It’s Wednesday 11th March, and I hope you are enjoying the fact that spring is on its way – the days are longer, the skies are blue, and the daffodils are blooming.

Our Bible reading today is 1 Timothy 5 vs1-8.  These verses are the start of a chapter in which we find the most detailed instructions or guidelines given anywhere in the Bible about how the church should care for widows.

REFLECTION:

My mother was widowed in her early 30s, when I was just 7 and my brother was nearly 5.  Although I was young, I have some very clear memories of the care and support that we received from the church during that time, and also of the way in which my grandparents played an even greater role in my life than they had done previously.

Prior to my father’s death, my mum did not go out to work, but instead had chosen to stay at home to look after her children.  At some point – I don’t remember when – this changed and my mum had to get a job.  As I grew up into adulthood, I also began to understand how things such as insurance policies and pensions had also been an important source of financial provision for the 3 of us.

Through her family, her church, and some degree of prior financial planning, my mother was cared for and supported as a young widow with 2 small children.

This is in stark contrast to the situation that a widow may find herself in at the time the New Testament was written.  In Middle Eastern culture being a widow often, although not always, condemned a woman to destitution.  There were no pension schemes and no state welfare benefits to help pay the bills, and with more people dying at a younger age, there were no guarantees that a widow would have surviving parents that she could return home to, or have children that might be able to look after her.

Widows therefore occupied a precarious and vulnerable position in society, and it was clearly very important to Paul that the churches that he and Timothy had started looked after widows well.

On one level, this should be of no surprise.  In the Old Testament God is described as “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.”  However, what we see in these verses is not just Paul saying, “Look after widows because God says you should.”  He goes much deeper than that.

He is saying that as Christians we should care for widows – or indeed orphans, or anyone else who is vulnerable, isolated, or lonely – because this is what the church of Jesus, operating as an inter-generational extended family is meant to look like and be like, and by living like this we are called to transform society.

How do we see this expressed in these verses?

Straight away in verse 1, it is clear that within the church we are meant to have real and genuine relationships with those older than us, and those younger than us.  It is meant to be like a family.  A place where young men and women can be raised up and discipled, and an environment in which those who are older can share their wisdom and invest in the next generation.  We saw this in Monday’s podcast as well.

And just like in any other family there will be times when people annoy or irritate you.  You might think some people’s ideas and opinions are outdated or old fashioned, or you might not understand why people would think or behave in the way that they do.  My daughter thinks that she should get her ears pierced, her father doesn’t.  I could give other examples, but my sons both listen to this podcast!

And so Paul reminds us that within our church family, we are not to speak harshly, or become impatient, but to honour and encourage one another.

The church is called to operate as a family, but one that lives differently from earthly families.  There is to be respect and unity across the generations, and through our language and actions, we should all spur one another on to become more like Christ.

The second difference that should be seen in this spi...