MPC, 5th November 2000.1 Tim 5:1-16 - Who Cares?
Phil Campbell MPC, 5th November 2000.
They called him JUSTIN THE APOSTATE. A Roman Emperor who ruled back in the fourth century AD. And Justin the Apostate was FAMOUS - for the way he HATED Christians. The Roman empire had become Christianised a few years before; the year 323, when the previous emperor was CONVERTED. But when HE came to power, Justin wanted to wind back the clock. Take Rome back to paganism where it belonged. So Justin had a simple plan. He didn't send out soldiers with swords. Justin started up hospitals and schools. Because he said, The best way to UNDERMINE Christianity is to be BETTER THAN THEY ARE at helping people.
Back then, Christians were FAMOUS for the way they CARED. That was a time that if you were sick, you died. Unless there were Christians around. Who'd look after you. There was a time that if you were destitute, you'd starve. Unless there were Christians around. Who'd look after you.
Christians were different because Christians cared. And everybody knew it.
Justin's plan was clever. GET CHRISTIANS OUT OF THE CARE BUSINESS. And in the end I think it's worked. Look around. Nowadays, WHO CARES? Well, it's the government's job, isn't it. And a lot of Christians just sit back and say, well, that's great. We don't have to worry about it, even in THE CHURCH. We don't even have to worry about it in the FAMILY. We'll just stick our old people in the nursing home, we'll stick our poor people on the dole, we'll put our widows on the pension. And we DON'T HAVE TO CARE ANYMORE. Terrific.
The fact is, the ONE OF THE GREATEST TESTIMONIES we Christians have is the WAY WE CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER. Or it should be. And we've given it away.
Those are the issues Paul's talking about here in 1 Timothy chapter 5. It's a passage that's all about CARING. The way CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE CARING FOR EACH OTHER AS A CHURCH. It's a set of guidelines. A set of ground rules. And the principles Paul applies are very, very practical. Not for taking advantage of one another's generosity. But for making sure the care is aimed where the care is needed.
1. THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY
Here's the first principle, and you'll see it coming through in verses 1 and 2.
Principle number 1, first and foremost, THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY.
Now I don't know how you actually think about our church. I mean, during the week when we're not meeting together. Maybe you don't think about it at all. Or maybe you think about it as some sort of social club. Or maybe you think about it as a bunch of acquaintances who you don't know very well. Maybe just a PLACE you go to every Sunday.
Paul says, CHURCH IS MORE THAN THAT. He says, THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY. And he spells out what that means in practice. Verse 1. Don't rebuke an older man harshly, he says to Timothy. If you want a guideline for how to treat older men in the church, here it is. "BUT EXHORT HIM AS IF HE WAS YOUR DAD."
Treat younger men like little brothers, he says, older women like your mum, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
He's got the whole lot covered. Older. Younger. Men. Women. Brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers. And he says, treat one another like family. With RESPECT. With PURITY. With LOVE.
Now, how are we going with that? I mean, as you're sitting here this morning, do you get the sense you're with YOUR FAMILY? Or with strangers? Family is what we're meant to be.
Paul's first principle when it comes to how we treat one another as a church is that the CHURCH IS A FAMILY.
2. Don't be Dummies
Now the next principle is, DON'T BE DUMMIES. And it's interesting to see it being said right back then. When there's help to be had, there'll always be a line of people with their hands out who don't really need it. And so Paul says to Timothy, BE CAREFUL.
If you look at what he's saying here, it seems they kept a special list. A widows list. You can see that down in verse 9, and to qualify, he says you have to be over 60. But he says, set up a system, organise it so the right people get the right sort of care from the church.
And he sets the scene for that back in verse 3. He says "Give proper recognition to THOSE WIDOWS WHO ARE REALLY IN NEED."
And he says the same at the very end of the section on widows. You've got it in verse 3, and again in verse 16. Paul's concern is that the help goes where it's REALLY NEEDED.
He says "Don't be dummies." Don't just throw your money around indiscriminately. He says, recognise those widows who are REALLY IN NEED. And at the very end of verse 16, the same words. So the church can help those who are REALLY IN NEED.
It's a good principle to keep in mind, isn't it? And Paul's saying on the one hand, we're called to CARE. But on the other hand, we're called to be WISE. To be discriminating.
And I reckon we still have to struggle with the two extremes here, because I see them both. Generous Christians who think with their heart and not their head and GIVE WHERE IT'S NOT REALLY NEEDED. And on the other end of the scale, a whole lot of us who maybe SEE THAT, and get so over cautious that they never GIVE ANYTHING to ANYONE.
Paul gives some guidelines - some help in working out who should go on their widows list and who shouldn't. He's talking about who'll qualify as a widow who's REALLY IN NEED.
FAMILY FIRST
And the first thing he's got to look at is FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY. You know, he's already said the CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE A FAMILY. But there's something else that comes even before that. And that is, your FAMILY SHOULD BE LIKE A FAMILY.
I mean, how can you say your church is a family, if you're not treating your family like a family first? And Paul's very clear about the fact there's a responsibility of care that STARTS AT HOME. And if there are widows in your family, if there are needs in your family, then don't pass the buck. Take your family responsibility seriously. If you don't, you're a RELIGIOUS FAKE.
Look at verse 4. He spells it out. "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.
Religion. It's funny stuff, isn't it. "Oh, he's very RELIGIOUS." What do you think of? Walks round with his head in the clouds talking pious sounding talk maybe?
The funny thing is the new testament definition of being RELIGIOUS has always got DIRT UNDER IT'S FINGERNAILS. It's 100 percent practical. It's 100 percent to do with the way you treat other people. Starting with your FAMILY.
You get exactly the same thing in James 1. Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
The fact is, God's far more interested in the way we look after widows and orphans than he is in pipe organs and stained glass windows. And especially if they're part of your immediate family.
So Paul says rule number 1, it's up to Christian children and even grandchildren to look after their parents and grandparents. And pay back the debt they owe for the way they've been cared for as children.
You know, it's not so long back that that's the way society worked. Extended families. The principle that you cared for me when I was young, so I'll care for you when you're old.
But it's gradually been eroded hasn't it. And replaced by selfishness. Even among Christians.
Paul's got strong words to say about this, and he says it in verse 8. Christians are meant to be OUTSTANDING in the way they care. And if you're not even caring for your family members, you're not even living up to the standard of an unbeliever. He says "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."
If your faith doesn't make a difference; if your faith doesn't push you to provide for the needs of your aged parents or grandparents, then he says, it's not real faith at all, is it? You might as well just be an unbeliever.
Same point in verse 16. "If any woman who's 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 those widows who are really in need."
See, there are two categories. There are the widows in the church who have got family support. And there are widows who have got nothing. And the point is, help your family first. So the rest of the church can focus on helping the ones who have got nothing. The widows who are REALLY IN NEED.
In other words, don't sit back and say, "It's fine, the church will look after old mum, and I can just forget her." Because you can't.
FAITHFUL WIDOWS, UNFAITHFUL WIDOWS
Well, there's another principle Paul seems to use when he's sorting out who should go on the church welfare list. How not to be DUMMIES when we focus our caring. And it seems to me he's saying we need to take special care of the widows who are specially faithful. He says there are some widows who put their trust in God and live for him. And there are some widows who just LIVE FOR PLEASURE.
And it seems like he's saying, priority number 1, CARE FOR THE ONES WHO ARE LIVING FOR JESUS.
Old Muriel Doyle, she lived in a retirement village on the Northern beaches in Sydney. And Muriel could never sleep much. So she said, I need to use my extra time WISELY. And every morning, about 5am, she'd get up and sit in her chair and pray and pray and pray. Piles and piles of prayer cards. That Lou and I always knew included US. Godliness like that is a TREASURE.
Read verse 5. He says "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.
If it comes to the choice, which one are you going to care for as a church? Paul says, put people on the list who are living for JESUS.
Verse 9 says the same. No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she's 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."
There's actually one line of thought that says they're almost like paid church helpers. Devoting themselves to those sort of ministries, while the church looks after their needs. Nice picture.
But whether that's the point or not, here's the priority. A Widow with no one else to call on, a widow who puts her trust in God, a widow who prays, a widow who's been a faithful wife and mum, a woman who's hospitable, who's a servant, who's a helper to other people in trouble - people like that go on the list. Others don't.
Especially the younger widows, he says, or the widow who lives for pleasure instead of living for other people; the ones he says in verse 13 are idlers and busybodies, get left off - if they don't want to live for Jesus, why do they expect to be supported?
There's no doubt about it. Paul's taking a pretty tough line. And here's what he's saying. As a church, we've got to care. We've got to look after one another. But we've got to be FOCUSSED. So he says, sift out the widows who can look after themselves. Sift out the widows with a family who can look after them. Sift out the widows who are idle and self centered. And then MAKE SURE YOU HELP the ones who are REALLY in need.
CONCLUSION
Well, friends, let me ask you, ARE WE DOING IT? ARE WE caring for the people in our church who are really in need? Because we should be.
I know times have changed. And we don't have to have an official list of widows any more, because the reality is, these days we've got pensions. But we can't afford to lose sight of the fact that our church is a family. And where we see needs, we've got to be doing something about it.
It's not a license to be taking advantage of one another. And Paul says that. He says we need to be discerning. And discern the REAL NEEDS. So the church can help.
But I want to warn against the danger of becoming SO DISCERNING, of being SO CAREFUL, that we're not actually helping ANYONE. And we're more than happy to just hand our responsibility over to the government. Or Community Care. Or Meals on Wheels.
Don't get me wrong. It's great we've got those sort of organisations. And it's great that we can help with them. But it seems to me Paul's looking for something more. Something that's a visible sign to the Community that the church is a family. A family that REALLY CARES for its members.
And these days it mightn't mean money. It might mean time. It might mean a bit of practical help. So you're struggling with arthritis, you can't climb a ladder, and you just can't work out how to dust the top of your ceiling fan. Or change your light globes. What you need is a strong young bloke who'll drop in for five minutes and it's done. THIS SHOULD BE THE SORT OF FAMILY where that sort of thing happens all the time.
How many other things are there like that? Where we could SHOW PEOPLE we're a family. And do it in a practical sort of way? Friends, I want to say to you, keep looking for opportunities to do that sort of thing. Keep looking for ways to show that you care. Keep looking for ways to show we're not just a social club. We're a family.
If there's a financial need, we somehow need to get to the point where we can try to meet it. And help one another. Without getting all embarrassed. When there's a practical need. Same thing. Because the fact is, as Christians, we're the family of God. And we need to love one another in a way that shows we're different. So let me finish with something REALLY SOLID and practical. And that is, if you're someone who's looking for ways to GIVE HELP like that, take a minute to fill out the card in the service sheet today. I CAN HELP BY... - stick your name on it and a contact number, and we'll keep a list handy. And then there's the other space there. I NEED SOME HELP... and if you're someone who's struggling with something and you're wondering what to do... put it down. And we'll compare YOUR LIST... with the other list. And see what happens. It's just a little start. But a good start. Paul says to Timothy, GET ORGANISED, to make sure people get the sort of help that comes from being PART OF THE FAMILY. So it's one little way WE can get organised like that as well.