Are We Better?

Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, today we commemorate the forty-sixth gruesome anniversary of the SCOTUS ruling in Roe v. Wade that declared abortion a constitutional right. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens have been slaughtered as a direct result of that ruling. Some of us have actively protested outside abortion clinics. Some of us have engaged in social media campaigns. All of us have prayed against this sin, and have sought to flee from it in our own lives and discourage our friends from even considering it. But here's the thing: Our opposition to this crying sin, this moral disaster, cannot come from a place of self-righteousness. I read just yesterday that when abortion clinic workers quit, they generally face stigma and hatred from two groups: their former coworkers, on the one side — and pro-life Christians, on the other. Brothers and sisters, what does that fact tell us? It tells us how easy it is for us to fall into an us vs. them dichotomy in our thinking. It tells us how easy it is to speak against abortion to our church friends who already agree with us — and how hard it is for us to recognize that our sin is no better than their sin. Brothers and sisters, our text this morning is simple. I simply want to look for a few minutes together at Paul's hard-hitting question: "What then? Are we better?"