Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
- Exodus 22:22-24
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
- Deuteronomy 10:18
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
- Deuteronomy 24:17-21
If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless—
but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
and from my birth I guided the widow—
if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a garment,
and his heart did not bless me
for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
knowing that I had influence in court,
then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let it be broken off at the joint.
- Job 31:16-18
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
- Psalm 68:5
They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
- Psalm 94:6
Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive.
Your widows too can depend on me.’”
- Jeremiah 49:11
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
- Zechariah 7:10
As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.’
- Luke 21:1-3
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
- 1 Timothy 5:1-4
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.
- James 1:27
Boilerplate
I’m Harold Dykstra. I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story. My time is well spent. A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel. I did not know she was an angel at the time. The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone. And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy. She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others. She changed my life.
In her leaving, she said someone would come. I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived. While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.
This Week’s Question
Last week, Babs decided to celebrate Mother’s Day although she had no good example in that regard. But we celebrated a few days late.
This week, she told me we were having three families for a dinner party. She had invited Willie and her family, Thomas and Catherine ver Waarloosd and their three children, and Tony Painter and his son Joe. Joe Painter is an elementary school student who lost his mother a short time ago and has adopted Babs as his Ornery Grandmother. Honorary, but you get the idea. Since these families have hardly anything in common, I wonder what Babs had up her sleeve.
Tony and Joe showed up early and insisted on setting up. It was amazing, watching little Joe, about to advance to the third grade, setting the table like a pro, putting the fork on the correct side, turning the knife blade in the proper direction. I wondered whether his mother taught him that, giving him a useful skill before she passed away.
Willie, my daughter, and Rev. Gil Whitefield, her husband brought Jayke and Janella. Jayke and Janella saw Babs wiping her hands on her apron. Jayke screamed, “Gran Babs.” Janella squealed, “Grabbabs.” And they ran into her arms. I looked at Willie questioningly.
Gil scolded them. “You have given Gran Babs a greeting, but ran past Pake.” The children giggled and returned to give me a hug.
I turned to Rev. Gil and said, “Come to think of it, I would prefer hugging Babs, too. She’s softer.”
Tony and Joe came in, and introductions were made. Joe is just finishing second grade, Jayke is finishing first grade, and Janella will start a prekindergarten, half-day school in the fall. She’ll be in kindergarten the next year.
Jayke told Joe that I had left some old toys in a box in the living room. Joe turned to his father, wordlessly, and Tony smiled and nodded.
As they ran into the living room, there was a quiet knock at the front door.
When I opened the door, Catherine quietly cheered, “Yes! The right place.”
Reuben and Samantha tugged at their father’s hands when they heard the boys laughing in the living room. Thomas said, “Reuben, Samantha! You will not run and play until we have had introductions, and then only if we give you permission and our host agrees.” Thomas turned to me. “We have been here less than a year and these children have forgotten their manners. Our life is so much better here, but it carries hidden dangers.”
I used that excuse to gather the adults quickly so that Reuben and Samantha could join the others. Levi was a little over a year old and he stayed by his mother’s side, a bit of stranger danger, I think. I marveled at Babs. I still had no idea what was up her sleeve, but the two oldest were a year apart. Janella and Reuben were within a couple of weeks of having the same birthday.
I had rearranged the furniture and moved my laptop from the dining room table. We had enough room for the adults, but not enough for the children. We set up a kiddie table in the far corner from my office files.
Rev. Gil led us with a blessing. Willie said, “Thank you, Dad. I can smell the Snirtjebraten.” Then seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces, “Snirtjebraten is a Frisian dish, roasted pork shoulder in spices and juniper berries. It is usually served with red cabbage. Dad must be pulling out all the stops tonight.”
I cleared my throat, “Babs has told me nothing about why she is inviting three families to eat at our humble home, but she told me to fix a special meal. I thought of a Frisian tradition. I hope you like it. We have sweet peas, carrots, and bratkartoffeln. I hope it will all be to your satisfaction.”
Babs leaned over to Tony to explain that bratkartoffeln was a German pan-fried potato dish. Tony whispered a reply, “Good, I’ll give a double portion to Joe. He does not eat a lot, but he loves potatoes.”
Everyone loved the meal, along with the German Chocolate Cake for dessert. Even the children cleaned their plates. Levi made a mess, especially since we had no highchair, but he fed himself the carrots and potatoes. He let Catherine feed him the rest. I was amazed that he liked everything, but Catherine said it was much like the food in the valley of the windmills. He had not eaten any, but he may have smelled the food.
Thomas asked, knowingly, “Where did you get these delicious rolls?”
I huffed, “I think a baker would know what he baked. Are you looking for a compliment?”
Thomas laughed, “I was looking for more business. The Lily the Pink bakery does very well with the specialty cakes. You know, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, other special events. The cookies that are baked at the downtown location are doing well. At least they have their niche. And when my rolls do not sell, they become rolls for the evening meal at Lily the Pink. The bread is rarely thrown out, but the biggest sales are buried in the catering. It’s hard competing with those prepackaged biscuit and sweet roll things.”
Babs asked, “Thomas, do you ever sleep?”
Thomas laughed, “Sure, but I must admit, this is my usual naptime. Do not worry. Since Catherine and I were at the university this year, I got plenty of sleep in class.”
A few snickered. I chastised Willie. She shrugged, “Dad, I did that on occasion myself. I can relate. And I turned out okay.”
I said, “But Thomas here has been working three full-time jobs and only getting paid for one of them.”
Thomas said, “The full-time schooling is a joy. What throws people off is that my work starts about two in the morning, six days per week. That gives me roughly thirty-six hours each week. As for this summer, Mommie Pinkie (Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, if you did not know) refused to let either of us take classes this summer, so we are only doing our regular jobs this summer. That affords me more time to cook for FHAT (Feeding the Homeless At Tracy).”
Rev. Gil sighed, “I have mentioned that charity to our mission team and I think they buried it in committee. I have gotten a lot of brochures and videos from Dad here. What do you do for the organization?”
Thomas said, “As for now, I determine the menu. While I bake at night, I experiment and place the food on warmers for the Lily the Pink employees to try. They are asked to fill out a survey and they all seem to do so. The winning recipes are then expanded from feeding fifty to feeding 500 or a thousand. We are still a twice per month meal mission, but we want to expand to every week. We get roughly 500 early in the month and a thousand late in the month when the homeless people who get subsistence checks are out of cash. We give them food and give them a sermonette, some spiritual food to help them. But I volunteered to be the charity’s administrator. Since I am just a sophomore, officially, at the university, I am learning this hospitality thing more hands-on than in class. The culinary school at the PLAYHOUSE is going to offer a couple of classes this Fall, and then the kitchens will be fully functional by Christmas to have a full slate of classes. Mommie Pinkie is encouraging both Catherine and I to take double majors. She wanted us to rest this summer, but we opted to take a couple of online classes.”
Tony asked, “What is the playhouse? How can they have a culinary school there?”
Thomas smiled, “Mommie Pinkie’s initials are P.L.A.Y. She donates millions to the university and refuses to have her name put on any building, but they used her initials for the entire campus on the south side of town. The athletic practice fields and intramural fields are called the PLAYGROUND, and the halls for offices and classrooms are called the PLAYHOUSE. And Naomi Yeggs, wife of Lt. Deviled Yeggs, has been named Dean of the PLAYHOUSE. She did not want the job, but can you imagine the head football coach seeing to the needs of a culinary school or a welding class? Besides, what I have learned over this past year, you give the new project to the busy person. They know how to prioritize and add additional tasks to their schedule.”
Rev. Gil said, “Feeding fifteen hundred people each month must be a huge responsibility. Who helps you?”
Thomas replied, “Lt. Deviled Yeggs hates to have his name mentioned, but it was his brainchild. He recruited the auxiliaries for the police and fire departments. The Head Fire Chief of Tracy has taken a lot of the load off me by having a chili cookoff tournament between firehouses. The two that are in the finals are the central station and the station in the northeast industrial corridor. We’ve had political judges, real judges, at least one fire chief judge and police supervisor judge, and a rare celebrity judge. That is all handled by the auxiliaries, but they already had a full load of projects. At the time of the events, we can always use help.”
Babs asked, “Is there one time of the year that needs more help than the rest of the year?”
Thomas nodded, “Sure! When Lt. Yeggs started this, it was Christmas Day. He called all the charities in town and maximized the impact for that first one. The food was just a basic pancake breakfast, but they gave out coats. They gave out underwear and socks. This year, the police auxiliary is already thinking about shoes. So, the winter months are when I need extra help, but we aren’t funded enough to pay people. We are hoping to have a couple of trainees getting minimum wage or a little better this winter, since we will have donated inventories to sort by size.”
Tony said, “And now I know why Joe and I were invited. Ornery Grandma Babs, you know I don’t take charity.”
Babs smiled, “You have accepted some help from the food bank. And this is not charity. You will work for it. You may be paid better with the lawncare work, but you can be helping others while you make a few dollars this winter. And Tony, you have a house. You are far from homeless, but you know what hunger is like. Don’t let your pride get in your way. Besides, if you are in the mood for a charitable loan that can be paid back slowly, I know someone who has a fairly new truck that has a detachable snow plow. If you will trade your rusted out pickup, you will have a way to make a few dollars. Companies pay good money to have someone plow their parking lots in the early hours. You might want to get the truck painted. It’s pink at the moment.”
“Pink?” Tony asked, “Is this a Pink Lady donation?”
Babs laughed, “Sort of. Their facility engineer said that the maintenance on the truck was more costly than the snow plowing benefit, but if someone had a contract to plow their parking lots and shipping, receiving areas, then the truck could be used for many other businesses. So, you get the truck to start a winter business. You trade in your rust bucket for the mechanical engineering student to tinker with. And your new business has one customer, probably two since Dala Enterprises has a large parking lot. And you have half the year to find out who needs their parking lots plowed this winter. But before we talk much more business, what does anyone think about Exodus 22:22-24?” Everyone groaned. Babs huffed, looking in my direction, “Harold, you are quicker than that usually.”
I shrugged, “You know that I am not an instant recall type person, but usually, I type something into my phone faster than tonight.”
Babs asked, “And we have a pastor at the table? I am disappointed, Harold.”
I snickered, “Maybe that’s why I am all thumbs, but the passage talks about how God will punish the person who takes advantage of widows and fatherless. Essentially, he will take their wife and children and leave them with the same fate. And before you give me your next verse, Deuteronomy 10:18 expands that to the foreigners in our midst. God defends these people.”
Thomas nodded, “Like everyone that they have at our homeless camps. Isn’t God really saying that widows and orphans are the people of biblical times that have the least support system? Catherine and I were given a one-way bus ticket out of our community. My parents’ house was then burned to the ground with them in the house as punishment for them supporting us through high school. We arrived here thinking that I had a scholarship, but the preacher, who ran our valley, had stolen all the money. But from the mission downtown to being taken in by Mommie Pinkie, I have the best support system ever. But there are a lot of widows and orphans that have nothing.”
Rev. Gil said, “Right you are, young man. And I can see you have the heart to reach your goal, to help those helpless people. The psalmists spoke of it (Ps. 68:5; Ps. 94:6). The prophets spoke of it (Jer. 49:11; Zech, 7:10). God looks out for the widows and orphans.”
I said, “And the Jeremiah 49:11 passage comes from God’s curse of Edom, the people of Esau. God knew their hiding places and they would be totally destroyed. Then the footnote as for Edom to not worry about their widows and orphans, as if Edom gave them the first thought. God would save those that could not save themselves, just like God saves us. We cannot save ourselves, but God kept an eye out for us. And I like what Job says in Job 31. He defends himself. When have you ever seen me not help a widow, or an orphan, or anyone in need. He uses specific words here. People ask why Job is even in the Bible, but this passage of Job 31:16-18, with Job defending himself, he teaches us what to do.”
Babs asked, “Can I conclude this Bible study?” Since she was the one that forced us into the Bible study from our nice after dinner conversation of getting to know one another, how could we refuse? She continued, “In Luke 7, Jesus raised the son of a widow back to life. In Luke 21, Jesus praised a widow’s paltry offering, for Jesus knew it was all that she had. And then in 1 Timothy 5:1-4, Paul taught Timothy how to act around the elderly, the widows, the orphans, and the rest of the needy. Then James 1:27 sums it up, saying that religion itself is defined by our hearts going out to these people and acting upon that love. If we do not hold out a hand and help them up, our nation will crumble.”
After a short prayer, we got back to the conversation. Rev. Gil spent a long time with Thomas.
And then after the following Sunday, we were asked to view a taping of Rev. Gil’s worship service. He got on a roll and said that he was tired of FHAT being buried in committee. He announced that if anyone who was a member of the ruling body who wanted to remain there had to spend six months working with FHAT. He wanted to trim the fat from the church. The head of Finance jumped up to interrupt, something that was not done in their denomination. He called for a point of order. The pastor was not in a business meeting, and when they had business meetings, he could not make a motion. He could only provide guidance. Then the mission team leader said, “Well, then, I make the motion. Besides, we will give a tenth of our mission budget to FHAT.” The evangelism team leader jumped up to second the motion. The discipleship team leader got up and said, “The pastor has discussed this enough. We cannot sit idly by and watch 1500 of the homeless in Tracy getting fed physically ands spiritually and all this church ever did was watch. We should not only give money, we should be the hands and feet of Jesus. Pastor, where can I serve? Cooking food? Serving food? Or in the Scullery afterwards?” The finance man said he was leaving the church, and Rev. Gil would have his resignation in the morning. My son-in-law suggested that he pray for the next week. He had the man’s resignation by that Friday. But, Thomas has about thirty new hands and feet, sixty if the spouses could come along.
Credits
All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife. We would talk about anything and everything. And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.
Gil Whitefield is a combination of George Whitefield, an Anglican minister, and Gilbert Tennent, a Presbyterian minister, who were with Jonathan Edwards, a Congregationalist minister and evangelist. Jonathan Edwards was the spark that the Holy Spirit used to start the first Great Awakening in the USA. Rev. Edwards may have lit the flame, but the flame was fanned by the other pastors of like minds.
The stunt that Rev. Gil makes would fly over like a lead balloon in the denomination where I presently attend. In fact, the pastor might lose his job over such a thing. Polity and following the rules of order seem more important than the work of the Holy Spirit. At least, I feel that way, but I also feel that if I left to find a better church (no really perfect church until we get to Heaven), the Sunday school class would lose their rudder. But in my absences due to illness or visiting the grandchildren, they seem to manage.
And the pastor, a few pastors ago, said that the church leaders had to attend a Thursday night Bible study. One of them asked the Bible study leader (who had not gotten the memo), and the Bible study leader said that the pastor could not make them attend the Bible study. He suggested that the pastor encouraged them to attend. My wife and I were already attending the class. As for the other leaders, only one came back the following week, and that one quit going a week or two later.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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