All right, we're cooking. Let's do it. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to our course
! We come today to our eighth and final class. This is it. We've come to the end. So you'll
! remember that after spending a couple of weeks looking at the sort of general principles of
the Sixth Commandment, we then started to move sequentially through a number of different topics
beginning at the beginning of life, where we discussed abortion and life in the womb and
moving through some topics like capital punishment and war and self-defense. So today we come to the
end of life and we're going to discuss the topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide. So as we begin
our last class here, let's go ahead and open with a word of prayer. Let's pray together. Triune God,
our Creator and Redeemer, you are the author and giver of life and to you all life rightly belongs. It is
yours and yours alone to give and to take away. And we worship and thank you for that fact, for your
wisdom and for your goodness and for your faithfulness. We praise you. As we consider the
topic before us this morning, we ask that you'd grant us wisdom to consider these things rightly,
grant us trust in you and your word that all your ways are good. And Father, how could they not be
good considering what you have done to rescue us and to demonstrate your love for us? You have given us
your Son in love. You've given him up on the cross. You've given him to us in the resurrection,
proving that you are trustworthy and that you desire our greatest good no matter what comes in this life.
God, we thank you and praise you for the giving of your Son and for the pouring out of your Spirit.
We ask that you would be glorified in our time together this morning. Lead us by your Holy Spirit
into truth, into holiness, into love. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Amen. All right. Well, as I mentioned, we're considering the topic of euthanasia this morning.
So let's begin by asking, what do we mean by that term? Well, literally, the word euthanasia just
means good death from the Greek root words eu, which means good, and thanatos, which is a Greek word
for death. And that's kind of quite general, but I'm sure as you all know, specifically how this word
is used today and how we'll talk about it today, it has a more specific meaning. Euthanasia has come
to mean the act of intentionally ending the life of a person who is elderly, terminally ill, or sometimes
suffering from an incurable injury or disease. And closely related to that is what is called
assisted suicide or physician-assisted suicide, or sometimes is even called medical aid in dying.
Sometimes people distinguish those two things, euthanasia and assisted suicide. Here's one
definition. It says, in cases of euthanasia, another party acts to bring about the person's death
in order to end ongoing suffering. In cases of assisted suicide, a second person provides the means
through which the individual is able to voluntarily end their own life, but they do not directly cause the
individual's death. So you see how they distinguish those two things. Now this issue of euthanasia or
assisted suicide most often comes to focus in the case of oftentimes terminally ill patients who are
experiencing chronic pain and therefore no longer want to live and may even wish to be put to death.
So that's what we're talking about this morning. Now what is the morally right thing to do in such
cases? How as Christians should we approach this question? That's what we're going to think about this
morning. And I think the first place to begin is again with a return to the sixth commandment.
God commands his people in the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. And when we considered this
commandment in depth a few weeks ago, we saw that it refers both to what we might call premeditated
murder, that's usually what we commonly mean by the English word murder, but it also refers to any
accidental causing of a person's death through things like negligence or even carelessness.
And there's really no indication anywhere in scripture that this commandment is lifted or lessened
when someone is terminally ill or elderly or in great pain.
Remember that under the sixth commandment, what stands under that command, under that prohibition,
is the reality that God is our creator and God is the author of life and that life is his and his alone
to give and to take away. And moreover, the sixth commandment points us to the fact, to the reality,
that all humans are created in God's image. And because humans are bearers of the image of God,
that means that the unlawful taking of the life of another human is prohibited.
Even we ourselves do not have the right to take our own life.
So the sixth commandment would seem to give a clear indication
that Christians should view both euthanasia and assisted suicide as wrong.
Now, are there any passages in scripture that deal explicitly with this issue?
Well, the reality is, is that there aren't, but there might be one. There might be one.
In his book on ethics, Wayne Grudem points out the passage in 2 Samuel 1, verses 1-16.
Now, you probably don't remember what's happening in 2 Samuel 1, verses 1-16,
but I'll tell you, this is what's happening.
So, in that passage, a man comes to David after Saul has just died.
Saul, remember, was the king.
At the end of 1 Samuel, Saul dies, which would make David the king.
So a man comes to David saying, Saul just died.
And then the man recounts how Saul had been gravely wounded
and then begged this man to take his life.
In effect, Saul was asking this person to perform an act of euthanasia, of mercy killing.
So, as the man recounts to David, he followed through with Saul's request.
He killed Saul and then comes to David to tell David about it.
And in the context of the socio-political environment at the time,
the man seems to be coming to David to say,
See, I've done this good deed that hasn't just put Saul out of his misery,
but has made you king.
Right?
So he's actually trying to ingratiate himself into David's favor, it seems, at that point.
And what is David's response to the man?
He's not happy about it.
Go ahead.
Yeah, Ivor, you were going to say something, too.
Do not touch the Lord's anointed.
That's right.
He says, you can't touch the Lord's anointed.
Right?
So that's one level.
Right?
Saul was the king.
So you dare not lay a hand on him.
But what's interesting in that passage is that David also says,
You've murdered him.
In effect, David says that even though Saul was gravely wounded,
and it's unclear whether this man's even telling the truth,
because at the end of 1 Samuel, it seems like Saul falls on his own sword.
So perhaps Saul fell on his own sword and he didn't actually die.
So he was asking this man to finish that job that he tried to do.
But in effect, regardless of whether the man's telling the truth or not,
what actually happened, David says to this man's account,
The fact that you've done that, you're guilty of murder.
That it was wrong for him to take Saul's life in that way.
Even though Saul was in great pain.
Even though Saul was probably not going to recover.
So this passage seems to be an example where the sixth commandment is applied
as forbidding the taking of another person's life,
even if they're in extreme pain,
even if they're unlikely to recover.
However, the life of a human being must still be respected,
and it must be acknowledged that it's not our place as fellow human beings
to put ourselves in the place of God and end that person's life for those reasons.
Yes.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, there's definitely...
And that's why I say that this passage sort of talks to this issue, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, Susan's making the point that it seems like one of the big issues,
one of the things that made this especially egregious
is the fact that Saul was the Lord's anointed.
He was the king, and you're not supposed to lay your hands on the king.
And David exemplified that in his whole life with Saul, right?
As he was on the run, he said,
I'm not going to lay my hands on the Lord's anointed.
So yeah, that's definitely a strong feature of this passage from 2 Samuel.
But it is interesting, right?
That David says, you still murdered him, right?
He uses that language of murder,
kind of referencing back to the sixth commandment.
So, you know, I don't think we need to put a lot of stock in this 2 Samuel passage.
It just seems to be one of those places where there may be an analogous instance.
So then it would seem that, given what we've been talking about in this whole class, really,
that the taking of someone's life,
even when they're in extreme pain or chronically ill, terminally ill,
is not something that we're permitted to do.
Now, whereas the Bible does condemn the act of killing of another human being,
most Christian ethicists realize that there is an important distinction to be made
between killing and what we might call letting die, letting someone die.
One writer puts it this way.
He says, killing is actively doing something to a patient that hastens or causes their death.
On the other hand, letting die is passively allowing someone to die from other causes
without interfering with that process.
In the first case, the cause of death is the cause of death is the cause of death.
In the second case, the cause of death is the disease, the injury, or aging process
that has already been occurring in the person who dies.
And he says, while the Bible prohibits actively killing someone,
in the case of letting someone die, the moral decision is more complex.
So, there are certainly cases, right, where it would be wrong to let a person die.
Like, we can all sort of feel that, right?
It seems that we should intervene and try to help a person recover when,
first, there seems to be a reasonable hope of recovery, right?
And two, when we're able to help.
That seems to be a fairly straightforward application of Jesus' command
that we love our neighbor as ourself
and do for others what we would wish they do unto us.
However, there are cases where it may be right to allow a person to die.
In cases where, one, there's no reasonable hope of recovery,
sometimes called a situation of futility.
And two, it's the patient's wish in that instance to be allowed to die.
And or, we're simply unable to help.
We don't have the means or the capacity to be able to help.
In those instances, it may be the right thing to allow a person to die.
In these cases, that act is morally distinct from actively murdering a person, right?
Now, what we're coming up against here are all sorts of end-of-life issues, right?
Which can become very complex very fast.
And the medical situations can become very complex, right?
What are we able to do with medical technology?
What are we permitted to do with medical technology?
When is it right to simply entrust someone to the Lord
and realize that we are finite human beings
and we live in a fallen world and we cannot live forever?
When is it time to just say it's time for palliative care
and let this person go, right?
And I think determining, along with doctors and ideally Christian medical professionals,
what is a reasonable hope of recovery?
What is it that one can and cannot do?
And what is one able to do?
Those are not always clear-cut decisions.
We live in a fallen world and not every decision
is going to be straightforward in those end-of-life instances.
But I think granting that and granting much grace
as we need to make and decide how we're going to handle some of those hard issues,
I do think there is a difference, right?
There's a clear distinction between what we're talking about this morning, right?
Between killing and letting die.
Even if there are some challenging and heart-wrenching questions
about when it's appropriate to let someone pass away, right?
I think there's a clear distinction between the difficult decision of removing someone
from, say, an extreme medical life support system
that's very different than a person choosing to end their own life
because they've received a terminal cancer diagnosis, right?
So it's in those instances that we're talking about today,
and I believe that the Bible's clear that we should view
those instances of euthanasia or assisted suicide as morally wrong.
that God numbers our days,
and we should entrust ourselves into his hands,
and our life is his to give and to take away
in his good and wise providence.
Now, what are some of the reasons that people give
in support of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide?
I think there are at least three,
and I think each one of them can actually kind of be captured by a single word,
and you see these words used a lot in conversations around these issues.
The first reason is summed up in the word freedom or choice, right?
The argument goes that people ought to have the freedom
to choose to end their own lives,
especially if they are terminally ill.
In fact, just last fall in the United Kingdom,
there was a bill before Parliament about this thing
called the Terminally Ill Adults Bill in the House of Commons,
and advocates of legal suicide,
a group called Dignity and Dying,
wanted to push through this Terminally Ill Adults Bill
in the House of Commons,
so they did actually a sort of poster campaign
in the London Underground
with posters making just this argument,
this argument for freedom or choice.
And the posters were part of a Let Us Choose campaign.
Choice is what was being appealed to there.
And the posters showed,
they're actually pretty disturbing posters, actually.
They showed a woman,
a middle-aged woman in her pajamas,
happily dancing in her kitchen
with the words,
let us choose, plastered there.
And then in big letters, it said,
my dying wish is my family won't see me suffer
and I won't have to.
All over the London subway system.
It's got a lot of pushback, by the way.
Felt like, even in the UK,
that felt like a bridge too far.
But do you see what's being appealed to
in this campaign, right?
Choice, freedom.
I should have the right
to be able to end my own life,
especially in those circumstances, right?
And I think in our culture today,
that idea of individual autonomy
is perhaps one of our highest values, right?
Anything that restricts my freedom
or limits my autonomy
is viewed with suspicion at best
and outrage at worst.
And that goes so deep
into our cultural mindset
that appealing to freedom
or appealing to choice
or suggesting that in an instance
someone's freedom or right to choose
might be taken away,
that almost immediately gives credibility
to the argument, right?
No one should say that I'm not free
to make this choice for myself.
But what does Scripture say
in light of that?
In 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20,
Paul says,
you are not your own.
You were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body.
According to Scripture,
we're not autonomous, actually.
We are creatures before a creator.
And even more than that,
Paul says,
you were bought with a price.
This is a reference to the work of Christ.
That through Christ's sacrifice,
he has bought us for himself.
We belong to him
through his self-giving love.
So flourishing
is not found
in radical autonomy
or radical self-determination
or self-rule,
but in conforming ourselves
to the will
of our loving and good creator.
So the argument for choice
or freedom only goes so far.
There is a limit
to where our freedom ends.
And this is one of them,
I think,
according to the Bible.
Now, the second reason
people give
for supporting
euthanasia,
physician-assisted suicide,
is summed up in the word
compassion.
Compassion.
That's a word you'll see
very often.
Some people are in
unbearable, unending pain,
and they often only have
a few months or years
to live.
They will die soon
in any case,
the argument goes.
Therefore,
it should be right
to act
to alleviate that pain.
Surely it can't be right
to allow someone
to suffer so terribly
when we can do
something about it.
Sometimes it's phrased,
right?
Now, let me say,
of course,
as human beings,
we should treat
our fellow human beings
with compassion,
right?
Those who are suffering
need care,
love, support,
tenderness.
But there are two things
that should be,
I think,
said in response
to this argument
from compassion.
And the first
is that
there's no biblical
prohibition
that I'm aware of
against palliative care.
Christians should promote
every lawful means
to alleviate suffering
and pain
in those who are
terminally ill
or dying,
right?
So compassion
does want us
to move,
to reduce
or alleviate
pain and suffering,
right?
But second,
there is kind of
an unspoken assumption
in this
kind of argument
from compassion
that we should just
end the compassion,
that we should end
the suffering
by ending the person's life,
right?
There's sort of
an unspoken assumption
in that reasoning
that suffering
is meaningless,
right?
that it serves
no purpose
and it should be
just ended,
avoided,
or stopped
at all costs,
even at extreme,
ultimate cost.
And indeed,
we have to admit
that in a kind of
naturalistic
or in a secular
worldview,
suffering is
by and large
meaningless,
right?
it serves
no purpose
and should be
avoided at all
costs,
if that is
your worldview.
But in the
biblical worldview,
we see that
in Christ,
even our
suffering
and our pain
are not
actually
meaningless.
That God
uses even
the evils
of this world
for our good
and for his
glory.
That's not to
say that suffering
itself is good,
but God
in his goodness
is able to
bring good
even out of
those things.
And yes,
he permits
those things
for his
redemptive
purposes.
So let's go
to the third
reason,
and the third
reason is
summed up
in the word
dignity.
Dignity.
You'll see
this term
quite a bit.
In fact,
even that group
from the UK
I mentioned,
their whole
organization was
called Dignity
in Dying.
Now,
this word
dignity,
I think,
combines a bit
of the
previous two
reasons.
Dignity
involves,
and it means
kind of having
the autonomy
to choose
when my life
should end,
and dignity
also means
not having to
suffer physical
pain,
right?
But I think
this argument
from so-called
dignity,
I think it
strikes at a
deeper reason
than just
those two.
Because when
you think
about it,
aging,
being sick,
being weak,
being in
pain,
these things
make a
person very
dependent.
we're no
longer
strong,
we're no
longer
independent,
we're no
longer
contributing
to society,
at least in
the ways that
our kind of
capitalist market
economy recognizes,
right?
And so,
we feel that we
don't have any
dignity.
In other words,
we feel shame.
We feel as if
our life no
longer has any
worth.
And so,
the argument
goes,
to preserve
someone's
dignity,
they should be
allowed to
end their
life.
But friends,
what does
scripture say?
What does
God say?
God says
that his
power is
made perfect
in our
weakness,
that our
values not
determined
by whether
we can
or can't
contribute to
society.
Our
worth,
our
purpose,
our
meaning is
not
determined by
the level
of our
independence,
or our
productivity,
or our
physical
appearance.
In fact,
God says
when we're
weak,
then we're
strong.
And,
like our
physical pain
and suffering
that we talked
about under
the heading of
compassion,
God uses
even those
moments of
weakness and
dependence for
our good to
conform us to
Christ.
Now, maybe
another thing
that we might
say on this
front is just
that facing
terminal illness,
facing the
prospect of
pain, maybe
even prolonged
pain, and in
some rare
instances, pain
that palliative
care cannot
alleviate.
that's very
scary.
And as
Christians, we
would never
want to
minimize that,
minimize the
real sorrow
that people
face when
they're in
these situations.
And it is
understandable
that people
are very
afraid.
And it's
understandable that
we don't
want to face
such a
fearful and
painful future.
Is there
any comfort
for the
fearful in
times like
these?
Well, in
Christ, friends,
there most
certainly is.
You know,
our God knows
what it's like
to face
pain,
to face
death,
to face
rejection from
his closest
friends,
to face
shame.
And our
good shepherd
promises to
walk with
us with the
deepest of
compassion as
we traverse
those dark
valleys.
Jesus'
compassion is
literally a
suffering with
us, a
compassion.
Right?
He will
enter in
with us
into those
dark places
and be
with us
each step
of the
way.
And the
promise is
that in
the gospel,
because Christ
suffered for
us,
when we
suffer,
we will
become like
him in
our sufferings.
I think it
was George
MacDonald,
who wasn't a
very orthodox
guy, I'll just
say that for the
record, but I
think it was
George MacDonald,
he said some
good things every
once in a
while, I
think it was
George MacDonald
who said,
Christ suffered
not so that we
might not
suffer, but so
that in our
sufferings we
might become
like him.
Right?
Paul sort
of puts, I
think, a good
point on this.
He says that
the afflictions
of this life,
because of the
death and
resurrection of
Jesus, are
preparing for
us an eternal
weight of
glory beyond
compare.
That God is
able to take
the sufferings
of this life
and prepare
for us through
them something
of eternal
worth and
value in the
new heavens and
new earth.
In fact, do
you remember how
that goes?
How does Paul
talk about our
afflictions in
that verse?
What does he
call them?
A momentary
light affliction.
Light and
momentary
afflictions compared
to the eternal
glory that is
waiting for us
in Christ.
So I think we
need to say that
things like
freedom, things
like compassion,
things like
dignity, that
those things are
not actually
found in
assisted suicide,
in euthanasia.
They're found in
Christ.
And as we walk
with him,
together with
one another
through suffering,
he promises
neither to leave
us nor forsake
us, and he
promises to work
all things, yes,
even those most
strenuous,
difficult things.
God will work
even those for
our good and
for his glory.
Now, as we
kind of wrap up,
I want to talk
a little bit,
are there any
reasons, are
there any reasons
in addition to
God's commands
in scripture,
some of these
commands and
also some of
these gospel
principles, are
there any other
reasons that we
might give
against euthanasia
or assisted
suicide?
Well, one
reason we
might sort of
offer against
it is the
sort of precedent
that it sets.
One writer
puts it this
way, he says,
if euthanasia
is allowed for
some patients
who are suffering,
then how can
we prevent it
from being applied
to more and
more patients
who are suffering?
And with the
increasing cost
of health care
for elderly
and extremely
ill patients,
there's likely
going to be
growing pressure
on people to
ask that their
lives be taken.
Moreover,
nations that
have allowed
for physician
assisted suicide
find that a
society can
quickly move
from merely
allowing the
right to die
to the belief
that there is
an obligation
to die
on the part
of the elderly
and the
very ill
people
who are
quote,
draining
resources
from society.
And this
author says,
in such
situations,
it becomes
likely
that a
number of
elderly
people will
be put to
death
against their
will.
So the
argument here
is that
what begins
sort of as
a right
to die
begins to
transform into
social pressure
as an obligation
to die.
So it's
the kind
of precedent
that this
move sets.
It's the
kind of
door that
it swings
open.
And the
reality is
in some
states and
countries,
actually in
most states
and countries
where euthanasia
and assisted
suicide have
been legalized,
there does
seem to be
a slippery
slope.
In Canada,
for example,
medically
assisted
dying
accounted
for 5%
of the
deaths in
the country
in 2023.
That means
1 in 20
people who
died in
Canada died
by taking
their own
lives with
the help
of a
doctor.
That's
staggering.
And in
a culture
like that,
that is
going to
lead to
a place
where people
begin to
hold their
lives so
lightly and
that pressures
begin to
think,
well,
I guess I
should just
end my
life.
It's hard
to see how
that's not
already
happening.
in a
place like
Canada or
in a
place like
the
Netherlands
where the
numbers are
also very
staggering,
very
sobering,
very sad.
And I
think that
leads to
another
reason.
These are
all kind
of related.
And the
second reason
is this,
is that our
laws should
ideally protect
the vulnerable.
But euthanasia
and assisted
suicide moves
in the
opposite
direction.
Here's how
a group of
pastors in
the United
Kingdom
express this
in a joint
letter that
they wrote
to the
members of
parliament.
Remember
last year
there was a
big debate
in the
United
Kingdom
around
physician
assisted
suicide.
Here's an
excerpt from
a longer
letter that
they wrote
to parliament.
said protecting
protecting the
most vulnerable
members of
society should
be our
primary concern.
The health
care system
is already
rife with
inequalities that
disproportionately
affect the
poor,
elderly,
ethnic
minorities,
and those
with
disabilities.
Rather than
addressing these
disparities,
this bill,
that is the
assisted dying
bill,
risks
It's
exacerbating
them.
Especially as
polling shows
that 21% of
disabled
individuals fear
that assisted
dying laws would
pressure them to
end their lives
prematurely.
In the state of
Oregon, in the
United States,
where assisted
suicide is legal,
43% of those who
chose assisted
suicide cited a
fear of being a
burdened on
loved ones as a
factor in their
decision.
In other words,
legalizing assisted
suicide opens the
door for
vulnerable members
of our society to
be at risk of
ending their own
lives prematurely.
Friends, that's
not the sort of
culture or society
we want to sow
towards, where
death is seen as a
viable option to
solve problems of
pain, loneliness,
financial hardship,
or simply the
feeling that one is a
burden.
One more thing
to add.
Rather than
investing in
assisted suicide,
we should rather
invest in
palliative care.
Again, this was an
argument that these
pastors in the UK
took.
They said in that
same letter, they
said, improved
palliative care should
be the focus,
ensuring that
patients can die
with dignity and
support rather than
expanding the
option of assisted
suicide.
In the UK, there
was a lot of
observation that the
palliative care
system was so
underfunded and
receiving so little
support and that the
passage of such a
bill would put people
in those situations
in such hard,
moral places.
Now I understand
that the UK system
is different than
ours because they
have a national
health care system
and things like that,
but it's hard to
see how the same
would not be true
in the United
States, even given
the differences.
So again, rather
than focusing on
expanding assisted
suicide, focus on
expanding the kind
of lawful and
God-honoring care,
palliative care that
we can give to
those who are
nearing the end of
their days.
Seems like a much
better way to focus
our resources.
Okay.
Well, let's wrap up
there.
On that happy note,
here we end our
class.
We've got a little
extra time for
conversation together.
We can reflect on
our topic today if
you'd like or we
can reach back to
previous topics that
we've covered or
maybe ones that we
even haven't.
So we can just have
a good 15 minutes
of just questions,
conversation,
reflections, things
that have stood
out to you in
the class, whatever
it is you'd like to
talk about.
Yes, Matt.
Sometimes I think
there's an issue
regarding giving
palliative care and
contributing to the
death of the patient.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah.
You know, that
could be a complex
call.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
There is no denying
the fact, Matt.
That's good.
Matt is saying that
sometimes administering
palliative care can seem
to be contributing to
the dying of a patient,
right?
Does it kind of speed
their dying process?
I think this is where
as Christians we need
to just trust our
brothers and sisters
in the medical field
and realize that in a
fallen world there's
no sort of perfect,
clear-cut, straight-line
way to handle these
things.
You know, I think
maybe it's true,
right?
Maybe it's true that
some methods of
palliative care do speed
someone's end of life.
I think we just have to
move in matters of
conscience on that.
Yeah.
Did you have more you
wanted to say on that,
Matt?
Was there other things
you were thinking?
No, you said it well.
Yeah.
A second issue that I've
heard, and not very
often, not of late,
about saying I agree
with it, but just
mentioning it, that
some Christians have
said at times, ah,
you know, this person
hasn't come to Christ,
or this person hasn't
repented of their sin.
Let's not, you know,
just give palliative care,
you know, to ignore this.
Let's let them suffer
the oath that God
will bring them
closer to Christ.
Yeah.
Or closer.
Yeah.
That doesn't seem
like a good...
Yeah.
But I just mentioned
that just makes
things as complicated
as...
That's right, just
to add another
complicated level on a
complicated issue,
yeah.
Yeah, should
calculations of
someone's conversion
play into how we
treat end-of-life
issues.
I think that's
very difficult,
you know.
Yeah, I wouldn't
be very persuaded
to place a lot
of stock in that
because God...
Ultimately, God
is sovereign in
salvation.
He uses the means.
He uses creaturely
means to bring that
about, but I think
our job in those
instances is to
honor someone and
to honor God as
best we can and
please God and not
to think, well, if
I do this,
it might produce
this outcome in
them spiritually,
right?
The other thing
is, too, is we
don't know what's
happening in
someone's mind and
heart when they're
on their deathbed,
when they're in
their dying moments.
You know, it's so
hard to know what
they're understanding,
what they're not
understanding, you
know?
I think being with
loved ones or
friends or neighbors
as they're dying,
praying for them,
sharing Christ for
them, even if we
don't know if they're
awake or hearing us,
I don't think those
are lost efforts.
You know, in
previous cultures
and generations,
you know, it's
interesting in our
culture of death and
dying today, it's
very rare that
someone will die
surrounded by their
family and friends.
They're often
separated from
these things, but
that has not always
been the case.
often we accompany
our dying loved
ones, we accompany
them to the grave
and we accompany
them into heaven
with singing, with
support, with
presence, right?
We're there with
them.
So, anyway, I'm
rambling now, but
yeah, I would
hesitate to play
God with someone's
conversion when we're
talking about end
of life, but I
would certainly not
cease to sow good
seeds in those
moments of love and
prayer and gospel
words.
Yeah.
Yeah?
I sense the kind
of, like, internal
contradiction or
tension in a secular
worldview of death
where it seems like
there's this
simultaneous fear of
death, desire to
put unending effort
toward extending life
with massive
intervention to add
on a few more
months or even
completely disrupting
the elderly
ability to see
loved ones, like
the COVID, for
example, the COVID
extending a few
more years.
Yeah.
But that seems to be
in tension with
this view of
dignity.
Yeah.
And I wonder what
you think about
that.
Oh, yeah.
I kind of wonder if
one led to the
other and it's
sort of...
Yeah, it's a really
good observation.
And I sense that, too.
And I think that, you
know, there's a
theologian and
Christian philosopher
named John Frame who
would often say that,
you know, any worldview
outside of the biblical
worldview will
eventually, whether it
ends in rationalism or
other, will eventually
get to a place of
irrationality.
And I think that's
actually what we see
when it comes to
sort of secular
approaches to death.
On the one hand,
it's something to be
avoided at all costs,
but then you see at
the same time an effort
to kind of normalize
and naturalize it,
right?
It's just natural.
It's passing on.
It's, again, all these
sort of non-Christian
theologizing, really,
about what death is
and what it means.
And they don't
actually harmonize,
right?
They don't.
I think there are
deep contradictions
there.
And I think that's
where Christianity
can come in and say,
do you see this
tension, right,
in your own thinking?
Let me share with you
how I think about
those things and
how my belief in
God and in Jesus
Christ actually kind
of treats that a
little differently and
maybe actually makes a
little more sense,
right?
That the reason why we
recoil against death
is because it's not the
way life was intended
to be.
That God didn't create
us as humans to die,
that that's an intrusion
into the good,
right?
So, yes,
our visceral reaction
against death is
there's something right
there, right?
And yet,
Christianity also comes
and says,
but in order to
approach death
with courage,
we don't actually
have to normalize it
or naturalize it,
right?
We can say actually
that God's acted
in a way such that
death isn't the end.
So,
there may be
opportunities to
witness to Christ
there,
to evangelize there,
as we find those
kind of fractures
in the thinking of
our friends and our
neighbors,
trying to hold
together these deep
questions within a
world,
do they can't
actually hold them
without deep
contradiction.
Another example
where I saw this
in some preparation
for this morning,
in language of
freedom,
right,
around these issues
of choice.
It's very interesting.
I spent some time
looking at that
campaign in the
United Kingdom
that was arguing
for that assisted
suicide bill,
and so much of
the language on
their website was
basically,
we have to give
people the freedom
to choose to end
their life.
Otherwise,
they'll be forced
to end their
lives in awful,
undignified ways.
Well,
isn't that interesting?
So,
we have to give
people freedom
because if we
don't give them
the freedom,
they'll be forced
to do something,
right?
So,
they don't have
freedom.
They're totally
enslaved,
so we have to
give them freedom,
but giving that
freedom means they
die.
It's so
contradictory,
right?
And of course,
you can see
that it's just,
it's,
at one level,
it's just
fear slogans,
right?
Like,
you don't want
someone to end
in this poor way,
so you have to
agree with us
and give them
this,
but even the
rationality falls
apart,
right?
So,
if someone has
freedom,
then they should
have freedom
to not go down
those terrible
paths,
right?
That there are
other options
than these that
we've kind of
narrowed it into.
Yeah,
Beth,
did you want to
add to that?
Well,
I think sometimes
there's a temptation
as Christians
to think everything's
a slippery slope
or to think,
like,
to put ourselves
in a culture war
on minor things,
but for this one,
it feels like a
gen,
you explained it
well,
but it feels like
a genuine slippery slope.
Yeah,
yeah.
because when you
start to take
subjective things
and put objective
medical patient care
conversation in place,
it can get really
just twisted really
quickly.
Yeah.
I think people
have seen that
in conversations
in responses
to ultrasounds
and second level
more detailed
ultrasounds
if there's a complication
in utero.
immediately,
it's like,
well,
let me,
I have to lay out
your options
and there's always
sort of a
presented bias
and then it puts
the pressure
on the patient
to,
like,
really weigh
the options
almost on equal footing
and I think ethically,
in terms of
biblical ethics,
it's like,
when you do this
to end of life,
I thought you exposed
well that within
the dignity avenue
there is the shame
element.
Yeah.
And then there's
this sort of
subjective thing
of like,
how much suffering
is too much suffering.
Yeah.
And then you,
like,
what does that do
to the landscape
of mental health?
Yeah.
And I think it just,
I think it's just
a sort of devastating,
like you said,
door that has swung open.
Yeah.
because all of a sudden
it feels like the,
it feels like it might
affirm the really dark,
destructive work
of spiritual darkness
that like,
to affirm a person's
already sense of worthlessness
or burden
or unlovability
or what is there.
and I think that
that as Christians,
like,
for us to speak up
and have a sense of like,
unity and rally
against those
who are already suffering
is so important.
Yeah.
You know.
Yeah.
That's well said, Beth.
Yeah.
Tom.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
Right.
That's right.
Yeah.
Because it's not worth it.
Yeah.
You can't imagine
it's ever passing
or being beneficial.
Right.
And I think we,
I've read stories
of where that's happening
where people are starting
to get permission
to do this.
Yeah.
Because they kind of
want it.
Yeah.
They're depressed
or they're encountering
some issue that
someone else
that God has given
a joy in it.
But for this other person
to know.
So it's really
very frightening.
Yeah.
And so much of the work, so much of the legislation now that's being proposed really tries to say, no, no, no, no, this is just in extreme circumstances.
This is just for the terminally ill.
We're going to put as many kind of guardrails and definitions around it as we can.
But you're right.
I am persuaded by what you're saying, Tom, that even though they sound objective at first, they do feel a bit arbitrary.
What is stopping from just the next step over, right?
Who is going to define what is an unbearable situation?
And especially when we're making those arguments on the basis of human autonomy, who are you to say that my pain is not unbearable?
Right?
It just, I do, I do think we need to be just very, very cautious here.
Yeah.
I'm wondering kind of on the other extreme of things, like how much as Christians we should have like antipathy towards like death.
Because, you know, assisted suicide, I think we all have like kind of like an inclination against that.
Yeah.
On the other side of things, we have this kind of phenomenon in the tech world going on right now, like transhumanism.
Oh, yeah.
Which is where we hate death so much.
Yep.
Yeah.
So, on the one hand, we don't want the medical field to help people die.
Right.
But on the other hand, how much do we want the medical field to try to help people, and of course this is only going on at like the top 0.1% right now.
Sure.
Yeah.
But assuming we can, you know, the medical education will trickle down, how much do we want the medical field to extend life for everyone?
Does that make any sense?
Oh, it makes total sense, you know, and that's why this class needed to be 16 weeks, not eight weeks.
Really good point.
There is the other extreme where, as humans, can we take it into our own hands to say, no, we will use whatever means possible to extend physical life as long as possible, regardless of the cost, regardless of the kind of creaturely boundaries we have to break in order to do it.
You know?
And I think there's also a very dangerous thing we're stepping into there.
And also I will say that I could be wrong about this.
I'm not a tech guru, obviously, but if I were to take all of your mental processes, translate them into ones and zeros and present a big stack of paper with your everything that is in your brain in a big stack of papers and ones and zeros, that is not human life.
Right?
So some of these dreams of, like, uploading myself into a database and then I'll live forever, I, again, from our perspective, they seem pretty far-fetched.
But I think there's also, like, definitionally, that's not what it means to be human.
Right?
And that's where so much of these questions get to on this transhumanism front is, what does it mean to be human?
And not, here's the other thing, too, not just what are we able to do, right?
Because technology, we're able to do all sorts of things.
Right?
AI is another good question.
Right?
Like, we can do all sorts of things or AI can do all sorts of things.
Right?
But what sort of people do we want to become?
Right?
Do we want to create a culture where we're just extending people's life indefinitely in the face of the fact that, look, humans are only going to live 80, 90, 100 years.
And there does come a point where, again, we see this in Scripture, where we have to embrace the fact that God is sovereign and we will die.
And the goal is not to avoid death forever, but to be ready for death when it comes.
And to see in Christ the ultimate answer to our spiritual death and our eternal death.
And that one day he will even conquer our physical death.
Right?
But that's where our hope lies.
So, yeah, there's so many issues here that are so well raised.
But you're right.
Yeah.
Okay, one more.
Richard, you get the last word.
Perhaps some of you remember the old saying, come grow old with me.
The best is yet to be.
But Jesus invites us, come suffer with me.
The best is yet to be.
Yeah.
Well said.
Yeah.
Death.
That's right.
Sorry for the heavy weight this morning, friends.
You know.
J.R.R. Tolkien was asked one time, oh, Tolkien, what's the Lord of the Rings all about?
You know, you wrote this massive fantasy novel.
How would you sum it up?
And he said, well, it's about what all mythologies and all great mythologies are about.
It's about death.
So, we're talking a lot about death this morning.
But, hey, we're also talking about death in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Right?
So, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
And we also know that death is a defeated enemy.
Enemy though he is.
So, all right, friends, let me pray and then we'll head upstairs.
Father, thank you all for this class.
Lord, we've dipped into such heavy matters, such weighty things, such sobering topics.
Lord, there's been so much cause for reflection, for grief and lament at times.
And yet, not without hope, God.
Lord, we trust that having walked through your word again when it comes to life and its value
and its gift.
God, I pray that we would be strengthened again to live for you, to trust you, to go
forth with courage and joy, knowing that your ways are good, that you are the God of life,
that you offer us indestructible life in Jesus, your son.
And you promise one day to take all death and dying and sorrow and wipe it away and make
all things new.
Lord, help us to be that kind of hopeful, resilient, loving people, courageous, even in the face
of suffering, even in the face of dying, because of your deep love for us.
What indeed can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, you say, Father?
Nothing, not even death itself.
We thank you and praise you for that.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.