After we've listened to God's word proclaimed from 1 Timothy 5, we will sing in response Psalm 146, the stanzas 4 and 5. Beloved brothers and sisters congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ, on Ordination Sunday, we thank the Lord for his grace in giving office bearers to the Church, to teach us, to lead us, to admonish us, to help us. And of course, we pray also for God's blessing on the office bearers as they begin a task that is a joyful one, but can also be difficult. But one of the dangers of having office bearers, perhaps, is that we assume that they are here to do the main work in the church. That regular church members are just consumers. We come to church, receive the preaching and strengthening, and go on our way. That's the era of the Roman Catholic Church, which teaches that the clergy is the really important part of the church. It's a danger in many large mega churches where people are not really members, not really known to each other, but they come to church for worship and leave. God has certainly put office bearers in place to guide and help the members, but he has also given his Holy Spirit to each one of us. And he's given each of us spiritual gifts that we must use for the benefit and well-being of other members. Romans 12 says we are all one body and individually members of one another. Ephesians 4 says that he gave pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the church. So this afternoon, we read the Lord's instructions through Paul to Pastor Timothy. We will see that they apply to the work of all the elders and deacons, but we'll also see that they apply to each one of us, and they teach us all how we are to care for each other in the congregation. And so that's our theme for this morning's sermon, as office bearers and congregation, we care for one another. And we'll see three things, how we practice pastoral care, that's from verses 1 and 2 of our text, then how we practice financial care from the main section of our text, 3 to 16, and then we'll see how we practice office bearer care, that's verses 17 through 20. So firstly, how we practice pastoral care. Verse 1 begins, do not rebuke an older man. And these, if you think about it, are odd words to say to a pastor. It's as if senior members of the church are beyond the rebuke of the consistory. As soon as you get to a certain age, nobody can tell you what to do anymore. That is sometimes how people think or act, but it is not actually true. And in fact, we know that because the rest of the verse extends these instructions to older women and also younger men and younger women. In other words, everyone in the church. So is Pastor Timothy then not allowed to rebuke anyone? And if so, how can he actually practice pastoral care and church discipline? But the specific word rebuke here actually means to rebuke harshly, to rebuke sharply. And commentators refer back a few verses to chapter 4, verse 11 and 12, where Timothy is given authority by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul to lead and to command others. And then we're also reminded that he's a very young pastor. It says, do not let anyone despise you for your youth. And so, Timothy, as a very young pastor, it might be easy for him to get the wrong idea about what leadership looks like. Timothy is a reminder, as a bit of an aside, that elders do not need to be physically old. Because Timothy himself was an elder, a preaching and teaching elder, as verse 17 puts it, even though he was young. But he was an elder, not because he was mature in years, but he was mature in the faith. And Timothy, even at a young age, could be mature in the faith because he was raised in the faith. He was taught the faith from a very young age by his mother and grandmother, and the Lord blessed him with spiritual maturity. And so many elders are older men, but particularly those who are raised in the faith can be elders, even while relatively young, if God has blessed them with spiritual maturity, like Timothy. But there are still dangers of being in leadership while young And one of those dangers might be that the responsibility and the authority might go to your head You can imagine Timothy going around rebuking everyone much too strongly, much too harshly And so he doesn't get that idea, the Apostle Paul explains what pastoral rebuke looks like Do not rebuke people too harshly He says, instead, exhort or encourage an older man as you would a father. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters. And this gives us a great picture of how we are to talk to others when we need to admonish them. Because we all know how we are called to speak to our parents. We must speak and treat them with honor and respect. That's a commandment. And the commandment to honor our father and mother does not end when we get older and when we move out of the family home and we are adults. And our duty to honor our father and mother also does not end if we have to rebuke them or speak to them about something that they are doing. We must do so with respect. And so that, says the Holy Spirit, is how we must speak, we must rebuke all older men and older women, doing so with respect and honor. Now, likely, Paul here is not speaking about how we need to talk to ungodly people or unrepentant sinners. He probably has in mind here otherwise Christian men and women who have a sin that they are blind to or a character flaw that is harming those around them. We could imagine, for example, a brother or sister who's very involved in helping out in the church, but they're also very much prone to gossip, to spreading around the things that they have heard. Or an older man or woman who has very wise things to say, but tends to say them in a very harsh or sarcastic way. Or a parent who clearly loves their children, but sometimes tends to go overboard in discipline and is exasperating their children. I could go on, but you get the point. These are saints who love the Lord and who are trying to serve him, and they are to be rebuked differently than those who have denied the faith or who are unrepentantly continuing in sin and wildliness. If someone's sin is harming those around them, they do need to be warned. But the warning should be done not in a proud or in a condemning way, not in a publicly shaming way, but with honor and respect, encouraging and upbuilding. And when it comes to those who are younger or of similar age to us, the Spirit teaches us to treat them like brothers or sisters. In other words, admonishing must be done out of love. We are called to love our siblings as ourself. We ought to support and help and encourage our brothers and sisters. And that is the spirit with which we must talk to those in the church as well. Not harshly, not to condemn, not to put them down. And the Holy Spirit also has a special note, how Timothy must treat older and younger women. He adds at the end of verse two, in all purity. During the Trump administration, Vice President Mike Pence became infamous for revealing that he follows the Billy Graham rule of modesty. He does not travel or eat or visit alone with a woman other than his wife. And Pence was widely mocked for this. But he and Billy Graham were doing their best to fulfill Paul's command to Timothy in this verse, to treat women in all purity and to flee youthful lusts, as Paul warns Timothy elsewhere. In order to make sure that he always treats women in all purity, he made sure never to be alone with a woman other than his wife. Now, it's important to note that this is Billy Graham's rule and Mike Pence's rule. It is not a command from Scripture. Paul never said that to Timothy. Never meet alone with a woman. That's how these men chose to apply it. And their situation as a public politician and public traveling preacher is different than most of ours. We all need to care for those in the church, both men and women. But God's point in this verse is, be pure. And, we could add, be obviously, be publicly pure, so that there is no chance for anything impure to begin, or even for gossip to start, even when nothing impure actually happened. We are called to be wise. with how we treat those in the opposite gender. And Paul's point about sisters in this verse is clear to Timothy. We want our sisters not just to remain pure, but to be obviously pure. No chance for any gossip or talk to begin. And so the apostle Paul gives Timothy a special instruction for how he must treat women. And David, with Bathsheba, will always remain the warning for the rest of this age. not keeping this instruction of the Holy Spirit in mind. And so these verses, they teach elders how to approach their task of pastoral care, especially when it comes to admonishing those who are in sin. They must do so out of love and with honor and respect. But they also teach all of us how we ought to treat and speak to one another. There is no place for harsh rebukes, sarcastic put-downs, losing our tempers at each other in the church. We are called to remember that we are a family, and so we are to treat each other as a family, even where admonition is necessary. And that takes us to our second point, how we practice financial care. This main part of the chapter is about financial care for widows, but it also has universal principles for how we are to care for all who are struggling financially. It begins, verse 3, honor widows who are truly widows. And again, literally speaking, this is a strange statement. Because what's a true widow? A widow is a woman whose husband has died, and so you're either a widow or you're not a widow. No such thing as a true widow or a not true widow. But the Apostle Paul explains what he means in the rest of the chapter, and he especially does in verse 5. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers day and night. So, what he means by those who are truly widows is those who are without other support They are the ones who need the support of the Church In ancient times, a widow who died without children was in a dangerous situation Women generally could not work to support themselves, and so she was left without help. And so without help and financial care, she could end up destitute. She could be forced into a dangerous marriage, or worse, into prostitution in order to survive. And so the church is commanded to take care of such widows. And so the church does. In fact, notice that Paul actually never really commands here that widows be supported. It's almost just assumed in our chapter. Paul warns against supporting widows who don't really need it, but he doesn't actually give instructions for how to support widows who need support, because this has always been done in the church. Right from the Old Testament, when God commanded that gleanings in the field be left for the widows and for the fatherless and the orphans to take, the church has always been a place where widows and those who are financially destitute can find help and support. And that must continue. But, because the Church is well known for this support, and thankfully often that's still the case today, that can mean that people take advantage of Christian generosity. And the Holy Spirit warns about that in this chapter, and does so both for the good of the Church and for the good of those who are taking advantage. So, for example, says verse 4, if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first take responsibility in caring for her. In fact, verse 4 makes clear that this is the duty of all children to take care of their parents in their elderly age. Their parents, it says, have raised them and cared for them while they are younger, and now, in return, they must honor their parents by taking care of them and loving them into old age. And so, honoring your father and mother again does not end when you become an adult or when you move out of the family home. It must continue. And honoring your elderly parents is more than just financial support. Far too many parents have been dumped into nursing homes, barely seen again by their children. As Christians, we must not do this. We must honor our parents by visiting them, helping them, loving them, being there for them. This can be difficult if you do not have a good relationship with your parents growing up And yet, there are no exceptions written into the fifth commandment Honor your father and mother, it says Now, how we honor them will be different if, for example, they were abusive and we haven't had contact with them for a while or things like that But, for those of us who have had regular yet sinful parents We're not allowed to use their sin and their failings as an excuse for failing to honor them. Just as our parents no doubt sinned and failed us in our upbringing, so we sinned and failed to honor and obey them as children. And so here too, as always, the gospel applies. We may not hold our parents' sins against them, but we must forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven us. And verse 8 broadens the responsibility of this principle of helping family to all family members. If anyone is in financial need in the church, it is first their relatives who must step in. And only after that comes the church. And it says the closer the relationship, the greater the responsibility. It's especially your immediate family members, your own household. In other words, your parents, your children, who you must help. And verse 8 ends with a fairly shocking conclusion. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. How could Paul say this? Worse than an unbeliever? Well, the point is that as Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourself. It's the key mark of being a Christian. And loving your neighbor starts not with those far away, with orphans in a far-off country who you send some money to. Loving your neighbor starts with those closest to you, which is your immediate family. If we do not love them by deeds, then we're not actually Christians and the love of God is not in us. That's 1 John chapter 4. And so, if we do not love our own family, we're not loving our neighbor as ourselves, and then we are not truly Christian, and so we are worse than unbelievers because we call ourselves Christians. And yet we're denying one of the most basic principles of the faith. And so, if someone comes to the deacons for financial help, the deacons will first ask if they've received help from their family. And if their Christian family refuses to help, the deacons and the church will, of course, help. but they will then pass that matter over to the elders. And so the Apostle Paul says that only widows who are truly widows, who do not have family members to support them, and so who are left all alone, receive the help of the Church. But he also continues that in verse 9, that she must be elderly, have had a godly marriage, and be well known for good works. And this is not saying that a woman has to be perfect, nor that she has to earn her support. It is simply stating that those who are being helped by the church must be godly and Christian. It is not the task of the deacons or the church to enable promiscuous or lazy lifestyles. So those who receive aid should be those who have publicly shown their faith by their works and their deeds. In particular, he says, younger widows may not receive aid. Instead, says verse 14, they must marry, have children, manage their households, and so give the adversary no reason for slander. These words seem kind of quaint and old-fashioned, don't they, in our day and age? Even some might argue misogynistic. But Paul's point here is not that the only thing that women and widows are good for is to get married, bear children, and work in the kitchen. In fact, 1 Corinthians chapter 7 says that if possible, it is good for both men and women to remain unmarried, and so they can devote their lives to working in God's kingdom. But since we are speaking here of widows, this is not someone who has remained unmarried. So what Paul is saying here is that he does not want the church or God does not want the church to support young, able-bodied widows. So that they are paid for doing nothing, basically. Because, verse 13 says, that is dangerous. For then they will learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, spreading gossip and being busybodies. In that culture, it was not normal for a single woman, particularly a widow, to remain single and then work and earn her own living. Her best way to be supported was to get remarried, have children if able, and care for her household. And so the principle of this section extends beyond widows. It is that the church should not support financially people who are living ungodly or lazy lives. If someone is able-bodied, able to work, and yet refuses, they do not get support. Not just because that is unfair to those who work hard to support those in need, but also because it is bad for them and dangerous. Receiving money for doing nothing makes us lazy, and being lazy is a recipe for sexual immorality, for being a busybody, for spreading gossip, and all sorts of sins. And so the deacons do not just hand out money willy-nilly, they make sure that a needy person truly is needy, is being faithful with their money, and is managing their household well. If not, and if they refuse to repent, they will not receive the financial support of the Church for their own good. And so the same principle applies to all of us as we help out family members and others who are in need. We are called to be extremely generous, both with our finances and with our time in helping those who are in need. But we do need to make sure that those we help are truly in need, that our generosity is not enabling others' idleness or other sins. And this is also an encouragement for all of us to continue working hard. Not just at our jobs, but in addition to working faithfully at our daily work, we must also leave ourselves time for helping others, for taking care of our family, for honoring our parents, for doing good works, as it says in our text, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, caring for the afflicted. And of course, in all these things, we look to our Lord Jesus Christ. We can also see his example, how he works tirelessly to help the needy, literally, of course, washing the feet of the saints and caring for the afflicted. And we see in our Lord Jesus how he sacrificed his life and his death to do good to others. And it is because of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering the wrath of God, that he also covers our many sins and failings. The many times that we did not honor our parents, both in youth and as adults. The many times that we did not show love to our brothers and sisters, but we showed hatred or just ignored them in their time of need. And so, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ covers all of these sins. And the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his devotion to helping the needy and the afflicted, is our example to go and do likewise. And finally, that takes us to our third point, how we practice office-bearer care. Verse 17 says, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. And the verse is usually remembered for that last part, for the double honor, which commands the financial support of preaching elders, who we today call ministers. But what we perhaps need even more to remember is regular honor, the honor that is due not just to the pastor, but to all the office bearers. We are commanded in the scriptures to esteem the office bearers highly in love because of their work. And so we treat the office bearers with honor and respect, which means respecting them as office bearers, as those who are called to office by God and given godly authority. Whether or not you particularly see eye to eye with an office bearer is irrelevant. We are called to honor and respect them, because God has put them in place. We also ought to remember the task of the office bearers. The task, as I'm sure office bearers will tell you, is often a blessed one, because you get an inside view to the Lord's work in his church and in his people. God, how God blesses his people, how God is so gracious and forgiving of our sins and weaknesses. You get to hear so many stories of the Lord's faithfulness in the lives of God's people. And you get to see how the congregation uses its talents and gifts for the benefit of others. How brothers and sisters give and forgive one another. But the task can also be a difficult task. The work is taxing. It takes an elder or a deacon away from his family, often in the evenings after he's already had a long day of work. And as an office bearer, you also get an inside view of the sin, of the depths of depravity in all of our hearts. The selfishness and stubbornness and sin that is in all of us. And you can see sometimes how inexplicably to us, the Lord allows his people to grieve and to suffer. And we do not always know why or have an answer. And so the task of an office bearer is physically, mentally, sometimes spiritually taxing. And so because of this, we are called to honor the office bearers, and Hebrews 13 tells us that it is our task to make sure, as much as it depends on us, that their task is a joyful one. It says there, let your leaders watch over you with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage for you. Notice that the task is from our side, that as much as possible for us, we make sure that they do not groan, that they do not do their task with more strife and more trouble than is necessary. But it is also not enough to not cause them groaning. We are also called to let them do their work with joy. And so we are called to honor office-bearers by praying for them, by supporting them, by encouraging them where we can. And our text also specifically says that we honor office-bearers by not accepting every charge of sin against an office-bearer. There must be two or three witnesses, says verse 19, to any charge. And once again, this verse is not only true of office-bearers. Deuteronomy 19 says that this is the standard for civil justice as well. You do not get to condemn someone on the basis of one witness. And Jesus also teaches in Matthew 18 that church discipline works the same way. You cannot bring an accusation against someone to the elders unless you have visited them with two or three witnesses. But it is emphasized here with regard to office-bearers, perhaps because it is more likely that someone will bring charges against an office-bearer. Because office-bearers often have to bring charges against us. They are called to warn us when we are sinning. And it is our human nature that when someone accuses us of sin, we often tend to turn around and accuse them in return. And so when an elder rebukes someone on behalf of consistory or really on behalf of the Lord, our reaction often is, who are you to tell me about that when you do this sin and that sin and this sin? And haven't we all at times reacted in this way to someone who speaks to us of our own sin? And so the church is warned not to accept such accusations against an office bearer unless there are more witnesses. thus preserving the reputation and the work of the elders. As verse 20 tells us, office bearers are as prone to sin as any of us, and if necessary, they can be admonished. But it must be done honorably, it must be done with multiple witnesses, and it must not be done out of revenge. And above all, as the fifth commandment teaches us, we must have patience with their weaknesses and shortcomings. Office bearers are far from perfect, and yet it pleases God to govern us by their hand. And so we can forgive their wrongs, we can be patient with their weaknesses, also because of the gospel, because we know how many of our own sins and weaknesses that God has forgiven us. He does not hold it against us. And so we give the same honor, the same forgiveness to the office bearers God has placed over us. And so we are called to honor the office bearers as God's servants, but we are also called to follow their example and their leadership as we minister to our brothers and sisters in the congregation. Let us love one another. Let us take care of each other's needs. Let us live for God's honor and glory, and so be a blessing both inside and outside the church.