Today is a dark day in the history of Illinois. Governor Pritzker-of whom every LCMS pastor in Illinois prays for each week and will continue to do so-signed into law today the "End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act," granting terminally ill patients who have received a prognosis of six-months to live or less the ability to receive a pill in order to end their own life.
In Lutheran theology we are admonished to "call a thing what it is." While shrouded behind the deceptive veil of autonomy, mercy, and dignity, we rightly call this for what it is: abhorrent wickedness.
Our modern worldview catechizes to view our life autonomously. "My life is my own. I am my own Master. And I will do with my life whatever it is that I want to do with my life." This is not compatible with what Christ our Lord has given us to confess. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." Upon His wretched cross, Christ accomplished His beautiful work. He redeemed us. He bought us. At the price of His own holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. Our life belongs to the One who gave us that life. Our life belongs to the One who spoke creation into existence. Our life belongs to the One who purchased us out from sin, death, and the power of the devil. "Our life" is in many ways a spurious phrase, for it is not "our life." It is the Lord's. Life is a precious gift from the tender mercy of God from conception to natural death.
Our world also asserts that it is merciful to assist in the killing of those who are in excruciating or prolonged pain. Though it may seem reasonable at first glance, we must always redirect ourselves to view things rightly, to have the mind of Christ. Romans 12:5 "So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." When pain rears its ugly head, suffering becomes an occasion for love to the neighbor. We are called to a life of interdependence as the Body of Christ, striving to carry out the good works that Christ gives us to do, especially for those who sit in pain as the last enemy draws near. The Lord also lifts up our eyes to see suffering as an occasion for faith and hope. Romans 5:1-5 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." While the world and our flesh would lead us to believe that pain and suffering should drive us to despair and hopelessness, Christ completely flips that on its head by telling us that pain and suffering thrusts us ever deeper into the certain hope of the restoration of this creation when He comes again in glory to raise the dead and make all things new.
Our culture predominately equalizes quality of life with dignity of life. Thus, if the quality of my life is such that I am bed-ridden and weak, suffering through pain, and have been diagnosed with an incurable illness, then my dignity is gone, and it would be better to end my life. No. Life is life. A "bad" life is life. Dignity is something which is given, not something which is measured qualitatively or quantitatively. Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Humanity was created in the image of God; thus, our dignity is not something that is mustered up on our own, rather, our dignity is bestowed upon us by God Himself. A dignity which is only enhanced immeasurably by the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, into our own flesh and blood (along with His redeeming of humanity and His bodily resurrection). A stage-four cancer patient does not have less dignity than a full-ride college football player in the prime of youth. A man whose muscles have atrophied and failed from Lou Gehrig's Disease does not have less dignity than a healthy woman teaching grammar to fourth graders. A ninety-year-old woman suffering through Stage D heart failure does not have less dignity than a plump nine-day-old infant fresh from the womb. Pain, suffering, loss of memories, loss of independence, loss of body parts, etc., does not equal a loss of dignity. Life is sacred and precious. It is a gift from the Lord, along with the gift of dignity.
In the midst of these dark days, we must gird ourselves with the Lord's Word and with prayer. We must not abandon the dying, nor should we hasten their death. Even when death is inevitable, we are still called upon to "help and support" our neighbors "in every physical need." We have a responsibility to care for and to serve the aged, infirm, and sick, but never to kill. As humans, we are burden-bearers. Galatians 6:2 "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." As we commend the dying into the hands of our merciful Savior, we support them not by killing them, but by supporting them in this body and life.
Gilbert Meilaender is a world-renowned Lutheran theologian and bioethicist. He wrote an important little article titled "I Want to Burden My Loved Ones." It's a worthwhile read. When considering his wife making end-of-life decisions for him in the future, he rightly states that "What would he have wanted" is a futile question. A better question—though difficult—is "What is best for him now?" Similarly, he asserts that "Is his life a benefit to him (i.e., a life worth living)?" is a moral mistake of a question. The proper question is "What can we do to benefit the life he still has?"
Of course, the dying are burdens on family and friends. But because family and friends love the dying, it is a burden they should bear. It is good work that Christ gives to us, to care for and to love the dying as we await the wisdom of His timing, when He dispatches His holy angels to take the soul of His Christian, to bring that soul before His face, and to await the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
Pray while we are in the midst of these evil days. Serve your dying family members and fellow parishioners. And be a burden to those around you.
Pastor Ian Heinze
The Friday before the Commemoration of St. Lucy, 2025
