Today we have an
excellent opportunity to
take a closer look at the
diaconal ministry of the church. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he has written to him, among many other
things, concerning two offices in the
church - the eldership and diaconal
ministry. In Chapter 3: 1-13 he outlines the essential qualifications for elder
and diaconal leadership. Both offices are essential to good church governance. We
see the outworking of this in Acts
6:1-7 in terms of the synergy
between the apostles (prototype elders)
and the 7 men full of the Spirt
and wisdom (prototype deacons),
chosen to solve a matter that was threatening the peace and
harmony and therefore the testimony of the early church.
The eldership is entrusted with the human leadership of the church under the
Lordship of Christ, and under directive of the Word of God, and the diaconal
ministry exists to make the gospel that the elders preach look good by showing
the love of Jesus in tangible ways. The diaconal ministry like the ministry of
the elders is a beautiful and rewarding
ministry. To see people helped and restored through the truth and grace given
by our Triune God is a glorious thing to behold!
In our passage we now have an opportunity to discover
diaconal ministry in action. We have here a case study of vulnerable people in the
church – widows. Note, the principle can be applied to all types of vulnerable
people in the church. In this case it is
the widow. If a woman loses her husband, who is given to her by God as a
protector, she becomes vulnerable. This
is true today and in biblical times this was especially so, and therefore much
is said in the Bible about the protection about vulnerable people. Strangers or
foreigners , orphans and widows
were classified as vulnerable. God has a heart for the vulnerable. James has
a specific word on this matter: “Religion
that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans
and widows in their affliction…” [James
1:27]. In Psalm 68:5 God is
called “the Father of the fatherless and
protector of widows”.[1]This
is what made the early church act like she did in Acts
6:1-7. God measures the spiritual temperature of a society and of
the church by the way they care for the
vulnerable. It all flows out of the law
of God which in summary says: ”You shall love the Lord your God…. You shall love your neighbour”.
[2]
Our passage is most extensive treatment of the subject in the
Bible concerning the care of the vulnerable. Two great subjects emerge here: the issue of church and community support for widows and at
the same time, the widow is encouraged to take responsibility and to
make positive contributions to the church's ministry.
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| Diaconal Team Leader : Douglas Reissner |
EXPOSITION
1. Honour widows who are truly
widows: The opening
line (v.3) introduces the
controlling thought of our passage. The church must honour (Gr. timaō lit. to revere, value) those widows who are (Gr.ontōs)
– lit. alone, desolate. But how do we
know which widow is eligible
for church support?
2. Evaluate their needs (vv. 4-8). The church is not called to provide support to widows
indiscriminately. Therefore some guidelines are provided. This is the kind of wisdom
that a diaconal ministry needs. Before we continue this thought we need to
remember that the OT considered re-marriage as the ideal for a widow. Where
re-marriage was not possible, a widow could stay either in the house of her
parents (Gen. 38:11) or that of her
in-laws (Ruth 1:16). In our modern
society it is good that a husband should make adequate provision (housing,
pension fund, life policy) for such an eventuality. But the fact of the matter
is that life is not always tidy. A young woman loses her husband to a heart
attack or in a car accident. She is left with three children
and very little means. What now? The first
principle is this: Honour
widows i.e. don’t neglect them; don’t
disrespect them by ignoring their plight.
Cry out to God for them; stand with them; love them, support them
emotionally, physically and spiritually, and let the church help them however it can. Here is how help ought to be sought: This is biblical wisdom
(i) Widows with families (v.4) ought to be taken care of by their family members..
It is a matter of godly virtue and v.8
makes it clear that neglecting the needs
of such a vulnerable person is tantamount to denying the faith …
in fact it is worse than being an unbeliever. The logic is rooted in obedience to the fifth
commandment: "Honor your father and
your mother" (Ex.20:12; Eph.
6:2). Parents spend their lives
working for the welfare of their children. When it comes to such a time at which
a parent becomes vulnerable it
would be a sin for their children and
grandchildren to neglect them.
(ii) Widows without families (5:5,
9-10); These are distinguished from widows having support or financial
means – they are truly widows. They are all alone. But this is not the
only criterion. The character of this kind of widow is also considered in vv. 9-10. So, in this
passage we find an extended discussion on what a ’real’ widow is and what kind of widows should be supported and not
supported. The church (or presumably the deacons on behalf of the church)
are called to examine the practical circumstances in which the
widow or the vulnerable person finds
herself. If she is all alone, without any means of
support (i.e. no husband and no extended family), at least sixty years of age (v. 9), the culturally recognized age of retirement, as
well as at an age at which remarriage was unlikely[3],
and if she is a
woman who has a reputation of good works
in the church and in the community, a faithful
‘one husband woman’, faithful mother, hospitable, caring for the
church and the afflicted in her life she would be eligible for church support. The standard for bona fide church support is incredible high, you may think, and yet
this is an exposition of the life of a
normal Christian woman of God.
We see
that practical need alone was
insufficient grounds for receiving financial help from the church. The church, having many
financial responsibilities could subsidize only the activities of widows
with exemplary lives of faith. But more
than that the widow was also one that did not
simply hope in the support
that the church would give. Her supreme
hope was ultimately in God (v.5). She knows that ultimately He is her Provider. Clearly, the widow eligible for
financial support was the one who manifested godliness in every part of her life. Therefore, to
qualify for church support the widow had to be truly all alone, she needed to
have demonstrated a life of
God centered service and she
needed to display a hope that
was continually fixed on God, with
prayer and supplications.
(iii)
Widows that do not qualify
for support. In v.6 mention
is made of the widow who is self- indulgent. That thought may be connected with the younger widows of vv. 11-15, and provides a graphic contrast to the widow described in
v.5. The bottom line, says Paul is that there are some widows who show no trust, devotion, love or faithfulness to God.
She lives for her pleasures. She is dead in her sins, meaning that she is
unconverted. The church is not under any
obligation to support her. Now we need to understand that this is generalization. Not every young widow would
be indulgent. Paul was clearly observing a general trend in society,
a pattern of behaviour among young widows, and he wants to avoid that undue pressure is
exerted on the church’s limited resources. And so the general advice and rule
was that young widows were not to be
considered for enrolment on the
list of widows supported by the church (v. 11). The general advice given was that young widows should remarry. They
should not be placed on a widows list, by which the church became responsible
for their support. Once it is granted, it is very difficult to undo the support
of a vulnerable person. Vv.11-15 makes some critical observations in this
regard. Younger widows would be more subject to strong physical desires that would draw them
away from Christ. Their strong desire to remarry in v. 11 could lead them to marry unbelievers who would inevitably
draw their hearts away from Christ. Many people get into a bad
relationship because they think that they desperately need a relationship. It’s a common
occurrence that Paul warns against.
A second reason not to include
young widows on the list appeared to be the tendency to become idle, to flit
from house to house and, worse yet, to become gossips and busybodies, saying
things that are inappropriate (v. 13). It may mean that young widows, their
financial burden lifted, lacking the spiritual maturity to apply themselves to
prayer and other tasks of ministry associated with the list, became lazy and
even counterproductive. V.15
indicates this to be true: “some
have already strayed after Satan”. Some have already departed from
the faith (see 4:1f)
What Paul has just laid down as reasons for excluding young
widows from church support now leads to the logical conclusion: They should
marry. Obviously they should only remarry in the Lord (see 1
Corinthians 7:39).
CONCLUSION
This
passage helps us to understand the
responsibilities and manner of working of diaconal ministry as an arm of the church’s ministry :
1.
To ensure that real
need is addressed.
2.
To ensure that
people are really helped. Most
help is short term. The work of the diaconate is to prayerfully seek solutions in which the person
in question is helped to cope on their own. Dependency is never
encouraged as a rule in the Bible.
3. The only time
the Bible envisages an ongoing support
structure is when the person in question is aged and unable
to look after themselves
financially. Even then the criteria for
supporting such a person are that she
must reflect a consistently godly
demeanour, in which she is able to demonstrate that she has lived a life of
godly virtue, and that she continues even now to hope in God and
help the church by her prayerful demeanour.
4. This passage
clears the church’s ministry from
a sense of false guilt. Any pastor can give you many stories about strangers who call the
church and ask for some kind of assistance – and any pastor can tell you how
hard it is to deal with such situations with love, but without getting ripped
off. The principles revealed here are extremely relevant today, when many look
to the church as a place where the poor and needy should be able to come for
financial help. Let us pray for our diaconate, and let us thank God for
this ministry of good works that makes
the gospel look good! Amen
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