Sermon Tone Analysis

“If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them.

Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.”

[1]

The Apostle admonished Timothy to instruct the congregation that they must assume responsibility for their own families.

When the families of members of the assembly have been cared for, the congregation must then take care to ensure that any members who may have fallen through the cracks are provided for.

This was a major advance in the social ministry of the apostolic churches.

It freed up the resources of the congregation to serve even more people and encouraged family responsibility to act christianly before the watching world.

As we have seen, the early congregations did not attempt to choose between evangelism and social ministries.

For them, it was a case of “both/and”; these first saints understood that they were responsible to care for the vulnerable within the assembly and they were responsible to evangelise the lost.

Churches today that list to one extreme or the other are distorting the teaching of the Word.

We are to warn the lost of God’s coming judgement, pointing them to the safety of the Cross of Christ.

At the same time, we are responsible to serve the needs of those whom God brings to us.

This is clearly taught in these Pastoral Letters.

The message today concludes our studies of Paul’s instructions concerning care of the vulnerable in the assembly.

*OBSERVATIONS* — In a previous message, I observed that the instructions Paul provides are notable for what is said about women.

[2] Speaking of younger widows, Paul said, “I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander” [1 TIMOTHY 5:14].

Speaking of a woman managing her household, the Apostle makes a remarkable statement for that ancient day, and perhaps even for this day.

In that culture, women were to be quiet and to have no role other than bearing children.

However, the Apostle used a powerful term that literally means that a woman is to rule over her house.

The word that the Apostle used (oikodespoteîn) is a hapax legomenon—a word found only here and in no other place in the New Testament.

This is a compound word comprised of the words “house” (oîkos) and “rule” (despotéō).

Paul had earlier used the word “house” to describe an elder who manages his own household well [1 TIMOTHY 3:4] as an indication that he is fit to lead the congregation.

The same concept is used to speak of a deacon [1 TIMOTHY 3:12] who is to manage his or her own household well.

The same word also refers to “the household of God” [1 TIMOTHY 3:15].

The word “rule” is the word from which our English terms “despot” and “despotism” are derived.

The nominal form of the word is used to refer to the master of a slave [1 TIMOTHY 6:1, 2; TITUS 2:9] and of God as “Master” over His servants [2 TIMOTHY 2:21].

After being threatened by the Jewish Council, Peter and John returned to their fellow believers, which became the occasion for a prayer meeting.

As they began to pray, they addressed God as “Sovereign Lord.”

The word was this same cognate form of the word “despotéō” (despótēs).

In the Gospels, the ruler of the household is always a male.

Consider a few examples that are witnessed in the parables Jesus told.

“The servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have weeds’” [MATTHEW 13:27]?

Again, Jesus told another parable centred on an individual who was master of a house.

“There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country” [MATTHEW 21:33].

Permit me to cite one final example in evidence of the contention that one who was “masters of the house” was presented as a male.

When Jesus provided instructions to the disciples who were dispatched to secure a place to observe the final Passover Meal, He stated, “Wherever [the man carrying a water pot] enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples’” [MARK 14:14]?

Throughout the ancient world, men functioned in this role.

I must wonder whether Paul’s statement was seen as controversial; I can only assume that such was the case.

As Canon Liddon has observed, “The application of such a word to a Christian wife implies the new and improved position which was secured to women by the Gospel.”

[3] Paul’s word choice was either a faux pas, meant to be deliberately provocative or it was indicative that a new freedom, a new reality held sway among the saints.

The very fact that this must be discussed in this day reveals how dysfunctional the churches have become.

Women were discriminated against; but today they are combative in asserting their right to assume positions of what they construe as power among the faithful.

Too often, the churches have become reactionary rather than responsible in the sexual arena.

It is important for us to note the role of a woman within her own household.

It is not that women never assumed responsibility over their household; it is only that such roles were so rare as to be exceptional.

That the Apostle makes it normative for Christian households is the exceptional aspect arising out of this one verse.

To be certain, some examples of women who appear to have exercised rule over their household are found in Scripture.

Among the notable examples of such women is a gracious lady named Lydia.

You will recall that she was the first convert in Europe.

The account of her conversion is recorded in Doctor Luke’s account of the advance of the Faith in the first decades following Pentecost.

“Setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city some days.

And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’

And she prevailed upon us” [ACTS 16:11-15].

Here was a woman who met with other women for prayer.

Note that there were no men present; so Lydia appears to have been instrumental in gathering women to pray to the Lord God.

She was obviously influential over her household as the entire household followed her in baptism.

Perhaps there were children, but assuredly the wording implies there were servants.

After James was executed by Herod’s order, Peter was also arrested.

You will recall that God sent an angel to release Peter from prison [see ACTS 12:1-11].

When Peter realised he was freed from what appeared to be a certain death, he made his way to “the house of Mary, the mother of John whose name was Mark” where many saints were gathered for a prayer meeting [ACTS 12:12].

Mary had sufficient freedom to have a house that was large enough to gather a number of people.

It is assumed that her husband had died, leaving her a house and the means to run the house.

Mary appears to have revealed a generous heart, opening her house to the saints so that they might have a place to worship and pray.

I am compelled to stress that in the Faith of Christ the Lord there is great freedom for all.

However, this freedom is not always recognised by those who profess the Name of the Master.

The freedom we enjoy in Christ carries great responsibility for those who are called by His Name.

Assuredly, freedom for women is evident in the Faith of Christ Jesus.

Historically, women were either excluded or they were used as living accoutrements in the ancient religions, they were not accepted as participants.

That view changed with the ministry of the Master.

Women were accepted as full participants in the worship of the Christ.

This becomes evident from Paul’s statement to the Galatians.

“Before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” [GALATIANS 3:23-29].

Again, because of pugnacious positions marked out in this modern age, it is necessary to note what Paul said and what he did not say.

Paul did not say that anyone is superior in Christ or that anyone is inferior in Christ—we are alike sinners saved by grace.

Paul did say that all who are baptised into Christ have put on Christ; the redeemed are identified as belonging to Christ—in fact, identified with Christ.

The emphasis in Paul’s statement is not on relationship, however, but upon inheritance.

That is the reason Paul writes “you are all sons of God, through faith.”

Yes, ladies, you are “sons of God.”

The reason this statement must not be rewritten to suit modern sensibilities is that in that ancient day only sons could receive an inheritance; and the emphasis is upon the inheritance we believers receive in Christ the Lord.

Therefore, “in Christ” you are all “sons of God”—you have a divine inheritance.

One other matter of importance must be considered at the outset of the message—the instruction is restricted to believing women.

Paul makes no statement concerning society; his concern is for the conduct of believers in the congregation of the righteous.

It is a principle of the Faith that we do not dictate to the world how it should live.

We are, however, responsible to reflect the righteousness of God in our own conduct before the eyes of the watching world.

Is this not the impact of his statement to the Corinthian Christians when he writes, “What have I to do with judging outsiders?

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

God judges those outside.

‘Purge the evil person from among you’” [1 CORINTHIANS 5:12, 13].

Again, this accounts for Peter’s admonition to believers in the Diaspora.

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” [1 PETER 2:12].

The verses following and the next chapter give specific examples of how believers should live in order to glorify the Lord.