WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 We've been looking on Sunday mornings at Paul's letter to Timothy, the first of the 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.359 two letters that he wrote to Timothy. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:15.240 And every single week we've said that this letter is all about Paul giving instructions 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:23.120 to Timothy a pastor in Ephesus about how to do life as a family together in the life of 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:24.719 the church. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:32.479 And we've really seen three very big commands throughout the whole letter so far that he 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.799 said, this is what life and the family of God looks like. 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:42.960 And the three are protect the gospel because there were elders and in this passage it's 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:48.840 mentioned also women alongside those elders that were really distorting the gospel, the 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.480 death and resurrection of Jesus as the only way to salvation. 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:54.239 And so he says protect the gospel. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:55.240 That's one of the big things. 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.560 The second thing he said was teach doctrine and truth in the church so that it issues 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:01.280 forth in love. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.079 So doctrine never stands alone. 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.920 It should always breed love amongst the body of Christ. 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:12.960 And then the third thing we saw last time, Derek preached on Paul's command that training 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:19.200 for godliness is just like training for sports that it's very important and then what we 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:20.280 have to train for godliness. 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:28.760 Now look, today he makes clear what he has been assuming the entire letter so far and 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:33.799 that's that the church is the family of God, that we're family. 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:38.319 And all of these commands, that's why we titled the series First Timothy, Life and the Family 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:39.319 of God. 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.799 This letter is all about how the church is a family. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.560 And so all these commands have to be heard in the midst of the context of understanding 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.760 that we're in a family. 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:54.000 And today we live in a world that is highly individualistic. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:59.040 We often talk about the contemporary culture from the 20th century forward as an age of 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.880 individualism. 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:05.960 And so it's very important in the midst of the age of individualism that we hear Paul 00:02:05.960 --> 00:02:14.599 say to us the church is an eternal corporate body, a community that will last forever. 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:17.920 And so there's two lessons here I want us to see that Paul points out. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:23.719 The first is what Paul assumes in this passage and that's the fact of family. 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:28.279 And then the second is what he makes very explicit and that's that the family has got 00:02:28.279 --> 00:02:31.119 to have rules, the household rules. 00:02:31.119 --> 00:02:33.439 So let's look at those two things together. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.319 First the fact of the family. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:42.919 If you look down at verse one you'll hear Paul say to Timothy, when you speak to men 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:46.959 in the church who are older than you, they are your fathers. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.439 And when you speak to women in the church who are older than you, Timothy, Timothy was 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:52.840 young remember, they are your mothers. 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:58.080 And when you speak to people that are your age and your age range, they are your brothers 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.280 and sisters, their siblings. 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:02.760 And the key word there is the preposition. 00:03:02.760 --> 00:03:06.640 He says, speak to them as fathers. 00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:12.000 Meaning he's saying when you think of how a son should speak to a father in a normal 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.400 biological household, do it like that. 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.240 It's as if it was a biological family. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:24.159 You see, and then in the verse nine, verse six, other places he says, if you have a person 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:29.599 in your family that's vulnerable, a widow in this instance, it is absolutely critical 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.040 that a family takes care of the people in their family who are vulnerable. 00:03:34.040 --> 00:03:38.159 But the whole reason that he says that talking about the biological family is he's saying 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:43.960 if a biological family in the church cannot care for somebody, then the church does it. 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.120 The church has to do it. 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.159 And all I want to do is point out the assumption in that. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:54.319 And that's, he's not just saying the church is like a biological family, he's saying the 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.000 church is a family. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:04.120 And it's a family that doesn't negate the biological family, but builds a new family on a different 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:08.600 register, an eternal register of a different quality. 00:04:08.600 --> 00:04:13.520 And the quality we're told in other passages, that's first John, John the apostle tells 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:18.920 us, first John one, three, he says, brothers and sisters, we are children of God. 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.240 So there it is very explicitly, brothers and sisters, we are children of God. 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:24.240 We are family. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.040 God is our father and we are siblings together underneath God. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:33.480 Ephesians three, 15, if you believe in the Lord, you have an eternal family that God 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:35.560 gathers from all the nations. 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:38.800 He makes a new family from all the families of the earth. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:43.280 And so what Paul is doing here is saying biology is very important. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:48.639 Bloodlines are critical, that there is an imperative that when you have family that 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:55.000 needs to be taken care of, that they must be taken care of, and that the church is also 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.399 that family, that it is a family of a new register and a different quality. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:07.000 And that's so important because Paul's call to us here in this assumption that he's making 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:14.519 is weighty and glorious and grand precisely because he is saying that if you believe in 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:22.879 Jesus Christ today, if you're a Christian, then you are given by God a corporate identity 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:27.519 as child of God, member of the family of God. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:32.560 And the reason that that is so important is because unlike Paul today, we live in a world 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:40.399 that we often call individualistic, a world where we live even by osmosis all the time 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:45.360 being trained and taught in this ideology of individualism. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:52.319 And individualism is the air we breathe and it doesn't just say that individuals matter. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.560 That's exactly what Christianity says, that because of the image of God, individuals 00:05:55.560 --> 00:06:02.199 matter so much, but individualism does something more than that. 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:09.319 And it answers the question of identity, who am I in a completely different way than pre-modern 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:11.519 people could have answered that question. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:17.079 So in the pre-modern world, the world prior to the 19th century, identity was primarily 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.159 based in external authorities. 00:06:20.159 --> 00:06:23.120 You ask the question, who am I to a pre-modern person? 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:26.719 They're going to give you an answer based on what the church tells them, their parents 00:06:26.719 --> 00:06:29.079 tell them, and the community they live in tell them. 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.399 They get their identity from the outside and it moves inward. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:37.680 So the point in a pre-modern identity is you conform your inside, your feelings, your heart 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:40.000 to external authority. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.159 But in modernity, that gets flipped upside down. 00:06:43.159 --> 00:06:46.719 And so the world of individualism that we live in says the exact opposite. 00:06:46.719 --> 00:06:56.399 It says this, I am most authentically me when I can act out my deepest feelings on the outside. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:01.359 And so identity in the world of individualism comes completely from the inside, not from 00:07:01.359 --> 00:07:02.719 the outside. 00:07:02.719 --> 00:07:07.279 And so everybody we're told in this modern world is reaching an ethic. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.319 There should be an ethic where we're trying to become truly authentic and authenticity 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:17.599 is primarily letting my feelings out, becoming who I really am at the deepest level. 00:07:17.599 --> 00:07:18.599 That's my true identity. 00:07:18.599 --> 00:07:23.879 Now look, we could say so much about this problem, but let me just point out a few things 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:28.480 to you about why it's such a problem as it relates to Paul talking about the church's 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:30.040 family. 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:35.839 And the first thing is this, individualism trains us, even if we don't realize it, to 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:42.079 think I don't really exist to serve communities. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:45.439 Communities exist to serve me. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:51.040 And so what happens when that happens is that the church or any community becomes a place 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:57.240 not of giving myself but of consuming, where my primary way of thinking about it is that 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:02.280 I come here only if this place can, quote, make me a better person. 00:08:02.280 --> 00:08:07.879 Or if this particular church gives me the things I need from a church I'm looking for. 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:10.560 And if it doesn't, then I leave. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:14.080 And that's a transactional way of doing life. 00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:19.900 And it's birthed out of individualism, of turning everything into a consumer relationship. 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:22.679 It says I don't exist for the family. 00:08:22.679 --> 00:08:27.719 The family exists for me to give me opportunity to help me to realize who I really am, my 00:08:27.719 --> 00:08:28.959 authentic self. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:33.199 Now the great problem with this, let me just tell you three of them. 00:08:33.199 --> 00:08:37.600 What that means, what that costs us, what that costs the church. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.120 Individualism, very simply, it destroys communities. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.679 Individualism destroys communities because it's fundamentally a posture of selfishness. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:52.879 It says I am here, I don't come here to serve others, I come here to be served fundamentally. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:09:01.919 The second thing, it assumes, it assumes something, it assumes that what I feel is always right. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:06.759 And that's one of the fundamental errors of the modern age of individualism, that my feelings 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:09.239 and my desires can't be wrong. 00:09:09.239 --> 00:09:13.199 Now let me do a thought experiment with you. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.320 Imagine that you are a Viking teenager in the 900s. 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:19.800 And I know that you've all already done this at some point. 00:09:19.800 --> 00:09:21.480 You've thought about this. 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:24.759 At some point you've thought about what it would be like to be a Viking teenager in 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:25.759 the 900s. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:30.400 And you're a Viking teenager and you come to Scotland to take over the land. 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:33.360 And you end up going up against a Pictish warlord. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.440 The Picts were the people that dominated the area at the time. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:41.700 And as a Viking teenager, the son of a chief or something, you come across this Pictish 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:45.960 warlord and he dishonors you. 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:47.480 And what do you feel? 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.800 Well, you feel anger and you feel aggression. 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:53.640 And you want to kill him and then you do. 00:09:53.640 --> 00:10:00.080 And then the other Vikings hoist you up and celebrate that now you've become a man. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:06.280 Now if a modern teenager did something like that, he had the same feelings, anger and 00:10:06.280 --> 00:10:07.280 aggression. 00:10:07.280 --> 00:10:10.680 But then he let those feelings come from inside to outside. 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:11.679 And he did that. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:16.479 He would be jailed for life and he would be rightly called a man who has acted in an evil 00:10:16.479 --> 00:10:19.399 way and he would have therapy and medicine his whole life. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:26.959 And you see, nobody truly believes that what you feel is always right. 00:10:26.959 --> 00:10:33.159 It's simply that culture tells you what feelings you're allowed to express externally at different 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.279 times in history. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:40.599 And the truth of the matter is that underneath our external facade, many if not most of our 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:42.920 passions are actually evil. 00:10:42.920 --> 00:10:44.000 They're sinful. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.600 That's what the Bible says. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.399 And that's one of the great errors of individualism. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.519 It goes out proclaiming who you truly are. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:53.680 Your authentic self is what you feel. 00:10:53.680 --> 00:10:58.440 But of course we know that that's never really true because you have to say that some of 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.120 your passions, your feelings are evil. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:02.120 They're sinful. 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:03.120 They're broken. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:04.120 Right? 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:08.980 Now the third thing that means then is that individualism ignores what's so fundamental 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:14.440 and that's at the very beginning of human history, God created communities to be the 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:20.200 fundamental domain in which our personal identities are formed as individuals. 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:24.240 And individualism strikes against that from top to bottom. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:31.440 True authenticity, Paul is saying to us is actually when you come to a body, a true community 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.080 and you spend yourself for it. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:39.680 And that's why individualism doesn't breed joy, it breeds emptiness. 00:11:39.680 --> 00:11:43.240 But when you give yourself for a community, you find real joy. 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:45.200 Now this is what Paul is saying to us. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:50.600 The church can never be a place where we can say things like this. 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.400 I go to church because it makes me feel good on Sundays. 00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:58.080 Or I go to church because it affirms me in my lifestyle. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.440 Or I go to church because they cater. 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.840 This particular church caters to my personal needs. 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:08.399 Or I go to church because I can slip in and slip out and remain hidden. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:14.920 And Paul is saying those are all phrases of individualism, but you are the family of God. 00:12:14.920 --> 00:12:17.960 And family is of an utterly different quality. 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.960 That is upside down and we got to be turned right side up. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:27.080 Now here's why we can't live as individuals as we close this point and get to the household 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:28.560 rules. 00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:32.160 One of the ways to answer this is to go to Luke 15. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:36.319 Luke 15 is the very famous parable of the prodigal son. 00:12:36.319 --> 00:12:39.639 That if you've been in the church your whole life you know, and if you've never been in 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:43.000 the church you probably know as well because it's very famous. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:49.719 And in Luke 15, remember, there's a son and he leaves his father's household and he takes 00:12:49.719 --> 00:12:54.079 his father's money and he squanders it and he lives recklessly. 00:12:54.079 --> 00:12:56.480 And then he regrets that and he comes home. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:01.519 And when he comes home, his father runs out to the hill and he brings him home and he 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:06.159 throws him a feast and he kills the fattened calf and he gives him his own ring and his 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:08.079 own robe. 00:13:08.079 --> 00:13:13.960 But then the elder brother, his older brother is there and his older brother says, Dad, 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:15.159 how could you do this? 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:21.039 This son of yours has squandered our money and he's ruined our honor and our family 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.759 reputation and he comes home. 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:26.720 It's not just that you let him live here, it's that you threw a feast for him. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.519 You put on your own robe. 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:36.600 Your robe on his back and his father says, I love him, I'll eat the cost. 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:40.399 And you see a lot of people look at that parable and they say, and rightly so, look at the 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:48.039 love of the father who is God and how he runs out to the farthest hill to bring his prodigal 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:49.759 son home. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:55.319 But the more fundamental point of that parable, it's often missed, is that it's more about 00:13:55.319 --> 00:13:56.319 the elder brother. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:03.000 And you see what the parable is really trying to say is, if you lived in a true family, 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:09.480 a truly glorious family, then you would have an elder brother that when his little brother 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:14.400 goes off to Babylon, he wouldn't stay home counting his money. 00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:19.920 He would put on his backpack and he would go to Babylon and he would bring his little 00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:20.920 brother home. 00:14:20.920 --> 00:14:25.200 He would be the one that would go out to the farthest hill. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.759 And the parable is saying, you need a true elder brother. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:34.920 And we read from this scripture, the first scripture that we read a moment ago, Hebrews 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:42.480 2 says that Jesus Christ when he was hanging on the cross was not ashamed so that he could 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.920 call you brother and sister. 00:14:44.920 --> 00:14:50.640 Jesus was not ashamed of the cross so that he could say to you, brother and sister, Jesus 00:14:50.640 --> 00:14:53.160 Christ is the true elder brother. 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:57.439 And he came as your elder brother to bring you home again. 00:14:57.439 --> 00:15:01.360 And you see the reason that you can never act in the church like just an aggregate of 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.879 individuals that come here, slip in and slip out, that think of the church as a place, 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:11.279 the family as a place where you're primarily here to get something instead of give something, 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:13.759 is because it's not factually true. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:14.759 You see? 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:20.279 If Jesus, if you believe in Christ today and Jesus Christ came as your elder brother to 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.360 make you a brother or sister, then you don't have a choice, you just are the family of 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:25.360 God. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.279 It's not something you choose, it's not something you get to do. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:32.519 You are the church if Jesus Christ is your elder brother. 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:37.559 And so what Paul is saying is act like the family, be the family of God in the way you 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:43.000 serve because you actually are the family of God, because Jesus Christ has come as your 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:44.000 elder brother. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:49.679 And now four very practical questions as we move on just to leave you with on this diagnostic 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:54.559 questions, and I think there will be something here in these questions for everybody. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:01.079 First, do you want an eternal family? 00:16:01.079 --> 00:16:05.719 Maybe you're here today and you don't know that you have that. 00:16:05.719 --> 00:16:10.679 One that will never leave you and never forsake you and never abandon you, a perfect God, 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:15.159 the Father, and a perfect elder brother. 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.559 That's what's on offer in the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:23.759 And let me say that you might say, I've been around churches and I've seen the church act 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:29.199 like something less than a family, and you would be absolutely right to say that, but 00:16:29.199 --> 00:16:33.319 not Jesus Christ, the true elder brother. 00:16:33.319 --> 00:16:37.159 He has never left you or forsake you. 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:43.779 He wants to say brother and sister to you, and you can have eternal family today by believing 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:45.639 on the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:50.879 Finally, for Christians today who Paul is talking to here in this letter, do you see 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:58.960 the people of this place, but also of the global church as truly your family, your brothers 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:04.279 and your sisters, not abstractly, but truly, that they are your eternal family, your eternal 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:05.279 community. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:09.319 Is that the way you consciously think of the people of God? 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:11.759 I think that's the question Paul is asking us. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.039 Thirdly, if you love Jesus, Dave, you believe in Christ. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.159 Let me ask you, have you joined the family? 00:17:18.159 --> 00:17:24.119 Because if you believe in the cross and resurrection of Jesus, then part of the call on your life 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:28.440 actually is to say outwardly, I'm part of the family. 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:32.159 It's to become a member of a church, whether it's here or somewhere else. 00:17:32.159 --> 00:17:35.240 That's the way of outwardly displaying I am part of the family of God. 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:36.960 I'm not here to be a consumer. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:38.480 I'm not here to be an individual. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.119 I'm here to be family. 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:41.599 Have you joined the church? 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:47.599 And fourthly, do you, if you're a member, if you've been here a long time, are you in 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:54.519 a place right now where you're living in this space more as an individual than as a family 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:56.019 member? 00:17:56.019 --> 00:18:02.319 And that's a call to come out of hiddenness and be known and serve and be served. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:03.319 All right. 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:08.439 Secondly, Paul has been assuming here that we are a family. 00:18:08.439 --> 00:18:10.799 That's the assumption he's making in this text. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:14.759 We haven't actually even gotten to the text really yet, but don't worry. 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:16.480 We're past halfway. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.680 Secondly, we've got to look at what Paul does here. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:23.359 And that's, he gives us the household rules. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.000 So Paul is saying in this passage that every family has got to have rules. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.440 We all know that. 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.200 And here, here are five of them that Paul gives us. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.119 And we're just going to run, run through them quickly. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:34.119 Okay. 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:39.480 The first is this, Paul teaches us here another implicit to pray for wisdom. 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:42.599 And the reason for that is because Paul, if you, if you read along with me, you would 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:47.920 have, you'll have clearly noticed that Paul is talking about two very specific issues. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:52.920 One of them is how people of different ages and stages in the church talk to one another 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:54.279 and treat one another. 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:59.599 And the second issue was how to care for widows in the life of the church. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:05.039 And the reason that he's giving us these is because these were things that were very specifically 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.839 happening in Ephesus that needed to be dealt with. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:14.919 But also what he's doing is he's saying, look for the timeless principle alongside the cultural 00:19:14.919 --> 00:19:15.919 wisdom. 00:19:15.919 --> 00:19:18.919 So he's doing both here. 00:19:18.919 --> 00:19:25.000 Paul is not saying that every single command he gives in this passage is timeless. 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.039 For instance, he says a one, a widow that's going to be enrolled in the order of widows 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.399 needs to be 60 years old. 00:19:31.399 --> 00:19:34.879 The reason we know that some of this is timeless principle. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.960 Some of this is custom or wisdom applied to a specific context is because the commentators 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:44.280 point out that this text is just like 1 Corinthians 7. 00:19:44.280 --> 00:19:49.440 And in 1 Corinthians 7, he treats some of the same issues and he very explicitly says, 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:56.320 what I'm about to tell you is both a mixture of divine command and my advice to you. 00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:58.960 He says that very explicitly in 1 Corinthians 7. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:02.080 And most commentators come and say he's doing the same thing right here. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:07.199 For example, he says if a young woman's husband dies and she becomes a young widow, he says 00:20:07.199 --> 00:20:09.799 she should remarry. 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:13.919 But Paul's not saying she has to remarry because we know in 1 Corinthians 7, he talks about 00:20:13.919 --> 00:20:14.919 the same thing. 00:20:14.919 --> 00:20:19.960 And in 1 Corinthians 7, he says she can remarry or I'm totally, I would love to see her also 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:20.960 be single. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.199 And he says because I wish everybody would be single like me. 00:20:23.199 --> 00:20:24.559 But Paul's not giving him command. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:26.000 He's giving advice here. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.839 And so the first implicit principle, the household rule that we see first here is that we've 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:39.079 got to pray for wisdom in how we treat one another and do life together because always 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:47.119 the Christian life is applying biblical law alongside wisdom in a specific cultural context. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.579 That both of those are in play at all times. 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:50.879 And that's exactly what Paul's doing here. 00:20:50.879 --> 00:20:53.399 Now the second thing to get more specific. 00:20:53.399 --> 00:21:00.799 The second household rule Paul gives us here in verses 1 to 3 is how we express our own 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:01.799 trust. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:08.000 Christ like love differs according to age and stage. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.759 And you see this in verses 1 to 3 very clearly. 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:16.240 Paul is talking to Timothy, the pastor, and he says, Timothy, when you go talk to the 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:22.799 older men, treat them as fathers, older women as mothers and so on. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:28.000 And there's a principle underneath that and that's that Paul is saying there is always, 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.039 this is timeless, a decorum of age. 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:36.039 And that honor is due to people according to their stage of life. 00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:39.720 Now we see that in the Old Testament, we see that in the New Testament, but what's not 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:43.599 timeless is how that's applied in every single culture. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:48.000 That we actually have to learn to apply that with wisdom according to the symbols of the 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.400 current culture we live in at all times and places. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:56.279 Now he says as well, if you have a peer, a person around your age range, this is your 00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:57.279 sibling. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.279 This is your sister. 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:05.279 He's saying love and respect according to age, not as strangers but as family. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:11.399 Now you've got to see the balance in what Paul is saying here because on the one hand 00:22:11.399 --> 00:22:17.879 he says young men, young men in the church, these older men are your fathers in the faith 00:22:17.879 --> 00:22:22.920 and young women, these older women are your mothers in the faith and mothers to sons and 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.599 fathers to daughters and all of it, every relation you can think of. 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:31.759 But then the whole reason that he's saying this to Timothy is because he's saying you're 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.879 about to have to go rebuke one of these old men. 00:22:34.879 --> 00:22:40.240 So he says as you go rebuke one of these fathers in the faith, treat them like a father and 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:41.240 you see what he's saying? 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:46.519 He's saying on the one hand honor the men and women in the family of God that are older 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:49.319 than you in a way that is appropriate. 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:55.639 But being older doesn't mean being right because he's saying, Timothy, you're a young man and 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:00.040 you've got to go rebuke an old man and that's exactly why in the fifth commandment in the 00:23:00.040 --> 00:23:05.080 Old Testament honor your father and mother, honor the authorities above you, the word 00:23:05.080 --> 00:23:08.320 is honor not obey. 00:23:08.320 --> 00:23:13.960 The call to honor your authorities, your parents is not outright obedience because sometimes 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:18.440 parents are wicked and evil and do terrible things. 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:26.840 The call instead in honor is love, respect, a willing ear, care and sometimes being willing 00:23:26.840 --> 00:23:27.840 to learn forgiveness. 00:23:27.840 --> 00:23:31.880 And you see the balance is both there that being older, being younger doesn't make you 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:37.279 right but being older does require a level of honor on behalf of the younger people. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.320 And so there's three little principles within this principle. 00:23:40.320 --> 00:23:42.680 One, honor those above you. 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:44.000 Two, young men. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:52.000 He points out young men, the Christian women, Paul says, in your age range are your sisters. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:53.519 He points this out very explicitly. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:57.240 Treat Timothy all the women in your age range with purity. 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:01.519 And that means that it doesn't mean don't pursue marriage with one of them. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:02.599 We love that here. 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.680 Instead, what it does mean is if you're not pursuing marriage with one of them, then she's 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.279 your sister. 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:13.119 And so you relate in a way like a brother relates to a sister and vice versa. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:18.799 And the third one is men to men, women to women in the same sphere of age, these are 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:20.679 your closest spiritual friends. 00:24:20.679 --> 00:24:23.759 Now it's not an exclusive rule, it's a principle. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.599 And it's saying these are likely the people where you ought to be confessing your sin, 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:30.959 seeking encouragement for your daily spiritual walk. 00:24:30.959 --> 00:24:34.319 You see, in all these ways, this is just like a biological household. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.559 There are household rules, a way to relate to one another, but it's all as family. 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:41.279 Now third, third of five. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:48.639 Verse three, the second issue, the issue of widows, the vulnerable in the household of 00:24:48.639 --> 00:24:54.119 God must be cared for as family. 00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:59.720 The church, we're told about Paul here, has a responsibility to care for the deep needs 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:03.359 of its people, both spiritually and materially. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.559 And material is exactly what Paul's talking about here. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:11.240 And the specific issue here is widows, how to care for widows in this first century church. 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:18.400 And care for widows is axiomatic in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:23.599 And theologians will talk about the economy of God, the way God identifies himself when 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.799 he comes down into our world. 00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:31.079 And this is how God, listen to how God identifies himself when he comes down into our world. 00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:37.680 He says, Psalm 68-5, I am the protector of widows and orphans. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:44.400 And God comes to do that because the widows had a disadvantage in the ancient world particularly. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:49.840 So farmers were instructed in the Old Testament to leave grain and leave olives and grapes 00:25:49.840 --> 00:25:53.640 for widows to glean and to be able to eat from. 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:57.680 And the social witness of the early church from the time of this letter, all the way 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:03.240 for the first several hundred years of the early church, was very clear that people were 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:09.039 enrolling those in the church that were particularly vulnerable onto a list. 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:14.440 And that list meant that you would get a daily distribution of food, clothing to meet your 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:16.440 basic needs. 00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:20.279 And the principle underneath it, that it's not just widows we see across the Bible, 00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:23.519 it's orphans, it's immigrants are listed quite often. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:28.359 The poor, anybody within, he's talking about in the household of God, people in the household 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:30.960 of God have got to be treated like family. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:35.160 And that means that the family of God cares for the vulnerable very specifically. 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:36.680 Why? 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:40.120 Because God identifies himself in light of his love for the vulnerable. 00:26:40.120 --> 00:26:46.039 Deuteronomy 10, 18 is another famous passage where God says, I execute justice for the 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:47.840 orphan and for the widow. 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:54.079 So God is saying, I expect the family of God to look like me, to be people of mercy, to 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.079 care for the vulnerable and their midst. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:57.680 All right, fourth. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:01.120 He nuances that, fourth rule for household life. 00:27:01.120 --> 00:27:09.200 He says, family care and family mercy is absolutely necessary and it requires discernment and 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:10.880 great wisdom. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:18.039 And you see in verse three, he makes it clear again that honor those who are truly widows. 00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:21.240 Honor means care for materially here. 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.759 And he's saying that there needs, in this time there was a list and what Paul is doing 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.039 here is he's gotten a hold of that list and he's doing the very difficult thing. 00:27:30.039 --> 00:27:32.799 He's scratching names off of it. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:38.079 And he's saying some of these people in the church that you're giving money to and supporting 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.400 are truly vulnerable, but some of them aren't. 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:44.279 And so he's saying that this has actually got to be approached when the church decides 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.319 we're going to care for this person very intentionally. 00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:50.480 It's got to be done with wisdom and discernment. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:51.920 And that's what he says here. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:53.680 He says that there are two conditions. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:56.039 One, does she have family? 00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:58.560 Does this person have family that can take care of them? 00:27:58.560 --> 00:28:06.360 And then two, now listen closely here because he's talking about believers, professed Christians 00:28:06.360 --> 00:28:07.880 publicly. 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:14.440 He says that they have to be living responsibly, not living a life of self-indulgence. 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:19.080 Now when Paul wants to talk about care for people and need outside the church, it's a 00:28:19.080 --> 00:28:21.480 completely different ethic. 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:23.279 There's no rules. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:28.559 We just do it because we don't expect people who aren't Christians to live like Christians. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:33.599 But when he talks about professing believers, he says here, if we're giving money and they're 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:38.839 living with that money, a self-indulgent lifestyle with the material, then that means 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:42.680 they've got to be taken off until they can reform their lifestyle again. 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:44.519 And he's talking about people within the church. 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:46.079 And so he's doing something very radical. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:51.680 He's saying the church has got to be a place of radical mercy, of care for the vulnerable, 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:55.560 and it's got to be done with great wisdom and with some expectations. 00:28:55.560 --> 00:29:00.640 And the reason for that, the assumption is he's saying the church has limited resources 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:06.120 and it's got to be about church planning, evangelism, mercy, putting a roof on if you 00:29:06.120 --> 00:29:08.039 need a roof, all of these things. 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:13.360 And so there's always got to be both mercy and wisdom brought together every time we 00:29:13.360 --> 00:29:15.360 support somebody. 00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:19.000 Fifth and finally, Paul says how does this happen? 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.599 How do we care for the vulnerable in this way in the church? 00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:28.160 And he's clearly assuming here that as the family, this is all of our ministry. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:32.839 He's assuming that if you're not the one in great need, then you're to be serving those 00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:34.240 in great need. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:42.039 Nevertheless, he comes here and makes very clear that certain women ought to be registered 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:44.400 for this type of specific ministry. 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:45.400 That's where he goes here. 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:47.519 And you can see it in verse 9 to 14. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:49.639 There's a second role. 00:29:49.639 --> 00:29:50.920 There's two roles in this passage. 00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:53.920 One is for people in particular need. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:57.160 One is for people who can give particular need. 00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:59.639 And verse 9 talks about the second role. 00:29:59.639 --> 00:30:04.920 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than 60, having been the wife of one husband 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:07.279 in a great reputation for good works. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:12.359 And there it's talking about actually a role of widows in that time that would serve the 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.200 people that were particularly vulnerable. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:22.000 Now we talked a few weeks ago as we wrap up that we saw Timothy, Paul said to Timothy 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.759 very clearly that women could not be ordained ministers, could not deliver the sacraments 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:28.759 or the preached word. 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:33.680 And if you want an explanation for that, just go back to a few sermons ago. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:37.960 But we said in that sermon that it's very important to recognize that most men cannot 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:39.720 do that either. 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:44.440 And that 97% of all ministry is for everybody. 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:47.039 97%, 98%. 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.640 That's evangelism, mercy, giving, serving, all of it. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:52.360 It's for everybody. 00:30:52.360 --> 00:30:58.440 But here also Paul comes back around later and says there is clearly across the New Testament 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:06.080 a role in churches of particular women that were deemed qualified to serve alongside the 00:31:06.080 --> 00:31:13.360 officers in particular ministries that were of almost always a diagonal nature, the nature 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:15.159 of caring for the vulnerable. 00:31:15.159 --> 00:31:17.039 And we see this in the book of Acts. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:22.199 Luke talks about the widows in Joppa, all the widows, the role of widows in Joppa. 00:31:22.199 --> 00:31:26.079 And among them he mentions Dorcas, which is an amazing name. 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.279 Dorcas, it says, was certainly full of good works and acts of charity. 00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:31.799 She was one of these women. 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:33.599 We have records of this from the early church. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.839 Tertullian is one of the church fathers from the late second century. 00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:42.519 And he writes of the order of widows in his church, how they prayed together, nursed 00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:48.240 the sick, cared for the orphans, visited the Christians in prison, evangelized pagan women, 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:52.759 and taught the female converts before their baptism to prepare them for baptism. 00:31:52.759 --> 00:31:54.400 And Paul gives us qualifications. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:59.119 He says 60 plus, remember, timeless principle but also cultural wisdom. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:03.559 What he's saying is, is this woman able to serve in a way that she's not hindered by 00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:07.920 so many other things in her life, like caring for a bunch of little kids or whatever it may 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:08.920 be? 00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:09.920 That's the first one. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.039 But then he goes on to character. 00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:13.279 And this is where we want to wrap. 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.480 This is where we want to finish today. 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:19.240 Because listen to this list. 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:20.240 This is what Paul says. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:24.519 This is what the women that are particularly charged by the officers of the church to be 00:32:24.519 --> 00:32:26.079 in ministry along with them. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:29.319 Verse 10, they've shown care for children. 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:31.519 They've shown care for the vulnerable. 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:34.799 They've show hospitality already in their normal lives. 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:37.680 They wash the feet of the saints. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:40.759 And they help those in trouble. 00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:46.640 And St. Columbus has a women's pastoral team that tries to recognize this New Testament 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:47.640 reality. 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:51.200 And it would be impossible to do ministry without it, without them. 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:52.200 And it's right here. 00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:53.200 It's very clear. 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:56.480 But let me close with this. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:01.240 For the family of God, that list is everybody's list. 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:03.680 That list of qualifications. 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:06.240 That we care for the children. 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.640 We look out for the vulnerable. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:11.520 We show hospitality for the family. 00:33:11.520 --> 00:33:13.800 We wash one another's feet. 00:33:13.800 --> 00:33:15.640 We help those in trouble. 00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:20.440 Now today, is Christ your elder brother? 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:22.920 Is Jesus Christ your true brother? 00:33:22.920 --> 00:33:26.060 And if you believe in him today, then he is. 00:33:26.060 --> 00:33:29.920 And that means then collectively, you are part of the family of God, and we can all 00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:31.800 say this together. 00:33:31.800 --> 00:33:36.000 I was poor, and Christ came for me. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:44.200 I spend my resources today here because Christ spent all his resources on me. 00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:49.279 I wash feet in this place because Christ came to earth to wash my feet. 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:54.640 I'm awake to the needs around me and the family of God because Jesus Christ did not sleep 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.920 on my needs. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:58.160 He came for me. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:04.359 In other words, Jesus Christ's radical love for us is the ground and motivation for such 00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:09.039 a high and holy calling as caring for the family of God. 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:18.119 And so our charge today is to love the family of God because Jesus Christ has made us family. 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:19.759 Let's pray. 00:34:19.759 --> 00:34:28.039 Father, we do ask for hearts of great love and service for the family of God. 00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:35.039 And we repent of the ways that we have treated the family of Christ individualistically as 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.559 mere consumers, Lord. 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:43.279 And so we pray for both those who have needs today that they would be known, that we would 00:34:43.279 --> 00:34:47.360 move forward to them in great love. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:54.320 And we also pray that for those who are not currently in a place of deep need that we 00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:00.880 would be moved towards giving ourselves and washing feet and going low and spending our 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:04.480 time, talent and treasure for the household of faith. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:09.320 And we give thanks that all of this is rooted and grounded in the fact of you Christ, our 00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:12.519 elder brother who did not leave us in the wilderness. 00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:13.640 You came. 00:35:13.640 --> 00:35:15.760 And so we give thanks today. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:18.039 And we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:19.039 Amen. 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:26.039 Amen.