Daniel #1 - Faithful in Exile (Sep 13, 2020)

Daniel 1:1-21

Introduction: This Fall we are turning to the book of Daniel to give us encouragement and wisdom amid the Covid-19 Pandemic and the ensuing political unrest of an election year. The book of Daniel was written at a similar crossroad in the history of Israel. Daniel was one of the first among the Jews to be exiled during a time when Israel was at its lowest point, a time of crisis, as King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered and ransacked Jerusalem. Like Daniel and his friends, we are exiles, and we should look to none other than God, who is in control. He will give us the strength to be faithful in this time of crisis. The central theme of Daniel is God’s sovereignty over history and that all kingdoms will culminate in a final kingdom in which God’s faithful ones, through trials, will be raised to glory, honor, and everlasting life.

The Relevance of Daniel

As we consider our own exile as Christians, we would do well to consider what Daniel’s exile meant for him. First, it meant the loss of normal worship. The normal structure of Israel’s worship was completely upended. There was no more Temple worship, no more sacrifices, no more festivals. It was an entirely different world that was spiritually disorienting. As a result, it induced a crisis of faith. While every believer at this time could have imagined a crisis of faith at some point in their lives, none could imagine one such as this. God’s people were conquered, subjugated, and colonized. Why would God allow this to happen? How could He possibly come through? Finally, this new environment was one of immersion in political idolatry. The temptation for God’s people would be either to look at the newly introduced political system and its leaders as a savior, or to despise them as a great enemy to destroy. This was Daniel’s world, and he was thrust into it, as many of us feel today

1. The Temptations We Face In Exile

Before we can grasp how to be to be faithful in exile, we must understand the temptations presented to us in exile. As we look to Daniel, there are two main temptations:

1.) The temptation to assimilate - The pressure for Daniel to assimilate was no small matter. Part of the King’s strategy was to fully assimilate Daniel and his companions into Babylonian culture. The idea was simple but powerful. If leaders or influencers of the Jews could be compromised, then the people would soon follow suit. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself when he resisted the King’s food and wine that was freely offered to him (1:8). This may not seem significant, but it becomes apparent later that Daniel’s greatest contribution to Babylon was his ability to remain distinct from Babylon. Likewise, one of our great temptations today is that of political assimilation. If we do not follow Daniel’s resolve, we are likely to get swept right up into divisive political identities. Though difficult, exile proffers an opportunity for us to extract ourselves from political assimilation and rediscover faithfulness to our one true God and his kingdom.

2.) The temptation to withdraw - If the temptation to assimilate is so strong, then why not withdraw from it all? Many Christians have chosen this path, especially considering the difficulty of integrating faith with culture and politics. But this response is to overlook some important considerations. In fact, Daniel and his friends were some of the best political leaders in Babylon, and this as a result of their diligence as students of Babylonian culture. Could it be possible that being in Babylon was actually the impetus for Daniel’s faith? Sometimes we forget that comfort can prompt us to take things for granted. For Daniel, the solution to the crisis of exile was the opposite of withdrawal. Exile was actually an opportunity to renew and redefine his faith. Christians today can follow this example and better equip themselves to be witnesses to a world that needs the gospel.

2. The Truth We Need In Exile

In the face of such temptation what are we to do? Daniel and his friends give us a simple and subtle truth: God is in control. Even when we can’t see it, feel it, or conceive it, God is at work. Think about it. If there was ever a time where it would seem like God was no longer in control, it was at this moment in Israel’s history. How could God be working while His temple was looted and a pagan king had taken His people from their home and forced them into physical and spiritual bondage? Well three little words show up several times in Daniel chapter 1: “The Lord gave…” It may have seemed that they were solely in the hands of Babylon, but they were not. They were still in the hands of a sovereign God, and He was at work among them like He is today. I know this might be hard to believe, but among everything from a global pandemic to political tension to your own unique situation, God is in control.

3. The Triumph We Can Have (Even) In Exile

The mighty King of Babylon took away generations of hope and faith from the people of God. For him, the loot of Jerusalem was just another set of trophies for his trophy room. But the question remains: Who won? The only reason we know anything at all about King Nebuchadnezzar today is because of we’ve dug up traces of his kingdom from the sand! But verse 21 tells us Daniel outlasted King Nebuchadnezzar and the great Babylonian kingdom! Daniel, the kid who was kidnapped and subjugated, outlived an entire empire by remaining faithful. His faith can be counted a triumph. This triumph is certainly legendary, but it points to one even greater. Jesus Christ of Nazareth held no political office, commanded no army, and conquered no earthly oppressors. Still, he is remembered, cherished, and worshiped by billions throughout history. In his darkest hour he faced a similar exile - one of despair, loneliness, and shame. Yet he cancelled our debt, nailed it to a cross, and he triumphed over rulers and authorities (Col 2:14-15). Jesus won, and this is a victory we can celebrate today. Out of what seemed like the greatest loss (his exile on the cross) came his greatest victory (His triumph over sin, death and evil). As we see in the examples of Jesus and Daniel, may we emulate them in holding firm convictions with soft edges and have faith that triumphs in the face of exile.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message is most relevant to you today? Do you feel impacted by the loss of normal worship, a personal crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and/or the weight of political tension in our culture?

2. Which one of the two temptations do you resonate most with in your own life? Do you give into the pressure to assimilate, or rush to withdraw? Have you ever fluctuated between the two as a result of an experience?

3. Have you ever resolved to “not defile” yourself, like Daniel, in an effort to remain faithful to God? Do you think that Christians can practically apply this principle today?

4. Daniel and his friends found a way to learn Babylonian culture and politics without being indoctrinated by it. Do you think this is an important component of their leadership? Why or why not? What challenges can you think of that would hinder you if you tried to apply this today?

5. Have you ever struggled to understand the sovereignty of God in a tough situation whether recently or in the past? How did that experience shape your faith into what it is today?

6. What is the role of truth in a crisis of faith? Can you think of any other biblical examples of God’s people that remained faithful to the truth while in the face of dire circumstances?

7. Be honest, do you feel more overwhelmed today by circumstances, or by the triumph that we have in Christ? In what ways does this message remind you of Jesus and His gospel message for us?

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Signs of Life - Generosity (May 17, 2020)

1 Timothy 6:7

Introduction: Just as we are now paying very close attention to certain metrics and vital signs of physical health – our temperature, cough, fatigue, 1 Timothy was written to show us what metrics and signs we should be paying attention to for our spiritual health. As we come to the end of Paul’s letter, these last verses give us one final sign of life that wraps up his teaching what spiritual health looks like – Generosity. This passage raises three questions we need to ask ourselves and answer to walk the path toward a life of generosity.

1) Am I Rich?

Paul specifically directs this passage at “those who are rich in the present age”. So our first question must be to ask if his words here even apply to us. For a great many of us, our first reaction is likely to be something along the lines of: “I’m not poor but I’m definitely not rich!”. Similarly for the church in Ephesus, there were some who were poor (such as widows), along with a few who were undeniably wealthy.  The rest, like many of us, likely felt that they were (or wanted to be) somewhere “in the middle”. Paul, however, does not give anyone that option; here (and in many other places in the Bible), we are given a binary option: am I rich?  Or am I poor?.

• The Bible defines a rich person as someone who has more than “enough”. Earlier in 1 Timothy, Paul says “If we have food and [shelter], we will be content with these” (1 Tim 6:8). The implication is that if we have more than these, we are rich!

• For perspective: If you make over $32,400 per year, this puts you in the top 1% of income earners in the world. More than 730 million people in the world live on less than $1.90/day. 800 million+ do not have enough food to survive. Over 1 billion people – no regular access to clean water. This perspective can help push us out of the middle towards one side or another

Why does this matter? Paul forces us to acknowledge this reality so that we can reckon with the 2 major obstacles that keep a rich person from being generous. 

1. Arrogance – While he uses a very strong word here, Paul is simply referring to the idea of status based on what we have.  When our status is tied to money or things, we tend to take credit for having earned it.  Thus it is that much harder to accept if God asks us to give it away

2. False hope – Paul also calls out what we look to for our security, what we count on when we feel anxious or unsure, and what is comforting us when we do feel secure. When our hope for the future is more tied to how much money we have than on God and his character/calling on our lives, we will not be generous

If we don’t believe we are included in verse 17 (that we are rich), we won’t be able to do what is instructed in verse 18 (to be generous).  We must first acknowledge that we are rich before we become generous.  But we also cannot skip over the second part of verse 17 – the part that makes all the difference…

2. Is God Generous?

Paul summarizes the God of the Bible, his true character/heart like this: God is “The one who richly provides us with all things to enjoy” (v17). Underline it. Circle it. That is the God of the Bible. Is that your view of God? There really are only 2 views of God:

1. There is a God - but he isn’t really generous. A god of performance-based religion, which many people mistakenly think the God of Christianity is, can never be described this way. This kind of god is the god who provides exactly what people deserve, what people earn and work for. No more no less. This feeds into arrogance (status – good/bad, deserve/don’t deserve, in/out). We can never be secure with a god whose favor/provision we have to earn and keep. “Religious” people cannot be truly generous - because they don't believe God is truly generous (with a God like this – we get what we deserve, good or bad)

2. God really is the One who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. “Who richly provides” is present tense (He is always the God who richly provides, and always has been – this is Who He Is). Why does he richly provide all things for us? So that we would enjoy them!  Some people seem to be believe that God gave us things to forbid us from enjoying them. No! The word for “enjoy” used by Paul is a very strong word – it means to take great pleasure in something. Hebrews 11:25 also tells us that we don’t get what we deserve, we get far more above and beyond!

If this really is who God is, and if we really believe it, THEN we have everything we need to know in order to be radically generous, to do everything v18 instructs us to do.

To become generous – “to do good, to be rich in good works, share” – is a matter of whether we know God to be this God.  The gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, alone reveals just how generous God really is! If God only gave me what I deserved, I would have nothing because I deserve nothing. Our lives, all we have, all the joy we have experienced in life – it is all a gift from a generous and loving God. We all know it is far easier to be generous to someone who is appreciative than to someone who is entitled and ungrateful – who says, “that’s it?”. But that’s us. The gospel has to get to the root of our arrogance, to make us acknowledge” I deserve nothing”.

In the gospel we have a status and a security that is greater than anything our money/wealth could give us. We are sons/daughters of the generous God who made everything and owns everything. He promises to never withhold anything we need. So is God generous? Far more than we could ask or imagine!

3) What Will Happen if I Generously Give?

If you don’t believe you are in the first verse (rich), you won’t be in the second (generous) and you won’t get what is offered to you in the third (a good foundation and life that is truly life). So what will happen if I generously give?

Here’s that will happen - You will let go of some things and you will give them away. If you are truly generous, it will be HARD, it will feel like sacrifice, but you will take hold of something else. Something else more solid and more real than anything you let go of.

The truth is, to know the answer to this question, you can’t really know until you do it. In a book called the Paradox of Generosity, Notre Dame sociologists Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson share what they call a sociological fact established by their research: “Those who give, receive back in turn…By grasping onto what we currently have, we lose out on better goods that we might have gained.”  In that vein, here are 2 paradoxical applications to consider:

• Giving (generously) fills us when we feel empty. When we are feeling dry, down and like nothing is there spiritually, very often God will become more real and joy will come as we give. To be clear, this is not always the whole picture but it is something we must not overlook as a very effective ‘treatment’ for anxiety, fears, some periods of depression, etc.

• Giving (generously) prepares us for seasons of losing. When our treasures are in heaven, losses of possessions on earth are more easily consoled than when our hopes for this life are wrapped up in these possessions – which can make all the difference in experiencing times of financial uncertainty and even great crisis such as we are now.

• Giving (generously) makes us rich. The truth of v19 is this paradox: “Generosity will always make you richer” in true wealth, in what is truly life. It gives us a truly solid foundation for a future that is secure/stable. And as we share and let go of our things, we enter more and more into, and take hold of, what is truly life. And what is that? It’s the life of God Himself. The Giver. The God who gave everything for us so we might share in this life with Him.

DIAGNOSE – Using the handout diagnose one area God has grown you in generosity and one area where He is calling you to grow?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. Do you believe you are rich? Why or why not? How does the text challenge you in this way

2. Do you (really) believe God is generous? Why or why not? How does the gospel demonstrate the extent of God’s generosity to us?

3. Do you believe what this text says will happen when you are generous? Why or why not? What are your fears? In what ways you have you seen this to be true?

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Signs of Life - Contentment (May 10, 2020)

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Introduction: Just as we are now paying very close attention to certain metrics and vital signs of physical health – our temperature, cough, fatigue, 1 Timothy was written to show us what metrics and signs we should be paying attention to for our spiritual health. In this passage, we get another glimpse into what was going on in this unhealthy church at Ephesus. There were very influential people in the church teaching things that were not in agreement with the sound (ie, “healthy”) teaching of Jesus Christ and with “the teaching that promotes or leads to godliness.” (ie a real/genuine Christian life). Paul teaches Timothy how to tell the difference between a real, growing faith in Jesus and an unhealthy, empty counterfeit – look for contentment.

To start things off, ask yourself a question: How content are you today? This may seem like an unfair question give all we are facing - global pandemic, sheltering in place, job disruption, economic uncertainty and more. But could it be that what we think we need to be content right now is not what we actually need? Before moving on, let’s define Christian contentment:

• Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. (Jeremiah Burroughs)

• Or, paraphrased slightly: a calm, inward satisfaction in what I have been given by God

Coronavirus and Contentment, is this really possible? Paul says it is and shows us how.

1) How to Stay Discontent

Paul begins his instructions to Timothy by showing us how to stay discontent. In verses 3-5, Paul paints a picture of a very unhealthy approach to God that is “out of agreement” with the sound “healthy” teaching about Jesus Christ. He lists out the symptoms of this spiritual disease: being conceited, having an unhealthy interest in arguing (controversy), envy, quarrelling, slander, suspicion (thinking the worst of people), constant disagreement, etc (v.4).  Next, he reveals in where this pride/relational unhealthiness comes from – a discontentment which is rooted in a false belief about God and godliness.

• The false belief is “imagining that godliness is a way to gain.” [The key words are “a way to” (also translated “a means to”]

Paul exposes the belief at root cause of all this unhealth – It is thinking that our relationship to God, and our obedience to Him, is a means to something else; that we hope to gain/receive from Him in return for what we do for Him. This is living for God to get from God, which is in direct opposition to the belief at the heart of Christianity – that we live for God for God.

Paul then shows us how our false beliefs about God are very closely connected to our false beliefs about money. He doesn’t not say that money is evil or that material things are bad. He does say the love of money (v10) and desire to be rich (v9) is what lies at the root of our discontent.

But what drives a love of money and a desire to be rich? It’s the hope of having the power to control our circumstances. It’s the belief that these circumstances will lead to contentment.  When we look to money for the power to control our circumstances, that is when money becomes a substitute for God (an idol).  This is why Jesus said it is impossible to serve both God and money.

At any point in our lives (and possibly even more so in this current economic moment), we can be tempted into using God to get the circumstances that we want or to look to money as a god to protect or change our circumstances.  Here’s Paul’s message - looking to our circumstances for contentment is a sure-fire way to stay discontent

2) How to be Content

Christian contentment is not a matter of changing our circumstances or somehow ignoring or detaching from the reality of hard circumstances, it is a matter of becoming more aware of all we already have been given in Christ by grace in any circumstance.

• This is what Paul is saying in verse 6 ,“godliness with contentment is great gain”. A genuine, living and growing relationship with God through Christ is not a means to something else, it IS great gain itself. This is the secret to contentment

It is easy to fall into the trap of interpreting God through our circumstances. If things aren’t working out for us, we think how could He be loving and good? But we must learn to interpret our circumstances through God and the “teaching of Jesus Christ” (the gospel).

• In the cross of Christ, we see the hard truth about the circumstances we really deserve because of our sin. Jesus took these circumstances we deserve in order to give us what we really need. Himself. In the cross we also see God’s mysterious wisdom - He was able to take the worst possible circumstances and work the best possible circumstances from it

If God would do this for us, we can learn to trust that, “Everything is needful that He sends; nothing can be needful that He withholds.” (John Newton). When we interpret our circumstances through the lens of gospel/grace, we are able to accept the two hard facts about life that lead to true contentment.

1. The difference between what lasts and what doesn’t (v7). We are born with nothing and we die with nothing. All our circumstances in this life are temporary – but God promises to “never leave nor forsake us”.

2. The difference between what we need and what we want (v8). There is much God gives us that we don’t truly need – Paul says we receive all of it with thanksgiving and enjoy it but realize that these things will never make us content. Just the basics are enough

3) How to Stay Content

Contentment is not something we achieve once and never lose – it requires constant attention and monitoring to avoid the temptation of falling into discontent.  Discontent, when left undetected and untreated, is a serious disease of the soul that does leads to ruin and destruction.  To stay content, we need to take a few preventive measures: .

Resist misunderstanding.  Contentment does not mean:

• We do not feel or acknowledge difficult emotions (ie Stoicism)

• We do not pursue change and growth, or even changes in our circumstances – but we act from a place of contentment in our identity in Christ, even when things don’t change.

• We do not cry out to God in our adversity and suffering asking Him to help and change things

• We simply accept injustice. Instead we seek “His kingdom come” while praying “His will be done”

Receive the gift of less - There are all kinds of things that we’ve had to cut back on or no longer have.  Thomas Watson writes “Be content; if God dams up our outward comforts—it is that the stream of our love may run faster to Him!”. Sometimes we learn contentment in seasons of want.

Receive the gift of limits - Most of us imagine contentment outside of our current situation with all its commitments and restraints. But Christian contentment teaches us that what God wants to give us in our real and current circumstances with all its limitations is far better than what we could ever find in our imagined circumstances. It is in our current life circumstances with our limits where we will find God Himself, the only source of true contentment.

There is a rich spirituality in these principles: Stay inside your commitments, be faithful, your place of work is a seminary, your work is a sacrament, your family is a monastery, your home is a sanctuary. Stay inside them, don’t betray them, learn what they are teaching you without constantly looking for life elsewhere and without constantly believing God is elsewhere. 

Ronald Rolheiser, Domestic Monastery

DIAGNOSE – Using the definition of contentment above, how content are you? Give yourself an honest rating on a scale of 1-10?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. How do you fall into the false belief at the root of discontentment?

3. Answer this question – What one thing do you believe that – if you had it or if it happened – would make you truly content?

4. Does your own relationship to money reveal a tendency toward idolatry?– ie making money your god to give you the circumstances you believe will make you content?

5. Do you find yourself interpreting God through your circumstances? How so? What would it look like to interpret your current circumstances through the truth about God and what he has done for you in Christ?

6. How does the gospel help us trust the love and wisdom of God when we struggle through unwanted and difficult circumstances?

7. How can receiving the gifts of less and limits lead us into true contentment? Is there a way God is teaching you this now?

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Signs of Life - Fight the Good Fight (May 3, 2020)

1 Timothy 6:11-16

Introduction: 1 Timothy is a short letter from an older, seasoned pastor (the apostle Paul) to his young co-worker named Timothy. Paul is guiding Timothy in the signs of a healthy church. The church in Ephesus, where Timothy was a pastor, had been exposed to leaders and influencers who were spiritually unhealthy. Paul is providing the cure for this malady. Central to this spiritual malady was false doctrine. People within the church were promoting false teaching that was unhealthy. And it’s unhealthy because it’s not true. In this passage, Paul gives a surprising and counter-intuitive metric of a healthy church: a healthy church – and a healthy Christian – is marked by an intense struggle to preserve the truth of the gospel even at great personal risk. Healthy Christianity engages in the good fight.

Question 1: What’s the fight?

If you’re conflict-avoidant, you and Timothy probably shared the same Enneagram type. If you find this metric of spiritual health questionable, Timothy probably shared the same feeling. By his culture’s standards, Timothy was considered young in a time when youth wasn’t an asset. From evidence in the New Testament, we also discover that Timothy was mostly inexperienced, very shy, and suffered from some kind of physical disorder. Timothy wasn’t looking for a fight. But Paul says he needs to engage in a fight. What’s the fight?

There is always a fight against doubt and unbelief, but that’s not what Paul is talking about in 1 Tim 6:12. Paul is empowering Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith; fight the fight to preserve, uphold, and guard the apostolic faith. Fight to guard the gospel. In fact, this theme of preserving sound doctrine, true teaching, the truth is central to the theme of 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy 1:18-19, Paul had instructed Timothy to wage the good warfare. In 2 Timothy 4, Paul, in his swansong, says: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

Mixing both athletic and military metaphors, Paul is saying there’s a fight, a wrestling match, a race to uphold the good news about Jesus. There’s a lot of implications of that. But at the very least we can say that Paul is inviting us not to preserve a religious principle, a philosophical idea, a rule of life, or voting bloc, but preserve the good news about a Person: Jesus of Nazareth. It means Christianity is not about a religious idea or political agenda, but a person who is at the center of reality.

This is crucial for Paul and New Testament Christianity because what a church believes shapes how it lives. As Dorothy Sayers wrote, “It is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is a lie to say that [doctrine] does not matter; it matters enormously.” Christianity makes claims about facts. Facts about reality. Facts about your life. Facts about Jesus. Getting to know him and how he relates to all things matters.

But there’s always a risk. If Christianity is true, then there are things we need to flee and things we need to pursue. For Timothy, who was naturally conflict-avoidant, Paul is showing him how to wage the good warfare. This would require a cost for Timothy. There was something in Timothy that needed to die so that Christ could work in him the courage and confidence to guard the gospel against influential false teachers

Question 2: Where’s the power for the fight?

For Paul, the power and resources to nobly fight the good fight came from three places.

First, Timothy (and all of us) have tremendous resources in the presence of many witnesses – the church. Timothy is exhorted to “take hold of the eternal life” to which he was called in the presence of many witnesses. Scholars debate whether this refers to Timothy’s ordination as a pastor or his baptism as a Christian. Perhaps baptism is what Paul is referring to. Baptism is the sign and seal of God that he gives his free grace and eternal life to those who trust in Jesus. So Paul is reminding Timothy to remember – to appropriate – his baptism in a new way. This is what preaching and the sacraments are designed to do: beat into your head and heart who Jesus is, who you are in Christ, what you possess in Christ, and what your future is in Christ. Don’t neglect this powerful resource.

Second, there’s power in the presence of the God who gives life to all. Notice that in vv. 15-16 Paul piles on the theological doctrine. God is invincible – He’s the Sovereign. He’s also the immortal one. And the invisible one. Theology matters. Paul is communicating truths to both Timothy’s head and heart. We have a God who has within himself all the resources we need for any situation in life. While the nature of our sin, sorrows, and weaknesses are complex, one thing is true: in moments of sin, anxiety, rage, selfishness, fear and failure, we are forgetting, neglecting, or subconsciously denying something about who God is.

Third, there’s a deep power and resource in Jesus Christ who made the good confession. The confession that Paul is referring to in v. 14 could mean Jesus’ words before Pilate. But it also could refer to Jesus’ voluntary death on a cross. The language could also be translated “in the days of Pontius Pilate,” and so it bears some similarity to the line in the Apostles’ Creed that says: Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Jesus ultimately suffered under Pontius Pilate on the cross. But that’s not all it was. The voluntary, substitutionary death of Jesus was a confession – a good confession – heralded across the world that God loves us. That God smiles on us. That God delights in us. Paul calling Timothy to risk his life for the truth that God loves us. But Jesus gave his life to confirm the truth that God loves us. So one old theologian said: “Whenever our hearts waver, let us remember that we should always go to the death of Christ for confirmation.”

DIAGNOSE – Where in your own heart do you find you are struggling to preserve the truth of the Gospel? What about in this cultural moment – in what ways are you seeing the truth about Jesus sidelined, marginalized, or denied?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. Are you conflict-avoidant or do you find that you thrive in conflict? Share how this passage challenged either of these tendencies in your own life. What resources did you find?

3. Paul is writing to a pastor, but the implications are for every Christian. In what ways is it everyone’s responsibility to guard the gospel? What does that look like in your life, in a church, in society to “fight the good fight?”

4. Dorothy Sayers said that doctrine matters enormously. What theological truths have been impacting your life in this season?

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Signs of Life - Care For Those In Need (Apr 26, 2020)

1 Timothy 5:1-8

Introduction: Just as we are all paying very close attention to metrics of health (such as positive tests, deaths, the shape of the curve) in the COVID-19 pandemic, the book of 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to help Timothy bring a spiritually unhealthy church back to health again. Even though so much has changed in our world, the signs of a vibrant, growing, healthy faith have not – they hold true no matter the circumstances. The sign of life that is at the heart of this passage (and so many others in the Bible) is caring for those in need.

Caring for those in need has always been - and will become even more so in the days ahead – one of the most important, crucial signs of life for every follower of Jesus and every faithful Church. This passage provides us with the necessary steps to becoming people who truly care for those in need

Step One - Identify Those in Need

At this point in our health crisis, it is clear that many people are in great need right now. There will also be a tidal wave of needs following in the wake of the pandemic and quarantine. Before we can offer care or help, we have to first identify those in need. As obvious has this may seem, one of the hardest and most persistent barriers between those who have help to give and those who need that help, is that oftentimes the those who have help to give don’t really see those who need help.

In this passage, Paul identifies widows in the church as a group in need of special attention and care. Paul is telling Timothy to carry on a ministry that started at the very beginning of the Christian church. Acts 6 tells us about how the early church had overlooked a group of widows in need and how they stopped everything until they found a way to care for them.  Throughout the Bible widows are identified over and over by God as those in need of special attention and care. Why? Because they were so often overlooked, unidentified, and unseen by people. Widows were among the most vulnerable and voiceless in the ancient world.

What can we learn about how God identifies widows for his people - over and over again? Although human beings may forget and overlook the vulnerable and voiceless, God does not. He sees them, identifies with them and tells his people to do the same. Paul is telling Timothy to identify those widows who are “genuinely in need” (v.3) and “truly in need” (v.5 and v.16 later on) to care for them. He is saying they must be seen and never overlooked.   Christians must do the same for the vulnerable and voices in our communities today.

Step Two - Value Those in Need

In the ancient world, not only were widows vulnerable and voiceless, they were not valued. For women at this time, their value and status was tied to their husband. When a husband died, a women’s worth and value died too. But Paul says this should never be the case in the family and household of God. In fact, the Bible teaches throughout that widows are valuable in and of themselves - they have value independent of their relationship to a man (a radical idea in that time).

In fact, the text goes on to talk about “enrolling widows on a list” using the same word that was used for military enlistment. From the earliest days of the church this was interpreted as creating an official position of ministry. Early letters described elders, bishops, deacons and “an order of widows”. This order of widows provided a valuable ministry of prayer and care for others in need.  

The step of valuing those in need is a step we cannot pass over. We are often guilty of helping someone in need from a sense of superiority or paternalism. This is not the kind of care the Bible calls us to. God is called the “Champion of the widow” (Psa 68:5). God champions those who are not valued; those who are forgotten or cast off. He champions their need, but he also champions their value – what they have to give We cannot jump from seeing the need to simply meeting the need. If we are to care for those in need the way this text and the rest of the Bible calls us to, we must value the person in need, as a family member, a friend and an equal.

Step Three - Provide for Those in Need

God calls His people to give both presence and provision to those in need. Paul’s focus here is on providing for the physical and financial needs of those in distress. Notice how God answers the prayers of the lonely widow who prayers day and night to God for provision. He answers their prayers through his people, the church. The ministry of provision is described using the language of worship as a sacred duty. It is a matter of “godliness”. It is pleasing to God. Our genuine worship of God can never be separated from our practical care for people (see James 1:27!)

In this time of uncertainty with all things we are facing ourselves, how can we look outside ourselves? The answer is the Gospel. The gospel is the good news that God first identified our great need, and because He so valued us (“for God so loved the world), He provided for our need (that He gave His only begotten Son). So when the Christian sees someone in need, we shouldn’t first see someone who needs our help - we should see ourselves. We should remember that we were (and are) poor and so needy, that we valued despite our poverty such that all our needs were provided for by the One who became poor for us. The gospel reminds us everything we have – we didn’t earn and we don’t deserve. It’s all a gift from God to the poor and needy (me!). The gospel reminds us any care we give – we give as those in need ourselves.

Such a gospel mindset was behind the care the early Christians gave that extended through plague and disease. In the words of Carl F Henry, “The early Christians did not say “Look what the world is coming to!” [and retreat into fear or judgment]; they said “Look what has come into the world!” [which they displayed by sacrificial care].

DIAGNOSE – How ready to you feel to begin thinking outside of yourself to those who are (and will be) in need because of this pandemic?

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. What is hardest for you in identifying those truly in need? Why do you think it so hard for those who “have” to see and identify the “have-not’s”. Who would you identify as the most vulnerable and voiceless in our community?

3. What is hardest for you in valuing those in need? Do you tend to think those in need should help themselves? or that they need your help?

4. Mother Teresa was fond of saying, “We need the poor more than the poor need us”.  What do you think she meant by this?

5. What about the Christian faith requires that we care for people as whole and embodied people?

6. How does the gospel provide the motivation for us to move toward people in need?

7. How can Martin Luther’s advice from  letter he wrote about how to respond to a plague in 16th century guide us in caring for people in our situation? “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Where can we start? 

• Start with your own family.  God is pleased with those who are caring for parents and grandparents both now and in “normal” times (see v.2 and v.8)

• Opportunities also exist within our church – TrinityCares is our ministry for physical care and needs, so if you want to be involved, please contact responseteam@trintypresoc.org. On the other side, if you have needs or know of needs, please get in touch! Help us in the task of identifying specific needs.

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