(June 2001 Edition)
Editorial - Caring for Orphans and Widows
At the Lord's Table - Good News for the Poor
Editorial
Caring for Orphans and Widows
But think for a moment. There are many orphans and widows who are lonely and sad even in our own ecclesias. They need a sympathetic ear and to feel the warmth and joy of sharing. The experience of a little fellowship would be of great benefit to them.
Have you ever thought how much it means to be invited into the home of a brother or sister, who, apart from the hope we share, would otherwise be a complete stranger?
Warm someone’s heart!
Each one of us can warm someone’s heart for Jesus’ sake by remembering the
orphans and widows who are in our midst. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 25:40, "Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me." To what extent are we prepared to practice self-denial? This is very essential
to happiness.
Close contact and care
It is wise to be in close contact with our orphans and widows and to hold them as
firmly as possible in the Truth. Sometimes there might not be any immediate family in the
Truth who could take over, and being in the care of a relative may force them into
isolation. If we are to even think of claiming to be believers with a hope of eternal
life, we must care for others. Don’t be afraid to use all the available
opportunities to help the poor and needy, the sick and the lonely, because Christ Jesus
has given us a commandment (it’s not an option, you understand?) to love our
neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:33). Don’t put off the help you can give today, for
tomorrow may be too late - for yourself as much as for others!
Taking in orphans and widows
Many of our Caribbean brethren and sisters have taken in quite a few orphans and
widows. They have been well cared for, sometimes with the assistance of the Bible Mission,
their ecclesia, or through individual generosity and effort. A number of these orphans
have succeeded well in life. Much more importantly, nearly all of them have accepted the
Truth joyfully and have become active workers for our Master. The little we do, as long as
we do it willingly, is accepted in the sight of God, and He will certainly bless our
efforts.
What can I give?
But what can I give to the orphans and widows? I can hardly survive off my tiny
income!
The temple collection box into which the widow woman in Luke 21 dropped "all her living" was possibly for "poor relief," including the care of widows and orphans. The amazing thing which Jesus observed was that it seems she didn’t consider herself "poor" at all! Poverty had not sucked dry her generosity of spirit.
However poor, we can give of our time and energy caring for others. In many cases these are more valuable than money. Do we visit and cheer an orphan who lives alone? When was the last time we wrote a letter of encouragement to an old widow? Even in the Caribbean many homes have telephones these days: have we called a shut-in widow recently? In the spirit of Luke 14:12, I could mention one brother with very limited income who uses his own phone very generously for that purpose but hardly at all for himself.
Long before the days of the Bible missions, a group of sisters in Georgetown, Guyana, organized a welfare group to care for widows and orphans. They visited the homes of brothers and sisters and, as one record states, "rendered to all assistance – spiritual, physical and whatever they could give in cash or kind." At one point in the early years of the last century, when there were many hundreds of Christadelphians in the Caribbean, including some wealthy business people, one group of ecclesias actually formally established a "Christadelphian Building Society" to assist the homeless. And it must be remembered they had virtually no connection at that time with the rest of the brotherhood.
Surely we can bring happiness and joy to others by being concerned about their well being. Jesus promises that we will be blessed for our every effort to make life a little more tolerable for our orphans and widows.
Showing gratitude
Showing gratitude is a responsibility we so often overlook. In the record of the
cleansing of the ten lepers, only one went out of his way to express his gratitude. Jesus
asked, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?"
The best way of showing our appreciation for benefits received is by growing spiritually. The apostle Paul told Timothy that he expected widows who had been helped by the brethren and sisters to continue in prayer and supplication all day long! (I Tim. 5:5). Thanks should be given to God for His ever-providing hands. For all good gifts are ultimately "from above." In verse 10, Paul exhorts widows to do good works, to help with the upbringing of children, to provide hospitality for strangers, to wash the feet of the saints, and to comfort the afflicted.
It behooves us to be watchful over our orphans and widows, while these in turn must endeavor to show appreciation for the benefits received by showing spiritual growth and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit.
Gerzel Gordon
[Sister Gerzel writes from experience. Brother Melvin and she have shared the joy of their own adopted orphans obeying the gospel, and many widows and needy thank God for her care.].
AND NOW, TEST YOURSELF! [Be honest!]
The apostle Paul said he was "forward" or eager to "remember the poor" (Gal. 2:10). Would you say that this is true of you?
Agur, son of Jakeh, asked God to give him "neither poverty nor riches" (Prov. 30:8). Do you specifically do the same?
Moses gave a warning not to be "tight-fisted" towards a "poor man among your brothers," but rather to be "open-handed" (Deut. 15:7NIV). Which alternative would accurately apply to you?
Jesus said, "You can help the poor any time you want" (Mark 14:7). When was the last time you "wanted" to help?
James wrote, "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position." Whichever you are, how do you demonstrate this in an effective way?
Jesus tells us that when we "give a luncheon, or dinner," we must "invite the poor" (Luke 14:13). When was the last time you did that?
The Israelites were told, "Do not deny justice to your poor" (Exo. 23:6). What application does this have to you as a member of Israel of the Spirit today?
Job claimed that for fear of God’s splendor he had not "denied the desires of the poor" (31:16,23). Would you make the same claim?
Moses commanded "pay [a hired person] his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it" (Deut. 24:14). Do you follow this same moral principle today?
Jesus’ instruction was, "When you give to the poor and needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Is that true of you?
At the
Lord's Table
Good News for the Poor
The LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…to comfort all that mourn…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…for I, the LORD, love justice (Isa. 61:1-8).
"A spirit of despair"
In an official report published the other day, there were some disturbing statistics
about teenagers in my country.
One in seven had killed themselves or had seriously attempted to commit suicide at least once.
One in four are considered "at very high risk" of ending their own lives.
Half (over forty-nine percent) consistently exhibit suicidal tendencies and are deemed "at risk."
The most vulnerable group of all are high school graduates.
Among the reasons given by teenagers for wanting to end their own lives, the most common are the following: homelessness, joblessness, hunger, rejection by friends, failure at school or at examinations, lack of parental love, sexual abuse, date rape, and most horrifying of all, "total despair." Frequent expressions used are, "Life is pointless," "I am a failure," "There is no hope of anything in life," "I just can’t take life any more," "I don’t want to live on the streets," and most pointedly of all, "Nobody cares."
Something is terribly, terribly amiss in my country when half the population has given up on life by the age of twenty. In the Jamaica of my youth, to win a "free place" to high school was deemed a door to life, not a passport to dark despair.
Data from the government indicate that in the "bright millennium year" 2000, of 173,000 teens who were unemployed, 71 percent had been "looking for work" for more than six months, and 48 percent for more than twelve months. Half of all teenagers considered their job and life prospects to be "absolutely hopeless." Three-quarters of all teenagers had not been taught any skills, and had not passed any examination.
The most desperate group are the homeless street teens. Professor Brendan Bain of the University of the West Indies reported recently that among those street teens registered with the NISC (National Initiative for Street Children), one of the most likely outcomes of their teenage years is to become HIV positive and die of AIDS. Many are chronically hungry, and therefore chronically angry.
"Moved with compassion"
I don’t really know what Galilee was like when Jesus walked around preaching the
gospel to the poor. I don’t know if there were teenage gangs in Jerusalem, or street
children in Bethsaida. I get the impression from the book Cornelia’s Story
that Caesarea was a bit like Kingston. But I do know that Jesus of Nazareth, my Savior,
was moved with compassion by those in despair (Mark 1:41, 8:2 and many others places). And
it was this infinite compassion that got Jesus constantly into trouble, so that he became
an affront to almost everyone he met.
"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild"? No way! He was so inflammatory in his language and so impatient with the uncaring that he was thrown out of synagogues, threatened with stoning, hunted from place to place, and finally nailed to a tree as a firebrand and a public danger. His compassion led to constant charges of inconsistency. He claimed to have come to fulfil the law, yet broke it to heal the sick. He warned against lust, yet refused to condemn a blatant adulteress and defended a prostitute. He spoke against violence, yet praised a Roman soldier. As for his friends, they were a pretty desperate lot – a guerrilla, a traitor, a thief, a stinking leper, an unloved foreigner, and numerous street kids. Most of them would make a respectable Christian blanch.
The words and behavior on earth of Jesus of Nazareth have confused his followers ever since. He is seen as a renegade Jew, a revolutionary, a radical reformer, a socialist, an other-worldly mystic, an idealistic moral teacher, a willing substitute for wayward sinners, a prophet of doom. His name and fame are invoked to support every stripe and brand of religious enthusiasm from "born again" materialists of the ultra-right to "bleeding heart liberals" of the left.
Two reactions
Basically, there have been two reactions to Jesus’ attitude to the despairing.
One says that he was not interested in what has been called "the human
condition" here and now – injustice, poverty, hunger, despair. His message was
simply to offer hope for a better kingdom in the far-off future. Present woes can simply
be ignored, because Jesus is only interested in people’s spiritual needs. As long as
we preach the gospel, it is said, and offer eternal salvation through Christ, we need do
nothing else but keep our money tightly in our wallets.
This is a caricature of the Son of God. If that is true, three quarters of the New Testament can be thrown into the trash can.
There is another extreme: to portray Jesus Christ as being concerned mainly with present human needs, as if these were paramount. This, too, is wide of the mark.
"Every whit whole"
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all concur as to the purpose of Jesus’ words and
works. They all use the same word or phrase. It was to make helpless, suffering,
despairing, dying people "every whit whole" (John 7:23). The Greek word
translated "whole" or "sound" is the word from which we get our word
hygiene. When Jesus comes into a person’s life, it is a total thing: healthy
soundness of body, soul and spirit; sins wiped away; hope and strength to cope with
despair; joyful assurance of salvation.
There is an important caveat that we need to remember. There is no evidence that Jesus was indiscriminate in his "mighty works," curing people at random. Most of the people whose stories are recorded in the gospels were the absolutely hopeless cases: total paralysis, incurable insanity, congenital blindness, unstoppable bleeding – even the stench of death. This tells us that no despair is too deep that the Truth cannot bring help and hope. There is no despair that being at this table cannot heal.
We sing that Jesus’ word still has its ancient power. How often have we found that to be true! But remember: that power is manifested today mainly through the loving care of his brothers and sisters. And this table of the Lord is his power house.
Paul challenges us in Romans 8: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" And the answer is the answer to despair: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
They borrowed a bed to lay his head,
When Christ the Lord was born;
They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass,
For him to ride to town;
But the thorns that he wore
And the cross that he bore, were his own.
True: the cross was his own.
He borrowed the bread when the crowds he fed,
On the grassy mountain side;
He borrowed the dish of broken fish,
With which they were satisfied;
But the thorns that he wore
And the cross that he bore, were his own.
True: the cross was his own.
He borrowed the ship in which to sit,
To teach the multitude;
He borrowed a nest in which to rest,
He had never a home so crude;
But the thorns that he wore
And the cross that he bore, were his own.
True: the cross was his own.
He borrowed a room on his way to the tomb
The Passover lamb to eat;
They borrowed a cave, for him a grave,
They borrowed a winding sheet;
Yet the thorns that he wore
And the cross that he bore, were his own.
It’s true: the cross was his own.
Mary Bodden (Cayman Islands)
The Jesus I Imagine - Jesus Now
I like to think of Jesus now, the Lord of glory. His eyes are as a flame of fire, wonderful eyes, not weak like mine, with eyeglasses on the end of my nose. Eyes that burn into my soul. Eyes full of love.
I am an old woman now, and I like to think of him laying his right hand upon me as he did upon the aged John, and saying to me also, "Don’t be afraid! I have the keys of the grave and of death."
He intercedes for me, and I am comforted by that. My singing is very weak and feeble now, but I know that he listens to the songs of my heart.
It is a big mystery to me, but I know that even in his blazing heavenly glory, his hands and his feet are still pierced. For me. When I am low and anxious, it gives me peace. Sometimes I wonder, especially when I feel the burden of injustice and unconcern, why he does not rend the heavens and come down as he promised. But when I think of all the wonderful people he has called and justified and saved from despair in the last few years of my life, I am content. I think of all the people who need the Lord, and my disappointment passes for a while.
Really, the thought of Jesus in glory is quite beyond me. I just have to accept it in faith. I know that he is immortal, enjoying a glorious body. And I long for the day when he will give me a body like his, so we can enjoy eternity together.
Mary Eyre
Four of Jesus’ deeply personal prayers are models for my own prayer life in these desperately trying times.
Father, I thank Thee...
Here is an intimate prayer, just a heartfelt "thank you" not addressed to "Our Father," but simply the affectionate Abba (Father). I suspect it was by far his most frequent prayer, as it should be mine.
He thanked his Father for His mission, and for the method He, his Father, uses to accomplish His mighty purposes. It is a method which tests naked hearts: a method which reveals and rewards humble obedience, and exposes religious pride for the ugly pretence that it is (Matt. 11:25): a method which shows the Way to the meek, lowly and contrite who decide for Jesus and at the same time actually "hides" the truth from the worldly wise and "prudent," those who count the cost and deliberately decide against him.
Jesus also thanked his Father for so abundantly answering his prayers (John 11:41). How often must he have prayed this prayer as his Father and his God did so many "mighty works" through him! And as our Father deigns to perform His wonders through me, let me model my prayers of thanks on his.
Father, glorify Thy Son...
Jesus’ longest and most moving recorded prayer was for his Father’s glory, not his own (John 17). Surely a model prayer for me. A prayer for unity in the Lord, for love, for gentleness and compassion, for understanding of one another, for fruit to God’s glory from faithful witness.
Father, take this cup from me...
I can never read Mark 14:36 without trembling. How many times when I walk the streets with injury and death lurking at every corner, the times when I am suddenly looking down the barrel of a gun, the times when I try to live a faithful Christian life in a violent society full of anger and hate, do I pray this desperate prayer! Am I a coward? Has my faith altogether gone? Why, in spite of so many deliverances, is there cold sweat upon my neck? I tell myself that my Lord was tempted and tried in all points as I am, and then I have a peace within to accept God’s will, however hard and rocky the way to life.
Father, forgive them...
Luke 23:34 is the hardest prayer of them all. But this was the essence of everything the Son of God came to display: abounding forgiveness. How often have I struggled with this prayer! This person has hurt me, that one has misunderstood me, the other one has slighted me, over there is one who has treated me like dirt. And am I to forgive them all, totally, completely, in the manner of my King?
You supply the answer.
A brother
Every day they pass me by
I can see it in their eyes
Empty people filled with care
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear
Laughter hides their silent cry;
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord,
At the end of broken dreams is the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord,
When will we realize that people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What could be too great a cost for
Sharing life with one who’s lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the world of Life
Only we can share.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams is the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize that we must give our lives?
For people need the Lord, people need the Lord.
In the February, 2001, Pioneer section of the Tidings (Tidings, 2/2001), mention was made of people in the Caribbean who keep on working far into old age.
A neighbor of mine in the island of Dominica is 126 years old. Her birth certificate proves that. She was born in 1875. I am 69, and when I was a pickney in the 1930’s, I remember her as an old woman then. Her name is Elizabeth Israel. Her mother was a slave. Most of her life she worked on a plantation picking vegetables. In fact, she was an overseer long after her hundredth birthday. Right now, she is a bit frail but her mind is clear as a bell. She has had a very hard working life, but she says, "Hard work never killed anybody. It’s laziness that kills." She ascribes her long, healthy life to hard work, a vegetarian diet, pure drinking water, and "moderation."
I have a great-great aunt called Rose who is still alive, and remember I am nearly 70. She worked with Elizabeth in the fields for over a hundred years. She must be getting on for 120 by now. She is quick of mind and full of energy. Like Daniel, she always felt it was more healthy to eat vegetables and drink water than use liquor and a lot of rich food.
Jollita James, Dominica
[Some years ago, at a Bible campaign in Hanover, Jamaica, Sis. Eula Williams of Harvey River was accompanied by her grand-daughter, daughter, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Bro. Walter Draper took a photograph of the old lady shopping for "food" (that is to say, vegetables) in Lucea market with her great-great-great-granddaughter. The Editors.]