Sunday 14th April 2024
He who was seated on the throne said,
“I am making everything new!”
Revelation 21:5 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
A few thoughts on euthanasia
First I read an article by Times columnist Matthew Parris arguing that people should be free to choose to reduce the burden they are to others by choosing to end their lives if their condition is terminal and their suffering unbearable. It seemed to be another example of the steady and growing pressure in our society to legalise and normalise euthanasia (sometime called ‘assisted dying’).
And then I read an article by Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney, in which he asks, “How many of our Christian people have accepted the world’s view of euthanasia and never been confronted with a view informed by Scripture?” It is a good question, and it made me ask what would be in a view of euthanasia informed by Scripture. Would it not be kind, loving and even right to let someone choose to end their life if their pain and suffering became too much and there was no realistic possibility of them getting better?
The first thing to say is that our lives are a gift from God, with every human being made in his image, and we are not free to take another human life (except, arguably, in certain special circumstances such as a just war or a judicial execution). God makes this plain to Noah when he says, “And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being” (Genesis 9:6). And it is followed later by the sixth commandment, repeated several times in the New Testament: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
The next thing to say is that God is sovereign over everything and everyone, and we can trust him to bring good out of even the direst circumstances. Even if we are not exactly clear how he will do that, or the precise way in which it will be good, we can be confident that “God works for the good of those who love him” and that he is working in everything so that we “might be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:28-29).
The final thing to say here is that both heaven and hell are a reality. Part of the driving force to legalise euthanasia is the belief that there is nothing beyond death. But if heaven is real, then I do not need to ‘live my best life’ now. However good my life may be in this world, it is nothing in comparison to the life God is preparing for me in heaven where there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). And if hell is real, why on earth would I want to see anyone ushered more quickly into a place of eternal and truly unbearable misery where Jesus warns us that “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51, 25:30)?
I am not pretending that any of these arguments will instantly persuade an unbeliever, nor that there is nothing more to say on this issue, especially in comforting those whose suffering does indeed seem unending and unbearable. But I am saying that at least these three truths should be part of the foundation of a view of euthanasia which is informed by Scripture.
Father, give us the wisdom to know what is good and true in all things, and the faith and courage we need to live by it. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)