The Unwanted & Discarded
I grew up in a home environment where I never doubted my parents’ love for me. I never felt abandoned or neglected. But there are those in the world who have experienced the pain of being unwanted and discarded. Most of the 153 million orphans in the world have been forsaken by their parents. They’ve been shunned and left to fend for themselves. So when James addresses this matter in Scripture, he says, “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). This is what “pure religion” looks like, he says.
Look After Orphans In Their Distress
Pure, or genuine, faith in Jesus takes care of orphans who’ve been crushed by abandonment. That’s what it means to “look after them in their distress.” For the orphan, they are distressed—crushed—by the fact that they’ve been abandoned by the very people who are supposed to care for their well‑being at any cost. One or both parents abandon their children because of custom—baby girls, for example, are considered undesirable in many non‑Christian cultures. Many are killed simply for being born as a little girl. The fortunate ones are merely abandoned. I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain and distress that would bring to these precious little ones. Some have become orphans because a war has separated them from their parents, or their parents were killed and they were spared.
Look After Widows In Their Distress
Whatever the reason, these orphaned children have been crushed by the weight of their situation. And those who have pure, genuine faith in Jesus will be moved to take care of them as much as we can. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I’ve done enough. But James doesn’t limit his description of pure religion to caring for children who’ve been crushed by abandonment. He also says that genuine faith in Jesus takes care of widows who’ve been crushed by spousal loss. Again, I’ve never experienced the painful loss of a spouse to death. I have, however, observed it enough to know that it’s a crushing blow to the spouse left behind. It’s a distress in their life that they never quite get over. The separation is devastating for many.
Proving Faith By Caring For The Hurting
The church shows genuine faith in Jesus by taking care of the widow who’s been crushed by the loss of their mate. We may need to sacrifice our own time to spend time with them in fellowship. We may have to sacrifice financially to help meet their needs. That’s why the ministry to orphans and widows is very much like Jesus’ three‑and‑a‑half‑year ministry here on planet earth. No one ever cared more for the broken and the hurting, for the abandoned and the marginalized, than Jesus. So how do we apply this? There are ministries to get involved in, especially in the area of orphans. Become foster parents. Find something to do. Remember, pure religion is not the result of good deeds, but results in good deeds.
Vertically Focused In A Horizontal World 