I Timothy 5:1-10
So what’s to discuss with today’s reading…? We have different household arrangements today than they did in the 1st century. Widows were in an unenviable situation back then, dependent on their families and (to some extent) the larger society for their welfare. Paul saw that the church needed to step in for Christian widows – I’m guessing that for some widows their children and members of society may have regarded them as outcasts if they had turned to the Christian faith and their children had not. What a sad situation, at this point clearly dependent on the church for their welfare! Things are different today – although we have Social Security and retirement funds, children still have responsibilities for their parents. Nursing homes are no fun, but extended families are less and less common these days. Difficult situations for many families…!
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (v. 8) In our Men’s Group we have had many discussions about our financial wealth. Most of us have accumulated (or are accumulating) IRAs and other savings for our retirement – and often those funds can get to be quite large. Recall that the gift that the church received from Mim Stambaugh’s bequest was more than $224,000 – and we were one of a number of beneficiaries of her generosity. So those dollars can be big! We men have often asked how we are to be responsible for those (sometimes) large amounts. What is our responsibility for us to take care of our remaining years; to provide for our children as we leave this world; or to care for others in need while we are still here? Scripture does not give us a lot of guidance, except for the Gospel story of the “rich, young ruler”. Finally, this issue is not one just for men to consider today. I’m sure there are many more widows active in the church than there are widowers. More questions…!
Slava Bohu!
Some good points if you are thinking about middle and upper class America. Widows and children of persecuted adult Christians across the world today are often destitute, with important physical/financial support from other Christians. There are many many orphans in Uganda due to HIV. Even in America, lowest income folks are often single women- widows living solely off social security; single mothers of young children; retired low income grandparents raising children due to drugs. I ponder on the church’s role when the automatic public response is to look to agencies, even while their budgets are cut.
And how much, how well to provide for ourselves in the future and to our children? What are we expecting as our standard of living – needs v. wants? When I was growing up my sister and I were explicitly told by my parents that they would make sure we got a college education and a car, but there would be no inheritance for us, other than keepsakes. They sat us down when I was 19 to divide up the china, silver (none of huge value), anything that we would want, so that there wouldn’t be any disagreements later! Everything would be in a trust to care for my younger brother who had Down’s syndrome (and lived to 59). I am getting to the point that I want to divest of a lot of “stuff”, live a simple life, and just focus on following Jesus. What has taken me so long? (Of course, I say that, but I have a good retirement income and health care!)