I am preaching in Auburn on Sunday – a late notice line-up change due to a positive Covid test for the planned preacher.  Without a lot of time to think about it, I have decided to wade into the waters of current events and cultural change.  Specifically, my preaching text will be 2 Timothy 2:14-3:9 wherein Paul admonishes his young protégé Timothy to avoid irreverent babble and ruinous arguments about the issues of the day.  But he also tells Timothy to be clear about what Scripture teaches in hope that the babblers and the arguers might repent of their erroneous beliefs and so escape the snare of the devil.

We are to avoid the babblers and the arguers, but say enough that the truth might be heard.  Maybe easier said than done.  The issue that comes to mind is abortion and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down Roe v Wade.  You may have heard of it. We’ll see how the sermon goes.  If you are not in Auburn on Sunday, you will be able to find the recording of the service here.

As I have been preparing for Sunday, I came across a Tweet in my Twitter feed that seems to speak to the issue at hand:  From Twitter threads to whispers under the breath in public places, from classroom to workplaces to dinner table to church lobbies, contempt has become our common cultural language and we are all fluent, one way or another. To speak and be heard in the deafening noise of the polarizing issues of our day, contempt is the only microphone available. To be nuanced, generous, balanced, and kind is to go unheard and ignored. So, we enter the fray, to our own peril.  This is especially true when it comes to politics.  Jay Kim. The Analog Christian.

For a long time, I have tried to frame any discussion of abortion around three concerns:  personal conviction, pastoral care, and public policy and practice.

Personal – not private or subjective; conviction – not opinion or feeling.  The Scriptures, church history, and our denomination’s position are consistent and clear: abortion is evil. I believe this to be true.

Pastoral care – pastoral care is not limited to the work of those who lead congregations and preach on Sundays.  It is the concern we in the church have and express for those in need.  Our response to women (and men) who choose abortion must be compassionate.  We must provide care and support through pregnancy, birth, and beyond to parents and child.

Public policy and practice – in a healthy liberal democracy, public policy and practice will not and should not always align with my personal convictions, though it should always provide space for our expressions of pastoral care.  The Dobbs decision does not outlaw abortion, but It does allow states to impose varying degrees of restriction on or license for abortion.  Abortion is not going to end in any state no matter what legal restrictions are imposed, and legal license does not mean moral rightness.  As citizens we have much work to do in the forming of public policy.  We won’t all agree on the outcomes of our work, but it is work we must do.

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels,” Paul advises Timothy.  (2 Timothy 2:23)

Paul goes on to tell Timothy that he “must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

Avoid ignorant controversies, be kind to everyone, patiently endure evil.  Teach and correct with gentleness. Let God do what God might do.

I’m still working on the sermon for Sunday.  And I’m still trying to learn how to avoid the language of contempt.