I recently interviewed a gentleman who is 96 years-old. When Bob was single
and 35 years-old, he took his neighbor on a hunting trip that ended in tragedy.
Their car hit black ice and plunged into a canyon killing the friend. It was
apparent that even though 60 years had passed, it had not dimmed Bob’s grief, “I hated it. I hated to go back home and
face the widow…she had four small children.” Then with a sudden lift in
Bob’s voice he continued, “It ended up
that I married the widow with the four kids.” Bob and Gladys never had any
children of their own, but they were married for over 50 years when she passed
away. “Religion that 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.”
(James 1:27 NIV)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----One of today’s favorite rubs against the Lord’s people is that they take the Bible literally. In a sense, I have to agree. Of course, I certainly don’t take it allegorically. What’s left then? Taking it literarily. God had a message for the world and He chose to deliver it in the form of written language doing what any good author will do - using many literary devices for expressing intended meanings.
-----I am sure there is more to religion than merely taking care of widows and orphans and avoiding the world’s bad habits. Several years ago I was quite dismayed to hear the elder of a church express that Jesus meant only the handicapped and poor when He said, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Mat 25:40) I suppose this would imply Jesus’ complete ambivalence toward John Elway should he be found dying of thirst while stranded along a blistering, desert road. That’s ridiculous! We think we love people? God’s love for people dwarf’s ours! And His love flows to people without partiality.
-----A common literary device of those days and today is emphasizing the inclusion of a complete category by reference to its least member. So taking the Bible literarily, “...the least of these my brethren...” means absolutely anyone in the category of having a need. The same goes for looking, “...after orphans and widows in their distress...” The device assumes a sufficiency of the readers’ knowledge so the author will not need to list every member of the category. The reader is relieved from reading a book for the sense of a sentence. If the Lord had chosen a more literal statement of His meaning here, He might better have used one of Paul’s expressions, like, “Religion that our God and Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
-----This device He used offers a double benefit, too. The author is able to choose from the category a representative member needing particular emphasis regarding the present discussion. The drift of James’ epistle concerns wealthy Christians failing to really consider the humble positions of others. After the reader’s attention has logically expanded into the entire category, having come through the immediately relevant member, the message’s reality naturally wraps around the mind. In this case: true religion isn’t just doing rituals and thinking about God, it is actually doing right by people’s needs and actually rising above the world‘s wrongs.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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