Evidence from early Christians shows that they had a strong belief in protecting the young and saving the newly born. Angie and Todd went for life in carrying their baby to birth.

I WILL CARRY YOU – CHOOSING LIFE
Wednesday, April 27, 2010
“There’re so many of them and they’re so young!” That’s what Nancy Keenan said to herself the day she happened onto this year’s March for Life. Ms. Keenan is the president of NARAL – a few decades ago they led the charge to make abortion legal.
(Swell)
This is Charles Morris . . .

When Nancy Keenan's train pulled into Washington's Union Station she stepped out into a mass of anti-abortion activists. It was the 37th annual March for Life on Jan. 22, 2010 -- the anniversary of RoevWade. She told Newsweek last week that she was bowled over by the numbers and by how young they were. The March for Life drew about 400,000 pro-lifers to the Capitol this year.
Miss Keenan is President of NARAL – a pro-choice organization whose leaders mobilized back in the 70’s – back when they were young. They made abortion a “women’s rights” issue and fought to make it legal. But that was then -- this is now. Now the tide is turning. Gallup polls show that 18-29 year olds are growing more and more pro-life. Only 24% favor keeping abortion legal for any reason.
Seeing 400,000 young people demonstrate in Washington put flesh and blood on those statistics – and needless to say, Nancy Keenan was dismayed to see this huge crowd of young people – passionately protesting against abortion.
I think it’s interesting -- this is the generation that was in the womb when the right to life was taken away. They were unprotected -- vulnerable to being aborted. It makes sense that they would be pro-life – that they would view abortion as a violation of basic human rights.
Demonstrations like the one in Washington are good. We need to give voice to the fact that the life of an unborn child should be a protected by law – that every human life has infinite value.
But there’s another way we can demonstrate how much a human life is worth. We can do it through love. We can show life-respecting, life-cherishing love – especially for those the world is willing to throw away. Not just little ones in the womb, but unwed mothers, people who’re broken by sin, washed out, handicapped, the elderly – anyone whose life doesn’t have much weight in the eyes of the world at large. We can demonstrate just how much weight their life has, just how much value it has -- through love.
As Christians we’re uniquely qualified to do this because we’ve had it done for us.
God has demonstrated to US just how much we’re worth to him. And it was a breathtaking demonstration.
Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God demonstrated his own love toward us. He demonstrated the infinite value we have in his eyes – even though we’re damaged goods. He demonstrated it to us through an extravagant act of love. As believers in Jesus, we’re meant to show the world the priceless value of human life. And we show it through love – sometimes through extravagant acts of love.
This week we’ve been talking to Angie and Todd Smith . . . Angie’s decision to carry her child to term was an extravagant act love.
(Play a clip from the first part of the first day’s program, a few minutes in, where Charles says, “Tell us a little bit about the uhh your story of having Audrey even though . . . ending where Angie says “there was no hope in that”. This is about a 2 minute 50 second)
There was no hope in continuing the pregnancy. But they didn’t abort her. Angie’s book is called “I Will Carry You.” She carried Audrey because she and her husband Todd knew that God could do a miracle – he could heal her.
But there was an even more profound reason. She carried Audrey because she loved her. She had her for just those few months she was in the womb -- but Angie’s love for her was no different than it was for her other three daughters. She had just as much weight – just as much value.
The doctors told Todd and Angie that Audrey probably wouldn’t come through a regular delivery in one piece – that she would be too fragile. So Angie decided on a c-section. Todd said she was just beautiful when she was born – with bright red hair like her mother’s. They brought her into the hospital room and the whole family treasured her for those two and a half hours she lived. Her three big sisters kissed her. Her father bathed her. They talked to her. They showed her off.
The nurse was coming in every few minutes to listen to her heartbeat which was slowing down. Finally it stopped. Their little daughter was gone -- to Jesus.
Everything Todd and Angie did was a demonstration of the precious value of that one little life – she wasn’t viable, she only lived 2 ½ hours, but her life had weight. She counted.
“I will carry you” is the title of Angie Smith’s book. But it ought to be the motto of the church. “We will carry you -- because Jesus carried us”. Jesus laid down his life for the least of us – for the ones who counted the least – for the broken and outcast – for sinners – for me and for you. And our calling as a church is to do for others what Jesus did for us.
Back in the early years of the church – as early as the first century—the church was caring for unwanted babies. This was in the days before sonograms – no one knew if their babies were going to be healthy until they were born.
But if they were born with any health issues – even if they weren’t the preferred gender – which was male of course – they’d be put to death. Sometimes by drowning. But, usually by an ancient practice called “exposure”. The baby would be abandoned in a remote, deserted place. They’d either be eaten by wild animals or they’d die from thirst or exposure. This was a perfectly acceptable practice under secular law.
But then came the early Christians.
Archeologists have found an usually large number of infant bones in the catacombs where the Christians used to meet to worship in secret. The reason? Christians made it a regular practice to rescue exposed infants. They looked for them and when they found them they brought them in and cared for them. The world threw them out like garbage. The Christians brought them in and treated them as something precious. Many of the babies died because of being exposed or because they were just sickly or handicapped to begin with. But if they lived, they were brought up and supported through the funds of the church.
The Jewish religion had long considered infanticide to be murder. But the Christians changed the ethic of the culture itself. They couldn’t change the law. But they could share the good news of Jesus – and that’s what they did. They actively brought their pagan friends and neighbors into the Christian faith. By 350 AD almost 60% of the population of the Roman Empire had become Christians. And when they became Christians they saw human life in a different way.
The church taught and demonstrated through their acts of love that every human life has value – weight -- no matter how small it is, no matter how damaged. In fact it’s the least among us who have the most weight because – as Jesus taught us -- “whatever you do for the least of these you do for me.”
Like our early Christian brothers and sisters -- we need to all be looking for ways to share our faith. People need to know that they’re enormously significant and deeply loved – and that lesson can only truly be learned from the cross.
And – Like our early Christian brothers and sisters -- we need to all be looking for ways to demonstrate our love for the least of these. What changes us is the grace of God. Grace is meant to teach us lessons about how to live. Titus 2:11-14 is a beautiful compact statement of what we’re meant to learn from God’s grace:
“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Jesus gave himself to purify a people for his own possession. He died to make us a certain kind of people -- people who’re zealous for good deeds -- people who energetically pour ourselves out in acts of love because God has poured himself out in love towards us.
When Angie Smith lost her little daughter Audrey it made her zealous for good deeds. She ended up going to India with Compassion International:
(Read section marked in “I Will Carry You” beginning on page 150)