17 I Timothy 5:9-16 - Support and Service

November 29, 2020

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: Support and Service Text: I Timothy 5:9-16 FCF: We often struggle understanding how we are to care for one another. Prop: Because financial support of each other is not without qualification or expectation, we must expect gospel changed lives in the church. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 5. We skipped a week there, but I hope and trust things are still relatively fresh for you in this text. But just to refresh us a little, chapter 5 begins Paul’s more detailed application of the principle that the gospel not only changes what we believe but how we live. Indeed, they go hand in hand. Flowing from Paul’s discussion of Timothy exhorting and preaching the truth, Paul advises that he and all believers appeal to one another like family. Not harshly, but humbly and with respect. Imploring them to change rather than demanding it. Nothing here contradicts church discipline. Surely eventually we must treat them as if they are not a family member if they are excommunicated. But until that point we are to treat them like family. Then speaking of family, Paul discusses the support of those in need. And we saw that widows who are women without any means to care for themselves, including other family members, ought to be supported by the church. But only if they are widows who are hoping in the Lord alone. Indeed, Paul says that it is a holy duty and pleasing to God to care for your own blood relatives who are in need. And to refuse to do so, is worse than being an unbeliever. But Paul is not quite done with this concept of widows being supported by the church. Today he will give even more insight to what is happening in the church there in Ephesus and how widows who are truly in need ought to be supported by the church – and even how those widows ought to serve. I am in I Timothy chapter 5. I will begin reading in verse 9 from the NIV today, but you can follow along in the pew bible on page 1339. Transition: Lots to cover here today. So many points being made. Let’s dive right in. I.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must only support and commission the qualified. (9-10) a. [Slide 2] 9 – No widow may be put on the list of widows i. What list? ii. There are several details in the text that are perplexing. What is obvious is that the context here is shrouded in something that the Ephesian church did not need extra details to understand – but WE are left to guess what exactly is going on. iii. The list itself is one of those. iv. As we go through the text today – it will be a great shortcut for us to understand this list first. v. While the list could certainly be only those who are supported financially by the church – it seems that what is more likely – is that this list is both widows who are not only supported by the church but also are commissioned to serve the church in various ways. Visitation, acts of mercy and compassion, and generally serving the body of Christ with their free time, as the church supports them financially. vi. If we adopt this understanding of the list… all the details of the passage come together quite easily. vii. There are of course, several other explanations, but this one seems to make the most sense of all the details. viii. So what are the qualifications for a woman to be enrolled onto this list of support and service? b. [Slide 3] Unless she is over sixty, i. First, she must be older. ii. Life expectancy in the 1st century, for those who survived childhood, would extend in the late 60s on average. iii. That means that Paul is only allowing widows on this list who pose a short-term commitment for the church. 10 years, or more likely less, is what the church is taking on. iv. Furthermore, she is probably beyond a marriable age at this point. v. So, the first requirement is that she be a widow in the final stages of her life. c. [Slide 4] Has been faithful to her husband, i. Here is an interesting stipulation – she had to have been a one-man woman. ii. This cannot mean she can have never been remarried, for Paul will later advise young women to marry or remarry. iii. This is the inverse qualification from the Elder and Deacon. So, we should consistently interpret here as we interpreted there. iv. In other words -this widow must have had a reputation of being faithful in her marriage. Sexually pure and committed to her husband while he was living. v. Also important to note – these are qualifications she must have fulfilled ahead of being placed on the list – however, it is entirely possible that the specifics Paul mentions are geared toward the role that a widow on the list would perform. And in that, she would be expected to remain sexually pure while doing her duties. d. [Slide 5] 10 – and is well known for her good deeds, i. If she is going to be put on the list for support and service – she must be well-qualified. ii. And those qualifications are qualifications of character. iii. Broadly, that she has a reputation of good works. iv. Paul specifies a few… e. [Slide 6] Such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble i. The high level understanding here is – that if she has a reputation of serving others, than she is fit to be supported by the church. This is in keeping with Paul’s admonition toward Deacons – that they ought to have been tested first. If this widow is to be supported by the church and then go serve them – she ought to have already had the reputation of serving. ii. But how specifically should she have been a servant? iii. First - she ought to have raised children. The dedication and care it takes to raise children is adequate to prepare a widow on the list for her acts of service. Perhaps this even hints at one role widows were to serve. Which is , at times, to care for children within the church. Of course, a widow who had never had children is not necessarily unqualified, but the ability and experience of child rearing ought be present – even if she never had children of her own. iv. Second, she ought to have practiced hospitality. This is service oriented, and perhaps does hint at some of the duties widows on the list would perform. Like hosting missionaries and visiting prophets. In order to be on the list, she must have already served in this way. v. Third, she must have washed the feet of the saints. This is not only an act of service, but of humility as well. To have demonstrated familial love toward God’s people earns a reputation of good works. Again – hinting at the duties of a widow on the list, being a servant of all. vi. Fourth, Helping those in distress. This is an interesting one. Those who ought to be supported in their distress, ought to have had a reputation of helping others in their distress. And again, perhaps this hints at their role on the list, which is to care for others who are also on the list. They care for one another. vii. Paul now broadens back out. f. [Slide 7] And devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. i. Lest we think this is some kind of exhaustive list, as we might see the qualifications for Elder and Deacon – ii. In truth this is only the tip of the iceberg. iii. To be on this list, means you would have had to have exhibited all kinds of good works. iv. Paul no doubt mentions these good deeds – because these are what they will be doing while enrolled on the list. g. [Slide 8] Passage Truth: Paul continues to make much of the gospel in discussing the order of the church. If a widow is to be cared for by the church, not only must she be truly in need with no ability to provide for herself or family to care for her – but she must also have a reputation of being a godly woman. No position in the church, no membership, no provision, is given with no requirement of their character. And this list of widows who serve and are provided to by the church is no exception. h. Passage Application: So Timothy must be the front lines of making sure that only these kinds of widows are supported and commissioned for service within the church. i. [Slide 9] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this passage we find that the church shared everything they had with one another when there was a need. That the love of Christ compelled them to care for and serve one another. In fact, all God’s people were supported by one another and served one another. We read this in Acts 2. Indeed, our entire vision and mission of our church founded upon this. That God’s people as an expression of the gospel do provide and serve one another. j. Broader Biblical Application: And so, the application for us essentially comes down to two points. If we are going to support and commission someone to service – they ought to first be truly in need, and they must have a reputation for good works of service, both preparing them for the commission to serve others, and validating the gospel work in their heart. Transition: [Slide 10 (blank)] So what about widows that are not 60? There are bound to be widows who do not meet that age requirement. What happens to them? II.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must deny support and commissioning to service to those who do not qualify. (11-13) a. [Slide 11] 11 – As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. i. Why? Well for starters she is not 60 or older – as he already said. ii. Does younger here mean 59 or does it mean less than 40? If it means less than 40, what of a widow who is in the age between these two numbers. If it is 59 or younger, some of the advice Paul gives – like going and getting married and bearing children – rings a little hollow since that is simply not possible. iii. The best explanation is both/and. So technically yes, any woman less than 60 is part of this group. However – some of the warnings and advice does not quite apply to them. Paul simply had to cut it off somewhere and 60 is a nice round number. iv. But why not younger widows? Don’t they need us? v. This could be a financial restriction, because the younger they are, the longer the church will be tied up in supporting them. vi. However, Paul actually has a more spiritual reason for forbidding young widows from being placed on the list. b. [Slide 12] For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 – Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. i. Paul states an obvious pitfall with losing a husband earlier in life. There may be a desire to get married again. ii. In fact, the younger the widow – the more likely this is. iii. This is another tough issue in this text – we must make some kind of guess here as to why Paul would use such strong language for a young widow simply wanting to get married. iv. Some suggest this is talking about marrying unbelievers, or marrying false prophets. But to interpret this in this way, we’d have to import concepts into the text that simply are not there. v. But if we understand the membership of this widow’s list the way we have – the concept becomes clearer. vi. How would wanting to marry be a sensual desire that overcomes their dedication to Christ? 1. Well, if they took a pledge to serve the church and to remain celibate while doing this – and yet let their lusts push them to want to be involved sexually with another… it is going to cause problems. 2. Afterall – the desire for a marital sexual partner is not wrong in and of itself – but if you dedicated your life to remain single in service to Christ – all of a sudden it takes on a sinful stain. 3. Perhaps also, Paul is hinting at the issue in Ephesus where these women would remain on the list, while desiring to be married, but intentionally not getting married so they could still be supported by the church and simultaneously being sexually immoral with men – perhaps even visiting teachers or the false teachers Paul referenced before. 4. If all this is true – certainly this would be classified, in every way, as a sensual desire. 5. And even if they did get married – they violate that pledge they made to Christ and His church. Such a breaking of a commitment would be quite problematic and devastating to the church. c. [Slide 13] 13 – Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house, i. In a welfare state we see this happen. It certainly isn’t true of everyone – but many people when they are given a “hand out” rather than a “hand up” they forget what it means to earn your keep. ii. We often take for granted the things that we are given on a regular basis. A perfect example is – How often does God give you breath? How often do you thank Him for it? See. iii. But a widow who has spent her life serving others and has earned a reputation doing so will not see the church’s support as something she is do, but rather something granted to enable her to continue to serve others. iv. Young widows without that reputation will likely see the support of the church as something they deserve and use their free time and their role during visitation to flit from house to house with the guise of service but in reality, simply a reason to busy themselves with useless talk and lounging. They don’t arrive to serve so much as to intrude. v. This is what Paul surmises as evidenced by the connection to their laziness to another common sin common in those who have nothing to do… d. [Slide 14] And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. i. There is an old saying “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” ii. Laziness, having nothing productive to do, can only lead to evil things. iii. Jerome wrote in the 4th century “engage in some occupation so that the devil may always find you busy” iv. Paul’s point is this – when young widows have all their needs provided and a task to do in caring for others – but have no history or reputation of such service – they will default to laziness. v. They will use their responsibilities of visitation as a ruse to simply devote themselves to idle chatting that will eventually evolve into gossip, having to know all the secrets and hidden things happening in the church. vi. They will spend hours in every home getting the skinny and giving the skinny on all that is under the surface. e. [Slide 15] Passage Truth: Paul describes some consequences of not limiting widows enrolled to this list to the first description. Widows who do not have a reputation of a gospel changed heart, or are not in actual need of support, can cause great harm to the church because they will be idle or they will spurn their devotion to Christ in the end. f. Passage Application: So Timothy must deny young widows enrollment into support and service. g. [Slide 16] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this passage we see that the true test of someone’s gospel calling on their life is measured in decades not in weeks. Indeed the examples from farming, separating chaff and wheat, the seeds and the soil, and these other metaphors all revolve around the end of life being the reaping. When a plant dies, that is when the harvest happens. In the same way – the evidence of gospel change on a person’s life, most often cannot be clearly seen until they have almost left it. There are some exceptions of course – but we measure a life lived for Christ by how it ends, not simply how it began. h. Broader Biblical Application: So we must not support or commission to endless service those who could find other means to support themselves, nor those who have not demonstrated that gospel effect of love and service for others. Why? Because the consequences could be quite devastating for them and for the church. Transition: [Slide 17(blank)] So what should a young widow do instead? How is she to meet her needs? What if she wants to serve others? III.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must counsel all God’s people to care for their families as an outpouring of the gospel. (14-16) a. [Slide 18] 14 – So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. i. Although the text does not include the word “widows” it is obvious by the word translated here “so” that this is connected to the previous concept. ii. Although Paul’s words are not necessarily bad advice or counsel for young women in general – he is specifically speaking with reference to young widows who are of a marriable age and still able to bear children. iii. Now those with a keen eye will notice that managing a household is also listed as a quality of those who are Elders and Deacons. Although the Greek words are not the same, the meanings are similar. 1. The Elders and Deacons must rule over their children and houses well 2. The young women must raise their children and head or manage their household. iv. What does this mean? It means that raising children and managing the household is not a task associated with one particular person in the home. Rather it is the responsibility of both. Because of other passages of scripture, some of which come from this very epistle, we conclude that the final culpability is to the head of the house which is the husband. He is the head of the wife. But, the actual responsibility falls on both the husband and wife. v. So why must young widows endeavor to remarry, bear children, and adopt these domestic duties? Isn’t serving the church honorable? Wouldn’t being put on this list to serve the church be a good thing? vi. Yes. It is. But for young widows the cost may be too steep – even for them to consider. vii. And if they fail to count that cost, they have what is happening in Ephesus. Young widows are gossips, busybodies, sexually immoral, and entertaining false teachers and teachings. They are adopting teaching and leadership roles they were never meant to have, and it is generally upheaving the order of the church. viii. What does that do, when God’s church is in disorder? ix. It gives the accuser quite the reason to slander us. x. Now it is slander – because in Christ we are washed clean of sin. We are completely innocent in Christ. So there is no accusation that can hold water against Christ’s Bride. xi. BUT – giving him an opportunity to slander us should be the furthest thing from our mind. We ought not give any credence to that cause. xii. So young widows, rather than diving headlong into a service ministry that will be the rest of their lives, ought to instead wait and train for such a role by adopting their domestic and godly responsibilities of managing their home and raising their children. xiii. As Paul already said – caring for our own family is a holy duty and pleasing to God. b. [Slide 19] 15 – Some have, in fact, already turned away to follow Satan. i. Sadly, this is not a theoretical possibility that Paul is exploring. But rather, a observed outcome of some of their former members. ii. They’ve already seen young women deny the faith by walking into blatant sin. iii. They’ve already seen homes destroyed and people fall prey to wickedness. iv. This is not a theoretical situation that may occur – but it is actually happening there in Ephesus. v. Young women ought to focus on being good wives, good mothers, and good caretakers of their homes. In doing this they will be busy forming their reputation of good works. So that when and if they are a widow, they will be qualified to be on the list. vi. And one other quality should be their aim… c. [Slide 20] 16 – If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them, i. Broadening this out to any woman – Paul prepares them to be qualified for the list when they are old enough for it. ii. The last good deed for which a widow ought to have a good reputation is that they have cared for those in need. iii. And that begins in the family. If they have a blood relative that is in distress – they ought to care for them. d. [Slide 21] And not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need. i. This is the bottom line. The church ought to be free to help those who are truly without ability to help themselves. ii. To do that freely – everyone must fulfill what they are expected to do. On the list or not. Married or not. Widowed or not. e. [Slide 22] Passage Truth: Paul desires very clearly here two distinct things. 1 that the church not be unnecessarily burdened, and 2 that the church not be slandered or otherwise hindered by Satan. And to hit both those birds with one stone, it must be true, that only widows who are in true need and have evidence of a gospel changed life should be supported and commissioned to serve. But what of the younger widows? f. Passage Application: Timothy must encourage young widows to remarry and fulfill their domestic godly duty and please the Lord in caring for their own homes and family, including those who are widows in need in their family. g. [Slide 23] Broader Biblical Truth: From all of scripture we see how the negative testimony of the church can have an impact on the work of the kingdom. Although God acts independently of the church in drawing men to Himself – the church does have a distinct privilege of contributing to that work by living righteously and preaching Christ. But when the church is supporting many who could support themselves, when it is filled with people who live off the support of others while growing lazy and succumbing to sexual temptation, the church is slandered. h. Broader Biblical Application: And so, we as a church must be instructing our people to provide for themselves by working hard and caring for their families. They must perform their holy duty in rearing their children and managing their homes. And they must care for their own blood relatives who are in need. Not only does this solidify that reputation of good works – but it is a true outpouring of the gospel in our hearts. Conclusion: [Slide 24(end)] But here at CBC we don’t have a list of widows who are supported by the church and are commissioned to service do we? In fact, most of the items Paul lists as qualifications for being placed on such a list would actually eliminate most of the widows of our day. Most widows have life insurance policies, pensions, savings, and family members who are able to provide for and help them. And most young widows don’t seek to be some kind of Nun, serving the church and being supported by it. So, is this passage of scripture a rare passage that is simply not applicable to us anymore? Is there nothing we can learn here? Quite the contrary. In our culture, the church is known as a charitable organization. In fact, in the state of Michigan, churches don’t even have to apply for that status – they are simply granted it if they are a church. Are we a charitable organization? Of course we are. But charity is not blind, foolish, without discernment or prioritization. The priority of all our charity is first to those in need within our own families. Saved or not. Second to those in our church family in true need, but only if they have a reputation of being truly changed by the gospel and their lives are a testimony to that fact. Finally, we turn our charity outward to any others. Another application that is readily available in our culture is our fascination with always playing the role of the victim. So many thrive on being victimized. They will take any injustice, any misfortune, any rebuke, any difficulty and use it as a chance to complain about how they have been attacked, mistreated, or otherwise victimized by events. But a widow who should be supported and commissioned for service, is one who trusts God, and serves others – even amid one of the most difficult times in her life… losing her husband. She isn’t playing the victim to try to be supported… but is rather loving and serving others. Such a sister must be supported. We could all learn from the qualified widow. Circumstances do not determine who we are – rather Christ does. When all things go wrong – Christ in you can still help you live rightly. Another searing application from this text is that we are all expected to serve one another as an outpouring of the gospel of Christ. No one gets something for nothing. No one can be lazy. Laziness is a breeding ground for lawlessness anyway. Our hands ought to find something to do – someone to serve in the church. Even if the church is supporting you 100%, no one, from the leadership to the person being supported should automatically assume that that is not with some expectation of service rendered. Don’t be in a church to get something. Be part of a church to give something. Most importantly – we must understand that selfishness, victimization, laziness, gossip, sexual immorality, breaking our promises, and stealing from the church… all of these are NOT what the gospel produces in God’s children. The church is expected to be that light to the nations. The gospel has gone global. But when people live selfishly within the church, it hinders our usefulness in spreading that message. In fact, it gives Satan ammunition to slander us. In order for a church to have an effective ministry to the nations – it must be a gospel changed church. There is a lot here – probably more still. But for now, let’s rest in what we’ve learned and ask God to continue to transform us with it.