Title: Caring for Widows (part 2)
Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:9-16
Speaker: Nate Pickowicz
Well, we are reminded certainly this week, this is what is known as Passion Week. Next Sunday is Easter Sunday, which means today is Palm Sunday. We remember we are commemorating the time where Christ came to the city of Jerusalem and marched into the city.
They laid down palms for him to walk upon, and they were shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, calling him to be their deliverer, their savior. Certainly he would save them, but not in the way that they thought. They were expecting a general, a military leader to overthrow Rome, but he came to bring spiritual salvation for his people.
And so a week later, he was crucified on the cross, died, was buried, and then rose again the third day. And again, we will talk more about that next Sunday. But this morning, we will continue in our exposition of First Timothy.
And I was reminded of a remarkable story about Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, where he thereby visits a city called Nain. And in Luke 7, just to give some context here, it says that he was approaching the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a sizable crowd from the city was with her. And so again, we have the scene where he's entering the city, there's a large crowd coming, and they're trailing behind a woman who is mourning the loss of her only son.
And not only did she lose her only son, but the mother of this son had also been widowed. Having previously lost her husband, now the son who would otherwise be caring for her is gone too. And so the widow is at a complete loss, and she's understandably distraught, she's left with nothing.
And so Jesus, he sees her, and the text says that when he saw her, he felt compassion for her. You could read that in the Greek, literally, his heart went out to her. He felt compassion for her, and he said to her, do not weep.
Well, how was he going to respond to help her? There's a lot of things you could do for a widow to help her. He certainly could have blessed her with enough riches to provide for her for the rest of her life. He could have invited her to come along with them and let the disciples and him take care of her.
But instead, he did what nobody was expecting. We read in verses 14 and 15 of the same passage, it says, he came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt, and he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak.
And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Jesus raised the young man from the dead and gave him back to his mother. And now she would not only receive back her son, but she would receive back her only son, the only man who could care for her as a widow, he would fulfill his obligation to her.
I think that's implied. But the Lord is near to the broken hearted and he ministers to those who are downcast. And by the way, that's all of us on some level or another.
But specifically, Psalm 68 5 says that God is a father to the fatherless and a judge for the widow. He cares deeply for those who are in the greatest need, but he also calls on us to do the same. And so if you haven't already done so, please turn with me to First Timothy chapter five.
Continuing along, the Apostle Paul has launched into the longest discourse in First Timothy in order to address this issue of caring for widows. And last week, we looked at verses three through eight in the exposition three through eight, and we saw that there is a responsibility to provide care for those who do not have it. Just to refresh our memory here.
First Timothy five, three honor widows who are widows indeed. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents. For this is acceptable in the sight of God.
Now, she who is a widow indeed, who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers day and night. But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. Describe these things as well so that they may be above reproach.
But if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And so last time we got together, we talked about how this word honor means more than simply revere or respect. It also refers to financial support, it refers to care.
Paul is instructing the church that they are to devote themselves, we are to devote ourselves to caring for genuine widows, widows indeed. Of course, if a widow has a family who is able and available for her, verse four, to care, then they have the responsibility to care for their widowed mother or grandmother. But if she is truly alone and manifests godly character, the church ought to care for her.
But it opens up a key question. What are the standards by which this kind of care is to be offered? Of course, we know that the widow must be one who lives for God. She must not be living for herself.
That's the whole essence of verse six, that she's not to give herself over to wanton pleasure. She's not just to live for the flesh. He says if she does that, she's dead even while she lives, which is a strong statement.
But that's not the kind of woman who is going to be cared for in such a way. But Paul, then, is going to continue this discussion into verse nine, verses nine through sixteen, which we're going to look at today. He's continuing along on this discussion about who we are to devote the care for, or specifically to, I should say.
Now, it's interesting because scholars and historians have noted that the early church, there was something that they believe was called the order of widows, the order of widows. Ignatius and Polycarp mention it during the second century. Tertullian makes note of it in the third century.
And this group of widows was an official roster that was cared for by the church. In return for being on this roster, the women would devote themselves specifically to the church. They would pledge not to be remarried or seek a spouse.
They would seek only to serve the body of Christ. And they would do things like visit the sick. They would teach and disciple younger women.
They would care for children. They would host visitors and they would help place orphans in homes. They would do a lot of ministry for the sake of the church.
But not every single woman who was widowed was part of this specific order. However, it is believed that something of this may have been in place when Paul was writing First Timothy, chapter five. Can I ask the mic go down just a smidge? It feels tinny to me.
Thank you. So looking at verse nine and ten, just to catch us up where we are here, he says, a widow is to be on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. Now it seems again that these early churches, they kept lists.
So you'd go to any town and there would be a church there and they would have a widow's list. And they would have women who were pledged on those lists. And now not again all the widows were on these lists.
The families had a responsibility first. But if they were genuine widows, widows indeed, they could be on this list, this list of widows or an order of widows, so to speak. But what were the conditions? Paul gives three.
The first condition had to do with their age. He says that she is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old. And so on some level, the widow's list was a 60 and over club.
Of course, Paul will address the under 60 group in just a minute here. But for now, it's clear that older women are the target here. Well, the question is, well, why 60? And I pondered that this week and I searched the resources and I'm thinking, why 60, not 59 and a half? And what's the deal with that? Well, from what I could gather, there were lots of theories about why 60.
But generally speaking, the consensus is this, that a 60-year-old woman is past the age where she might have a strong desire to remarry if she lost a spouse. And then coupled with that, she would also be past the age generally where she'd be able to work to sustain herself in any meaningful capacity for the future. Again, that's a gross generalization.
There are exceptions to the rule across the board. But just as a general statement for that culture at that time, that was more or less true. And we're going to talk about that in just a second here.
But for now, Paul is saying that for the church to have this list of widows, the women who are going to be on this list must be 60 years old or older. The second qualification has to do with faithfulness. He says, having been the wife of one man.
Now, linguists have noticed the construction of the grammar here, that the marriage requirements for elders and deacons in chapter 3 are also very similar. They must be quite literally a one-woman man. In other words, faithful to their wife.
These are elders and deacons. But now you have the inverse here. The widow had to be a one-man woman.
In other words, faithful in marriage. Now, some translations render this phrase married only once. And they talk about the number of times married.
But the question about that is, well, is it wrong if they're married more than once numerically for them to receive care in the future? And we would say no, because even in verse 14, Paul encourages the widows to remarry. A second marriage after the death of a spouse does not disqualify the widow from future help. And so interpreters all the way back to the early church have regarded this as referring to marital faithfulness.
That she must be devoted a one-man kind of woman. And then there's a third qualification here in verse 10. She must have a reputation for good works.
A reputation for good works. This word reputation in the Greek is martyria. That's where we get our word martyr from.
But it literally refers to a witness or having a testimony. But the question is, what is her Christian testimony? Her Christian testimony should be one of action. She has to have a reputation for good works.
Well, how so? One scholar, Robert Yarborough, notes that grammatically this first phrase here in verse 10, having a reputation for good works, is really the general descriptor. And the following five clauses function as examples. That's how he reads and understands that verse.
And I think that makes sense here. So what kinds of good works is she to be known for? Well, number one, he notes, bringing up children. This refers to child rearing.
Now, it could be speaking to the care that she's given to her own kids, her biological children, or in some cases, even to the care that she's given to orphans. Because many of these women were caring for orphaned children. Now, not every single widow has children.
But if she does have children, well, how did she do? Was she a faithful mother? Did she love them well? Did she teach them and train them in all areas of godliness? And so that's one example is how she was working as a mother to train children. Number two, that she has shown hospitality to strangers. Xeno doceo is literally the Greek.
It's welcoming strangers. It's the essence of hospitality. We see an example of this, interestingly enough, in first Kings 17.
There's a widow from Zarephath who welcomes the prophet Elijah into her home. He comes to her and he's looking for a meal. And what's remarkable about the story here is the widow, it's just her and her son, and she has nothing to offer him.
I mean, she is destitute. She has nothing. And she cooks for him her very last meal, the one that she is going to eat before she goes and dies.
And in turn, when she does that, she welcomes him in, she feeds him her last meal. In turn, he blesses her. And then when her son does die, Elijah raises the son from the dead.
Does that sound like anyone else we know that we heard about just a few minutes ago? Luke? We understand that even typologically, Elijah is a type of Christ. And so we see this kind of ministry consistent with who Jesus is. But that's the kind of care, loving the widows.
But that is done. First, she's shown her faithfulness, that she's cared for someone who has come to her. A third qualifier, a widow has shown reputation for good work.
She has washed the saint's feet. Remarkable phrase. She's washed the saint's feet.
This is an example or a symbol of humble service. In the ancient world, travelers would go around by foot. And as they would do so, their feet and their sandals, they would accumulate a lot of dust and dirt and other things that were on the ground.
And before they would go into a home to sit down and eat, they'd have to have their feet washed. And so that job was oftentimes done by the house slave. It was a very low and humiliating job to wash people's feet.
But we know from John chapter 13 that that's exactly what Jesus does. Jesus gets up from the table at the Last Supper. In terms of historically, five days from today, in the narrative, he gets up from dinner, he takes off his outer garments, he wraps a towel around his waist, he grabs a basin of water, and goes disciple to disciple, even to the one who betrays him, and he washes their feet as a gesture of love and of service.
And then he tells them to do the same. And that gesture that Jesus demonstrates, that they took that as a token of humble service, and they would do that even in the future. Even in some churches today.
I don't know, maybe some of you've been to churches like this. They will actually, symbolically, they will wash each other's feet. I've seen some churches where they'll get together for a meal, and they'll literally take off their shoes, and they'll practice walking around and washing each other's feet.
I don't know if I'm good with that. I don't know if I like the idea of someone taking my shoes off and washing my feet. But I actually remember the story of a pastor that I heard about in Kentucky.
He had been through just a very difficult, tumultuous season of ministry. He had been hurt by some people who had attacked him, and he came home after a very long and difficult church meeting, and he was just completely distraught. He was inconsolable, he was crying, he was emotional, and he just had nothing left to give.
And he walked in, and he sat down at his table, and his wife didn't say a word. She just walked up, and she grabbed a basin of water, knelt down in front of him, took off his shoes and washed his feet. And he broke out in tears just at the service and the love and the devotion of this beautiful wife to her husband.
And so that's what this is. That's a symbol. It's a humble symbol of service.
And that's what we see here is that these widows, these faithful women have done symbolic acts like that. They've served the body of Christ. They've washed the saints' feet, so to speak.
In some cases, maybe literally, but certainly metaphorically, they have served others selflessly. Number four, that she has assisted those in distress. Titus 3.14, Paul exhorts the church to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs.
That's the whole reason we do good deeds. We don't just do good deeds for the sake of deed doing. That's not why we engage in such service.
We do it to meet pressing needs. We do it because there are people who are struggling and hurting. And even our ministry right now, we have what's called the benevolence ministry.
And whenever there's people in our church or outside in the community, maybe some of you've been helped by this ministry. If you're hurting, if you're having a hard time, let us know. We want to help.
We've paid bills for people. We've served people. We've done things for them.
Well, why? Because people, when they find themselves in distress, they need help. And so that's what these women are doing. They're going to other people who are in distress and they're meeting them at their time of need.
It's an element of faithfulness. These women were faithful to assist others in times of distress. Interestingly enough, James 1.27 says that pure and undefiled religion consists of visiting orphans and widows in their distress.
That's what our dear sister, who was a widow, she has done this for others. She's ministered to those who are hurting, those who are in distress. And then lastly, number five, he says that she has devoted herself to every good work, every good work.
Regardless of the task, this woman has built a reputation of being devoted to every good work that she possibly can. In other words, nothing is beneath her. I've known several servants over the course of years, many of you, where it doesn't matter what the job is.
It's like they're on it. And you're thinking, well, you don't have to do that. That's beneath you.
They don't care. I'll do it. I'll do anything.
It's a wonderful thing is when you have a person with a heart of service that they'll do anything. They don't care what it is. They'll devote themselves to every good work.
And that's what these women have done. They've proven themselves to be examples of godliness and selflessness. It doesn't matter what the job is.
They'll just do it. They see a need. They meet the need.
It's a wonderful thing. And so these widows here that Paul is talking about, these widows who've been truly left alone, they are widows indeed. Again, qualified.
They're over 60. They're older in age. Generally, they're faithful.
They've been faithful in marriage when they were married. And they have a reputation for good works. They were eligible at that point to be enrolled on the church's list to be cared for exclusively by the church.
And yet we've already seen that there are several groups of widows who are not under this qualification. We saw that the first group that would not be on this kind of a list would be those who are already being cared for by their family, verse four. And so just because a woman has been widowed doesn't necessarily mean that we jump in and take care of everything because, again, they're the first obligation of her family is to care for her.
And so if every family were to care for those who've been widowed and those who are in distress and hurting, then the job would be done across the board and we would all be cared for. But there are times when they cannot be cared for. The second category of widows who would not be cared for exclusively by the church are, again, women, verse six, who have engaged in immoral behavior.
They live for themselves and they devote themselves to wanton pleasure. They just do whatever they want in fleshliness. No obligation for the church to jump in and do that, take care of women who are doing that.
But then there's a third group here of widows who the church is not going to care for in such a way. And Paul says that these are the younger widows. Look at verses 11 and 12 here.
Paul says, But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge. Now, we don't know for sure, but it seems as though the way that the early church would run this widow's ministry is if there was an older woman over 60 and she needed the help of the church, there was no one there to care for her, she would go and she would present herself to the church and she would notify them and say, you know, I have no one to care for me. I'm not going to be married again.
I need the help. And so she'd be examined. Is this the kind of woman who's been godly and faithful? And if she was and there was no one else to care for her, then the church would take her on full responsibility.
They would give her a place to live. They provide for her food, all of her everything. They would just take care of her.
And in turn, she would then pledge herself to the service of the church. She would take a very specific and formal pledge not to remarry, not to go off and do her own thing. She would be devoted exclusively to this specific congregation.
But here in verse 11, Paul tells the church to refuse the word for refuse. There is a strong word in the negative to refuse to put younger widows on the list. I read one commentary that says the sense of refuse is not a chance.
It's almost as if the woman are coming and saying, I want to be I want to come and be part of the church and be exclusively in their care. They'd say, no, not a chance, which is kind of interesting. But there's a reason for it.
There's a reason for why. Does it mean that when a younger woman loses her husband, that the church isn't going to help her? Of course we would. Any church would.
Absolutely. I mean, that's the core of the essence of caring for a person when they've lost someone that they've are one flesh with. You're having this person ripped away from you.
You need the most care. And so, yes, younger women who've been widowed, we're going to care for her. But the church would not be obligated to take full, permanent responsibility and ask her to pledge herself exclusively to the service of the church.
Why? Well, Paul writes, because younger widows, generally women under 60, may still have the desire to remarry. Now, not initially, of course. The last thing you want to do when you've been widowed is think about getting married again.
I've known some instances where I remember that very specifically, there was an older man whose wife had passed away from cancer. It was a very long illness. And so after she had passed away, they'd had a conversation and she had told him, listen, you're not going to do very well on your own at all.
So when I go, find another spouse. Three months later, he was remarried. And as far as I'm aware, they've been married about 20 or so years now.
And so, yeah, I mean, there are times, but generally speaking, I mean, there have been, there are widows in this room right now. I mean, the farthest thing from your mind, I'm assuming, was to go find someone else. And so in the moment when you're first widowed, yes, you don't want anyone else.
But as time goes on, especially these younger women, he says these younger women may begin to feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ and want to get married. Now, Paul is not saying that the desire to be remarried, the desire for intimacy and companionship is wrong or sinful. Not at all.
It's actually the right thing to have a desire to want to be married to somebody. That's not bad at all. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7, it says that if you have those desires, you ought to get married so that you're not tempted to sexual immorality.
So if you have a desire to be with someone, yes, find a spouse, get married if you can. But if a young woman has pledged herself to the church, made an oath to a singular devotion to the Lord, to Christ's church, as the NIV, I think, helpfully renders when their passions begin to draw them away from Christ. That's the sense of it.
Not disregard like I don't love Jesus anymore, but when their desire draws them away from the singleness of devotion to Jesus and his people, they will want to find a husband. And then he says in verse 12, they'll incur condemnation because they've set aside their previous pledge. Now, it's important to note that when he's talking about condemnation, crema, the word is judgment, he doesn't mean punishment or damnation.
It's not that they're going to be turned away from the Lord in such a thing that to find a spouse means you're sinning and you're not going to be in heaven when you die. It's not that kind of judgment, but rather it's the kind of judgment levied against a person because they've gone back on their word. It's a censure.
In essence, Paul is trying to discourage this back and forth that might happen if a woman desires to be single and then her desires change and she wants to be married again. He's trying to stop that because he doesn't want to obligate a younger woman into some kind of an oath or a pledge that she ultimately can't fulfill if she wants to be remarried again. Marriage is good.
It's good. It's good to want to be remarried if that's what your heart desires. The Lord is not displeased with you if you seek another spouse after your spouse is gone.
But there's another reason why he says to refuse younger widows. It comes in verse 13. At the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go around from house to house, not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies talking about things not proper to mention.
A younger woman with too much free time on her hands runs the risk of becoming idle. And in her idleness, sin is not too far behind. Paul also warns men about this same problem in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. These men who don't want to work.
He says a brother who doesn't want to work, who's leading an undisciplined, unruly life. He says in 2 Thessalonians 3.11, for we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Ever met a man who's always busy, but yet never gets anything done? That's a busybody.
When you're just always engaged in activity, but you're actually not doing anything. You're not working. You're not accomplishing.
That's what Paul's warning against here, only for the women in verse 13. Women who are, he says, learning to be idle. And in their idle time, they go from house to house and they stir up trouble.
Literally house to house, they're bouncing around. Or in our day, you might say from text thread to text thread, or chat room to chat room, or whatever the situation is. Because we don't generally get in our car and go from house to house and stir up trouble.
But there is the propensity to do such a thing. And he says, there's a propensity to gossip and even meddle. This word for gossip is phluoros, it literally is referring to babbling, or busybody peri-ergos, which is meddlesome in some sense.
So they're meddling in others affairs, they're gossiping about everyone and everything. He says, and they talk about things that are not proper to mention. In their chatter, they're going or going outside the bounds of what is acceptable.
Of course, this isn't just a widowed woman problem, this is an idle woman problem too. And so verse 14, Paul says, therefore I want younger widows to get married, to bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach. Paul's purpose here is not to attack women, but rather to point out the dangers of not being disciplined and not being godly.
Again, this isn't just a widowed woman problem, it's not even just a female problem, even though, generally speaking, the Bible affirms this, women have a propensity toward this kind of behavior, in some cases more than men. And so we have to be careful. Paul says, don't put yourself in a position where you're going to tempt yourself into this kind of behavior.
Therefore, he says, I want younger widows to get married. This isn't a hard and fast law. It's not that if you've been widowed as a young woman, the church is going to come along and say, all right, clock's ticking, let's go.
Not at all. Not at all. Because there are some situations where my great-grandmother was widowed when she was, I think my great-grandfather was 33.
She never remarried. Her heart was broken. She just said, nope, that was one and done, I'm good.
And so she never remarried. And that's not necessarily wrong if you can keep your head about you. So not a hard and fast law, but it is a wise directive.
If a 40-year-old woman has lost her husband to cancer and the Lord through Paul encourages her to seek an opportunity to keep going. To find a godly man and get remarried. To start again.
He says not only to get married, but also to bear children. Either have more children or to rear the ones you already have. Devote yourself to motherhood.
See, focusing on motherhood leaves no time for gossiping and meddling. Ever notice that? Frankly, busy moms are too tired to stir up drama. So if you want to be a woman who is not into drama, get busy.
There's a lot of work to do. I mean, every home, every family has a lot going on. And so if you're focused on that, is it difficult? Is it draining? Yes.
But if you focus on that, you won't be tempted to do the wrong thing. You won't incur reproach. So bear children.
He says also keep house. Oiko despoteo. The Greek word despot.
I was reading this and I just couldn't help but think it's a house despot. But that's not really not the sense of the word. Really, it refers to ruling the house.
That's the sense of it. That you command your home. So many times in culture, keeping house is looked at with disdain that it's beneath a woman.
But rather, it's not that way at all in Scripture. The Bible, the Lord looks at keeping house as a noble thing. That you're making every single element of your home your responsibility, your domain.
We have a saying in my home about my wife's domain. She'll tell me, stay out of my domain. The kitchen is my domain, right? When she's working, I tell the kids, let's go.
Let's leave because we don't want to do that. But there's a sense in which... Now you get the inner workings of my family, right? But there is a sense in which, no, this is her domain. This is her responsibility.
She doesn't need me or anybody else telling her what to do inside of that domain. She's running that household. It's a lot of work.
My children need a lot of care. The house has a lot of work to do. So that's a good thing and that's what he tells these women, to keep house, to run your domain.
It's needed work. It's noble work. And in doing so, he adds, give the enemy no occasion for reproach.
By enemy here, what is Paul talking about? Some have seen this as a reference to Satan, which he actually shows up in the next verse. But in many ways, this refers to any human opponent as well. Well, how so? Why do I think that? Well, because in a Christian conduct really boils down to a matter of testimony.
In fact, that's what we see from the Apostle Paul in Titus chapter 2, when he's instructing the church in terms of discipling relationships here. He talks about women and their responsibilities to one another and also to their family. And he says in Titus 2, 3, he says, This is about, ultimately, this is about testimony before a watching world.
Because other people, they look at the Bible and they say, oh, this is, that doesn't apply to me. That's outdated. That's archaic.
That's irrelevant. But when you live in such a way that is honorable to God, the word of God itself is honored. But if you live contrary to your testimony, the word of God is dishonored.
And so even the death of a spouse does not give us an excuse, a reason to revolt against the Lord. Or to stop being faithful to him. And sadly, some have let that happen.
I've known situations where people, there's one example I can think of in particular in my past. The wife lost her husband. She had several kids.
The wife lost her husband and everything just stopped. And she stopped caring for the house. She stopped engaging with her kids.
They basically grew up on their own and kind of did their own thing. And she was just a shell of a person living in her home. It was so sad.
But there's a sense in which we're not to stop doing what we're supposed to be doing in terms of faithfulness. And I would actually argue that it's in those times that we have a greater opportunity to testify to God's grace. Because when the Lord brings you to that place, when you lose a spouse, I can only think of one example of an even more difficult trial, and I won't mention it.
But to lose a spouse, to lose the person that you've pledged your heart to for your whole life, that is a severe trial. That's very difficult. And yet, when the Lord brings you into that place, it's an opportunity.
How are you going to respond to that? You're going to respond by seeking the comfort from the Lord? Because again, the woman who's giving herself over to wanton pleasure, she's trying to find comfort everywhere else. Into substances, into pleasures, into other men. She's trying to go and swash her feelings somewhere else.
But a godly woman who loses her husband, or I should even add a godly man who loses his wife, is going to find their comfort in Christ. They're going to run to the Lord. Not only that, but they're going to praise God for his goodness.
I've talked to many people who've suffered tumultuous losses, and even though they're hurting, even though they've lost everything, even though they're destroyed, they still tell me God has been good. God has been faithful. Amen.
Because God has been faithful. God is good. Testify to his goodness.
And then again, in the midst of that, to keep moving forward in the power of his grace. They're not going to let this trial, this insurmountable trial, stop them from moving forward in the Lord and pursuing godliness and serving other people and praise in the Lord for what he's done. Even in the struggle of such an occasion, there's an opportunity for praise rather than an occasion for reproach.
And yet, sadly, he adds in verse 15, there are times, there are times that there are those who have already turned aside to follow Satan. Some people in losing their spouse, it sends them over the edge and it drives them into the claws of Satan rather than into the loving arms of Christ. And so beware, beloved.
And I know this might seem like it's a niche series here last week about widows this week about widows. You might say to yourself, well, I'm not a widow. But statistically, statistically, unless you and your spouse pass on to glory at the exact same moment, you one of you will become widowed.
And there you enter a season of life where that is a reality for you. And so I just want to if you're older, if you consider yourself to be older, where that seems to be on the horizon at some point, take note, be mindful, do it now. Think about these things now.
Prepare your heart now not to be doom and gloom. But Lord, what will I do? How will I respond? If I endure such a trial? Lord, would you help me even now? Would you help me now? So that when this happens, if this happens, that I'll devote myself to you fully. And I promise you that when that day does come, God will give you the grace that you need to endure to the end.
But even for those who are younger, I mean, consider the conduct of these faithful widows. Just because we're talking about widows who've done all these wonderful things, devoted themselves to good deeds, should we not also pursue such things? Should we not also raise our children well, wash the saints feet, devote ourselves to every good work, be faithful to our spouses? Absolutely. Absolutely.
And so devote yourself to the Lord and devote yourself to the care of others. And then we see in verse 16 here, Paul addresses one more group, one more group of people. This time, it's not a group of widows.
It's not even a specific church. He addresses here caretakers, caretakers of those who have been widowed. Look at verse 16.
He concludes, if any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. Now, we can't be 100% sure of the historical context, but it does certainly seem like in the early church, there were certain women who made a practice of opening up their homes and taking in widows. They would sort of run this mission house for widows.
And we actually think that Acts 16, we think that Lydia might have been one of those women. And there's likely others as well. But it's not that it's any specific person.
In this case, he says it's a godly woman, but it could be any person who's taking care of dependent widows, someone in their care. Now, maybe it could be as the ESV renders it, relatives, if you have a relative who's a widow, when you're caring for them. Or maybe it's just a person you've taken out of the goodness and kindness of your heart.
But he says here that if there are Christians who have dependent widows, people that are relying on you for care, he says to them, keep on assisting them. Keep caring for them, keep helping them. And he adds, because the church must not be burdened.
Now, Paul here is not lamenting the care of hurting people as some kind of unwanted burden. That's not the sense of the words here. Rather, the concern is over turning the congregation, turning the church into some kind of a welfare organization.
Because that's the real concern. And the truth is, there's always going to be needs, there's always going to be people who are hurting. And there are some churches, some ministries that they throw themselves into that so much that they actually begin to neglect their primary responsibility.
I've seen ministries where they have such a big heart that they throw themselves so far that they drift away from their primary mission. There's always a risk of mission drift. Now, to be clear, the church should help when it can.
If we have the opportunity to serve and meet a need, we should do it. But the ultimate mission of the church is the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The call of God on us is to make disciples of all nations.
The gospel, discipleship, Christian growth, that's the mission, primarily. And so if there are certain believers who are able to provide care for other people, it lessens the collective burden on the church to do so. And yet Paul does not jettison the need for care because he says that as others are taking care of their dependent widows, he says the church is then freed up to assist those who are widows indeed.
If nobody cares for their aging parents and their widowed parents, if nobody does that job, then the church will be inundated with those concerns when the time arises. But if believers do their job, if we focus in on caring for our aging and widowed parents, then it will alleviate that challenge for the church because there are people who really do have no one in their life to care for them. And it would be wrong for us to turn our back on a person who has no care at all and say, well, it's all about the gospel.
It is about the gospel, but the gospel comes with shoes. We also have to walk it out, don't we? To care for those who are widows indeed, again, true widows with no help. Again, this reflects the heart of Christ.
This is his heart toward people who are hurting. Yes, it is to bring the gospel of salvation to the lost. That is our primary focus.
That's the tip of the spear. But as we do so, we're also bringing help and hope to those who are hurting. In many ways, those kinds of good deeds, that kind of help, that actually puts arms and legs on the message.
When Jesus was feeding the hordes, the thousands and thousands of people, he never provided a meal without a message, but he always would wrap that message in kindness. He wouldn't. He didn't just say your sins are forgiven.
Go in peace. He healed them, too. But he made sure that the message was primary.
And so that's what we're talking about. We don't want to be so caught up in winning souls that we forget about people. That's important.
But what is the ultimate hope of every single person? Because, again, we can meet physical, tangible needs. But if there is no gospel, we've missed the mark. It is important that as we're helping people, that they understand who it is that we serve, that we serve a God who is holy and righteous and good and true.
And all of us have sinned against the holy God and fall short of his glory. And in that sin that came into the world, it is corrupted and destroyed everything. It's why we age.
It's why we tear each other apart. It's why there is poverty in the world. It's because of the curse of the fall.
And yet God has provided a way of reconciliation. And that's through Jesus Christ, who is himself the God-man, God in human flesh, who came to this earth and lived a perfect, spotless life and then gave up that life on the cross. He suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins.
And at the death of Jesus, all of our sins, past, present and future, were placed on him and died with him. He was buried in the ground and was in the ground on that Saturday. And then Sunday morning, Easter, he rose again to bring new life to all who would turn away from our sins and trust in him.
And so above all things, we can help everybody with all of their physical needs. We can expend all the energy in the world. But if we don't tell them that, we have actually wounded them worse than what they're experiencing in this life.
We must make sure that there's a meal and a message, that there's care and compassion also wrapped up in the message of the gospel. But let's do our best to make sure that we care for each other and make sure that we devote ourselves to caring for those who really are widows. Indeed, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your loving kindness. We thank you for your goodness to us. Lord, we read the Old Testament and we see so much imagery.
We see the imagery of us, as the prophets say, struggling and dying in our blood, and yet you came along and saw us destitute and dying and even dead and took us to yourself and breathed new life into us and clothed us and blessed us. And the Bible even says and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ. Lord, you have cared for us with compassion that we don't even know was possible.
And Lord, you've cared for us spiritually. You've remade us from the inside out. You've forgiven us of our sins.
You've given us eternal life. But Lord, we also cannot deny that even in this present life, you have blessed us with so many blessings. Lord, you've given us our lives, you've given us whatever health we have.
You've given us our spouses, you've given us our children, our homes, our jobs, whatever leisure we have. You've given us a body of people that we can love and who love us. Lord, you've given this church a home to reside in and worship together in.
Lord, you've given us friends, you've given us companions, you've given us so many blessings that even if we would stack up all of those blessings alone, we could praise you immeasurably. And yet those blessings don't even compare to the incomparable majesty of knowing you. That you are a God transcendent, that you are a God most glorious and knowing you is to have everything, oh Lord.
And yet you have taken us on to yourself as you've likened yourself to a husband and you've likened us to a bride and that kind of relationship. And you have drawn us to yourself. You've been our covering, you've been our protection, you've been our care and you've given yourself for us.
And you've washed us with the word, the water of the word, you've washed us in regeneration. And you've given us your spirit. Lord, above all, we are blessed beyond comprehension.
And so, Lord, let us evermore be praising you and thanking you for how good you've been to us. And Lord, in return, in response to your manifold grace, let us also be good to other people as well. Let us care for them.
And Lord, even as we consider our life as a church, let us do the very basic and minimum and just greet one another in love. Lord, I think we fall short of even those kinds of things. But let us be arbiters of grace here on this earth right now because you have been so gracious to us.
Thank you for the kindness you've given to us in Jesus Christ. We bless his name forever in his name. Amen.