Produced by Lutherans for Life, Life Thoughts in the Church Year are designed to help pastors and congregations see the church year through the lens of the sanctity of human life. Life Thoughts are based on the appointed readings from Lutheran Service Book using the Three-Year Lectionary.
November 1 – Pentecost XXII (Proper 26A) – Abortion often offers cover for sexual immorality, like pre-marital intercourse, infidelity, and abuse. Forgiveness and everlasting life in Jesus Christ release us from enslavement to such lusts (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7). We get to engage our bodies in lives of holy worship to God and righteous service to one another. And since we share one Father (Matthew 23:9), we pursue purity not only for our own bodies but for each other’s, as brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
November 8 – Pentecost XXIII (Proper 27A) – Surprise pregnancies bring real burdens. Terminal diagnoses come with genuine hurts. But we need not grieve them like those who have no hope (2 Thessalonians 4:13b). Whenever anyone’s oil runs out, there Jesus our Lord arrives and intervenes (Matthew 25:6). Until then we encourage each other with compassion and courageously carry crosses together rather than seeking cheap escapes.
November 15 – Pentecost XXIV (Proper 28A) – Isn’t abortion at least a little like wrapping precious treasure in a napkin and throwing it in a hole? Isn’t assisted suicide literally burying unappreciated talents in the ground (Matthew 25:18)? Jesus warns it’s a one-way ticket to weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:28-30). But what joy awaits us when we receive both our lives and everyone else’s as a gift and expect that each will improve the other (Matthew 25:20-21)!
November 22 – Last Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 29A) – “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus has consecrated your life in His incarnation and crucifixion. And in the same way He has sanctified every human life, no matter what age, appearance, or ability. When we behold our unborn neighbors, when we care for incapacitated ones, when we advocate for embryos or elderly, we encounter God.
November 29 – Advent I – Restore us, O God (Psalm 80:7)! Restore us by Your humble coming among us. Restore our courage to speak for those vulnerable to using death as a solution. Restore our compassion to serve their survival and salvation as You have ours. Restore our congregations to welcome, receive, and embrace every human life. Restore our communities to accompany instead of abandoning. And restore our country to protect and provide for unborn and elderly.
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