1 Timothy 5:9-16

Open your bibles to 1 Timothy 5…

This morning we continue our look at Paul’s message to Timothy and the church at Ephesus about widows. We saw last week that God himself, the early church, and the apostles put great emphasis on Christian’s caring for widows because to do so is to follow our father’s example. To love what he loves.

This morning we continue the thought about widows but we add to the already seen theological importance of honoring widows and move into a contrasting of types of widows. Widows who are widows indeed and widows who are not. Widows who should be adopted by the church, and those who should be turned elsewhere.

My friends if you could take one thing away this morning I would want you to hang on this: Holiness doesn’t have a gender or age restriction. Let’s stand together and read our text this morning starting in verse 9

“A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; 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 affliction, if she has devoted herself to every good work. 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. And at the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house. And not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no opportunity for reviling, for some have already turned aside after Satan. If any believing woman has widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.”

As with all things, even the admission of widows into the absolute care of the church must be done in order. Have here a list of qualifications

I. The widow to be added.

A widow is to be enrolled in the care of the church if she is,

No less than 60 years old… some may wonder how Paul gets this number. He does not say, but according to context I believe what we have here is Paul’s understanding of anatomy. The way of women have averagely left women but the age of 51 according to multiple studies. Generally Paul is concerned with passions and desires of a woman and them being given the proper outlet. Bot that at 60 those go away, but science and experience would both indicate that those passions and desires taper off…

This is a woman who physically has past child bearing age and has been through the prime child rearing years.

Was a one man woman… he speaks in the last tense though the rest of these qualifications. For how do we judge people? Not based on appearance, not based on a moment in time, but from their fruit. The first fruit of her life is that she has not had multiple husbands. Again these are general principles because we understand in Ephesus that polygamy was rampant. She may in her former years been part of who knows what kind of unholiness. But what has happened since she came to Christ? How do we know he is taking about a Christian widow versus any widow? Look at the next qualification.

She was known for her service for the Lord… this is a woman who didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk. She was involved in the community of saints and was unashamed to do so.

If she had brought up children… this does not exclude childless widows. For we have talked before that this is an attitude. Some women don’t want children… when Emily and I were first introduced to each other it became known to me that she didn’t want children. But I did! So, I took the door opened to me and closed it saying not that woman! Obviously, the Lord graciously opened the door back up and said, try again son… remember the passages we read last week?

Widows and orphans… widows women in general who cannot bear children but are of child rearing years can always see to it that they serve and bring up orphans. It is a heart posture, a love of the children of whom Jesus said, don’t keep them from me…

If she had shown hospitality to strangers… Paul commands this elsewhere,

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

What does Christian love look like? Here it is… Which covers this qualification and the next two regarding washing the saints feet and assisting those in affliction. The heart posture is a love for the church. A dedication to its ministry. These things don’t start at age 60… it starts at being born again. Immediately, in the blink of an eye, your heart is changed. From cold and selfish… to warm and selfless…

This is the type of woman every Christian woman should aim to be according to the scriptures. Here is an ideal picture of a Christian woman in her later years. She has been devoted to every good work, wanting to take part in ministry for the cause of Christ. She was not idle. But she also wasnt a busybody. She was not a recluse, but also not vapid and self obsessed. Again I remind you, this is not just a portion of her life, but is the whole. Who was she? Does she resemble Jesus? Or the world?

Good question… for we get into the contrast of a widow indeed with a widow to be turned elsewhere.

II. The widow not to add.

At the beginning of verse eleven he makes the statement about refusing to put younger widows on the list. This is not a prohibition of help on families or the body in caring for younger women who become widows. But as one commentator said it, “Paul did not want younger widows to be regular recipients”. Obviously a younger woman can become a widow. It was and is very common in the military community. But here is the deal, we as a church don’t want each other to just do whatever we feel like, and we don’t want to live out of order. We are members of a body. Meaning we hold each other accountable. Therefore the desire of the church for a young widow is verse 14, to get married.

The reasoning for this comes from Paul’s understanding that passions for marriage rarely go away in a young widow. Paul say that when a young widow feels sensual desires in disregard of Christ they want to get married. It’s not the marriage part that is bad. It is the burning sexual desire which can lead to all sorts of sin. Paul says it is more likely that Christian woman indeed will desire to get married again… Which is a good thing, right? Paul says in 1 Corinthians it is better to get married than to burn with passion. Meaning, get married rather than taking part in inter course with someone who you are not married to. Or multiple people. Or falling into some other sort of sexual sin! We were created to be in union, committed, set apart. Yet, this sinful view of sexual relations is common place in our world today… and it is because the church doesn’t care about holiness. Our culture, the church in the west, is self serving. Which is contrary to the commands of Christ, contrary to the Christian nature, and contrary to the picture of a holy widow.

In the context though, Paul simply states that getting married would take her from her original commitment to Christ. Not that widows make a formal pledge when added to the list. But a widow added to the list has a commitment to Christ alone, to remain in his loving care, in the service of his household etc until she dies. To depart from that commitment is to speak out of both sides of one’s mouth. It is to be double minded at the churches expense. Therefore, younger widows are more apt to let go of their setting themselves apart as a widow and return to marriage because of these passions. Therefore admonish them to get married.

Not only that, but to raise children, and keep their house. Why? Because younger widows Paul says are more tempted to become idle. Meaning, they live a retired life but still have ability to work. They are misusing the fuel and the gifts that God has given them and are wasting it on leisure. Not only idle but paul says they go around as gossips and busybodies. Meaning, they see everyone else’s life as their business. Is this not mindless scrolling and concern with social media? I tell you if most of the people in the world were half as concerned with judging their own life as they were judging other’s, holiness would be on greater display…

But these types of people don’t focus on using their life to glorify God and enjoy him forever, but instead come concerned with how everyone else is living. This does not mean that older women and men are exempt from falling into gossiping… but like a young man with lots of energy and too much time on his hands will find himself mixed up with trouble, so it is with younger women.

The focus is this. Again it is the credibility, the holiness and purity of the church. Let every woman and every man devote himself to good works so that that energy isn’t used for things that gives our enemies a chance for reviling. There are enough of those already, but why let it be for sin? In fact Paul says, there are some who have strayed after satan… Christ has freed us from our sin! and Paul is saying there are women in the church in Ephesus, born again, but do not have Christ on their minds. They are straying, running after sin, chasing sinful desires rather than righteousness… It is simply a rebellion again the one who saved you, it is pitting in his face… Listen to this:

Romans 6:17–19 ESV

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

When Jesus says in Matthew 5 “”Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you” … he doesn’t say because of your blatant hypocrites life. He doesn’t say because you speak out of both side of your mouth claiming to be Christian and acting like you don’t know him at all… he says “because of Me.” Blessed are you when you are reviled because of Jesus.

He is the one with His head and His hair white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes are like a flame of fire. His feet are like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice is like the sound of many waters, and having in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His face is like the sun shining in its power.”

This is Jesus! Jesus our Emmanuel does not say you must be perfect to come to Him or be part of the church. Nor are you expected to live a perfect life without ever messing up. This is not the expectation. Rather the expectation is that you are being perfected. Being made holy. Set apart for good works. Acknowledging the sin within you, seeing the sinful lifestyle choice you make, and repenting from them. Putting on Christ. And bidding farewell to them in Jesus name. Like taking off an old coat, and throwing it in the trash only to replace it with a new one. Christ has done this, he is doing this by saving you. And he is doing it by removing your dirty filthy rags from you and replacing them with clothes of pure white.

The Holiness we pursue in Christ does not have an age when we can start or when we are done. There is not an unfortunate circumstance like losing a husband when our Lord stops expecting holiness of us. We are his ambassadors, we belong to his kingdom, and represent him.

Christ desires each one come to Him today. He desires to make you perfect! To wash your sins clean and give you his strength and endurance for the road ahead. If you are not being made perfect, if you have no consciousness of that, my friends you are on a road to an eternity spent away from God in hell. And for you who bear the name of Jesus, He desires you to show earnestness to have the full assurance of hope in Christ until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience have inherited the promises of God.