Rev. Don Campbell

Lamentations 3:37-5:22

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, August 26, 2019

“PRACTICING PURE RELIGION”

The question of who “is an orphan?” may not be of general interest, but for some, it has been a question that divided the body of Christ. The question centered on the words of James: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).

At some point in the modern history of the church, someone read in a middle-school level dictionary that the word orphan means a child whose parents are both dead. However, this is not a biblical definition. The word orphan is found only once in the King James Version of the Old Testament, but that one occurrence is instructive: “We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are widows” (Lamentations 5:3). The term fatherless and widows in both the Old and New Testament Scriptures refers to a fatherless family unit (See Exodus 22:24; Psalms 109:9; Malachi 3:5).

On the night of his betrayal, Jesus told the apostles that he would not leave them “as orphans,” meaning that he would not leave them to their own resources to carry out the great commission which he would give to them. He said that he would come to them, but he was only with them for 40 days before he ascended to heaven. However, he did not leave them to their own resources. Instead, he promised the Spirit which would be present in the body of Christ always (John 14:25-31).

For over 30 years I have been involved in residential childcare work. People have often asked, “Now are all of these real orphans?” I wanted to say, “Every single one of them,” but had I done so, they would have accused me of duplicity when they found out that many of them had living parents—even if they had not seen them in years. So, I tried to explain that they all lacked the emotional and spiritual resources to cope with life on their own. I pray they got the message.

Just this week I reconnected through Facebook with one of the young men with whom I had worked over 20 years ago. The reconnection gave me a little insight into the words of Jesus when he said, “I have meat to eat you know not of.” He is married to a lovely wife and they have a good family. He has worked with troubled teens himself. Among other things, he said, “And for that I am grateful and if no one else has ever told you I will be honored to tell you and Dee THANK YOU FOR NOT GIVING UP ON ME WHEN EVERYONE ELSE DID.” [Emphasis is his]

I do not share his words in order to receive accolades from anyone else but to encourage those who are striving to practice pure religion to not give up on the downtrodden, disenfranchised, disorderly—considered disorderly or delinquent because like a wounded animal that is striking out at all who would come near.

CONNECTIONS

1. Are many Christians living as orphans because they have rejected the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians?

2. Some not only live as orphans, but they live like slaves. What would Paul say to them? (Romans 8:12-17)