Widowhood: An Example of God’s Care for His people

Happy Sabbath! It is great to have you with us. Looking here on our connections, we've got about 65 or so connections between Facebook Live and Zoom. So, a little more than 100 people joining us today. And thank you for your comments on Facebook. We're happy to have you with us. We see people from many places outside of California and outside the United States as well. So, happy Sabbath to you. We are sobered by the announcement today of Mr. Glenn Creech's passing.

Father of the pastor in Sacramento and Aaron and his wife are there in Cincinnati.

It's been very difficult and certainly difficult for the assistant pastor here in our area, Troy Phelps and his wife Cindy. Not only are they dealing with COVID in their house, and I don't think Mr. Creech mentioned this, but both Cadence and Sierra have COVID as well. But also, Glenn Creech is Troy Phelps's brother-in-law. And so, the whole family is grieving, as are many families, sadly, who are being touched in very serious ways. We've seen announcements come across the last few weeks with many people being affected by COVID. So please do be careful. Please keep everyone in your prayers who's going through that. I know that just means a lot. I think Mr. Creech mentioned that very well in the announcements.

With that in mind, there's a subject that I do want to share today. I'll get to the connection there with the Creech's here in just a moment. But last week, if you were with us, you heard Mr. Phelps give an excellent message on marriage. He had a great PowerPoint deck, which he shared. It talked about love and respect and Ephesians 533, an important aspect of how to think about marital relations. At the beginning of his message, he mentioned that even if someone was not married, he hoped that he or she would stay tuned in. There were important lessons for everyone, even if someone was not married.

So for my subject today, I have a similar request. My subject does not directly apply to everyone, but there are lessons for everyone nonetheless, and we'll talk about what that means specifically.

Today, I would like to talk about people who are not married.

But before I get into that detail, I'd like to tell you that my subject today is something for which God is very passionate. If you think about what God cares about, if I ask you, well, what does God care about? What does the Scripture tell us that God cares deeply about?

This would be that subject. This subject touches on economics, emotional and mental health, compassion, personal responsibility, and of course, faith. And if there was ever a subject, I believe this subject shows how God is faithful to his people. And I'm talking about how God views a particular group of people, some people in this very congregation, people who have been touched by this even just recently. There are people in this congregation who are told they have a special measure of protection from God, a special measure of compassion and care by our Heavenly Father. And I believe when we all study this and see what God has to say for this, we can better understand God's promises for all of us. Turn with me to Psalm 68 and verse 1. And let's be introduced to this subject through the Scriptures. Psalm 68, if you'll turn with me, verse 1. This is a psalm of David, a song, and it says in verse 1, Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, let those who hate him flee before him. And over the next few verses, we see David's entreaty of God to protect him and to describe God's incredible faithfulness towards his people. And when we come to verse 5, we see the first specific example that David gives of how God is faithful. He says in Psalm 68, 5, A father of the fatherless. And when I first came across this verse, whether it was in a sermon or my mom pointed it out to me, I instantly related to the part about father to the fatherless, because I grew up a child of divorce, and my father wasn't really as present in my life as many parents who are married. But as a young person, I often stopped at that first part without continuing to the second part. And the second part is my subject for today. He says, A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy habitation. And so today, I want to look at this subject of being a widow, and by extension, a widower. This is Creech, as of last night, as a widow. And there are recent widows in our congregation. I think we know them, and you know who you are. And there are less than recent widows who I speak to who feel that pain, very acutely, as if it was just yesterday. If you are a widow or a widower, I hope this sermon will be encouraging to you, and I hope that you are not too embarrassed that we discuss this subject in so much detail. Perhaps being virtual can help a little bit of that embarrassment today. But it's important that you know you are loved, and not just by this congregation, not just by God's people, but very specially by our heavenly Father. For those of us who are not widows or widowers, I hope that we can consider our responsibilities towards widows and widowers, and just as importantly, that we can understand God's compassion and love better by understanding the subject.

And as I mentioned earlier, if we can spend a sermon on marriage to understand God's plan and purpose better, so I think we can spend a sermon talking about widows and widowers to understand God's plan and purpose. The Bible talks specifically about widows in a way that it doesn't talk about widowers. There are many reasons for this that we'll get into, but I mentioned this at the beginning so that if you're a widower and you're listening to me, you understand that many of the same mental and emotional impacts of losing your spouse apply to you, even if it says widow in Scripture. It's just that economically, in the ancient world, and frankly even up into the 20th century today, the impacts on women who lose their husbands economically tend to be more serious than on men, but that doesn't mean that the mental and emotional pain, the loss of the spouse, the health effects, all the other things are not there. Therefore, most of the scriptures we're going to discuss today will be about widows, but if you're a widower, I hope you'll realize that God understands your pain as well. The title of today's message is widowhood, an example of God's care for his people.

Widowhood, an example of God's care for his people. And in this message, we will define who a widow is.

We'll look at scriptures that describe God's love towards widows. We'll talk about how, given God cares so much for widows, we should too. And finally, we're going to talk about how widows and widowers can contribute to the body of Christ in a special way. So let's start with our first point by talking about the definition of a widow. Now, this may be somewhat obvious, but if you look up the word widow in a dictionary, you will likely find a definition of a woman whose husband died while she was married to him and has not since remarried. And that's somewhat intuitive. And a widower is a man whose spouse has died while he was married and he has not remarried. Yet, if you look up the word in scripture, you see something that I think is more profound. And I would expect it to be more profound, more spiritually discerning, and I think speaks to this condition even more profoundly. Turn with me, please, to 1 Timothy 5 verse 3.

1 Timothy 5 verse 3 is a discussion of widows. Paul writes to Timothy, and he shares this instruction with Timothy on the care and instruction regarding widows in the church. We're going to read just this verse 3 right now, and we're going to come back to this a little bit later, but book with me in 1 Timothy 5 or verse 3. And it says here, Honor widows who are really widows. That's the translation here in the New King James. The Greek word for widow here is a hera. It's spelled C-H-E-R-A-S, hera. It's Strong's word 5503, and it means a widow. And the classic sentence says I've just sort of defined it according to Webster's. It can also figuratively refer to a city that is desolate and abandoned, and that gets more to that spiritual depth and point. It's the word hera or widow in Greek comes from another word.

It comes from another word, which is hazma. It's spelled C-H-A-S-M-A.

Now, if you write down C-H-A-S-M-A, chasma, we might say sort of an anglicized way, you might think of chasm. And if you thought of chasm or pit or gulf, well, then you'd be right, because that's where this word hera for widow comes from. It comes from this word for chasm, for pit. Vine's expository dictionary, speaking of this word hazma, says gulf signifies a great pit by yawning abyss or precipice with a deep pit at the bottom into which the body is cast. You see, now we're getting to really where the concept of widow comes from. Thayer's Greek dictionary uses the word bereft. Looking then at this word from a biblical basis, this word widow, a widow is a woman who has lost her husband, but in a much deeper sense, has been thrown into a type of metaphorical pit. A widow, and I think by extension a widower, finds himself or herself falling off a precipice into a dark chasm upon the death of his or her spouse.

I want to read to you an article written by Christina Franco, which was published in the Globe and Mail. It's a Canadian newspaper. It was published in December of 2016, December 16, 2016, and it's entitled The Widowhood Effect, What It's Like to Lose a Spouse in Your 30s.

Allow me to cite this article here for you. I'm going to read it from my screen here in front of me.

Quote, The widowed are two and a half times more likely to die by suicide in the first year of widowhood than the general population. Let me interject. This is my comment, just so you understand what that means. That means that a person widowed is 250 percent more likely to commit suicide in the first 12 months than the regular population. Let me go back to the citation. She says, we are, in fact, more likely to die of many causes, heart attacks, car accidents, cancer, many seemingly random afflictions that are not so random after all. There's a name for this in the scientific literature, the widowhood effect. The widowhood effect. It's dated now, she says, but in a 1986 paper in the British Medical Journal, it explored death after bereavement.

It opens atypically for a scientific paper. Quote, the broken heart is well established in poetry and prose, but is there any scientific basis for such romantic imagery? She continues, indeed there is.

According to the author of the paper, he found that a strong association exists between spousal bereavement and death. Multiple studies in the last 40 years have confirmed these findings. A meta-analysis published in 2012 that looked at all published studies of the widowhood effect, the widowhood effect, found widowhood is associated with 22% higher risk of death compared to the married population.

So that is her assessment, and it's a very powerful article, and if you're a widow, or widow, or I recommend that you find the article, and I can certainly post it on our website.

This is a devastating situation, I would say, especially for women to lose a spouse.

I think the root word of widow in Greek, of being thrown into a pit, is actually a very powerful way to describe the feeling of being a widow. The pain lasts much longer than any of us, certainly for those of us who are not widows or widowers can even imagine.

In ancient times, a woman who lost her husband not only lost the man she loved, but she lost the ability to support herself or be supported. So the definition of a widow is intuitive on one level, but on another level, I think not evident to men, especially, and women who have not suffered the loss of a spouse. As I said, we're going to come back to 1 Timothy 5 and look at instructions a little bit more, but I wanted to introduce this concept of what it means to be a widow or a widower as we begin. With that in mind, let's look at some scriptures that describe God's love towards widows. Let's turn with me, or turn with me please, to Luke 7 in verse 11.

I think Jesus Christ, who understands us, as I've described, who has empathy, and Jesus Christ does have empathy for you as a widow or widower, he understands this. We see his love towards widows here in Luke 7 verse 11. It says, Luke 7 verse 11, Now it happened the day after that he went into a city called Nain, and many of his disciples went with him in a large crowd, and we came near the gate of the city, behold a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, do not weep, then he came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still, and he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead sat up and began to speak, and he presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, a great prophet has risen up among us, and God has visited his people. And this report about him went throughout Judea, and all the surrounding region. Jesus raises up the only son of a widow. He understood what it would mean to lose the spouse, and how unbearable it would be to lose your son in that situation. He had great compassion on her. I think Jesus knew the chasm, the chasm into which this woman had fallen. I also want to cite something from the same article by Mrs. Franco. She says, on average, a widow loses 75% of her support base after the loss of her spouse, including loss of support from family and friends. And I think that's important to note as we consider the widows among us. Not only have they lost their husband or their wife, but that set of friends, and those people around them, and the connections, and so forth. It's very common to lose a whole support structure. And we might be sad this moment here, and I think we are grieving the Creech family. But Mrs. Creech, in this case, she's going to need help, not just today, tomorrow. She's going to need help a year from now, and two years from now. And I hope that as we consider the widows and the widowers among us, we can keep that in mind.

I think God knows, and He desires to give special spiritual help to widows and widowers. Let's look at a second example in Acts 9, verse 36 to 43. Acts 9, verse 36 to 43. It says, At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.

This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did.

But it happened in those days that she became sick and died.

When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydia was near Joppa, the disciples had heard that Peter was there. They sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay, and coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments, which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And so it was he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon at Tanner. There is some debate as to whether Tabitha herself was a widow.

We hear nothing of her husband. She may have been a widow. But what we do know is she was very industrious. And she helped many widows in her area. That's why there were so many widows there. That's pretty much the context of why widows are called out. She made clothes for the widows to help them economically. And her story is called specifically for its impact on the community, and specifically for the widow she helped. And I think that's and I think it's a very interesting distinction that's made here when it talks about how Peter brought everybody back in in verse 41. He called the saints and the widows, which would imply that there were many people not in the church who she helped. Many widows not in the church.

Finally, let's look at a third story. And this is now from 1 Kings 17.

1 Kings 17 verse 8. This is the story of Elijah and when he stayed with the widow and her son.

And I think it's interesting if we think about all the different examples of people being raised from the dead. And here we have three very powerful examples of people being raised from the dead, all involving widows. 1 Kings 17 verse 8 to 24. And again, these people were raised from the dead to encourage widows to show that special care. 1 Kings 17 verse 8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise, go to Zerapath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So God is going to use this woman to take care of his prophet. And there's a story that takes place in the following verses about the famine that was going on. This widow thought that she was going to be nearing death and just didn't think she was going to survive any longer. And Elijah worked a miracle and allowed for this bin of flour in verse 16 to not be used. And the widow, the son, and Elijah all survived this terrible situation. And then in verse 17, it says, Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the widow who owned the house, became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to kill my son?

And that's certainly, I think, how we feel sometimes when we see things happening to us. We, I think we can blame God very easily.

And he said to her, Give me your son. So he took him. So he took him out of her arms. You can imagine she was holding him as she approached Elijah, her precious son, this son of this widow.

So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his bed. And then he cried out to the Lord and said, Oh, Lord, my God, have you also brought tragedy on this widow with whom I lodged by killing her son? And he stretched himself out on the child three times and cried out to the Lord and said, Oh, Lord, my God, I pray let this child's soul come back to him. And then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came back to him and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house. And he gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, See, your son lives. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord is in your mouth is truth. We can read many stories, but I think these convey the consistent message of Psalm 68, that God is a defender of the widow. God cares and pays close attention to the needs of widows. And I think by extension, widowers, given their special needs. If you are a widow or I recommend you consider these passages and reading through them. There's also a very good website called widow-mite.org. It's a Christian website that's very encouraging with many resources for widows and widowers. widow-mite.org. And that's M-I-G-H-T, as in the might of widows, as opposed to the two cents. widow-mite.org. And this brings me to my third point.

Given God pays such close attention to widow-mite, we should too. Let's go back to 1 Timothy 5, and let's continue that discussion of widows in the church. 1 Timothy 5, and we'll go back to verse 3 and continue. 1 Timothy 5 verse 3 says, Honor widows who are really widows. And I went into the Greek for the word widow earlier. And if we look at the Greek completely for the sentence, it's a very simple sentence in Greek, and the New King James does a good job of translating the literal words.

However, there is an implication based upon the context of the next two verses, which can help us understand this verse 3 more profoundly. Let's read those next two verses together in verse 4 and 5. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. Now, she who is really a widow and left alone trusts in God and continues in supplication and prayers night and day.

So from verse 5, we see that Paul defines a widow as someone who is left alone. That's a very important definition of a widow. It says in verse 5, now she who is really a widow, and left alone. So this is a part of that definition, someone who is left alone. It's with this in mind that the NIV translates verse 3 this way. Give proper recognition to widows who are left all alone. In other words, what the NIV brings out here is the implication of the verse is that there's a distinction between those widows who are left alone and those widows who have family.

And there's a certain recognition of a widow who is left all alone without really support a family. And again, I'm talking about the implication of the phrase, the Greek is the Greek, and the new King James does a good job. But I'm attempting to bring out a little bit more context and richness behind what Paul would have been sharing. Further, in verse 3, the Expositor's Bible Commentary adds that the word honor, when it says honor widows, is the Greek word temao, which means price.

It's the word that you would use to price something or value something. And so a translation of this could be value widows who are really widows. You're giving value to that person. And so in that sense, the Expositor's Bible Commentary goes on to say that the verse could be translated, give proper compensation to widows in real need. That is, it could go actually beyond just honoring or valuing. It could actually talk about financial support. The New Living Translation incorporates this idea by translating verse 3 as follows, take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.

Now, again, I want to be very careful, and I want to just state this again. The Greek says honor widows who are really widows. You can go to an inter-lineary, you can look at that. That's the best literal translation. I'm only citing the New Living Translation and the NIV and some of these commentaries to give a sense of what Paul is attempting to convey throughout this whole discussion of widows, because he contrasts widows who are alone with widows who are not. Then, over the next 10 verses, Paul gives instructions to Timothy in terms of how widows are to be cared for, as well as how widows of a certain age should conduct themselves.

I'll let you read those. He talks about the age 60 was important. He talks about the importance of diligence and so forth. But look with me in verse 8. It says, But if anyone does not provide for his own, speaking of widows, and especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And this is reiterated in verse 16 as well. If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them and do not let the church be burdened that it may relieve those who are really widows. Again, that's that concept of really widows, people who are alone, who don't have any support, and we have those people among us.

And there is something very important in verse 16 that we should make sure we don't miss. By implication, it says that those who are really widows, that concept of really widows, those who are alone, are to be taken care of by the church. Who's the church? Is the church in Cincinnati? Is the headquarters the church? Is it some treasury of the United Church of God in the San Francisco Bay Area?

Is that the church? No. You are the church. I'm the church. Individually and collectively, we are the body of Christ, and we have a financial obligation, according to 1 Timothy 5 verse 16, to care for widows who are truly widows.

In ancient Israel, this was accomplished by a third tithe. Now, we studied this before. I've given two sermons on tithing. We studied this in Deuteronomy 14 verse 28 and 29. Go back and look at it. Deuteronomy 14, 28, 29, it talks about this. It talks about a tithe for the widow and for the fatherless, for those who do not have the same economic opportunities and who are poor.

Today, we understand that nationally, the government takes this tithe from us and uses it to provide for these needs. So, I'm not reiterating that teaching. We've already discussed that. You can see that sermon online if you haven't seen it already. But we understand that the third tithe is essentially taken from us, kind of in a confiscatory way. It's just sort of taken out of our paycheck without us asking. And it's used to help those who are in need.

However, I will tell you from personal experience, both as a child of divorce, growing up with very little, and also as a pastor helping widows today who have very little, I'll tell you, the government, despite its good intentions, is in my humble opinion a big bureaucratic mess.

And again, I am thankful for roads and bridges and hospitals and all the types of things. I do not want to be disparaging, but the reality is that people fall through the cracks.

Employees at the Social Security Administration do their best, but their hands are tied by all sorts of regulations and rules and red tape. I remember sitting across from a Social Security officer in person in San Mateo helping a widow, and I just wanted to cry, honestly, imagining how this widow could live on practically nothing, and this Social Security officer outlining just, you know, the most non-intuitive, ridiculous rules as this person was struggling.

Which is why, even with government assistance, the church helps widows. Our responsibility as members of God's church individually is to either contribute third tithes, as many do, and we've talked about that many people, despite the fact that that third tithe is taken from them by the government, still contribute a third tithe for widows and orphans and those who are in need. So you can do that, or if you know a widow personally, then you should help that person, man or woman, financially. And just as importantly, you need to help them spiritually through cards, conversations, phone calls, and prayers. We have an obligation to those among us who are suffering in this way.

And I would argue as well that when we define a widow as someone alone with no one to care for her, we need to consider women who are abandoned by their husbands, either through divorce or abuse.

There are lots of reasons why people are in this situation. The widow term here is very specific, and we can see that definition. I'm not trying to add to Scripture in some way. I'm just saying that there are principles here. There are biblical principles of caring for those among us.

This happens to men, of course. Men fall on difficult times, both as widowers, and abuse happens as well. And people fall on difficult times. But more often than not, frequently I see this happen to women. Many times in these situations, there are children involved, small children, and these women need help. And that's why it's not my intention today to try and define 1 Timothy 5, 3 to 16, and all the rules and things that Paul went through.

I want to up-level from that. But I will tell you that if you look at 1 Timothy 5, verses 3 to 16, there's a certain sort of hierarchy that we see Paul share with Timothy, where he says, if there is a widow there amongst you, first that woman should work.

That's the first thing. And if she can't work, and there are reasons why that might be, then her family must take care of her. And if that's not the case, then the third tie that is essentially provided by the government in our day should help. And if that's not the case, then finally that means that the church, through the generous ties and offerings that it receives, should take care of those widows who are really widows.

I might say, just as I leave this point, we also know that the modern office of a deacon was born out of the need to care for widows, as described in Acts 6. And Jesus asked John to take care of his mother even as Jesus was on the cross, because he knew that as a widow, he had a responsibility to her. At least that is our understanding that by that time his father was dead. He was not his heavenly father, obviously, but the man who was the head of the household into which he was born. Allow me to go to my final point, which is that widows and widowers should contribute to the body of Christ. You have an important role to play in God's church, despite your grief. And as I said before, perhaps because of your grief.

Let's look at the story of the widow in Mark 12.

I could discuss many, many different stories here. There's so many stories of widows in Scripture. Let's go to Mark 12, verse 41 to 44. This is often called the widow's two mites.

Mark 12, verse 41 to 44. Now Jesus said opposite the treasury, and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which makes a quadrant. A tiny, tiny amount, as we understand. So he called his disciples to him and said to them, Assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury. For they put in out of their abundance, that she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.

So Jesus was obviously telling a story about generosity, and was likely creating a contrast with the greed of the Pharisees.

However, if we just look at the story itself, it shows a widow who knew in her heart that even her two cents, how little, how weak, could still be used by God to make a difference in his will.

And I encourage you as widows and widowers to think of your contribution that way. You may think of your contribution as a, as just a tiny drop in a bucket, or hardly worth it, or so minimal, but it has an impact. It has an impact. As a widow or widower, you may feel like it doesn't matter, but it does. It matters a lot. If you have resources, invite people over to your home. Look to see how you can help those in need. You know, I think it's interesting if you look at this verse here, where it says that she gave out of her poverty, verse 44, for they all put in of their abundance, but she out of her poverty. Yes, I think he was referring to the physical, monetary nature of this, but I think there's something to be said about a larger sense of poverty, the chasm, the pit, the grief, that even out of that grief, you can put something in. And I'm sure that that widow walked into that, walked into the temple that day, and she wished her husband was there.

She walked into that temple that day, carrying the pain of the loss, just as surely as it was the day before. But she still got out of bed. She still got out of her house. She still walked to the temple, and she still did it. She had the courage to do it, and I think you can have the courage to do it, too. Use your time to call people. You know, if you don't have monetary resources, you may still have the most precious, precious resource of all time. You are alive, and with your time, you can use the time to encourage, as I said, to call people, to write cards, to talk with people who need encouragement, your presence, your care. It can make a big difference in people's lives.

And as you do this, you're going to have to be patient. Patient with yourself. You're going to need to bridge cultural and generational divides. Perhaps you're going to break out of your comfort zone of what you were used to doing with your husband or with your wife. Perhaps you're not going to have the same set of support structure, as I said. Be patient with yourself and be patient with others, but just keep at it. Follow the admonition of 1 Thessalonians 5.17 to pray without ceasing. Ask for help. If you need help in determining what your talents are, you know, we talk about talents. We talk about gifts and not bearing our gifts. And many times people will say, well, I don't know what my gifts are. And a lot of times there's sort of a reinvention that has to happen. A reinvention, a another chapter, another story, and that story is going to involve new connections, new support structures. And so ask for help. And if you need help in determining what your talents are and who you need to talk to, what you can bring to bear and helping the congregation, then go get that advice. We each have many talents, but in our discouragement we often forget, and we need to be reminded. As a widower or widow, you may be able to help in a way that few others can. You've been there. You've been to a place that not a lot of people have been to. And from that grief and from that pain comes great learning, comes wisdom, and it comes, with it comes a connection to our Heavenly Father that you have to have if you're going to move through this. In conclusion, I would share with you that God knows the special difficulties of losing a spouse. And so He shows through Scripture the special place He holds for widows and widowers.

We need to follow this example as His people and care for those who have lost their spouse among us and care for those people who have lost their spouse, perhaps through other means, as I mentioned, whether that be divorce or abuse. And if you have lost your spouse, there are ways that you can contribute to help others from your personal experience and talents. Let us be inspired to listen to the words of James in James 1, 27. You don't turn there, but I'll quote it to you when I think you know it. When He says, pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, that we visit orphans and widows in their trouble. And you know that word visit? That's a lot more than just making a phone call, although it includes it. It's more than stopping by and saying hello. To visit needs to be there, to be present, to help as we can help, to support as we can support. And you know the amazing thing, if you do that, is sometimes you may walk away more encouraged than perhaps even the person you're going to encourage.

I hope you can think about these things, and I hope we can be encouraged by these things. I wish you a wonderful Sabbath, and again I ask that you please keep your brethren around the world in your prayers as we go through this difficult time.