“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” –James 1:27
This verse has been central to the work of Sacred Selections from its founding: responding to the call to care for the vulnerable is a core principle and the driving motivation to support Christian adoption. For the first several years of fundraising, it was this verse with the Sacred Selections logo that embellished shirts of different colors each year at events across the country. This admonishment by James has rightly been the center of OLAY talks and sermons, shared with Christians who donate to support adoptive families, and displayed in homes as families seek to live its call.
James 1:27 is familiar and dedicated to memory for many of us. This instruction is not unique to James, though. God has always expected His people to advocate for vulnerable people within their influence. Exodus 22:22-23 says,
“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.”
Similarly, in Deuteronomy 10:18 we read,
“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.”
In the time of the divided kingdom, Isaiah comes with a message from God in the first chapter of his book:
“Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
God will hear the cries of the vulnerable and act in their defense. He executes justice for them and loves them. He instructs His people to defend, plead for, and provide for them. Especially in the society and family structure of biblical times, widows and orphans found themselves outside of the beit av (בית אב) or “house of the father.” This household typically consisted of multiple generations living as their own community within the broader community of a town or city. Overseen by a patriarch who was responsible for ensuring all members of the family were provided for, the beit av existed as a place with pooled resources that ensured the well-being and survival of all within it.
Left without connection to the beit av after the death of a husband or father, the widow and orphan find themselves exposed and without a way to provide for themselves. They are outsiders. Stuck without resources, stability, or identity.
This story of being on the outside and in need of being brought in has been the story of mankind since the Garden of Eden. Each has sinned, and therefore each has been separated from the closeness of relationship that Adam and Eve shared with God our Father in the Garden. But the entire story of the Bible demonstrates God’s desire and unending pursuit of restoring that relationship with His creation. Sin forces man outside God’s family. And just as God always has and will always continue to require His people to bring the outsiders into our families, so He continues to make the offer of love and grace to bring us back into His family.
When we care for the vulnerable in obedience to God’s command, we are reminded that we too were outsiders and His love and generosity has restored us. He provides us with the spiritual resources, stability, and identity that we were lacking and without any ability to provide them for ourselves without His goodness. As emphasized in the verse we are focusing on as we celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Sacred Selections,
“For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:5
May we selflessly remember that we, too, were outside and have been brought in by God. And may that motivate us to similarly see the vulnerable and seek to bring them into our homes.
