Caring For Widows Series

Introduction:

A. Once there was an elderly widow who had recently married a 4th husband.

1. A reporter saw the wedding announcement and was interested in her story, so she interviewed her.

2. The reporter asked her about the occupation of her newly acquired husband and she replied that he owned a funeral home.

3. Curious about her previous husbands who had died, the reporter also asked about their occupations.

4. The woman explained that her first husband was a banker, her second was a circus ringmaster, and her third husband was a minister.

5. The reporter said, “None of those people have anything in common! Why did you marry those men with very different occupations?”

6. The woman matter-of-factly said, “I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.”

B. You might be surprised to know that the Bible actually has a lot to say about caring for widows.

1. I love the story from 2 Kings 4 about a widow who had been married to a prophet.

2. We are not told how the widow’s husband had died, but when he died, he owed money, and his poor widow inherited the debt.

3. So the creditor had come to collect her only valuables which happened to be her two sons.

4. The creditor would keep them as slaves or sell them on the slave market.

5. The widow didn’t know what to do, she didn’t want to lose her sons, but she didn’t have any other way to pay her debt.

6. In desperation, she sought help from the man of God named Elisha.

7. Elisha asked her, “What else do you have in the house?” “Nothing but a jar of oil,” she replied.

8. He told her to go, collect all the empty jars she could, and fill them all from the one jar of oil she had.

9. So the women and her sons blanketed the neighborhood and borrowed every pot, jar, and bowl not in use at that moment.

10. They lined them all up; then they poured…and poured…and poured, until every container was filled.

11. The widow returned to Elisha and he told her: “Now go sell the oil and pay your debt, then you and your sons can live on the rest.”

12. The widow did as she was told, and was blessed by God’s provision through the prophet Elisha.

C. So we see through that story and many other verses of Scripture that widows have a special place in God’s heart.

1. God not only has a special place in his heart for widows, but God holds accountable those who neglect or take advantage of widows.

2. Moses received the 10 Commandments and the rest of the Law of God which includes these words: “You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.” (Ex. 22:22-24)

a. I would call that a harsh warning, wouldn’t you?

b. Basically God said: “Don’t mess with widows or orphans, or I will mess with you!”

3. Through the prophets, God often expressed concern for widows, like this passage from Isaiah 1:17; “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right. Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

4. When we turn to the New Testament, we notice in Acts 6 that concern for widows was one of the first organized ministries of the church.

a. Some widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food and so a new ministry was put in place to meet that need.

5. When James wrote his practical letter, he clarified what Christians should be doing with these words: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

6. So we see that the simplest and purest form of godliness is to protect and provide for the vulnerable and defenseless – which include widows and orphans.

D. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us that when Paul wrote to Timothy to give him practical instructions about ministering to different groups in the church, that instructions about widows would be included.

1. Last week, we looked at Paul’s instructions about how to treat older and younger men, and older and younger women, and how to treat worthy elders and sinning elders.

2. Today, we want to explore Paul’s instruction about taking care of widows.

I. First, Let’s Make Some General Observations

A. Although concern for widows is scattered throughout the Bible, there is no more extensive chunk of Scripture devoted to the topic of widows than we find right here in 1 Timothy 5:3-16.