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Deut 10:17-20 - God, who is great, cares for them. We should emulate him. Remember how it felt in Egypt
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Deut 26:12-14 - take the tithe and give it to the priest, strangers, orphans, and widows THAT ARE IN YOUR GATES. Not just a little either, until they are satisfied. Then go stand before God and tell him “I have taken the holiness from my house and given it away as instructed. I have not forgotten”
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The fact that God asks us to declare that we remembered these people implies that God knows we are inclined to forget
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Deut 24:19-22
- Deut 24:19 - if you forget something in the field, leave it for the alien, the orphan, and widow
- Deut 24:20 - when you pick fruit don’t go back to get what was left, leave them
- Deut 24:21 - when you gather fruit, don’t do it again, leave it for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow
- Deut 24:22 - and you shall remember. Remember what it felt like to be the outsider. Remeber those that we often forget
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2 Kings 4:1-7
- Does anyway remember the story of Elisha and the oil?
- The woman cries that men are coming to take her children to pay off a debt
- Elisha asks what she has
- All I have is oil
- GO ASK YOUR NEIGHBORS to borrow dishes. Then pour it out
- She doesn’t go to the neighbors. She’s ashamed to ask for help and uses only her own. God still blesses it and performs a miracle through Elijah, but the community remains untouched and unchanged
- This is every widow ever. How often do you think “they seem so strong” yet they are only string because they must be. They wear a mask because no one cares
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We, as christians in society, should find these people and build them up. We should invite them to dinner. We should strenghten them. We should honor them. We should be their family. We don’t replace those that are gone - don’t send kids away or anything - but help and Love them
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Parents have a mission and it’s not ours to supplant that, we should empower them to do so
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Deut 16:9-14 - feasts but only the ones around harvest. v9, shavuout: celebrate with an offering. V11, sukkot: rejoice before God and invite son, daughter, levite, stranger, orphan, widow that are in your midst and remember that you were slaves. Tabernacles: gather and rejoice with your son, daughter, levite, widow, orphan
- Nourish and include them just like you would your son and daughter. They’re a part of your family and should rejoice with you. They’re not a charity they’re a part of your life
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Jer 7:3-7 - you want to be here forever? One of the requirements is to bone who empowered widows and orphans
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Even in a time when the world says no one needs family, we need family