It is always interesting, when doing Bible studies and studies on books of the Bible, to find what is the most important thing in the text. And often this is done simply by finding what takes up the most amount of space.
For instance, the book of Mark has 16 chapters. But 8 of the 16 are dedicated to the last week of Jesus’ life. That shows you that the last few days of Jesus’ life are rather significant. If there was one thing that we should walk away with after reading that gospel, it is the importance of the passion of Christ.
For instance, the book of Mark has 16 chapters. But 8 of the 16 are dedicated to the last week of Jesus’ life. That shows you that the last few days of Jesus’ life are rather significant. If there was one thing that we should walk away with after reading that gospel, it is the importance of the passion of Christ.
And the answer is found in our passage today. It is interesting that this section, the section that deals with how to care for widows, has the most space devoted to it. Paul devotes 16 verses to this topic.
So far Paul has dealt with some pretty important topics. He has dealt with false teaching, and we know that is very important. That is at the foundational level, when it comes to items of significance for the church. Then, as we heard last week, Paul dealt with the church’s leadership, which is a topic that he will return to in the subsequent weeks. So we know that church structure, church leadership is a very important thing. But you might not have expected that one of the most important things, if not the most important, would be this whole notion of caring for widows.
But it does, and for that reason, we should take to heart what God has said regarding the care of widows.
Now, let me just give you a quick rundown of the structure of the passage. I believe that the passage divides into two basic sections. It first deals with the principle of caring for widows, and then it deals with the practice of caring for them. And the majority of the passage is devoted to the later. Paul lays out the guidelines that tell us who exactly is a widow and who the church should be supporting.
This morning though we are going to deal mainly with verse 3 and the principle of caring for widows. I don’t know that the second section dealing with the practice really needs that much comment. I believe that it is pretty straight forward and it doesn’t take a much to understand what Paul says in terms of those guidelines.
My goal this morning is to focus more on the foundational elements, for that’s what is really important. This morning I want us to think about why it is imperative for us to be a church that has a good support system for the elderly, and in particular, elderly women.
Now, again, the principle is clearly stated in verse 3. It says, “Honor widows who are truly widows.” Here Paul lays down the rule regarding the church’s care for those women who may be recognized as destitute. If they have no one to look after them and give attention to their physical needs the church is to take upon themselves the responsibility. Specifically speaking, it is the duty of the leadership of the church. The elders and deacons working together to support them.
I. This principle is based in divine pity
Now I want us to give special attention to what is being said here. For this is a practice that is at the very heart of God. All through the Scriptures we read about how God has a special care for and eye upon widows. For instance, we read in Psalm 68 that God is the “father to the fatherless and the protector of widows.” Isaiah 10 talks about special woes that come upon those who oppress the poor and seek to take spoil from widows. Deut. 10 talks about how God is the defender of the widow.
Moreover we find throughout the OT laws that proscribe specific care for widows and their children. For instance, Deut. 14 talks about how tithes were to be set apart in a treasurey specifically for the purpose of caring for elderly women.
And even in the life of Jesus you see how near and dear this is to God’s heart. You may remember that he raised a child from the dead. The child was the son of a widow. It may be that he had compassion there because of the woman’s condition. That child was her only means of survival.
We know that Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees and Sadducees on more than one occasion when it came ot their treatment of widows. The whole idea of Corban is one instance. The religious leaders were supposed to use their money to support their parents, but they were trying to be religious and give it to the temple treasury. Jesus called them out on this and exposed how wrong it was. What he was doing there was showing his regard for the widows and how important it was that they be properly supported.
So when you look at the Scriptures you see that God has a special pity for this segment of society. When we take into consideration the whole teaching of Scripture, we recognize that God has a unique regard for those who are defenseless and destitute. And the widows are certainly ones who fit that category.
And for this reason we as a church should make the care of widows a priority. Our hearts should be ready to help and support them because this is exactly where God’s heart is.
We tend to have it backwards. We are a youth driven culture and we tend to put our highest priority on young people. Just think about how much churches spend on youth groups, youth leaders, and pizza parties for youth events. I’m not going to say that this is all out wrong. But when we create this kind of budget without any consideration for those who are in need in the church, then we show that we haven’t really tuned into the one thing that is truly at the center of God’s heart.
All this is to say, we need to evaluate what is the priority of the church. As we see from the length of this passage and the whole corpus of Scripture, God has this as a priority. And for that reason, it should be a priority with us as well.
And we should be all that much more challenge to meet this when we consider what is said just prior to these verses dealing with the care of widows. The principle of widow care is not just based in God’s divine pity, but it is based in the relational constitution of the church. And when I say the church’s constitution, I’m not talking about some bylaws that govern it, I’m talking about her relationships.
II. This Principle is based in the church’s constitution: it is relational
In verses 1-2 Paul gives Timothy some directives on how to deal with the various segments of people found in the church. When it comes to rebuking older men, Timothy is not to just lash out on them. They are to be respected and given special honor because of their age. He’s to exhort them like fathers. The same is said about older women, they are to be treated like mothers. The younger men and women, they too are spoken of in familial terms. Timothy is to treat them like brothers and sisters.
So when we look at the context, we are reminded that the church is not just a bunch of people lumped together for an hour or two each week. The church is spoken of in terms of a family unit. We are to see ourselves, not as disjointed or unconnected social entities, but we are to understand that we are bound together as a covenanted communion.
Paul speaks of the church in terms of familial language, and he wants us to recognize the kind of relationships that are to characterize this body. The ties of family are the tightest of all human bonds. And that is the way the church’s fellowship is to be thought of.
I would love to elaborate on how this idea of family should apply to our regular interactions as a body. But we need to deal with the topic at hand. The point of all this has to do with our care for widows. We are to see these women as mothers and we are to care for them as such. We are to honor them because they are the matriarchs of the church and, in all likelihood, they have suckled and nurtured those in the church with their prayers and godly concern. I think that is hinted at in verse 10 when it talks about her having been “devoted to every good work.”
But the fact of the matter is, you don’t leave your mother out on the curb when she needs a place to live.
And when all is said and done, we care for our widows because we are intimately bound to them. To jettison someone like this in their time of need is essentially the same as shutting the door in the face of our own flesh and blood—the very mother who gave birth to us.
III. This principle is based in human dignity
Add to this the fact that the elderly, and in particular elderly women, have unique and personal dignity. We’ve seen how God has a special pity upon widows, and how we as a church are relationally bound to care for them. But the principle of widow care is reinforced by the word “honor.”
The passage says, “Honor widows, who are truly widows.” And this is not something we should overlook, especially in our day.
Now, the word honor has to do with the idea of compensation (to pay). But it is compensation that rises out of the high value of something. To honor someone is to esteem them worthy. To compensate someone is to esteem them worthy of compensation.
So a widow is someone who we should esteem and value. They are to be respected and recognized as possessing human dignity.
One might think that this may go without mentioning, but we need to recognize that in many places and at many times in history, elderly people were considered expendable. Even today we have a youth driven culture. And with the advent of ObamaCare, we have heard discussions about how some people who are elderly may not get the treatments that they need so that other people who are younger could have them. In other words, there is a rationing of medicines and younger people are considered to have more dignity simply because they are able to contribute to the economy.
This is not the way we are to think. We are to recognize that elderly people are made in the image of God and have just as much dignity as anyone else. And for this reason they are to be put into the custody of the church and be given proper care.
And I might say that not doing so amounts to an ecclesiastical form of euthanasia. If we as a church do not take upon ourselves to care for those in our congregation who are in need, then we fall into the same fallacy as those who practice abortion. To turn a blind eye to an elderly person is to deny their God given personhood and it is an act that corresponds to that of murder.
There is one more item of importance that needs to be addressed in regards to the church’s responsibility to care of widows. We need to remember that this duty is based in the fact that the church, along with the individual and the family, are God’s agents for compassion and charity in the world.
IV. This principle is based in church’s sphere of authority
What I’m talking about is the idea of sphere sovereignty. That is to say, each sphere of life has its particular duties and responsibilities. When we read this passage we find that the care of widows falls within the jurisdiction of the church. We can even find that it falls within the jurisdiction of the family. It says in verses 4 and 16 that if a woman has children, they should be the first responders. They are to be the ones who give care.
And I might simply add a note to you young people. You are to be your parent’s primary caretakers. When they become elderly you are to return the favor. They have raised you and taken care of you all through your youth. And when they are aged, you are to be their attendants. And if you don’t, it says you are worse than an unbeliever. Keep in mind how devilish a thing it is to blow off your parents and shirk your responsibility to them when they are elderly. God has charged you to be their guardians.
But what if there is no family to care for them? Well then, the duty falls to the church. This passage says that we are to look after them and provide for them. We are to be the ones who make sure they have proper housing, food, and medicine.
What we do not see is that these women should be given over to the state. You will notice that the state is not mentioned at all here. That’s because is not within the boundaries of the state’s duties.
God, in His word, has laid out for us the proper spheres of operation for all institutions of life, and—when it comes to acts of mercy and compassion—we find in this passage that the duty falls to the individual, the family, and the church. But the state is completely absent.
As a matter of fact, if you study the Scriptures, you will find that the duties of the civil magistrate are quite limited. Romans 13 and other such passages tell us that the civil magistrate is to bear the sword. In other words, their work specifically revolves around crime and the punishment of those who do evil. If I could summarize it even more, the God given role of Government is to kill people.
This is not the place to expound on the role of the government, but it is appropriate to speak to the idea of sphere sovereignty. And when you are dealing with a passage like this, you should understand that the state, whose job it is to bear the sword, will not do well in the area of compassion. The best that it can be expected to do is bumble things up.
And that is where we find ourselves in the broader American culture. Social Security, which is essentially the government’s retirement program, is very tenuous and is on the brink of disaster. In 2010 the first of the baby boomer generation began to retire and draw benefits from social security. We have created quite a quandary with such a large portion of the population drawing from SS and a significantly low number of people paying in. Millennials are not enthusiastic about working and keeping a job. And due plummeting birth rates and the fact that we have killed 60 million unborn children over the last 50 years, the number of workers supporting the system is rather slim.
With limited resources we are again put in the position that I spoke of earlier in regards to Obamacare. What choice does the government have but to begin to cut payments and resources for those who are older and considered more expendable.
Knowing what lies just ahead puts us in a position where we need to come to grips with our responsibility to our parents and to those within the congregation who may be in such a place down the road. We need to begin now to cut the ties to the system and begin to implement a robust diaconal ministry.
Conclusion:
As we wrap things up, let me just return to this idea of caring for widows as being at the very heart of God. In the last few hours of Christ’s life, his words were few. It takes quite a bit to speak while you are being asphyxiated and hanging on a cross. So his choice of words in those last few hours of life were just that: choice. So it should stick with us that one of the things he said was directed to his mother and to the apostle who stood beside her. “Woman, behold your son.” And to the apostle he said, “Behold, your mother.”
Jesus saw how important it was to care for his widowed mother. And he fulfilled the work.
But you can think of that, not only as an example that we should follow, but we should think of it in terms of the gospel itself. We are in the place of Mary. We are poor and destitute because of the poverty of our sinfulness. And there Christ took it upon himself to provide for us. He took compassion upon us and was willing to sacrifice for our sakes himself.
This idea of caring for widows is not just a command. It is at the very heart of the gospel. It emulates what God in Christ has done for us.
So if we are going to be a gospel based church, it is incumbent upon us to embrace this duty and the gospel that it flows out of.
So far Paul has dealt with some pretty important topics. He has dealt with false teaching, and we know that is very important. That is at the foundational level, when it comes to items of significance for the church. Then, as we heard last week, Paul dealt with the church’s leadership, which is a topic that he will return to in the subsequent weeks. So we know that church structure, church leadership is a very important thing. But you might not have expected that one of the most important things, if not the most important, would be this whole notion of caring for widows.
But it does, and for that reason, we should take to heart what God has said regarding the care of widows.
Now, let me just give you a quick rundown of the structure of the passage. I believe that the passage divides into two basic sections. It first deals with the principle of caring for widows, and then it deals with the practice of caring for them. And the majority of the passage is devoted to the later. Paul lays out the guidelines that tell us who exactly is a widow and who the church should be supporting.
This morning though we are going to deal mainly with verse 3 and the principle of caring for widows. I don’t know that the second section dealing with the practice really needs that much comment. I believe that it is pretty straight forward and it doesn’t take a much to understand what Paul says in terms of those guidelines.
My goal this morning is to focus more on the foundational elements, for that’s what is really important. This morning I want us to think about why it is imperative for us to be a church that has a good support system for the elderly, and in particular, elderly women.
Now, again, the principle is clearly stated in verse 3. It says, “Honor widows who are truly widows.” Here Paul lays down the rule regarding the church’s care for those women who may be recognized as destitute. If they have no one to look after them and give attention to their physical needs the church is to take upon themselves the responsibility. Specifically speaking, it is the duty of the leadership of the church. The elders and deacons working together to support them.
I. This principle is based in divine pity
Now I want us to give special attention to what is being said here. For this is a practice that is at the very heart of God. All through the Scriptures we read about how God has a special care for and eye upon widows. For instance, we read in Psalm 68 that God is the “father to the fatherless and the protector of widows.” Isaiah 10 talks about special woes that come upon those who oppress the poor and seek to take spoil from widows. Deut. 10 talks about how God is the defender of the widow.
Moreover we find throughout the OT laws that proscribe specific care for widows and their children. For instance, Deut. 14 talks about how tithes were to be set apart in a treasurey specifically for the purpose of caring for elderly women.
And even in the life of Jesus you see how near and dear this is to God’s heart. You may remember that he raised a child from the dead. The child was the son of a widow. It may be that he had compassion there because of the woman’s condition. That child was her only means of survival.
We know that Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees and Sadducees on more than one occasion when it came ot their treatment of widows. The whole idea of Corban is one instance. The religious leaders were supposed to use their money to support their parents, but they were trying to be religious and give it to the temple treasury. Jesus called them out on this and exposed how wrong it was. What he was doing there was showing his regard for the widows and how important it was that they be properly supported.
So when you look at the Scriptures you see that God has a special pity for this segment of society. When we take into consideration the whole teaching of Scripture, we recognize that God has a unique regard for those who are defenseless and destitute. And the widows are certainly ones who fit that category.
And for this reason we as a church should make the care of widows a priority. Our hearts should be ready to help and support them because this is exactly where God’s heart is.
We tend to have it backwards. We are a youth driven culture and we tend to put our highest priority on young people. Just think about how much churches spend on youth groups, youth leaders, and pizza parties for youth events. I’m not going to say that this is all out wrong. But when we create this kind of budget without any consideration for those who are in need in the church, then we show that we haven’t really tuned into the one thing that is truly at the center of God’s heart.
All this is to say, we need to evaluate what is the priority of the church. As we see from the length of this passage and the whole corpus of Scripture, God has this as a priority. And for that reason, it should be a priority with us as well.
And we should be all that much more challenge to meet this when we consider what is said just prior to these verses dealing with the care of widows. The principle of widow care is not just based in God’s divine pity, but it is based in the relational constitution of the church. And when I say the church’s constitution, I’m not talking about some bylaws that govern it, I’m talking about her relationships.
II. This Principle is based in the church’s constitution: it is relational
In verses 1-2 Paul gives Timothy some directives on how to deal with the various segments of people found in the church. When it comes to rebuking older men, Timothy is not to just lash out on them. They are to be respected and given special honor because of their age. He’s to exhort them like fathers. The same is said about older women, they are to be treated like mothers. The younger men and women, they too are spoken of in familial terms. Timothy is to treat them like brothers and sisters.
So when we look at the context, we are reminded that the church is not just a bunch of people lumped together for an hour or two each week. The church is spoken of in terms of a family unit. We are to see ourselves, not as disjointed or unconnected social entities, but we are to understand that we are bound together as a covenanted communion.
Paul speaks of the church in terms of familial language, and he wants us to recognize the kind of relationships that are to characterize this body. The ties of family are the tightest of all human bonds. And that is the way the church’s fellowship is to be thought of.
I would love to elaborate on how this idea of family should apply to our regular interactions as a body. But we need to deal with the topic at hand. The point of all this has to do with our care for widows. We are to see these women as mothers and we are to care for them as such. We are to honor them because they are the matriarchs of the church and, in all likelihood, they have suckled and nurtured those in the church with their prayers and godly concern. I think that is hinted at in verse 10 when it talks about her having been “devoted to every good work.”
But the fact of the matter is, you don’t leave your mother out on the curb when she needs a place to live.
And when all is said and done, we care for our widows because we are intimately bound to them. To jettison someone like this in their time of need is essentially the same as shutting the door in the face of our own flesh and blood—the very mother who gave birth to us.
III. This principle is based in human dignity
Add to this the fact that the elderly, and in particular elderly women, have unique and personal dignity. We’ve seen how God has a special pity upon widows, and how we as a church are relationally bound to care for them. But the principle of widow care is reinforced by the word “honor.”
The passage says, “Honor widows, who are truly widows.” And this is not something we should overlook, especially in our day.
Now, the word honor has to do with the idea of compensation (to pay). But it is compensation that rises out of the high value of something. To honor someone is to esteem them worthy. To compensate someone is to esteem them worthy of compensation.
So a widow is someone who we should esteem and value. They are to be respected and recognized as possessing human dignity.
One might think that this may go without mentioning, but we need to recognize that in many places and at many times in history, elderly people were considered expendable. Even today we have a youth driven culture. And with the advent of ObamaCare, we have heard discussions about how some people who are elderly may not get the treatments that they need so that other people who are younger could have them. In other words, there is a rationing of medicines and younger people are considered to have more dignity simply because they are able to contribute to the economy.
This is not the way we are to think. We are to recognize that elderly people are made in the image of God and have just as much dignity as anyone else. And for this reason they are to be put into the custody of the church and be given proper care.
And I might say that not doing so amounts to an ecclesiastical form of euthanasia. If we as a church do not take upon ourselves to care for those in our congregation who are in need, then we fall into the same fallacy as those who practice abortion. To turn a blind eye to an elderly person is to deny their God given personhood and it is an act that corresponds to that of murder.
There is one more item of importance that needs to be addressed in regards to the church’s responsibility to care of widows. We need to remember that this duty is based in the fact that the church, along with the individual and the family, are God’s agents for compassion and charity in the world.
IV. This principle is based in church’s sphere of authority
What I’m talking about is the idea of sphere sovereignty. That is to say, each sphere of life has its particular duties and responsibilities. When we read this passage we find that the care of widows falls within the jurisdiction of the church. We can even find that it falls within the jurisdiction of the family. It says in verses 4 and 16 that if a woman has children, they should be the first responders. They are to be the ones who give care.
And I might simply add a note to you young people. You are to be your parent’s primary caretakers. When they become elderly you are to return the favor. They have raised you and taken care of you all through your youth. And when they are aged, you are to be their attendants. And if you don’t, it says you are worse than an unbeliever. Keep in mind how devilish a thing it is to blow off your parents and shirk your responsibility to them when they are elderly. God has charged you to be their guardians.
But what if there is no family to care for them? Well then, the duty falls to the church. This passage says that we are to look after them and provide for them. We are to be the ones who make sure they have proper housing, food, and medicine.
What we do not see is that these women should be given over to the state. You will notice that the state is not mentioned at all here. That’s because is not within the boundaries of the state’s duties.
God, in His word, has laid out for us the proper spheres of operation for all institutions of life, and—when it comes to acts of mercy and compassion—we find in this passage that the duty falls to the individual, the family, and the church. But the state is completely absent.
As a matter of fact, if you study the Scriptures, you will find that the duties of the civil magistrate are quite limited. Romans 13 and other such passages tell us that the civil magistrate is to bear the sword. In other words, their work specifically revolves around crime and the punishment of those who do evil. If I could summarize it even more, the God given role of Government is to kill people.
This is not the place to expound on the role of the government, but it is appropriate to speak to the idea of sphere sovereignty. And when you are dealing with a passage like this, you should understand that the state, whose job it is to bear the sword, will not do well in the area of compassion. The best that it can be expected to do is bumble things up.
And that is where we find ourselves in the broader American culture. Social Security, which is essentially the government’s retirement program, is very tenuous and is on the brink of disaster. In 2010 the first of the baby boomer generation began to retire and draw benefits from social security. We have created quite a quandary with such a large portion of the population drawing from SS and a significantly low number of people paying in. Millennials are not enthusiastic about working and keeping a job. And due plummeting birth rates and the fact that we have killed 60 million unborn children over the last 50 years, the number of workers supporting the system is rather slim.
With limited resources we are again put in the position that I spoke of earlier in regards to Obamacare. What choice does the government have but to begin to cut payments and resources for those who are older and considered more expendable.
Knowing what lies just ahead puts us in a position where we need to come to grips with our responsibility to our parents and to those within the congregation who may be in such a place down the road. We need to begin now to cut the ties to the system and begin to implement a robust diaconal ministry.
Conclusion:
As we wrap things up, let me just return to this idea of caring for widows as being at the very heart of God. In the last few hours of Christ’s life, his words were few. It takes quite a bit to speak while you are being asphyxiated and hanging on a cross. So his choice of words in those last few hours of life were just that: choice. So it should stick with us that one of the things he said was directed to his mother and to the apostle who stood beside her. “Woman, behold your son.” And to the apostle he said, “Behold, your mother.”
Jesus saw how important it was to care for his widowed mother. And he fulfilled the work.
But you can think of that, not only as an example that we should follow, but we should think of it in terms of the gospel itself. We are in the place of Mary. We are poor and destitute because of the poverty of our sinfulness. And there Christ took it upon himself to provide for us. He took compassion upon us and was willing to sacrifice for our sakes himself.
This idea of caring for widows is not just a command. It is at the very heart of the gospel. It emulates what God in Christ has done for us.
So if we are going to be a gospel based church, it is incumbent upon us to embrace this duty and the gospel that it flows out of.