“34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ” (Matthew 25)
It has been said by people much wiser than I am that the greatest hallmark of an advanced civilization lies in how it treats the smallest and most vulnerable in its midst—the child, the poor, the sick, the disabled, the refugee, the prisoner, the outcast, the elder, the dying, and, for far too many centuries, the woman. You may remember that it is with these often marginalized and forgotten members of society with whom Jesus spent a great deal of time, ministering to them as any had need.
While far too many of our evangelical fundamentalist brothers and sisters would seemingly prefer to ignore this reality of faithful living completely, they are all too ready to inflict their view on the rest of us when it comes to the sad reality of abortion. Personally, I consider myself both pro-life and pro-choice, one who is deeply saddened by the necessity for abortions in our world, but one who will never deny a woman or a couple their ability to choose what is best for them in this life. For as one of my favorite writers and speakers, Sister Joan Chittester,a Roman Catholic Benedictine nun, has stated repeatedly:
“I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think that in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born and not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”
Yes, I will dance a jig and praise God with Hallelujahs when abortion is no longer necessary because we have finally learned to take proper care of the smallest and most vulnerable from conception to the grave. Sadly, we are a long way from there. So Jesus weeps, as do I.