Scripture
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 1 Timothy 5:3-4
Observation
Paul is calling back the words of Jesus correcting the Pharisees in this challenge to the church in Ephesus. “And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mk. 7:9-13) This might be the harshest rebuke Jesus ever gave the Pharisees. He is basically telling them that they have neglected to provide for their parents and thus broken the 5th Commandment to honor them and claimed that they’ve set aside money for the temple offering (Corban) so that they can’t really take care of their parents. They had learned a religious way to neglect their parents and pass it off as righteous and pious though it was clearly sin. We all tend to learn ways to serve ourselves rather than those around us. Paul is reminding the church that their first ministry is at home. The Greek word he uses for “learn” is to “let them keep learning.” Learn to what? To practice what they’re preaching. It’s not enough to sing it or say it, they’ve got to learn to show it. It’s not enough to offer sacrifices to God when at church while ignoring the sacrifices He is looking for in serving the relationships in our lives. It’s not enough to wait on the programs of the church when we are the church and we’ve been called to meet the needs of people right in front of us. The Church is made up of families. If those families are strong then the Church will be as well. If our ministries to our families are weak then the ministry of The Church will be as well.
Application
If this quarantine has revealed anything it’s how much we have tended to ignore those closest to us in favor of the bigger, better, and broader around us. In general, we had learned to keep our family in maintenance mode while devoting ourselves to other pursuits. We thought everything was fine until we found ourselves shut in with endless and uninterrupted amounts of time together. I have heard from many that they had never spent this much time with their family and it revealed gaps in the relationships they didn’t know were there. Just like a house inspector learns what to look for before a buyer purchases the home, so too, the Holy Spirit knows what to look for and reveals it to those willing to listen. It could be that these last 3 months of quarantine might very well save multiple marriages and families if we are willing to learn. It’s going to require a reordering of priorities and a humbling of ourselves. Apologies, repentance, and reconciliation will be required to repair our relationships get our families on a solid foundation again. Paul tells us to “keep learning” as we move forward. As futurist and philosopher, Alvin Toffler once wrote: "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Even after 3 months of shut down, it will be easy to be drawn back into the “tyranny of the urgent” that drove so many of our schedules. Cyndi and I are both working full time in two different fields in a different city and we don’t want to lose the ground we gained with our boys during the quarantine. We are prayerfully prioritizing our calendar around the “big rocks” that will keep us putting family first and serving the Lord. We are learning, unlearning, and relearning so that we can put our “religion into practice” starting in our first ministry- family.
Prayer
Lord, it was so fun to serve alongside my family during our Father’s Day services this past weekend. What You have reminded me of today is to not forget the lessons I have been learning during the quarantine. I have noticed personalities, giftings, callings in my boys that I was missing before in the busyness of serving at the church. I have had to apologize to my boys for being gone so often. To have a strong public ministry with a weak private ministry is hypocrisy and I don’t want to go there. The authority I have to serve other families starts with how I serve my own. Everything is different. What worked before won’t work anymore. You have returned The Church back to the home. Even with services starting up again, help me to keep Your priorities at the forefront of our faith expression. I put You first when I give my family my best rather than what’s left.
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