Worthy Sermon Week 2- Widows and Orphans
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Welcome/Intro
Welcome/Intro
We are going to be in James 1 today
We are in a short series called: Worthy
In the book of James as a foundation and background
to talk about some of the things relevant to us being
the church that God has called us to be
here in East Orlando, in 2021
NAME, one of pastors here
Welcome, glad you are with us in person or online
Last week we opened the book of James
saw that he was concerned that we would not called Christian in name only
that we would not just talk about Jesus
but that we would also walk in the way of Jesus.
We need to Talk about Jesus but we also need to Walk in the way of Jesus
We said that You matter to God, you matter enough to him that he would send his Son to die in our place for our sins.
and because you matter to him, it matters to him how you live your life.
This week we are going to look at what this practically looks like.
How do not just Talk about Jesus, but also walk like Jesus?
We could really sum up the book of James with four commands.
James 1:19
Know (understand) this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
The Four B’s of James
Be quick to hear
Be slow to speak
Be slow to anger
Don’t just be a hearer of the word but a doer.
This is what is important for James
We are going to unpack an element of this today.
have you ever served someone who had no ability to give back?
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Deceived Devotion
Deceived Devotion
James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
“Religious” - what does this mean?
it means liturgy, practices and ritual that demonstrates a devotion to God
Religion: Devotion to God demonstrated through action.
Love for God through serving others
So this is you, if you are a Christian
If you think you are ‘devoted to God’
But…Then he goes right to speech.
“If we say we are devoted to God, that we love God, but don’t control what we say”
our ‘devotion’ is meaningless, worthless, futile.
‘does not bridle his tongue’
= control his speech
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
Why is what we say so important to James?
Why does it matter so much to Him?
He has a lot to say about this in the letter of James
He is taking this from his bigger brother Jesus
whom he would have walked with.
Jesus says very similar things in Matthew 12
Matt:12:34
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
What we say is indicative of where our hearts are.
Jesus goes on
Matt 12:35
The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
He elaborates on his point, but it gets even more serious.
Matt 12:36
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
In Jesus’ mind words are so important, because by them hang your ultimate salvation.
Imagine if every word you spoke was recorded, every thought you had.
Paul makes the same connection in Romans 10
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Why?
Because the mouth speaks from the heart.
And if you haven’t recieved a new heart, if you have been born of the spirit, if you haven’t believed in Jesus, then your hearts are still dead.
First and foremost what you need is to be alive to God, that is to be saved by the person and work of Jesus from your cold and sinful heart.
So for James, as with Jesus, what we say is of massive importance.
What comes out of your mouth?
I take this to mean forms of speech that are harmful to others or self:
gossiping, slandering, hateful speech
hypocrisy, empty talk, flattering speech
lying, deception and demeaning self or others
But it is also hypocrisy
saying that we are living for God when we are not
Saying we are going to do this or that for God but will not.
What comes out of your mouth?
Let us be a people that are:
slow to speak, quick to hear
And not just hearers of the Word or talkers of the Word, but doers of the word.
True Devotion
True Devotion
James 1:27 Religion that is pure (clean) and undefiled (unstained) before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
True devotion is demonstrated by two things:
to visit orphans and widows in their affliction
to keep oneself unstained from the world.
True religion, true devotion is to care for the least of these!
“visit”
36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Widows and orphans those most susceptible to exploitation
so it’s social concern and a purity of life
We tend to forget that second part so we are going to start with that.
Why a Purity of life?
Why a Purity of life?
Because God doesn’t just care about the ‘externals’ he cares about the ‘internals’ also
He cares about your whole self.
he doesn’t care how good your instagram posts look,
he knows your heart,
he wants your heart.
Because this is not possible without the gospel.
deeds without devotion to God are dead works
deeds without devotion to God are devoid of true power
Ex) Those who fight for injustice in one areas, yet participate in it in other.
The student who can Ace his/her Ethics class yet looks down on those of a lower socioeconomic status
The one who fights for racial justice, yet participates in the sexual slave trade by partaking in pornography.
or take any number of politicians who fight for just laws yet are living lives full of deception and the exploitation of the very people they are meant to serve.
This is James whole concern
That we would just be devoted externally
but that we would be internally devoted as well.
deeds without devotion to God are dead works
This looks like loving God more than the ways of the world.
This is what it means to keep unstained form the world.
The PATTERN:
Love and serve others
Because of our love and service to God
Because of his love for us.
Unstained from the World.
James tells us this later:
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
What are the ways of the world?
bitter jealously, selfish ambition, boasting, falsifying the truth (James 3:14)
they are earthly, unspiritual and demonic (James 3:15)
Where they exist there will be ‘disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16)
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
What does our world look like?
disordered and vile
there is no love of God
The further our culture gets from the Love of God, the more disordered and vile it will get.
Does being unstained from the world mean we never sin?
No, it can’t be what it means that would rule us all out
This is what Faith in the gospel is all about
That Jesus lived the perfect life for us so that we didn’t have to because we couldn’t.
Perfection is gifted to us through Christ.
James 1:17 “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from the Father of lights”
that includes your salvation
True Power
True Power
What does it mean to remain unstained form the world?
it means it matters how you live
It’s what transformation is, living a transformed life.
How do we do that?
James has already told us.
James 1:18 “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
This is New Creation
he says now becuase of this:
James 1:21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
How do we remain unstained from the world?
by receiving with meekness the implanted word
That’s God’s Word
by the way Jesus is the Word of God (John 1)
It is Jesus living in us through his spirit that gives us the power to live this way.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This gives God all the Glory becuase it is Him that is at work in us (Phil 2:11-12)
true devotion then is a devotion that recognizes the allures of the world and the temptations of worldly power and keeps itself free from its practices by the power of the living Christ.
Thus true religion, true devotion to God is a life that is both externally devoted to the love of others (widows and orphans) and internally devoted to the love of God ( purity in life)
Widows and Orphans
Widows and Orphans
Orphans in the Hebrew culture referred to children who had lost at least a father; thus they were “fatherless” or “children without a father.” In many languages the term used for “orphan” refers to a child who has lost both parents.
Orphans and widows are often grouped together because they constitute the two social classes most open to exploitation and therefore most needing help and concern.
This is still the case today
Very little has changed since the writing of James
These have always been the people that the people of God have served and had concern for.
In fact it was OT law to care for widows and orphans:
22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
God himself is described this way:
Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
This is part of what it means to image God
When we serve those most in need, those with no ability to give back
we image God
This is life in the image of God.
The church has always served those who were most in need, those who were cast aside by society.
They did so with not hope of gain for themselves.
They did so becuase the spirit of Jesus was working in them to live as Jesus did from the heart that Jesus had.
It was the Christians who put an end to infanticide in the Roman Empire where parents would leave their unwanted babies on the trash heap.
It was Christians who eventually put an end to the gladiatorial games where slaves were brutally murdered as a form of entertainment for the public
It was the Church that cared for the needs of the poor and offered them not just food and shelter but the good news of everlasting life.
This was the predominant church growth strategy of the church in the first 2 centuries.
I’m suggesting that it be our primary strategy
Our Widows and Orphans
Our Widows and Orphans
So who are our orphans and widows today?
right here in East Orlando?
I believe that God is working out an opportunity for us in our very midst.
What if I told you that:
Last year there were hundreds of widows and would have been orphans right here in our zipcode? real people, with real names.
What if I told you there where thousands of orphans created in our communities every hear
At One Hope Church we believe that the Church is called to protect those most vulnerable to harm.
what better description of an orphan than one who has been abandoned to death by their parents?
At One Hope we believe that we ought to fight for the life of unborn babies becuase every person, every baby in the womb is a child of God and bears his image.
And so we fight for life in the womb
But the call of the church goes far beyond that
We are called to fight for life outside of the womb as well.
Where I think the church so often fails to speak and act is in the lives of those who choose life.
We celebrate when a mother and father choose life for their unborn baby.
But we must also understand that when a couple chooses life, and choose to parent their baby, they are choose a life that will often be difficult.
We’ve had a few babies, and even having everything we need, it is still difficult.
Ex) John Baxter - Elder
We have an opportunity as a church, to serve the widows and orphans (single moms) right here in our community.
We have an opportunity to come along side young couples that have chosen life and support them emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Thrive
Thrive
We have been partnered with Thrive for a number of years now.
Thrive is a Christ centered medical clinic that equips people to make healthy, life affirming decisions, regarding pregnancy, sexual health and relationships.
They see hundreds of women every year, share the gospel with them and walk alongside of them.
some 79% of women that come to Thrive choose life
In many ways this is the ultimate sacrifice. You are sacrificing your well being, comfort and convenience to bring in a new life into the world.
The demands of having a small baby are incredible and much support and care is needed.
James says true religion is to ‘visit’
this word means to care, to have concern for and to act for benefit of another.
ASPIRE PROGRAM
One of the things that Thrive is doing is what is called the Aspire Program where for those women interested mentorship and teaching is offered to them until their child is 1 year old.
DISCIPLING YOUNG FAMILIES
The opportunity for us is to be a place where those young families can continue their walk.
This can be as simple as leading a group where these young families would be invited in to be in relationship with some of you.
This is a place to walk with, care for and share God’s love with these young families
I can’t think of a more tangible way that we could fulfill James 1:27, James call to the church.
And the secret that we will find is that this sort of life is one that brings joy.
All we really need is two of you to say yes to lead a group.
Not immediate, but when the time comes
If you are stirred by this let us know.
fill out a next steps form
drop a comment or send me a message
come talk to me afterward
Adoption
Adoption
Another amazing way to serve these children is through adoptoin
Some of the women who choose life end up giving their children up for adoption
Adoption is such a powerful picture of the gospel
Some of you have been adopted yourselves
some of you have adopted children as well
If this is something you are interested in
fill out a next steps card,
drop a message on facebook/youtube or send me a DM
Come talk to me afterward
We have people who would love to answer your questions in regards to adoption.
Closing
Closing
So One Hope let us be a people who are both internally and externally devoted to God
We love and serve others becuase of our love for God and service to Him, becuase of His Love for Us.
This is what the True Church has always done.
Let’s be the people God
Who don’t just talk about Jesus, but walk in the ways of Jesus.
Let’s Pray
Let’s Pray