called mercy killing or euthanasia (which literally means “good death”), but God’s Word has another word for it. It’s a sin, the sin of taking a life the Lord has given, the sin we call murder.

We live in a world where life is cheap, and that can wear down even the strongest Christians. We need days like today. We need Life Sundays. We need to be reminded that life is precious. We need to remember that every life is a gift. And so we shouldn’t take it lightly. In fact, we shouldn’t take it at all. This is the focus of today’s text. This morning the inspired words of Moses will remind each of us that…

MY LIFE BELONGS TO THE LORD

God speaking to his people through his prophet Moses declared: “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

They say that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. For most people the tax deadline is one month from tomorrow, but death is a little different. We don’t know exactly when we are going to die, and maybe that’s one of reasons we don’t like to talk about it.

Even if when we are going to die and how we are going to die is a mystery to us, it is still important for us to talk about death, for our own spiritual benefit and for the good of the people whose lives we touch. When Christians get involved in this discussion, when we speak about what it means to us to “die with dignity,” we need to keep in mind that this issue is first and foremost a First Commandment issue.

Earlier I described the human taking of another human life as murder (which it is), and when we talk about murder we usually think about the Fifth Commandment. That does come into play here, but even before a life is cut short, before the feeding tube is withdrawn or a lethal dose is administered, before any action is taken at all, the sin begins with a refusal to submit to God's will and a decision to put someone or something in God’s place.

For the children of Israel that something included any number of foreign gods. Our text comes at the end of Moses’ farewell song to God’s people, and for the most part Moses’ song wasn’t a happy tune. Even though he had faithfully led the people for forty years in the wilderness, even though he had placed them in the capable hands of his successor Joshua, Moses could see that there was trouble ahead.

Through Moses the Lord predicted that the people would fall away from God and fall into idolatry, and they did. Through Moses the Lord threatened that he would punish the people for their wickedness, and he did.

But at the end of the song the music changed. God gave his people hope. God promised to have compassion on them. God vowed that he would deliver them. And with the benefit of hindsight we know that he did. The one true God was their God, and he wouldn’t let his people forget it: “See now that I myself am He (he emphatically declared)! There is no god besides me.”

And God’s people say, “Amen!” We believe that. We believe that the God of the Bible, the triune God, is the one true God. We would never elevate anyone or anything above God. We stand with Luther and confess that we fear, love and trust in God above all things.

But the God who is above all things and in control of all things has also given us the blessings and advances of modern medicine. And when a person is asked to fill out a medical directive sheet or a living will, the lines can start to look a little blurry. And when the doctor asks you as the power of attorney for your loved one to decide whether or not they should go forward with a delicate and dangerous surgery, it can feel more and more like you are in control.

If you are ever placed in the difficult position of having to make an end-of-life decision, if you find yourself wrestling with those tough questions, would you have the right answers? Or maybe I should ask if you would ask yourself the right questions.

Here are some of the questions people ask: What do the doctors think I should do? What does the rest of the family think we should do? What would my loved one want me to do? If the feeding tube is kept in, won't that just prolong his pain and suffering? Should I give the go ahead for the surgery? What if it doesn't work and she dies on the table? And what if it does work? Even if she does survive, what kind of life will she have anyway?

These situations can be extremely difficult. If you have been there, you know what I’m talking about. There are no easy answers, but what is easy is to base these decisions on feelings and emotions. God’s Word speaks clearly and emphatically about the sanctity of all human life, but it is easier for people to place a value on life in terms of its perceived quality. Instead of looking up and asking what God would want, the temptation is to look within and think about what we would want. And if you fall into the trap, if you put the focus on yourself, if you listen closely you can hear the First Commandment break.

Selfishness lies at the heart of every sin. Selfishness lurks in the heart of every sinner. We may not be as in-your-face about it as Jack Kevorkian, but we are just as guilty. We put ourselves first. We put ourselves before everyone else, even before God. And the dangers associated with the “death with dignity” movement are nothing compared with the death for eternity our sins deserve.

In these words of Moses there is a warning for God's people (and that includes people like us), but if we listen to God’s Word, if we look at it carefully, if we look beyond the warning we will also find a promise: "See now that I myself and He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal.”

From the moment he breathed life into Adam God has been bringing life into the world. You are living proof. The Lord knit you together in your mother's womb. According to his perfect timing the Lord brought you into this world. And the God who knows the exact number of hairs on your head has also determined the exact moment when you will leave. The day of your departure could be today or tomorrow or fifty years from now, but you don't need to worry about it. You don't have to worry about anything because God has everything under control.

He even takes credit for being the One who “wounds” and “heals.” God wounds us? Really? Yes. When God's people drifted away from God, the Lord allowed their enemies to make them suffer. Not just to punish them, but to make them see their sin and seek God's forgiveness.

Sometimes God treats his people the same way today. Sometimes he wounds us, sometimes he allows us to suffer, but his ultimate goal is our good. He wants us to see how much we need him. He wants to draw us closer to him. He wants to heal our wounds, and in Moses’ song we have God’s promise that he will.

Moses, however, wasn't the only prophet who spoke about God’s healing power. You might be familiar with another prophecy from Malachi. He uses the same imagery. He even uses the same Hebrew word when God promises his people: "For you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (4:2).

Those words are more than beautiful poetry. They are words of inspired prophecy, Messianic prophecy. The sun of righteousness is none other than the Son of God. Jesus came down from heaven to heal us, and in order to heal us Jesus had to die for us.

That death can be described many different ways, but the picture the gospels paint make it clear that it was a death without dignity. There was no dignity when an angry mob hit him and spit on him in the courtroom of Caiaphas. There was no dignity when he was stripped and beaten by Roman soldiers. There was no dignity when the world's only innocent man was crucified between criminals. There was no dignity when wicked men mocked him mercilessly. There was no dignity when he cried out in agony.

Jesus died a disgraceful death...to give us life. Life is precious to us because we are precious to God. Life has meaning for us because we mean so much to God. We live every day for him because of everything he has done for us. He has given us the gift of life. He has given us the hope of eternal life. He gives us faith to trust him and lips to praise him. He gives us hearts to love him and hands to serve him.

And on this Life Sunday he gives us something else. He gives us the assurance that we are safe and secure. Nothing can separate us from his love. No one can snatch us out of his hand. Because we belong to him. Because our life belongs to the Lord. Amen.