The work of post-abortion ministry brings me face-to-face with heart-wrenching stories from women and men whose lives have been ripped apart from an abortion decision. Too many sit silently in church and in our communities, suffering alone. For those who work through their grief and anger through a post-abortion Bible study and ultimately accept the gift of forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers, there is a spiritual, emotional and physical transformation that occurs. Many take the next step of healing and profess publicly about their forgiveness for their abortion giving God the glory. To these brave individuals I say, “Thank you!” You are helping break down the walls of silence that are hindering the recovery of millions of others.
Far too often, unfortunately, these women and men are met with harsh and judgmental attitudes. You would think these statements come from those who do not attend church, who do not share the same beliefs. Sadly, in far too many cases, the judgment comes from people who profess Christianity.
It takes courage to divulge a secret you have held onto for years, something so personal many would rather die than to admit. The greatest power comes for the one giving the testimony and the healing cannot be measured for those who need to hear about the healing power of Jesus Christ.
In Luke 7:36-50, a woman who was a notorious sinner, admitted her sin and made a spectacle of herself in a passionate display of love and gratitude. Her regret was that she had offended God so grievously. Her joy was that Jesus forgave her sins and commended her for her great faith and love.
You remember the story, this woman walking into a roomful of men where Jesus was reclining at a table. She held the most valuable possession she had, an alabaster jar of perfume. She knelt quietly at Jesus’ feet as she covered his feet with kisses and then anointed his feet with the perfume. She had nothing else to offer to show her overflowing gratitude.
But Simon, good little Pharisee that he was, loved the law and all the regulations he lived by. They protected his sense of security which was his roadmap for righteousness, setting him apart from “ordinary” Jews. Simon could fit everything into his little “box” of rules. Simon was appalled that a sinful woman would enter his house. This offended his sense of order.
Just then, Jesus turned and said to him. “Simon, I have something to tell you. Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This woman, a sinner, recognized her desperate need for grace, and repentance turned her world upside down, opening up an entirely new view of things. Our friend Simon, however, was religious and one who had done his best to live a respectable life. His sin was tucked away, hidden even from himself. His habit of judging others had formed a fence around his one-way view of the universe, insulating his neat and tidy life from the unpredictable power of grace.
But Simon and this woman were alike in that they both owed a debt they could not possibly repay. Though Simon’s sin was less obvious, it was the more dangerous. He was a man following a map he thought would certainly lead to heaven—but when heaven came down and walked into his house, he didn’t even recognize it. The woman, on the other hand, realized just how lost she had been. Forgiven much, she loved much. She found heaven at the feet of Jesus.
Let’s be honest. Most of us would have responded to this sinful woman just like Simon did. It’s so easy to look more with judgment than love at people whose lives have been devastated by sin. But Jesus looked at this woman and at Simon and saw the same need: their need for forgiveness.
This story is included in Scripture so we can know that no matter how sinful, how broken, how entrenched in error we might be, forgiveness is available if only we seek it in faith … that’s a promise He keeps on keeping.
I offer this challenge … don’t condemn another in word, thought or action just because they sin differently than you.
Tagged: abortion recovery, forgiveness, grief and loss, Jesus, pro-life
