On this Good Friday evening, the year of our Lord 2005, we have gathered once again to recall for a few moments what our Lord did for the world so long ago.  We are well acquainted with the facts, and yet we continue to rehearse them, as we should.  Just as daily meals give us physical strength to live, so a regular recounting of the Gospel gives us spiritual strength to live.  Without food we will die, and without the Gospel we will die spiritually.

          And both physical and spiritual death are all around us tonight.  Consider for a moment what has happened in our country this past week as a fellow human being has been left to die, without food or water.  Like many of you, I thought the courts would uphold her right to live.  We were wrong.

          There are several perspectives this case has made us discuss:  living wills, family rights, government intervention, legislative authority, even the so-called "right to die," which I believe is simply a bias against life for economic or selfish reasons.  I believe the primary question is, who has the right to make decisions about life.  And I believe the real reasons many wish her dead are money and discomfort.  Hear what Pres. Gerald Kieschnick of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod wrote:

          "As Christians, we believe that assisted suicide (euthanasia) fails every test by which history judges the compassion and morality of a society.  We believe it degrades the ethics of medicine.  Judging from various news reports, it does not appear that Ms. Schiavo has entered irretrievably into the dying process.  Therefore, administering food and hydration would belong in the realm of ordinary care and should not be withdrawn.  Removing Terri's feeding tube will not allow her to die, since she is not dying.  Removing her tube will, in fact, cause her to die.

          "This court struggle has the potential effectively to legalize and set a dangerous precedent for this type of killing in our country, a precedent that would have profound effects on our culture as a whole.  Our society is shaped by the value we place on human life.  If we believe that the life of every human being is of special worth, we will choose to treat each person with care and respect.  As we face often-difficult end-of-life issues, our aim must be, always to care, never to kill.

          "As Christians, in particular, we understand that God has created civil government so that His creation, and especially His gift of human life, would be preserved and protected.  We understand that it is our duty as citizens to help our government fulfill this responsibility, especially in a democratic society, when legalized assisted-suicide is being publicly advocated.

          "The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod [believes] that human life has measureless value at every stage of development and consciousness, for every individual is known and loved by God.  Every human life is created by God, a life for whom Jesus died to buy us back from sin and death."

          Tonight a majority of our nation is saddened by steps have not been taken to help her live.  What has happened may indeed be legal, but it is not right.  It does not show value for life, rather shows a devalued life.  This is but one step closer to America becoming like the Netherlands where doctors routinely assist the deaths of young and old, determined by their worth to family or society.

          Our Lord Jesus, in the week before He died, said these words, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."  Despite all the arguments about human rights, the Bible tells us to care for people, to help them in their distress, to feed the poor, and to care for the sick and the dying.  May God help this poor woman who has become a pawn in the unjust struggle between those who want to legalize ending life and those who want to uphold it.

          Tonight is Good Friday, the day we recall the greatest injustice in human history.  What they did to Jesus was legal, but it was neither moral nor was it right.  His accusers fabricated reasons why He should die.  They justified what they were doing and appealed to the masses for support.  High Priest Joseph Caiaphas summarized the attitude of self-centeredness when he said, "It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish!" (John 11:50)

          There it was - the death of an innocent, so the masses could benefit, one man deciding what was best for all.  The logic sounds too familiar.

          The more we read and hear the news, the more it seems wickedness is on the rise.  This past week another school youth went on a killing spree.  One murderer was sentenced to death, and another had his sentence commuted.  A small girl was found assaulted and murdered.  Hollywood is coming out with four major horror movies.  A man was sentenced to prison for killing an animal.  Nothing makes sense.

          Holy Week always sees human horror take center stage.  This is proof of what Jesus said about "the increase of wickedness."  Contrary to Madison Avenue, Holy Week and Easter are not about sunshine, pastel colored eggs or Easter bonnets.  It's about the life and death of an innocent person.  Jesus died for a world like ours.  He died for the horror and injustice of humanity.  He was crucified by people who didn't know what they were doing.  And we today don't know what we are doing any better than they did back then.

          I realize there are those who will disagree and say I'm too pessimistic.  Others will be dismayed I'm bringing a national event to a Good Friday service.  But unjust death should be on our minds tonight.  Question is, will we face reality this Good Friday, or continuing living with our heads in the sand of popular opinion?

          A few years back one of my colleagues wrote a message he called, "EASTER or EASIER?"  His concept was that with the addition (or removal) of a small line above the "I", the word changes completely.  Do we Christians live the "EASTER" life or do we seek to live the "EASIER" life?

          We enjoy our modern life.  We like conveniences.  We do not like to have negative things get in our way, whether it's the drudgery of life or sometimes even a life itself.  We want what we want when we want it.  As evil spreads in the world, it is very easy that love should grow cold.  We're realizing that modern technologies and inventions are not helping humanity as we had been promised.  Maybe we should stop trying to make life "EASIER," and more like "EASTER," when Christ lived the truth and did what was needed.

          Christ did what was necessary, not what was simple.  He did what the world needed.  He gave His life as a Savior who walked a road littered with the rocks of discontent.  He did not justify wrongdoing, nor did He live on pain relievers.  He did not dodge pain, but endured it, knowing the end result was worth it.  He chose the path called EASTER, not the one called EASIER.  So should we.

          Dear friends, like Christ, we are called upon to take the high road, the one that often goes against public opinion, the road our Lord shows us.  Trust in Jesus, not the cleverness of man.  Jesus endured the pain in order that we might have the gain.  May we all quietly rejoice tonight in what He did for us, and then follow Him.  And as injustice fades into memory, may we continually value human life in all its forms, and all its stages of development.  Amen

Copyright © 2005 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.