Reading: John 1:29-34, James 1:19-27, Ecclesiastes 2:17-26, Jeremiah 5-6

Reading: John 1:29-34, James 1:19-27, Ecclesiastes 2:17-26, Jeremiah 5-6
Recall:
Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves...Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:21-22, 27

For scoundrels are found among my people;
they take over the goods of others.
Like fowlers they set a trap;
they catch human beings.
Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of treachery;
therefore they have become great and rich,
they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;
they do not judge with justice
the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
Shall I not punish them for these things? says the LORD,
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this? Jeremiah 5:26-29
Reflect:
Well, obviously a doing theme here, talking about what a person of faith should do and should not do. Get rid of the wickedness, receive God's word, then act on it. DO it. I'm always interested in the being/doing tension of scripture. You cannot accept one and not the other. It is made clear in these passages that we are to be about supporting and comforting the marginalized.
Respond:
God, I want my "religion" to be pure and undefiled before you. Care of the poor, the orphans, the widows isn't glamorous work. It doesn't grow churches. But it is what you have called us to do.