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. ~ James 1:27
Let me say right out that I love James, and the first chapter is great.
Verse 5 is not only a key part of the restoration of the gospel but also an important promise.
For verse 27, it struck me as profound in that it highlights two aspects to gospel living -- chastity and charity -- that people often fail to balance. If we can combine those two things, like Jesus (the writer's brother) did, then we are approaching what we are supposed to be.
It can be easy to stay pure in many ways but empty of the pure love of Christ, ending up prudish and frigid.
There are also people who have kind and loving hearts, but who miss out on the importance of moderation and self-control, which has its own problems.
Now, there is room for a lot of discussion on the chastity part, because as a society we have failed miserably at being even able to talk realistically about sex or what is good about it, apparently only leaving room for judging others. I do not think I am the best person to lead that discussion, but I am quite passionate and have a lot of thoughts on the other side.
Notice how the charity section focuses on widows and... not just orphans, but specifically those without fathers. Why? Because of the male supremacy of that time meant that a woman being strong and capable wasn't enough, for herself or for her children. If there were not someone who owned them as family, then they were at the mercy of the world.
(While "own" can be used to mean acknowledgement, the more common meaning is more applicable than you would hope.)
I do not blame James for that; this verse is a response to the world as it was.
I want to point out that in the entire epistle, there is a lot more condemnation of the rich than focusing on different lusts. I suspect that the people of his time were a lot like the people of our time... at least the ones who would be reading the epistles.
Yes, I see a lot of people around me whom I have no reason to doubt are morally pure, but I do doubt how much love they have for those around them.
Yes, we focus a lot more on shoplifting than on wage theft (which James 5:4 specifically mentions), even though wage theft involves much larger amounts, and robs people who can afford it less.
I think that comes from a tendency to side with power that is part of dominator culture. As long as there are people below you, that you can look down on, some people find that adequate consolation for the abuse and scorn of those above.
It is worth remembering that a framework that supports abuse downward will flow back upward as well.
On an individual level, some people who don't have enough status will use violence to lash out.
On a structural level, the people above will always want more, pushing those below them further down.
Consider, for example, that it used to be quite common that a white man with a steady job could support a wife and multiple children on that single income.
Families of other races generally needed more household members working. Indeed, it was often legally prohibited for a Black woman to be a housewife. (That sounds ridiculous, but it is true.)
Today a family with two regular incomes may still struggle. While the racial wealth gap still exists, the economic status of white families has fallen.
That all is possible because of a historic devaluation of the labor of women, and of people of color, and of women of color, until all that devaluation became a pattern that devalued those white men too.
Despite that, many white people will tell you that Native Americans don't pay taxes (false), or that Black people get their college paid for without having good grades or paying tuition (false), and aggrieved white men will say that they are the only ones who can't catch a break, and that there are programs to help women (I wish I could find them).
Those things are relevant, but perhaps it is most important to remember that this is not what we are supposed to be doing at all.
We are supposed to be loving each other and valuing each other and wishing each other well. We should be serving each other. The loss of family members has ramifications that are not financial, and sometimes we could all use a break.
Perhaps a good thing to remember is that when Jesus was using his divine powers, he was using them for blessing, healing, feeding, reaching out and providing safety.
When he demonstrated his power to destroy, he did it on a barren tree.
The one who had the power to dominate did not.
Go and do thou likewise.
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