It’s surprising how much the Scriptures uphold our responsibility to widows. Even in the New Testament Paul devotes almost a whole chapter to their care – 1 Tim 5. God deeply cares for this widow. He hates to see people alone and unattended to.
- If you neglect those in need in your family you ‘have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8)
- Pure religion is to look after widows (and orphans) – Jms 1:27
- “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from … the widow” (Deut 27:19)
Read those again. Those are some pretty strong words!
He created the family system to care for one another. And then the church and the people of God as the backup plan. There’s no more backup after that. Anything less is anethema. No widow should ever be uncared for.
Speaking of care–I’m not sure depositing a widow into a nursing home and waiting for them to die is “care.” Care is not just making sure someone has food and water like the family dog. No one wants to die lonely and alone.
A number of years ago our church was convicted by these words. Our church now helps some of the widows pay for their expenses. We don’t give them cash, we give them a check to the utility company, or to the pharmacy. It isn’t perfect but we want to do our part in caring for the widows.
I think it’s important. Until a month ago I had never even heard a sermon on caring for widows. Thankfully for the first time in my Christian life I did. God wants us to care for the widows.
Widows are often quiet about their needs. We must seek them out.
There are a lot of adoption movements right now. I would love to see every church in America make widows a priority as well.
