All right, well, on Sunday mornings together, we've been working our way through 1 Timothy. So I'm gonna ask you to take out your Bible and turn to 1 Timothy. And this morning we're in 1 Timothy chapter five, and I'll read verse three to 16. Honor widows who are widows indeed. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone has her hope fixed on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day. But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.

Prescribe these things as well so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, and 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 distress, and 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. 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 occasion for reproach. For some have already turned aside to follow Satan. If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. Passage that I just read is about care for widows in the church.

It's The next passage in our study of 1 Timothy, it's probably not one that James and I would choose to preach on, you know, if we were given just an opportunity to speak and could choose any passage, but it's next and it's good. It's what the Holy Spirit has for us. It's a good part about preaching through sequentially, through different passages of scripture. You come to passages you wouldn't normally choose. So this one's important.

And I noticed as I was going through it, Paul uses very strong language on this topic. Talks about one who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even when she lives. Very strong language. Or the one who does not provide for widows of his own household, he's worse. than an unbeliever, or talks about some of those who have already turned aside to follow Satan. So Paul's not casual about this topic. His words are urgent, are forceful. He's kind of stirred up, it seems, about this topic.

And perhaps it's important to Paul, because it's important to the Lord, the topic of widows. who are vulnerable is important to the Lord, and it's seen both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Lord, in a psalm that really speaks of his power, kind of in some ways the rawness of his power, says this, Psalm 68, verse five, a father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows is God in his holy habitation. Or Psalm 146, verse nine, the Lord supports the fatherless and the widow. but he thwarts the way of the wicked. So the Lord associates that very closely with his name. He's looking out for the widow. That's something he's concerned about. And it shows up in the New Testament.

So we preached recently on Acts chapter six, when Kyle and Joe were installed recently as deacons and kind of the beginning of the need for deacons had to do with providing for widows in the church, Acts chapter six. And some of the men were chosen. Stephen did really well in that, and it was kind of the springboard to a much wider ministry for him as well.

James chapter one, verse 27 says, pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. So care for widows in the church is important to Paul because it's important to the Lord and it's important to us too. And we want to learn from it, from this passage about care for widows.

So that's what this passage is for. We want to stick with the main point, cover the main point. But in addition, I think this passage is also helpful because it provides almost an inadvertent, candid glimpse, as if through a window, into how the church should accomplish its mission. And I say it's almost accidental or inadvertent, kind of a candid view through the window, because that's not the point. The point is about care for windows.

But in passing, it kind of just shows the life that should be lived by members in the church, as it's talking about. Some of these widows will get into it in a moment. But it gives a window into what the church should be like, what a member of the church should be doing. and how the church should accomplish its mission in the world. And in that vision, every member is important and also has much to give in the church as well.

So my message this morning, it's kind of a longer passage, might be a shorter message, we'll see, I'm not sure, but it's in three parts. First, I'd like to just unfold this passage. So for the first part, we're just going to go through all of the verses. A few parts in this passage are a little puzzling, so I'd like to just kind of grasp what it is. Second, I want to get to its main point, which is care for widows. It's a simple point, and I want to cover that. And then third, I'd like to take a little time at the end to look through that window of a, just kind of a picture, a snapshot of the church. It's not necessarily why Paul wrote this passage, but it is revealing to us.

Okay, so first I'd like to just look through this passage and unfold what this passage means. A few points are puzzling. And I think a key is this, that the first half of the passage and the second half are about slightly different things. Verse three to eight is about a slightly different topic than verse nine through 16.

The first half of the passage is about which widows the church should support. And there's a couple qualifications. for which widows the church should support. The second half of the passage, starting in verse nine, is about which widows to include on a separate list. It's gonna mention a list and it's separate from who the church should support, which widows.

It's a permanent, it's almost like a church office. And it involves a lifelong commitment of certain widows to be supported by the church for as long as they live, but also entrusted with some official ministry tasks of the church. So it's a little bit separate, and there's some additional qualifications for that, and that's what the second half is about. And I think if you keep that in mind, it's kind of key, the passage will sort of unfold. So let's go through this whole passage together first, starting in verse three.

Honor widows who are widows indeed. And the word honor has to do financially. It has that in it. It's not just honor, but support with money financially. Honor widows who are truly widows. So his point here is not to redefine the word widow, it's somebody whose husband has died. But it's talking about who the church should support, which widows the church should support. And so he's gonna explain what he means by those who are widows indeed, those who are truly widows. It means two things. First of all, it means those who are truly alone, don't have family to support them. And so he unpacks that in verse four.

If any widow has children, or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family, and to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. We talked last time about how the church is a family. The church is to relate to one another as a family, even in the matter of rebuke. And so the church is to relate to one another as brothers, sisters, as to your mother, as to your father. The church is a family, but we pointed this out even last time, the church is a family not in such a way that natural family ties are dissolved, of course. And so the family, the natural family strengthens the church, and the church strengthens the natural family as well. But the church doesn't take the place of the family in supporting a widow, an elderly person.

That's the responsibility of the family and it's pleasing to the Lord, it puts it in this way. Paul says that they make some kind of return to their parents or to their grandparents by supporting their family member, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. It's pleasing to God. It's pleasing to God when families do this. when they support a widow who's left destitute and her children or her grandchildren financially support her. And so the church, the other kind of family isn't to step in and take the place there and in a sense would be robbing them of the opportunity to please God. It's acceptable in the sight of God for families to do this.

So a widow indeed who should be supported by the church is one who's actually truly alone. who doesn't have family members to support her. Secondly is one who's truly saved. And I think that's what the next verse is about, verse five. Now she is a widow indeed. She who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

And I think what he has here is just a description of a saved person. or what we can see of a saved person outwardly. She is one who has fixed her hope on God. That's a good description of a Christian. That's a good description of how you become a Christian even is to fix your hope on God through Christ, his son. And so a widow indeed, one who should have the support of the church is one who's fixed her hope on God.

Ann continues in entreaties and in prayers night and day. She's been saved by God for the purpose of her relationship with Him, for the purpose of talking to God, for the purpose of praying. She continues in entreaties and prayers night and day. The way Paul says this night and day, It doesn't refer to continuously, like this is all she does, is pray, although there is some passages in scripture that talk about that, how the words say pray without ceasing. But this means that she, it simply means that she prays sometimes when it's day, and sometimes when it's night. She's often in prayer, and I think that is something that just describes a Christian. It doesn't describe some sort of specially dedicated person, even like Anna from Luke chapter two, who never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

That night and day is a little, it's differently stated than this one. So this is just a reference to a woman who's a Christian, a woman who's left alone. by her husband and who's a believer, who's a believer, who's set her hope in God and who prays to God and continues in treaties of God regularly at nighttime, at daytime, as well deserves the support of the church. The contrast between this woman who's truly a widow in the eyes of who the church should support and has fixed her hope on God and continues in prayers night and day. The contrast is with this one in verse six, with one who's not saved. But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. And so this is a widow who's not saved. She lives for pleasure. And Paul says she's spiritually dead.

He looks at her as the Lord looks at her as well. So this is the qualification for who the church should support, a widow who's truly alone, who doesn't have, and who's truly safe. The church isn't bound to support any widow that's in need that we come in contact with, but specifically those who are part of the family of the church. And so verse seven and eight, He says, prescribe these things as well so that they may be above reproach. And he's speaking the they that he's speaking of. is the children and the grandchildren of those who have widows in their family. And so he's to prescribe those things to them that they take care of their own family members so that they may be above reproach.

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And what Paul means here is that, Even unbelievers do this for each other. Even unbelievers know that they should support their own family members when they're elderly and take care of their own widows. And so a Christian who fails to do this is in that way worse than an unbeliever. And Paul says has denied the faith. And so this is a very important topic for Paul.

Okay, so that's the first half of this passage, and really the question that it answers is who should the church support? Which widow should the church support? It gives two qualifications, one who's truly alone, who doesn't have family members to support them, and one who's truly saved and part of the family of God in that way, and so those should be supported by the church.

The second half of the passage has to do with whom to put on a special list. And I don't think it's the same list as widows to be supported, but it's one who's slightly different. And that's what the rest of this passage is about. Verse nine, a widow is to be put on the list. only if she's not less than 60 years old. And then it gives various other qualifications as well, spiritual qualifications as well. And this is separate. This is among widows that are supported by the church, but they're also to be put into this special office. if I can call it that, and it has certain responsibilities of ministry. Maybe you could say official church ministry that go with it as well.

And we're gonna see it involves a two-way commitment. It's the church would support women on this list for the rest of their life, and on their part, they pledge to serve out their days with the church without remarrying. We're gonna come to that in a moment when we get to it here. So you might notice, if I'm back, can you hear me? Okay, okay, you might notice we don't have this at Trinity. We don't have women who serve in this kind of office at Trinity. And it doesn't exist anywhere today.

In the very earliest times in church history, it seems like they did have widows who served in this sort of an office. They were practicing this or something like it. They had an order of widows. But it's not long in church history. In fact, it's still early church history. It's not much later when they read this passage and they don't know exactly what this list or this office would be because they're not practicing it. And they don't know anybody else who's practicing it either.

So not everything that the New Testament church did, is intended to be carried on by the church, is intended to be imitated by us, but it has application to us. And I think one application would be sometimes when someone is supported for financial needs, a one way to do it is to pay them in terms of remuneration for work that needs to be done if they're qualified for it. And I know that this church has done that at times. Sometimes we've supported people financially just based on need, and sometimes it's in part, well, we'd like, there's some ministry that needs to be done, they're capable of doing, and this is a good way to support them as well. And that was sort of the case with widows who served in this way as well.

So the first requirement is an age requirement. Paul says, a woman who's put on this list, a widow must be not less than 60 years old. There's no age requirement for... the first half of what we've been talking about for a widow who's just supported by the church. It's really any widow who's in need and who's a true Christian for as long as she needs the support should be supported. But there's an age requirement for this list and he's gonna explain why in a moment. There's not only an age requirement, but there's spiritual requirements for this list.

And as you read them, what it really reminds you of is the spiritual qualifications for an elder. Their spiritual qualifications, they're kind of high, I would say, spiritual qualifications for a widow who would serve the church in this way. And I think high for the same reason as for elders is because a widow who's put in this office, supported in this way, would serve in ministry but also serve as an example to the congregation as well and lead by the example of her life. So these are qualifications given. Probably not all widows in need of help, financial help, would meet all of these qualifications.

But the ones that are put on this list would need to meet these qualifications. So not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, A one man woman is literally what it says, and it's similar to what it said for elders and for deacons as well, a one woman man. I think it refers to, as I said before, a character quality of purity, faithfulness, devotion to her husband, not necessarily even that she'd only been married one time. but the character quality of her heart, of her deeds, as well as faithful devotion, purity within marriage. She has the character of being a one-man woman.

Having a reputation for good works. If she has brought up children, that's another qualification. If she's shown hospitality to strangers. If she's washed the saints' feet. If she has assisted those in distress. and if she's devoted herself to every good work. We're gonna return to that, the example that she used to set and the kind of life that she used to live when we come to the end of this, but she's an example to the congregation, and she's able to minister to the congregation from the perspective of one who's experienced life and living and growing in the Lord as a godly woman and her life has been characterized. She has a reputation even for these things and for living her life in this way that really honors the Lord. So these are the qualifications for one put on this list.

The next four verses, 11 through 15, Paul explains why younger widows should not be put on the list, even if they're spiritually qualified to be put on the list. And so I think this was something maybe especially problematic in the age that Paul was writing. Sometimes there's a big age gap between the husband and the wife. where the husband would be quite a bit older than the wife, and so because of this, often happened that they were pretty young widows, where an older husband would marry a younger wife, and then he would die, and sometimes would leave widows quite young, maybe still a marriageable age, maybe still a childbearing age, actually, is what Paul says, so you can imagine a widow who's like 25 years old, and maybe needs to be supported by the church for a time, but Paul says, don't put her on this permanent. this 25 year old widow and he explains the reasons why. And actually it sounds like the church in Ephesus may have had some bad experience doing this as well. But that's what the next actually four verses are about.

Refuse to put younger women's 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. Okay, this is one of the parts that might be a little bit confusing if you don't follow all of it and follow the thread. It says, don't put younger women on the list for, they sometimes want to get married in disregard of Christ and in doing so they, bring condemnation because they are setting aside their first pledge, their previous pledge.

And so younger women, if they're put on the list, want to get married. And I think the idea is there's nothing wrong with the marriage itself. nor is the condemnation that it talks about eternal condemnation, but it's doing something wrong for breaking a pledge that they made.

And the pledge is that they would serve out their days in this capacity for the church without getting married. And I'm not sure why it needed to be a permanent office, but it did. And so this is the way it's put. Being put on this list involved a lifelong commitment. And so this is why it wasn't fitting for a younger woman to say, okay, I'm gonna live the rest of my life in this capacity for the church.

Paul says that doesn't work out because they want to get married and then end up breaking their previous plan It literally says in verse 12, they've set aside their previous faith. It's not talking about someone apostatizing from the Christian faith. It's a way of referring to a pledge that you've made. You've set aside your faith or your faithfulness is a way, it's a way of referring to a pledge. And so a lot of the translations like mine just refer to it as that. They've set aside their previous pledge that was part of coming into this office and being part of this list.

He's continuing with why younger women are not good candidates for this office in verse 13. At the same time, they 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. And so he talks about, This hasn't worked out well for younger widows and in part because it exposes them to temptation of wasting their time and getting involved in other people's business and getting involved in gossip. This gives a little bit of a hint maybe as to what some of the tasks of this office would be, or at least where it would be done, is going from house to house and ministering probably to other women, except here it becomes the inverse of ministry. It becomes an opportunity for sin and for gossip and for meddling and for temptation.

Paul says, verse 14, therefore I want younger widows to get married. bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach. So the younger widows, he doesn't want them to make a permanent pledge of ministry to the church in singleness, but rather to get married and to marry again and even become part of a family and of child raising again.

You might ask, was that a change of mind from what Paul had in 1 Corinthians 7? 1 Corinthians 7, Paul talks about kind of how ideal singleness is for undistracted ministry. It's not a change of mind. The Corinthians themselves strongly favored singleness. They were inclined to singleness themselves, or at least some of them were, for a lot of the wrong reasons. But Paul said to them, Paul said, well, I do too. I'm favored towards singleness. Paul says, if I had it my way, all Christians would have the gift of singleness. But he says that as kind of his own opinion and kind of a concession to what they were already inclined towards.

Paul still has an important place for single ministry, undistracted devotion, that's the point of this list. for the women who qualify for it, for the older women who are qualified to set themselves aside for a life of singleness and undistracted devotion for that part of their life. But for younger, he says, as a general rule, it's best to marry. It's best to marry, and so he says that in verse 14, and he hasn't changed his mind from anything that he wrote in 1 Corinthians 7 as well. He says, I want the younger women to get married, bear children, keep house, Give the enemy no occasion for reproach, for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.

And so Paul talks about some already being put on this list at too young of an age and it didn't work out well for them. And so Paul, as he's writing this, it's not theoretical. This has been a problem at this church in Ephesus as well, and perhaps this is why Paul is urgent and forceful about this whole topic as well. But he doesn't want younger women on the list, and he says some of them, through bad decisions about who to be included in this, have made shipwreck of their faith, have turned aside to follow Satan.

Well, all of that was kind of, additional wrinkle, kind of an additional complication to supporting widows. He says, I want you to support the widows in need that are part of the congregation. There's kind of additional information about this special list that was being done at this time.

But in verse 16, he returns to his main point from the first half to summarize it. If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them. and the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. And so it simply talks again about if you're a Christian, if you have a family member who's a widow, then you should support them and not make them a financial burden to the church. It's interesting in verse 16, and this is probably the way your translation puts it.

It's the way mine does. I think it's the best way to put it. If any woman who's a believer has dependent widows, and so for some reason, this command is directed towards women in the congregation, that if there's any widows in their family, they should be involved in assisting them. Why is that? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because when it comes especially to caring for widows, it often falls on women. in the family to do that.

And so Paul singles them out in the congregation. Maybe the focus for the men might be providing financially, but for the women might be helping them in other ways that would take time. And so he writes this command as he's summing it all up. He writes it especially to the women of the church to take care of elderly widows that are part of their family. And then he reminds them, That in a way, when they do so, when they care for widows in their own family, it's a double ministry.

Not only does it meet the needs of the member of their family, but it also frees the church to care for widows who are truly widows. Assist them that the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. So Paul is bringing it to a conclusion here. And he's saying between the families of the church and the church itself, all the widows among Christians should be provided for. The family should provide for its own widows and the church should provide for those with no family as well.

So that's what the passage means. I hope if you're tripped up by any of the parts before, I hope those are clear to you. But the main point, to consider is that we do this, is that we take care of widows in need. It's important to the Lord. That's why Paul is not casual in his tone about this. And it's important for us to get this right, to get this right.

As families, to get this right, and I can think of many actually shining examples of family members at this church who, when the time comes, have taken care of family members, taken care of a beloved mother or grandmother with great blessing to see that their needs are taken care of. It's pleasing to the Lord. There's great reward in it.

There's a sacrifice, but there's never regret in that. And then it's important to get this right as well. as a church, for those who are widows indeed, as Paul puts it, for those who don't have family members to take care of them, and who are believers, who are one of us in the midst of the congregation. And so it's important for the church to make sure that none of those fall through the cracks.

If the new birth is a reality, it not only bestows eternal life on the one who's born again, but it makes us part of a new family. a spiritual family with one another. It's a real family. It's an addition to our family that's given and so we must take care of one another and treat one another as family in a way it testifies to the reality of the new birth when we treat one another as family and take care of one another in the church as family. So for widows in the church with no family, They don't have any family members, or they do, but their family members are totally estranged from them, or unable to provide for them when they need it.

The church needs to make sure that all are provided for, and it's a top priority for how the church spends its resources, both financially, it's a good use of finances, or even time. Sometimes that's what's needed more than money as well, but there's a great reward in that as well. You might think of that as a loss of resources.

It's actually a gain. It's important to the Lord and matches the character of the Lord, that the Lord is concerned for widows. So that's the main point. That's the main point. That's why Paul wrote this. It's kind of a simple point. But it's necessary, it's needful, and it's helpful even to take a Sunday for us to consider this as well to provide for widows.

I said at the end we're gonna look at another point, and that is that this passage kind of provides a window into life in the early church, kind of a candid window, you know, a candid photograph is when you take a picture of somebody when they're not expecting it. And in a way, this is kind of a picture of the church when he's talking about something else. He's talking about widows and how widows should be provided for. But it opens a window, and I'm thinking especially of the way he describes a Christian widow, one who should be supported by the church, and then even more so, the way he describes a widow who should be put on this special list because their life is exemplary.

It's a life worth living. It's a life that the Lord is going to look at and say, well done, good and faithful servant, and a life worth even spending church resources to reproduce in others. The ministry that she was to have when she was to put on this list is to help others to be like her, at least in these characteristics and qualifications that are mentioned. And so this is something that the members of the church should be involved in. And I guess especially women, especially women, there's a way men fit into this as well. And I think when the members of the church live in a way that these widows are an example of, especially the ones that are put on this list, it accomplishes the mission of the church. as well when they live like this. And of course, the special mission of the church that the Lord has given us is to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them all the things that Christ commanded us as well. And so this is a good window picture into how this is to be done and what this looks like in the lives of members. So the women that were, the widows that were to be supported, not only supported but put on this list, are church members who've devoted their lives to giving themselves to others in deep personal relationships.

That's the way in which these qualifications of the course, it centers on the home. It centers on the home. Her task of being a wife and mother, that's the first thing that's mentioned about her having been the wife of one man, a one woman man, and also having brought up children as well, and so it's the center on the home.

Her ministry centers on those relationships, those close relationships, and then it centers on relationships in the church as well. She has shown hospitality to strangers, she has washed the saints' feet, If she's assisted those in distress, so people who go through trouble, they come and they talk to her. And she's able to talk to them, because that's the way she lives her life. She's invested in deep relationships, personal relationships with others. And I think part of this is directed inwardly to the church, like she's washed the saints' feet.

But it also involves welcoming strangers. And so if the life is directed inward, towards very ministry, personal ministry, and giving of yourself to others. It's also going to be directed outward as well to welcoming strangers as well. It's a ministry that centers on the home like hospitality, but I think also spills over to those who are outside the church. There's a wonderful combination between the church and the home when those are teamed up for ministry. So you meet somebody at church who's in need of ministry, you invite him to your home, you see him at church again, and it sort of reinforces itself as well.

So this is the woman who's put on this list It says she's involved in washing the saints' feet. Some churches, that's like a ritual where they practice this with communion. They get the bucket out and they pass that around and they wash feet as well. I don't think that's what this means. She's inviting people to her home, and when she does, she's giving them every courtesy. They're coming in with dusty feet. They've been walking on dusty roads, and so she's giving them what they need, and she's given to hospitality, to welcoming strangers.

I've heard recently the essence of hospitality is just paying attention. to people personally, invite them into your home, and then you pay attention to them. You can do that even if you don't have a home. You can pay attention to people and be devoted to serving others.

So it's a great description, I think a snapshot of how the mission of the church is to be carried out. It's to be carried out like this. And when I was reading this, it just reminded me, and it's probably why I put this point into the sermon, it reminded me so much of what Del Tachet was talking to us about at family camp. And he's looking out at the world and saying, okay, not only what should Christians be thinking, how should Christians be thinking to process and to think clearly in our time, but also what should we be doing? What should we be doing in order to carry out the mission of the church? And he talked about ministry that would focus in very closely, personally be bathed in prayer. Like it talks about the widows praying night and day and be involved in close personal ministry to others, both inside the church, to your neighbors, outside the church as well.

And I think the answer that he's come up with in pondering that question of how does the church carry out the mission of the church is deeply biblical, and it's the right answer as well. And I think it fits this picture of the church as well. Permit me what will sound like a rabbit trail, and I promise I'll weave it back in to this point, but there's been some thinking and writing recently about political engagement for Christians in our tumultuous times, the times we've been living through, and I think this decade of the 2020s has been especially tumultuous and brought up some questions. And so they have said that if you've thought of politics as sort of a neutral sphere, or something rigidly secular, you know, we should keep Christianity out of it, it's a neutral zone, or if we've embraced defeat, say, you know, we'd be better off with a non-Christian government and not even influenced by Christianity, we'd be more like the early church in that way, then we need to rethink the way in which we think about engaging in politics.

There can be help, from the top down, so to speak. And you think of that with the reference to slavery. where laws have been passed from the top down, where now slavery, where it's practiced the evil of slavery, wherever it's practiced, it's illegal. And that's been a help. There's no reason why abortion should not be the same way, where progress should be made, where one day that would be known and thought of by everyone as evil.

And that can be help in passing righteous laws. in that way, and Christians can be involved in passing those laws and being involved in that way. Some in zeal for a more overtly Christian government and what it might accomplish and all the problems it might solve, I think haven't thought very deeply about how individual liberty and a limited government is itself deeply Christian and biblical and best for society. But I think other than that, their point is well taken.

We shouldn't be indifferent. to even matters of politics and government. We shouldn't be defeated. We should be engaged. Everything is connected. And so you can't say, well, this doesn't matter. Politics doesn't matter or isn't related to gospel witness in any way.

But here's my point. Here's my point in bringing all that up. And I could get into more of that at a different time. Here's my point. Whenever Christians seek top-down influence, like levers to influence masses of people. I think there's a place for that. There's definitely a place for that.

But when Christians do that, we're on our back foot. This is the front foot, is what these church members were involved in. This is where the power is. is in these sort of deep personal relationships that the women who are put on this list are involved in, family relationships to your husband, to the church, opening your home to others as well. Those are the kind of things that go unseen.

They're not loud, but this is where the power of the Holy Spirit is, even for accomplishing the mission of the church. So some of those political things, they're good to do. I think they're good to do. I think they're worthwhile. I think they're loving to do.

We're better off where Roe versus Wade is struck down rather than just something that's considered normal and unassailable. but that's not where the real power is. The real power is here, the church moving with power in things like this, like hospitality to others, opening the home, reaching out to others in relationship. This is the leaven working powerfully unseen that ends up leavening the whole lump of dough. It's not loud, it's quiet, it's slow, It's personal, it's face-to-face with one other person, but the impact of it is huge for advancing the kingdom of the Lord. So the kind of life that these women are involved with, it's a life of others, it's a life of close personal relationships, it's a life of love, it's a life of hospitality. It's the scabbard for the sword of the gospel. It's the setting for the gospel going forth with power.

And it's how the church is advanced, whether in days of great influence in the church or whether in days of persecution of the church, this remains the same of reaching out to others. So I'd encourage you, encourage me to live a life that's like this, that's sketched out by even by these widows who are devoting their life in this way. In our own time, think of the times that we live in, there's certainly an epidemic of loneliness in our time. Technology is not bringing us closer together to one another.

And so because of that, you can be somebody's friend if you want to be. your neighbor, and you can reach out to them with the gospel if you want to, if you pray for them deeply, if you reach out to them, if you invite them to your home, and if you are an example before them, if your family is a place of ministry to others as well. And so it's an encouragement for us to be involved in deeply personal ministry. If you have a chance to drop a tract off on somebody's table, that's great. but this is the real place for the gospel to blossom is in a place in a home like the one that is described here. So they're involved in deeply personal ministry because God is personal.

It matches his character. He's personal in the triune God and also in the way in which he calls us into that fellowship as well and I think that's why this is the key that unlocks the power of the church as well as to live in these ways, giving ourselves personally to others in these ways.

So don't underestimate the power of one person living this way, of one widow living this way. Paul didn't underestimate the power of that. And that one person is you. There's a way in which you do it that fits only you and not anyone else. But we're encouraged to be living in this way to strengthen the church and also to reach the lost as well. We have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be from God. and not ourselves. So there's a ordinariness to living in this way and then there's a surpassing greatness of the power that works through us as well.

So the main point of this passage, take care of the widows. Take care of the widows in your family, and then as a church, those who don't have family, for us to take care of them as well. That's the main point of this passage, and then the little window at the end, is your life like this? Is your life like the widows we're living who Paul considers exemplary to other believers?

Let me encourage you to follow in their example, and to advance the kingdom in our time. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for our church as a family. We pray for families in our church. Pray that we'd be faithful in this matter of providing for family members who are elderly and especially widows. We'd be faithful as a church as well to provide for any widows in need among us. that we would be pleasing to you in this matter. And then, Father, we pray that you would cause us to live in a way that honors you, each member living in a way that involves being faithful in family relationships, being faithful in church relationships, and being faithful in relationships with neighbors or coworkers or the loss that we come in contact with as well. We pray that each home would be a place of ministry to others and that you would enable us to follow in these footsteps and to advance your kingdom. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.