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.

In the days that James wrote this, there were two important things happening:
1. Unwanted children were often just abandoned. Left to the mercy of a passerby, or an animal, or the elements... distress.

2. Women rarely worked outside of the home. If their husband died, than they lived with their children. If they had no children...distress.

James didn't want us to exclude others from acts of mercy. But he did want us to notice those who are most vulnerable. And he wanted to make sure that Christians didn't confuse rituals, gatherings & worship services as being true religion. All of these can be good, but they don't make someone in step with what God had in mind.

When we changed our Sunday morning routine a few months ago, in order to serve people in our community, we were saddened to hear a few people grumble about "not having church." And a few people just didn't show because they didn't think it was worth their time. We were sad because apparently they didn't understand that our "worship" or "service" or "church" or "religion" that morning was at in it's most pure form. But we were were overwhelmed with joy that so many people happily participated. And lives were changed. And the reverberations can still be felt in our community. It was pure. It was good. It was right.

I wanted to include some resources that accompany my sermon (June 28).

Widows and orphans were singled out as protected by God:
Dt. 10:18, 14:28-29, 16:11, 24:17, 26:12
Jer. 22:3
Zech 7:8-10
Mal. 3:5
Acts 6:1
I Tim 5:16

Pure & faultless are words associated with ceremonial cleanness. (Luke 11:39-41)
Godliness is more than outward ceremony. (Micah 6:7-8)

And check out these links:
Cardinals All Star Albert Pujols cares for the needy

see how some churches are promoting adoptions and foster care (note: see the June 28, 2009 publication.)