Relationships are where faith is lived out. It’s all well and fine to talk about what we believe and what a person should do, but when you’re standing there with someone is when we actually do. Paul tells us here to be aware of those relationships in life. Think about how we treat people.
Respect your elders. There’s nothing new here. This takes us back to the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and mother.” Luther writes, “What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” The wisdom that has been gained by the godly is a blessing to the next generation. This doesn’t mean that those who are older are always right, but they deserve respect.
“Treat younger men like brothers.” What do you do for younger brothers? (Okay, what should you do for younger brothers?) Encourage them. Show them what is right. Set a good example for them. Don’t make their lives miserable by bossing them around and beating them up, but help them grow up into the people God created them to be.
“Younger women like sisters, in all purity.” There is an important warning here as we deal with the opposite sex. God desires us to lead sexually pure and decent lives. We must take care to not allow our emotions to confuse us into thinking that the affection we have for our brothers and sisters in Christ is anything more than that – a loving care for their well being because they have been caringly loved by Christ, just as we have.
The stuff here about widows is a little foreign to us in the West. Remember that at the time women were almost entirely dependent upon men for their lives. Very few women worked outside of the home, and not many made enough to live on. So when women were widowed, someone needed to take care of them. He’s simply saying, “Take care of your family.”
There is also recognition here that the church only has the resources that the people of God provide for it. Pragmatically, we want to use those resources wisely to help those who are really in need and to reach people with the gospel. Today widows are generally provided for through pensions, Social Security and the like. Those things didn’t exist then.
Paul then comes back to, “Respect your elders,” but in a different tone. Earlier he was speaking in terms of age, now he speaks in terms of the leaders of the church. He doesn’t say that those of us who hold the office of pastor get a pass. In fact we are held to a higher standard because of the public nature of our work.
Why does Paul go through all of this? Is this just good advice for how to behave? No, there’s more to it than that. In fact as we roll into chapter 6, the first two-and-a-half verses really fit with what we just read as he talks about the relationship of slave and master, which today would be employee and employer. We want our behavior to display godliness, “so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.” We want our lives to honor God and to display that this teaching of the gospel is true. We are, once again, the display of what God’s grace does in our lives so that people can know the power of Christ’s cross in their lives.
Heavenly Father, thank you for displaying your forgiveness and grace in my life. Forgive me, please, for when I’ve not displayed that same grace to others. Strengthen me by the Holy Spirit to keep Jesus’ forgiveness as the hallmark of my life, and use me and my relationships today to show someone the amazingness of your grace. For Jesus sake. Amen.
Respect your elders. There’s nothing new here. This takes us back to the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and mother.” Luther writes, “What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” The wisdom that has been gained by the godly is a blessing to the next generation. This doesn’t mean that those who are older are always right, but they deserve respect.
“Treat younger men like brothers.” What do you do for younger brothers? (Okay, what should you do for younger brothers?) Encourage them. Show them what is right. Set a good example for them. Don’t make their lives miserable by bossing them around and beating them up, but help them grow up into the people God created them to be.
“Younger women like sisters, in all purity.” There is an important warning here as we deal with the opposite sex. God desires us to lead sexually pure and decent lives. We must take care to not allow our emotions to confuse us into thinking that the affection we have for our brothers and sisters in Christ is anything more than that – a loving care for their well being because they have been caringly loved by Christ, just as we have.
The stuff here about widows is a little foreign to us in the West. Remember that at the time women were almost entirely dependent upon men for their lives. Very few women worked outside of the home, and not many made enough to live on. So when women were widowed, someone needed to take care of them. He’s simply saying, “Take care of your family.”
There is also recognition here that the church only has the resources that the people of God provide for it. Pragmatically, we want to use those resources wisely to help those who are really in need and to reach people with the gospel. Today widows are generally provided for through pensions, Social Security and the like. Those things didn’t exist then.
Paul then comes back to, “Respect your elders,” but in a different tone. Earlier he was speaking in terms of age, now he speaks in terms of the leaders of the church. He doesn’t say that those of us who hold the office of pastor get a pass. In fact we are held to a higher standard because of the public nature of our work.
Why does Paul go through all of this? Is this just good advice for how to behave? No, there’s more to it than that. In fact as we roll into chapter 6, the first two-and-a-half verses really fit with what we just read as he talks about the relationship of slave and master, which today would be employee and employer. We want our behavior to display godliness, “so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.” We want our lives to honor God and to display that this teaching of the gospel is true. We are, once again, the display of what God’s grace does in our lives so that people can know the power of Christ’s cross in their lives.
Heavenly Father, thank you for displaying your forgiveness and grace in my life. Forgive me, please, for when I’ve not displayed that same grace to others. Strengthen me by the Holy Spirit to keep Jesus’ forgiveness as the hallmark of my life, and use me and my relationships today to show someone the amazingness of your grace. For Jesus sake. Amen.
Comments