So, how is the Church called to care for the poor? In today’s world this is not an academic question, and it wasn’t for Paul and Timothy either. In their time, women didn’t have many vocational options, so when their husbands died, their incomes often died as well. Widows and orphans, those who had no adult man to provide for them, were thus the most vulnerable members of ancient society.

We live in different times. Today, there are more women in college than men. They serve in the military, and hold office as judges, senators and governors – in fact, so great is his respect for the Vice President that President Biden has insisted that reporters refer only to the “Biden-Harris administration.”

But Paul’s advice to Timothy on how to care for widows does give us some clues as to how the Church should care for the most vulnerable of our own society. Notice, for example, that he expects families to form the front line of care for the needy, going so far as to say that someone who refuses to care for his family members “has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (v. 5).

And we cannot doubt that following this advice would go a long way toward solving even the worst generational poverty in America. For the biggest single reason children are poor today isn’t their race or their parents’ educational level or income – it’s because they don’t live with the mother and father who gave them birth. And not living with married parents also turns out to be the main reason children get into so many other social problems, from illicit drug use to dropping out of school to teen pregnancy.

So, what if everyone were to follow Paul’s advice, and were to take personal responsibility for their husbands and wives, parents and children? What would happen to our welfare rolls, to our juvenile detention centers, to our nursing homes if we all just treated our families the way Jesus treated us – dying to self and living for the good of others?

We’ll never know until we put Paul’s words into practice in each of our own families. Will we do that today?

I Timothy 5:1-25 (ESV)

Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,
2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
3 Honor widows who are truly widows.
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
5 She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,
6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach.
8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,
10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry
12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.
13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.
14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.
15 For some have already strayed after Satan.
16 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.
17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.
22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.
25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.