When all has been done that can be done in helping the
poor to help themselves, there still remain the widow
and the fatherless, the aged, the helpless, and the sick, that
claim sympathy and care. Never should these be neglected.
They are committed by God Himself to the mercy, the love,
and the tender care of all whom He has made His stewards.
The Household of Faith
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto
all men, especially unto them who are of the household of
faith." Galatians 6:10.
In a special sense, Christ has laid upon His church the duty
of caring for the needy among its own members. He suffers
His poor to be in the borders of every church. They are
always to be among us, and He places upon the members of
the church a personal responsibility to care for them.
As the members of a true family care for one another,
ministering to the sick, supporting the weak, teaching the
ignorant, training the inexperienced, so is "the household of
faith" to care for its needy and helpless ones. Upon no
consideration are these to be passed by.
Widows and Orphans
The widow and the fatherless are the objects of the Lord's
special care.
"A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation."
"Thy Maker is thy husband;
Jehovah of hosts is His name:
And the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer;
The God of the whole earth shall He be called."
"Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive;
And let thy widows trust in Me."
Psalm 68:5; Isaiah 54:5, A.R.V.; Jeremiah 49:11.
Many a father, when called upon to part from his loved
ones, has died resting in faith upon God's promise to care for
them. The Lord provides for the widow and the fatherless,
not by a miracle in sending manna from heaven, not by sending
ravens to bring them food; but by a miracle upon human
hearts, expelling selfishness, and unsealing the fountains of
Christlike love. The afflicted and bereaved ones He commits
to His followers as a precious trust. They have the very strongest
claim upon our sympathy.
In homes supplied with life's comforts, in bins and granaries
filled with the yield of abundant harvests, in warehouses
stocked with the products of the loom, and vaults stored with
gold and silver, God has supplied means for the sustenance of
these needy ones. He calls upon us to be channels of His
bounty.
Many a widowed mother with her fatherless children is
bravely striving to bear her double burden, often toiling far
beyond her strength in order to keep her little ones with her
and to provide for their needs. Little time has she for their
training and instruction, little opportunity to surround them
with influences that would brighten their lives. She needs
encouragement, sympathy, and tangible help.
God calls upon us to supply to these children, so far as we
can, the want of a father's care. Instead of standing aloof,
complaining of their faults, and of the trouble they may
cause, help them in every way possible. Seek to aid the careworn
mother. Lighten her burdens.
Then there are the multitudes of children who have been
wholly deprived of the guidance of parents and the subduing
influence of a Christian home. Let Christians open their
hearts and homes to these helpless ones. The work that God
has committed to them as an individual duty should not be
turned over to some benevolent institution or left to the
chances of the world's charity. If the children have no relatives
able to give them care, let the members of the church provide
homes for them. He who made us ordained that we should
be associated in families, and the child nature will develop
best in the loving atmosphere of a Christian home.
Many who have no children of their own could do a good
work in caring for the children of others. Instead of giving
attention to pets, lavishing affection upon dumb animals, let
them give their attention to little children, whose characters
they may fashion after the divine similitude. Place your love
upon the homeless members of the human family. See how
many of these children you can bring up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord. Many would thus be greatly
benefited themselves.
The Aged
The aged also need the helpful influences of the family. In
the home of brethren and sisters in Christ can most nearly be
made up to them the loss of their own home. If encouraged
to share in the interests and occupations of the household, it
will help them to feel that their usefulness is not at an end.
Make them feel that their help is valued, that there is something
yet for them to do in ministering to others, and it will
cheer their hearts and give interest to their lives.
So far as possible let those whose whitening heads and failing
steps show that they are drawing near to the grave remain
among friends and familiar associations. Let them worship
among those whom they have known and loved. Let them be
cared for by loving and tender hands.
Whenever they are able to do so, it should be the privilege
of the members of every family to minister to their own
kindred. When this cannot be, the work belongs to the
church, and it should be accepted both as a privilege and as a
duty. All who possess Christ's spirit will have a tender regard
for the feeble and the aged.
The presence in our homes of one of these helpless ones
is a precious opportunity to co-operate with Christ in His ministry
of mercy and to develop traits of character like His.
There is a blessing in the association of the old and the young.
The young may bring sunshine into the hearts and lives of
the aged. Those whose hold on life is weakening need the
benefit of contact with the hopefulness and buoyancy of youth.
And the young may be helped by the wisdom and experience
of the old. Above all, they need to learn the lesson of unselfish
ministry. The presence of one in need of sympathy and
forbearance and self-sacrificing love would be to many a household
a priceless blessing. It would sweeten and refine the
home life, and call forth in old and young those Christlike
graces that would make them beautiful with a divine beauty
and rich in heaven's imperishable treasure.
A Test of Character
"Ye have the poor with you always," Christ said, "and
whensoever ye will ye may do them good." "Pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world." Mark 14:7; James 1:27.
In placing among them the helpless and the poor, to be
dependent upon their care, Christ tests His professed followers.
By our love and service for His needy children we prove
the genuineness of our love for Him. To neglect them is to
declare ourselves false disciples, strangers to Christ and His
love.
If all were done that could be done in providing homes in
families for orphan children, there would still remain very
many requiring care. Many of them have received an inheritance
of evil. They are unpromising, unattractive, perverse,
but they are the purchase of the blood of Christ, and in His
sight are just as precious as are our own little ones. Unless a
helping hand is held out to them, they will grow up in ignorance
and drift into vice and crime. Many of these children
could be rescued through the work of orphan asylums.
Such institutions, to be most effective, should be modeled
as closely as possible after the plan of a Christian home. Instead
of large establishments, bringing great numbers together, let
there be small institutions in different places. Instead of being
in or near some town or large city, they should be in the country
where land can be secured for cultivation and the children
can be brought into contact with nature and can have
the benefits of industrial training.
Those in charge of such a home should be men and women
who are largehearted, cultured, and self-sacrificing; men and
women who undertake the work from love to Christ and who
train the children for Him. Under such care many homeless
and neglected ones may be prepared to become useful members
of society, an honor to Christ themselves, and in their
turn helping others.
Many despise economy, confounding it with stinginess and
narrowness. But economy is consistent with the broadest
liberality. Indeed, without economy, there can be no true
liberality. We are to save, that we may give.
No one can practice real benevolence without self-denial.
Only by a life of simplicity, self-denial, and close economy
is it possible for us to accomplish the work appointed us as
Christ's representatives. Pride and worldly ambition must be
put out of our hearts. In all our work the principle of unselfishness
revealed in Christ's life is to be carried out. Upon the
walls of our homes, the pictures, the furnishings, we are to
read, "Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house." On our
wardrobes we are to see written, as with the finger of God,
"Clothe the naked." In the dining room, on the table laden
with abundant food, we should see traced, "Is it not to deal
thy bread to the hungry?" Isaiah 58:7.
A thousand doors of usefulness are open before us. Often
we lament the scanty resources available, but were Christians
thoroughly in earnest, they could multiply the resources a
thousandfold. It is selfishness, self-indulgence, that bars the
way to our usefulness.
How much means is expended for things that are mere
idols, things that engross thought and time and strength
which should be put to a higher use! How much money is
wasted on expensive houses and furniture, on selfish pleasures,
luxurious and unwholesome food, hurtful indulgences! How
much is squandered on gifts that benefit no one! For things
that are needless, often harmful, professed Christians are
today spending more, many times more, than they spend in
seeking to rescue souls from the tempter.
Many who profess to be Christians spend so much on dress
that they have nothing to spare for the needs of others. Costly
ornaments and expensive clothing they think they must have,
regardless of the needs of those who can with difficulty
provide themselves with even the plainest clothing.
My sisters, if you would bring your manner of dressing
into conformity with the rules given in the Bible, you would
have an abundance with which to help your poorer sisters.
You would have not only means, but time. Often this is most
needed. There are many whom you might help with your
suggestions, your tact and skill. Show them how to dress
simply and yet tastefully. Many a woman remains away from
the house of God because her shabby, ill-fitting garments are
in such striking contrast to the dress of others. Many a sensitive
spirit cherishes a sense of bitter humiliation and injustice
because of this contrast. And because of it many are led to
doubt the reality of religion and to harden their hearts against
the gospel.
Christ bids us, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that
nothing be lost." While thousands are every day perishing
from famine, bloodshed, fire, and plague, it becomes every
lover of his kind to see that nothing is wasted, that nothing
is needlessly expended, whereby he might benefit a human
being.
It is wrong to waste our time, wrong to waste our thoughts.
We lose every moment that we devote to self-seeking. If every
moment were valued and rightly employed, we should have
time for everything that we need to do for ourselves or for the
world. In the expenditure of money, in the use of time,
strength, opportunities, let every Christian look to God for
guidance. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it
shall be given him." James 1:5.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you."
"Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your
reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the
Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
Luke 6:35.
"He that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse;" but "he
that giveth unto the poor shall not lack." Proverbs 28:27.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall
men give into your bosom." Luke 6:38.