Read Ephesians to learn how not to feel orphaned anymore

By Barbara Miller
RR Ministerial

I was reading just the other day about “The Orphan Train.”
Maybe some of you have heard or read about it before. In the 1850’s as many as 30,000 immigrant children found themselves orphaned on the streets of New York, their parents having died on the ship during the crossing over to North America.
They found themselves alone in New York, no money, no other family present, and not able to speak the language the children were left to fend for themselves. No one, it seemed, had the time to help these deserted waifs. That is, until Rev. Charles Loring Brace - an advocate for child welfare, a man dedicated to improving the life of the children that he saw on the streets of New York - decided that something needed to be done.
Following the example of Boston, he established the Orphan Train - sending children “out west” to be “adopted” by families wanting a new son or daughter. And while this system wasn’t perfect (what system is) it did help many children begin a new and better life.
The Orphan Train lasted from 1854 to 1929 and it is estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 children found new homes through the Orphan Train program. I know what your thinking - all this is interesting, Barb, but why are you telling us this - how is this relevant in my life?
Well, I’m glad you ask. You see, I have The Student Bible (New Revised Standard Version, Publisher: Augsburg Fortress) at home, and in the notes preceding the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the editor invites us to imagine what it might have been like to be a child on the streets of New York - alone, afraid, struggling for your life and wondering if or how you will ever survive. But then, all of a sudden, you are given a chance at a new life - a better life.
You are plucked from the dirty and dangerous streets of New York, given a bath, food, clean clothes and placed on a train heading west.
When you get to the station a new family, a kind family, is waiting to greet you and take you home.
Home. You have a bed that is warm, good food to eat - every day - clothes to wear, a chance at an education, and best of all, a family that cares about YOU.
If you are ever wondering - as each of us does from time to time, whether God really cares - whether God even knows who you are, read Ephesians and you will know that you are no longer an orphan.
You will know that you have been adopted into God’s family and that you have a home with God, now and always. God’s grace is abundant and God’s love is true. And so I invite you to live in and live out the grace that comes from God.