圣经指出许多靠近上帝心意的人，但对他来说非常重要的是孤儿：

在父神面前纯洁无瑕的宗教就是：探望患难中的孤儿寡妇，保守自己不受世俗的玷污。（雅各书 1:27；亦见申命记 10:18；申命记 14:24-28；诗篇 68:5-6） 

今天是孤儿主日——这一天是为“基督徒代表失去[一个]家庭保护和照顾的孩子”而设立的。¹当您阅读汤姆·戴维斯 (Tom Davis) 的《孤儿的田野》中的这段节选时，请花点时间为您社区中的孤儿祈祷，并祈求上帝，您如何才能爱这些上帝所关心的孩子。 

***

我们不应该感到惊讶，上帝会采取直接行动来确保他对孤儿的旨意得以实现。上帝命令祂的子民拨出一部分田地，专供这群人吃。划定这个特殊区域的界线被称为古界。它创造了一个领域，无论是比喻还是字面上，外星人、孤儿或寡妇都可以在其中找到生存所需的食物。

不可颠倒寄居的或孤儿所应得的公义，也不可拿寡妇的衣服当质。但你要记得你在埃及作过奴隶，耶和华你的神从那里救赎了你；所以我命令你做这件事。你在田间收割庄稼，一捆忘在田里，不可回去取；为寄居的和孤儿寡妇，好叫耶和华你的神在你手所办的一切事上赐福与你。你打橄榄树的时候，不可再打枝子；为寄居的、孤儿寡妇。你摘葡萄园的葡萄，不可再过去；为寄居的、孤儿寡妇。你要记得你在埃及地作过奴隶；所以我命令你做这件事。(申命记 24:17–22 NASB )

这段经文以对圣经正义的呼吁开始。虽然这可能不是周日布道中特别受欢迎的话题，但上帝非常关心正义，特别是当它涉及到受苦之人的生命时。在这里，正义意味着照顾外国人、孤儿和寡妇的物质需求。. . . 

我听过的对正义最好的定义之一就是它的反义词：邪恶。十八世纪英国哲学家埃德蒙伯克这样说：“世界上对邪恶的定义是善良的男人和女人看到不公正而无所作为。” 这是另一种看待它的方式：当谈到关心上帝心中的人时，冷漠是一种罪过。

. . . 

上帝对以色列人说的话很简单：毫不拖延地收割你的田地，享受你辛勤工作所带来的好处。但不要只想着自己。你知道你身边有那么多多余的东西吗？多余的捆，留在树上的橄榄，还在葡萄藤上的葡萄？把它留给寡妇和孤儿，你就会得到祝福。这不仅仅是一闪而过的想法，而是上帝的子民应该如何过他们的生活。

这也是他希望我们过自己的生活的方式。

Why Caring for Orphans Should Be More than a Passing Thought

Faithlife Staff4 min read2 days ago

SHARE

The Bible identifies many groups of people close to God’s heart, but of tender importance to him are orphans:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (Jas 1:27; see also Deut 10:18; Deut 14:24–28; Ps 68:5–6) 

Today is Orphan Sunday—a day set aside for “Christians to stand for children who’ve lost the protection and care of [a] family.”¹ As you read this excerpt from Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis, take a moment to pray for orphans in your community and ask God how you can love these children for whom God cares. 

***

It shouldn’t surprise us that God would take direct action to ensure his intentions for the fatherless were carried out. God commanded his people to set aside a portion of their fields for the sole purpose of providing for this group. The line that designated this special area was called the ancient boundary. It created a field, figuratively and literally, in which the alien, orphan, or widow could find the provision necessary to survive.

You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. (Deut 24:17–22 NASB)

This passage opens with a call to biblical justice. While that may not be a particularly popular topic for a Sunday sermon, God is very concerned with justice, specifically when it involves the lives of people who suffer. Here, justice means taking care of the physical needs of aliens, orphans, and widows. . . . 

One of the best definitions of justice I’ve heard is implied by the definition of its opposite: evil. Edmund Burke, an eighteenth-century British philosopher, said this: “The definition of evil in the world is when good men and women see injustice and do nothing.” Here’s another way to look at it: When it comes to caring for the people on God’s heart, indifference is a sin.

. . . 

What God was saying to the Israelites was simple: Harvest your fields without delay and enjoy the goodness you’ve worked hard for. But don’t think only of yourselves. You know all that excess you have lying around? The extra sheaves, the olives that remain on the trees, the grapes still on the vine? Leave that for the widow and orphan, and you’ll be blessed. This wasn’t just a passing thought, it was how God’s people were supposed to live their lives.

And it’s also how he wants us to live ours.

***

This post was adapted from Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis. To learn more about God’s heart for orphans, consider reading A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Orphans and Widows, Orphan Justice, or Pastoral Counseling for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

Views: 38