This week’s passage begins a section on family responsibilities. Paul starts off with some instruction concerning widows and their families.

Take a look at these verses in 1 Timothy 5:3-4:

In this passage, and the following verses, we see an issue that Paul and Timothy were faced with in the first century. But we see an issue that we continue to face in the twenty-first century as well.

This is the issue of caring for those in need. In this particular passage, the people in question are widows.

Paul’s initial instruction is to care for widows. But he then immediately qualifies that statement with the phrase “who are really in need.”

Paul’s intent here is not to make less of anyone who has lost their husband (or wife), but to place the responsibility of care in the proper perspective. In particular, Paul is referring to those who have no one to help care for them. This indicates a widow who has been left alone, and has material needs that are not being met.

This is an issue that the church has faced since its earliest days. The question of caring for widows was first raised in Acts 6, and has been a pressing need throughout the intervening centuries, and still is today.

But Paul is clear that there is a “pecking order” for the responsibility to care for widows. Timothy is instructed to lead the church in Ephesus to help those who have needs, and have no one to help meet them. However, if a widow has family available, the first responsibility is theirs. They are to “put their religion into practice” and provide care and assistance to their parents or grandparents. This bears a strong similarity to James’ injunction to care for widows and orphans, found in James 1:26-27.

Paul indicates that those who have family who can help, as stated in this passage, or those who are younger and can remarry, as seen in verses 11-15, are to be a lower priority than those who have no help at all. It’s not that Paul cares less for these other widows, but he sees that the church has limited resources available, and must help where help is needed most.

Over the next few weeks, we will take a close look at Paul’s teaching concerning widows. He devotes more time and words to this group of people than any other in the final two chapters of 1 Timothy. That gives some indication of the weightiness of the matter.

Just as in Paul and Timothy’s day, widows are found throughout our churches. And just as Paul stated, there are various levels of need among them. Our role, in the church today, is to help meet those needs. But we are also called to instruct the church in the realm of family responsibility. Our elderly are not second class citizens, to be relegated to the care of the church or a nursing home. They are to be treated with respect and honor for the effort and work put into raising their children and grandchildren.

This respect and honor is due because they are worth it. But it’s also due because is pleases God.

What more can we say?

How does your church approach caring for widows or others in need? How do you help in this? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.