“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
That it what we read in James 1:27 in the New Testament.
This text is a great reminder to us of an important biblical truth: healthy faith results in actions that reflect the character of God. Throughout Scripture — both Old and New Testament — God is revealed to be a God of compassion.
Yes, sometimes God is angry.
But what makes God angry is when his people are being hurt in some way.
The reason sin is unacceptable to God is because it is destructive to the creation He loves, much as a loving parent is angry when someone tries to hurt a child or the child does something harmful to himself/herself. God’s default disposition and ultimate objective is love.
It is with good reason and for our benefit that God is described as a Father. That relational term gives us insight into the heart of God toward his people.
The recipients of God the Father’s love and concern in this text are orphans and widows. It isn’t that these alone are cared for, but especially in the context of that time, these people were extremely vulnerable with very few means of support.
The other category typically used in the Bible as representative for those who are vulnerable, and therefore in need of our special care, are foreigners living amongst us.
Today, we use the term immigrants for these folks.
What is your attitude toward the vulnerable for whom God shows an extra measure of compassion?
James goes on in Chapter 2 to argue that our faith is shown in what we do. According to James, the quality of our faith is measured by what we are doing for orphans and widows (and the bigger picture of Scripture includes other folks who are in need).
Our community demonstrates concern for children by generously supporting Bright Futures at school, Share Your Christmas through OACAC, and other projects. However, I am wondering if there is still more we can do. Locally, it is gut-wrenching to see how many youth experience difficulties at home to the point that they enter the foster system. The workers who make that system function do incredibly important and incredibly hard work.
Are there ways we can support families to help reduce the need? Are there ways we can support the kids, workers, and families in the system?
Similarly, are there ways we can support our elders? Some of them experience loneliness, as well as practical needs.
God demonstrated his love for us in Jesus’ sacrificial death. How will we demonstrate our faith and love today?.
Jeff Fugitt is the pastor of Cassville United Methodist Church, located at 601 Gravel Street in Cassville. He may be reached at 417-847-2328 or cassvilleumcpastor@ gmail.com.
