Orphans and widows are especially important to God, so how does God who is in heaven provide for orphans and widows here on earth?
Widows
[1]How many of the residents in a nursing home are orphans and widows? Almost all of them!
Orphans and widows are especially important to God, so how does God who is in heaven provide for orphans and widows here on earth? A widow is a woman whose husband has died and has not remarried while an orphan is a child where both parents have died or a (minor) child whose mother is still living but their father is not. These two groups are identified as being the most vulnerable because in many cases, they are unable to provide for their own needs. Thankfully, God is highly concerned about the fate of orphans and widows, saying through Jeremiah the Prophet, “Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me” (Jer 49:11). Since they are that important to God, they should be that important to us too. Often though, they are a bit invisible and fall between the cracks and people may not even know they have needs. But God does, and so should we, the church.
Orphans
The scribes and the Pharisees were not honoring their parents, and yet still claimed to be “holy,” but Jesus rebuked them, telling them that they are those, “who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation” (Mark 12:40). How have they devoured the widow’s houses? By not providing for the needs of the poor (widows and orphans) as God’s Law prescribed (Ex 22:22; Deut 14:29, etc.). They were the “experts” in the Law, and yet they ignored it (broke His Law). God has not changed from the time Moses brought the Law to the people down from Mount Sinai. Even though we can’t see Him, God is still “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation” (Psalm 68:5), but are we? We do know that God will not hold those guilt
[2]less who are charged with caring for their elderly parents or the widows and orphans in the church.
The Church
The church can (indeed, should) fill in where the state or social services do not meet the needs of a widow. The reason the church is called the Body of Christ is because Jesus is the Head and He directs the body to do good works for God’s glory (Eph 2:10; James 1:27). We are Jesus’ hands, feet, voice and His eyes on earth while He directs His body’s movements from heaven. Sometimes I’m asked about “Your church” but I tell them, it’s not my church but Jesus’ church, and that’s good news because He is the one building it. If it were “my” church, then the gates of hell would prevail against it, but thankfully, Jesus said “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18) and not even death can stop it. He does not say, “Pastor Jack, you and I are going to build My church,” for that would be an epic fail. I’m glad Jesus is building it because it will never fail, but if it’s something you and I are building, then it’s no more than sinking sand! It’s not our church….we are the church, and God is pleased to use the church as a means to build it, but Jesus alone is the Master Builder. We are His laborers, but Jesus is actually building the church…one soul at a time.
True Religion
[3]Those who are believers in Christ have a religion that comes straight from heaven, and it is a calling to be holy as God is holy. We are called to be set-apart from the world and to bring others to Christ, so that’s what James means when He says believers are “to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27b). The stain James speaks of is the stain of sin, but that stain is regularly cleansed by confessing our sins and the forgiveness of God (1 John 1:8-10), but the first part of being “religious” or true religion as God sees it, is “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27a). When James mentions affliction he means some sort of privation, hunger, need for shelter or clothing, living in or near the poverty level, and intense lonliness. Sometimes, it’s all of these. Widows and widowers crave company and desire to share their lives with someone, and yet the vast majority in care homes have no one to visit them…ever! Now that’s affliction. God expects the church to provide for her own members…her own widows and orphans where possible. Being religious is not sounding holy, memorizing Scripture, attending every Sunday school or singing in the church choir…but pure religion is faith with feet on it; providing for people’s needs, and when they do that, they are doing what God wants done. God is doing this through them. That’s how God Who is in heaven gets things done or earth! It is through the church!
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Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: What Does the Bible Say About Orphans and Widows? [5]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.