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James 1:17-27
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 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.

Continue scrolling to read reflection.

By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn

Let anyone who is not convinced that defending the life of the vulnerable is a Gospel mandate read James. Much like Isaiah, who called out the hypocrisy of those who prayed and fasted and kept Sabbath while neglecting the poor in their midst (Isaiah 58), James defines pure religion as this: “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).

The parallels with abortion and assisted suicide in particular are strangely fitting. If there ever was a population of orphans, it is unborn children whose fathers have abandoned them (either by walking away or pressuring the mothers toward abortion) and mothers who are frightened and unsure that they can go through with bringing a baby into the world. If there was ever a widow, a woman left alone to make life and family work by herself, it is the pregnant mother whose man will not support her or their children. Admittedly, the circle of orphans and widows is wider than the unborn child and his mother in crisis pregnancy, but it is certainly not narrower. On the other side of life, the elderly, handicapped, and otherwise infirm are in increasing danger as the “right” to assisted suicide gains traction, for the right to die quickly becomes a duty to die. When Medicaid is always willing to pay for assisted suicide, but perhaps not treatment, as is the case in Oregon, we are no longer talking about a right to die. And with increased government control over healthcare, do not be surprised to see these kinds of “options” become more widely available. And while this affect us all, it will be particularly dangerous for those who are alone.

For many, unexpected pregnancy is an affliction. So is age, infirmity, and dying alone. These problems have political dimensions, to be sure. But, firstly, they have personal dimensions. Which is why James calls the church to personal involvement. Pure and undefiled religion visits.