Sunday, April 22, 2012

First Timothy 5:1 - 16: Widows


From the New International Version of the Bible, First Timothy 5:1-8:
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers. older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Commentary

Most of chapter 5 consists of Paul's instructions to Timothy on how to deal with the membership of the church in Ephesus. The way an evangelist shepherds his church is very important, and because of Timothy's youth and relative inexperience, it was especially vital that he know how to work his congregation.

Paul outlines some very general guidelines in the first two verses. Older men were to be treated with respect. Strong rebukes would not be in order here. Mild exhortations toward righteousness would be better. Treat them like a father. Younger men were to be treated like brothers, implying that stronger rebukes may not be out of order here. As for older women - treat them as mothers - again with great respect and mild exhortation. And finally, younger women were to be treated like sisters, with only the best motives on Timothy's part. Inappropriate behavior toward the younger women might bring cause for accusation against Timothy. This had to be avoided.

Next, Paul addresses the "widow problem". He spends the bulk of the chapter on this issue. Since the Church's early days (Acts 6) in Jerusalem, the care of widows had been a main concern of the Church. In those days, women whose husbands had died and left them childless had few places to turn for help. If the widow was very old, she might not even be able to work. These women had a special need. Paul opens his advice on the "widow issue" by saying that these women who have no place else to go for help, deserve special recognition from the church. Implied in this statement is an obligation on the church to help deserving widows in any way they can - even financially.

But Paul does draw a line on when this kind of assistance should be given. If the widow has children or grandchildren in the church capable of taking care of them, the duty falls to the widow's family. The care of an aging, widowed mother should be a natural concern of the Christian family and it also pleases God. However, for the widows that are alone and have a genuine need, assistance should be provided, but even this is conditioned on the widow's behavior.  She must put her hope in God and be devoted to prayer continually.

Paul then tells Timothy to remind the congregation of their obligations toward family members, so that they can remain blameless in this regard. Everyone must provide for their own without exception to minimize the burden on the whole church. For those that refuse to care for family members in need, Paul has a veiled warning. He says these kind of people have denied the faith and that they are worse than unbelievers. He stops short of saying that they should be put out of the church.

Questions

1) In verses 1 and 2 Paul advises Timothy on how to deal with people of different age groups within the church. How does he say to treat them? What is the common theme here? What does it tell you about the nature of the church? See Matthew 12:46-49. What is Jesus saying here and how does it apply to family and church issues?
2) In verses 3-6 Paul said that widows with a genuine need should receive help from the church. Besides financial needs, what other ways can the church help needy widows and others?
3) Paul made it clear in verses 7 and 8 that Christians have an obligation to care for family members in need. Is it a violation of this command to put an aging parent in a nursing home?
4) Suppose you chaired a benevolence committee at your church and your group had $1000.00 to share with needy members of the congregation. Among those petitioning for help are:
          A single mom with 3 kids
          A two parent family on public assistance
          an older couple with large medical bills
          And a healthy college grad that quit his job so he could concentrate          
          his guitar lessons.
What kind of questions would you ask these people? How would you distribute the money?

First Timothy 5:9-16, from the New International Version:
No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. Thus they bring judgement on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help widows who are really in need.
Commentary

So now Paul gets more specific about the "widow issue" and he makes mention of a list. Apparently the Ephesian church had a list of widows to whom they provided assistance. Paul wanted to ensure that only widows with a genuine need were on this list so there was not an undue burden on the church. His first condition for this list was that the widow be at least 60 years old and that she was faithful to her husband while he lived and that she was known for her good works. Younger widows were to be excluded from this list for a number of reasons. His advice to them was that they should marry again and, if possible, have children, busying themselves with family work. This would help them avoid the distractions of the single life and enable them to focus on god and family rather than meddling in the affairs of others and becoming a burden on the church.

Questions

1) Paul put conditions on the charity that the church was to offer widows. They had to be 60 years or older. They had to have been faithful to their husbands. and they had to show evidence of their faith by their good works. Why does the church have to be selective about its benevolence?

2) Younger widows were not to be eligible for the widows list at the church in Ephesus because they still had the option to marry and were young enough to have children and care for a family. Why do you think Paul advise them to marry?

3) What happens when people that are capable of supporting themselves refuse to work and live off of the charity of others?

4) What do you think about the statement, "idleness is the devil's workshop"?

5) Paul said that the Christian women in the church should help the widows in their families so they would not be a burden on the church. What are some ways families can take burdens off the church today?