James 1:27 reads like this:
"Religion that God 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."
If you are at all familiar with the child welfare system, you might know that this is one of the number one verses that is used to help convince people, particularly Christians, to be a foster parent. You want your religion to be pure? Here's your chance!
Now, while there is actually a lot of beauty in the idea of people being convicted to bring children in need into their homes, this verse actually has so much more to offer us than just foster care recruitment, particularly in light of our current series on Just Love.
When we consider this verse, it's often perceived as a command from God to care for the orphan, to care for the widow, and for the believer to practice "true religion," but that may in fact only be a surface reading. Instead, let us consider the possibility that this verse is not prescriptive, but descriptive--that is, James 1:27 is not telling us what to do, but describing what Christians do. So let's break this verse down into five key terms to get a better picture of what James might be describing.
Religion
When you hear or read the word "religion," what do you think of?
Many people might think of the institutionalized church, or of those who say they are Christian but don't really act like it, making Christianity a religion over a relationship. Rules, regulations, doctrine.
Religion in this context, however, refers to the purest form of and outward action springing forth from an inward faith. Or think of it this way: as the demonstration of something that is inwardly true.
Pure and Undefiled
The Greek word for "pure" is translated as catharsis in English, meaning cleansing. This root, from which our word cathartic is derived, refers to an activity or practice which is psychologically or emotionally relieving or cleansing for us.
So, there is something cleansing about what James is describing for us. As Christians, it is cleansing for us to participate in activities of justice, such as caring for the widow and the orphan.
Maybe you have experienced this: after taking part in helping someone, you feel good about yourself. You might actually experience a rush of oxytocin, seratonin or dopamine after you act generously toward someone, according to Cleveland Clinic!
Our bodies were made to react positively to works of justice. It is almost like God knew what He was doing when He created us, to worship Him and to be like Him. Being like Jesus is psychologically and emotionally relieving and cleansing for us.
Look After
The next section of this verse describes religion as "to look after" orphans and widows in their distress. Have you ever been asked to "look after" something, like a pet or a plant? When you look after a pet for someone else, you probably feed them, maybe take them on a walk or change their litter, maybe play with them. Maybe you are guilty of "looking after" a plant by watering it every time it's starting to look a little dry.
But the verb used here is much stronger than these descriptions. To "look after," in James's mind, means to give intense and intentional attention to, for an extended period of time. It is a habitual action, not a one-time or occasional act of charity. When we "look after" people who need justice, it is meant to become part of our lives. This verb implies a sense of consistent closeness and nearness and personal contact.
Some translations of this verse use the word "visit," which might be even more appropriate, because in Scripture it is often used to reference visiting the sick. Luke 1:68 uses the same word to describe the redemptive work of Jesus on our behalf: Blessed be the Lord God, for He has visited us and accomplished great redemption for His people.
God came near to us, wrapped Himself up in our brokenness through the life of Jesus, and became broken in order to heal us. In order that we might not be broken anymore. In the Gospel, God says to His children, "I see you, and I am coming for you."
So perhaps James is suggesting that this gospel is more accurately and purely put on display when we echo that same sentiment with our lives to those around us. This is who we are meant to be.
Orphans and Widows
The most famous part of this verse, the one that is used to convince people to become foster parents, is the part about orphans and widows. Now remember, this is a descriptive verse. James is describing something for us, not being prescriptive in saying this is exactly who we need to minister to and no one else.
Orphans and widows, the fatherless and the husbandless, easily represented two of the most marginalized and pushed aside classes of people in James' culture. James is using them as a representative of the most marginalized, disenfranchised, and vulnerable groups of people we could encounter.
So while the orphans and widows are important, that's not the end of this calling. He's suggesting that we become the kind of people who move towards those in our world who have been outcast, marginalized and pushed aside. And when we do, when we step towards the hard and broken places and not away from them, it puts the heart of God, demonstrated in the Gospel, on display with a vividness and clarity and purity unlike anything else.
When we see the imago Dei in all people, this response becomes the natural response as the people of God.
Polluted
The verse concludes with the people of God keeping themselves from being polluted by the world. So does this mean to stay away from evil? Yes, but it also means that living life this way is cleansing for us. It doesn't mean that we have to stay away from situations where evil and brokenness is present; it means abstaining from participation in evil.
This goes back to our understanding of holiness as becoming more like Jesus. Jesus, who did not run away from the broken, but embraced them and made them whole. We are called to be like Jesus: a light in the darkness.
The world will see the most pure form of our religion when we stop working so hard to please God, and start being with God to become like Him. That is when God will be able to truly work through us.
So yes, we are called to care for the widow and the orphan, but this description is not a specified order so much as it is a declaration of what the people of God do. When we become like Jesus, we do as He did.
Original sermon by Pastor Makenzie Flores
Blog post adapted by Allison Freytes
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