Demons Obey the Command of Jesus

In today’s society it is easy to reject stories of demon possession as ignorant and unscientific descriptions of mental illness.  However, such a dismissive view leaves too many questions unanswered, both in our experience today and in Scripture.  In Luke 8:26-39 we have an encounter that Jesus had with an individual who is described as being possessed with a great number of demons.

So what are these demons?  The basic, biblical answer is that they are evil, spiritual entities that are in league with Satan.  Though they are invisible to the human eye, the effect of their activities can be seen.  Without detail, the Bible describes the reality that demons are able to take varying possession of the faculties and actions of certain vulnerable people.  In the Bible demonic possession involves more than simply “acting crazy.”  There is usually interaction with an intelligence that seems beyond the person, and is repulsed and removed by the power of Jesus.  For a man to go from years of “mental illness” and speaking as if he had demons within him to total transformation within a matter of minutes begs any natural explanation. Such is the case in our story today.  Christians should be careful of seeing all things strange as the result of demons.  However, neither should we fall into the materialistic tendencies of the modern age that sees such things as patently impossible.

Now the title of this sermon is about how demons obey the command of Christ.  How do I mean that?  God’s commands can be prescriptive in the sense of how we ought to live.  Thus His command: love one another as I have loved you.  Yet, God’s commands can also be directive or judicial in the sense of what will happen whether we cooperate or not.  God won’t force us to love one another.  But when he commands demons to leave a man, it is a judicial command that cannot be “disobeyed” any more than a man sentenced to prison can disobey and walk out of court.  They have no choice.

Demons Are Enemies of God and Man

Having crossed the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples come to the shore of the opposite side in the area of Gadara.  Here they are met by a raving man who has been abused by demons for a long time.  We are given the account of an interaction that Jesus had with these demons and in it we recognize two clear facts: Demons do not care for humans and they are not working with God.

Another thing we find is that demons are numerous.  Regardless the number, a great number of demons were working together to keep this man under their control and to work through him.  Any attempt to quantify the population of demons that are preying on mankind would be pure speculation.  Another point of note comes from Luke 11:24-26.  There we see that some demons are more wicked than others and the condition of a man is worse when more than one demon is involved.  Also, that demons have no “rest” until they have taken possession of an individual.  It stands to reason that wicked individuals become more susceptible to demonic possession as they morally degrade.  We would also expect societies that are heavily involved in working with spirits to see higher numbers of these possessions because they would have a higher number of vulnerable individuals.  Thus some places in the world may see very little of this and in other places it may be a common thing.

Another thing we see here is a classic sign of demonic possession.  Demons always abuse those they inhabit.  The abuse begins in the mind.  A demon that possesses a person will force its personality and will upon an individual from time to time.  Though it may be sporadic at first, it can become worse over time.  In this story the intellect of the man who is possessed does not appear until after the demons are cast out.  However, the abuse is obviously more than mental.  Note that the passage describes the man’s life.  Somewhere along the line these demons began to manifest to the point that the city in which he lived tried to restrain him.  However, nothing they tried was able to restrain the man.  He eventually is driven out into the tombs and lives among the dead and wearing no clothes.  He has become an outcast driven into the wilderness.  Thus demons abuse the host and yet also abuse others through the host.

At this point you might be scared of these beings.  Yet, notice that they are very afraid of Jesus.  As spirit beings they are perceptive of spiritual matters.  Thus they direct the man out of the tombs to meet Jesus at the shore with the question, “What have I to do with you?”  This area lies outside of Israel at the time.  Thus Jesus is stepping onto the spiritual turf of these demons.  He is a threat and they want to know why Jesus is there and what he is doing.  Lastly they are afraid that Jesus might be there to torture them by commanding them into the Abyss.  What is the Abyss?  Sometimes translated as “bottomless pit” it is only explained in Revelation chapter 9.  Here we see it is a kind of spiritual prison for wicked spirits.  Why some are in this prison and not all is not explained.  These demons are clearly afraid Jesus has come to put them in it.  Thus demons would rather be free to roam the earth and possess the vulnerable than be locked up in the Abyss awaiting the end of this Age.

Lastly, we see in this passage the manipulative nature of demons.  As evil beings they cannot be trusted.  Even “truthful” things they may say cannot be trusted.  I am not saying that Jesus is duped here.  However, the demons are attempting to control the situation to their benefit.  As long as they do not end up in the Abyss they are "happy."  They are not happy about Jesus being in this area.  Thus, I believe, the petition to be allowed to enter the pigs is more about creating a scene than attempting to stay in the pigs.  When Jesus allows this, the demons drive the pigs into the sea thus killing them.  This would then deprive the demons of their hosts causing them to escape into the area looking for more prey.  Why would they do this?  There seems to be an element of rage in this scene.  The full, destructive rage of demons is generally checked by their desire to retain possession of a host.  However, in this case, they do not care about the pigs and in a fit of rage throw a kind of tantrum as a means of venting against Jesus.  Yet, they also create turmoil in the area that would make the inhabitants fearful of Jesus and angry at their loss of income.  So there may be a kind of defensive maneuver here to protect their territory. 

Jesus Healed the Demon Possessed Man

Now in looking at the demons we do not want to lose sight of what is happening for the man.  Jesus has healed him of his affliction.  Even more serious than a physical sickness is a spiritual sickness in which one’s inner being is invaded by something worse than cancer.  We see here that no number of demons is a match for Jesus.  There is no battle, nor week long exorcism.  Jesus has absolute command over these demons.  Though they try to manipulate it, they had to leave the man they had controlled for so long.  Now for Jesus it is no problem.  However, for us, some spirits are more difficult than others.  Believers who come into contact with a demon possessed person need to be humble and careful.  Through prayer and fasting we can purge our life of anything that might be between us and our Lord.  Jesus is the power that demons fear.  If they fear believers at all, it will only be because of our close relationship with Jesus and dependence upon his power alone.

The owners of the pigs had witnessed this event and ran to town in order to tell everyone what happened.  Thus a large group gathers at the beach and finds the previously possessed man “in his right mind.”  He is no longer a raving lunatic that is destroying himself and anyone who gets in the way.  He is his “old self.”  Even here we see the recognition that a switch in personality and activity has happened, and without years of counseling and psychotropic drugs.  Unless you write off the account as a myth, it is hard to explain this other than the biblical explanation.  Let me take a moment to contrast the way that God’s Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to the way demons operate in their hosts.  God does not want to take away control of our own mind.  He wants us to follow Him out of loving obedience.  However, evil spirits lust to subject the personality of an individual beneath theirs in domination.  They operate in an abusive mode, whereas the Holy Spirit operates in a gentle mode.  They operate in deception and manipulative promises, whereas the Holy Spirit operates out of truth and purity of intent.

Even though the man is in his right mind, the locals want Jesus to leave.  He is a "trouble maker" who threatens the order of things in their district.  Their fear of Jesus and what he is capable of doing causes them to push him away.  Jesus is going to leave.  However, I believe this encounter was exactly what he had come to do.  He had come to confront these demons and set a man free.  In light of this we may now have deeper understanding into why the storm threatened to swamp their boat and kill them all.  Spiritual battles often play out in the material world unknown to man.  Christ was causing enough problems in Israel.  Satan did not want him entering other strongholds.

The man’s response is understandably different.  The man is so thankful that he wants to follow Jesus and become a disciple.  He may also be afraid to leave the side of Jesus in that the demons could come back.  How wonderful it would be to follow such a man of power and compassion.   Imagine the safety and joy that would be his in the presence of Jesus.  Yet it was not to be so.  Following Jesus is not always about going somewhere.  Sometimes it is about staying.  It is not that this man lacks the qualifications to be a disciple that followed Jesus around, but rather, it is that Christ had a different purpose for him.  He would become a witness who would spread the truth throughout the area that Jesus delivered him from a legion of demons.  Later when the apostles spread out from Jerusalem due to persecution, Christians would enter this area and find people who were prepared to receive the gospel because of the faithfulness of this man who had been possessed by demons.

Let me close by warning believers.  We may run into this more and more in the United States of America in the future.  We are clearly casting off the Word of God and at the same time embracing all manner of spiritism.  Beware of playing with things that seek to contact spirits or satan even if it seems benign.  Beware of using spirits to try and foresee the future, whether through seemingly innocent Ouija boards or occult rituals.  These spirits are manipulative and deceptive.  By the time you think to back out, it will be too late.  Also, be careful that you are not hiding secret sin in your life because this will inhibit your ability to be a source of freedom for others.  Guard your heart from the seduction of spirits that promise the heavens but instead deliver hell.

Demons Obey Jesus mp3

Creation Obeys the Word of God

The underpinning of what we call science today is the simple idea that all of creation follows laws that were made by God.  God is not an author of confusion.  He does things in an ordered, well thought out, and logical way.  Thus it is He who sets the boundaries for the interactions of all things.

Though scientific discoveries have been made throughout history, the Christian ideas concerning God is what enabled a methodical search to understand the laws of nature to really take off.  Yet, not all of creation is the same.  Dirt, rocks, wind, storms, and solar flares are not sentient and have no choice of obeying God’s laws.  They simply follow the physical Laws God has created.  Animals have some form of thinking.  However, observation clearly shows that there is a clear difference between their thinking and man’s.  Animals operate on an instinctual level and on a base physical desire.  If they are hungry they eat what is available.  Man is the one creature that can make choices that are contrary to its nature.  We can analyze the past and project into the future and thereby act contrary to what our emotion and flesh tells us.  We can calculate the “oughtness” of an action and choose a path different from what we desire.

Today we are going to look at Luke 8:22-25.  Although this section may seem to be separate from what is going on before it, I think there is something deeper going on here.  Up to this point Jesus has been focusing on a theme which says, those who do God’s Word belong to Him and will be blessed.  So in this section the common tie is to see that in this arena most of creation does a better job than mankind.

When It Seems Like God Is Sleeping

Jesus often ministered to the point of exhaustion.  So in this story He tells the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee and catches some sleep.  It is during this time that the disciples are piloting the boat and Jesus is sleeping that a strong storm comes upon them.  Now I don’t believe this storm is by accident.  Yet, Jesus is sleeping through it.  In this sense Jesus represents the righteous man who has perfect peace about his situation.  Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon You, because he trusts in You.”  As a righteous man, Jesus can sleep and not fear that a storm is going to destroy him before his time.

However, as God, Jesus appears to not care about their problem.  It is common for people to feel that God is not caring about their problem or that somehow he is asleep at the wheel.  Now, this storm is clearly a freak “perfect storm” because 4 of these disciples are seasoned fisherman and can handle a boat.  Yet, this time they are afraid that they are going to die.  They can’t keep up with bailing the water out of the boats and are in danger of sinking.  Is this a coincidence or is something else going on here?  God could have sent a perfect storm in order to allow Jesus to demonstrate that he is more than a man.  Or, the storm could be caused by Satan.  If you haven’t thought about this before then take time to remember the account of Job.  In Job we see Satan attacking his animals and family by causing fire to fall from heaven and burn up his servants and sheep.  He also caused a huge wind to destroy a house inside of which Job’s adult children were feasting.  It killed them all.  This is mentioned again in Revelation 13 when the False Prophet causes fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men in order to convince them to believe him.  Whether we know the source of difficult times or not doesn’t really matter.  In fact sometimes I might simply be encountering the results of my own poor choices.  Either way, we may feel like God is silent to our problem.

In our story things changed when they cried out to Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t a sailor.  They were the ones with the skills in this area.  This was one area where they were the experts and Jesus was the one in need.  Yet, after exhausting their own efforts and being at the end of their strength, they finally turn to Jesus and cry out for help.  They don’t expect him to start bailing.  Rather, they are turning to him as the one who has a connection to God that is miraculous.  Notice that this is the Gospel in a nutshell.  In some ways, God is reminding the disciples that no matter how hard they struggle against sin and the flesh, they are going to need God’s help.  None of us can be good enough in ourselves to overcome the storms of life.  We need to learn to cry out upon God for help, even when it seems like He is sleeping.

Jesus Has Power Over Nature

The next point is perhaps the most obvious.  Jesus has power over nature.  Now, all of creation came into being at the Word of the Lord.  In John 1:3, the disciple describes that this is Jesus.  “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  Thus, creation follows the laws of nature, or physics, that given to it at the beginning.  This is a general obedience that all creation has.  It was God’s design of atmosphere and temperature differences that gives rise to wind, weather, and even perfect storms.  Yet, there is also a specific obedience that happens here.  At the specific command of Christ, in a specific point in time, at a specific location, the storm stops immediately.  “Peace, be still!”  Those famous words actually come from the gospel of Mark, who gives us greater detail on what is said.  Now wind doesn’t have a will of its own in order to go or stop.  It is a force of nature’s own physics.  Thus the miracle is far greater than it appears, as if the storm could stop itself.  The truth is that all of the factors that came together to create such a perfect storm are being perfectly cancelled out by an opposite and perfectly balanced force at Christ’s command.  Thus God didn’t just cause weather in general by the design of the earth.  But has the power, if He so chooses, to specifically control weather if He wants to.  This shouldn’t surprise us since humans have been trying to manipulate weather over the last century, with various levels of success. 

This brings up several questions.  How can this happen, or, how is this possible?  The freak storm came to a freak ending.  They go from being freaked out about dying to being freaked out about what Jesus just did.  That also brings up the next question.  Who is this man?  No mere man can do what Jesus just did. 

His command over nature is often called a miracle.  However, the word “miracle,” to most people, has come to mean that the laws of nature are broken.  Yet, when you study into the “miracles” in the Bible, they seem less to be about broken natural laws and more about the power of the One who is intervening.  God can control His creation because He created it.  When you think about it, if God could create all of the universe and put it in motion, could He not operate within it?  Wouldn’t He be far greater than us in doing something that He wants through His understanding of natural laws?   Now what about mankind, should God control us in such a way?  Would we really want that?  Would that really be good?  Instead of commanding men along with controlling force, God gives man his command with the freedom to obey.  We can choose.

We Need Faith In God

When the storm is calmed Jesus speaks to the situation.  He asks, “Where is your faith?”  I don’t believe Jesus is chiding them for waking him up.  The emphasis is on their trust.  Jesus is the one who said to cross the lake.  He is the one leading them.  Don’t you trust me?  Many times following Jesus does not seem to be working out so well.  We encounter storms, which we struggle against as best we can.  They often bring us to the end of our physical, emotional, and spiritual resources.  Yet, Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Our prayers need not be as desperate as our situation if we are following God.   If Jesus is in our boat we need not fear.  Those who have put their faith in Jesus and are following His words belong to Him.  He is in them and they are in Him.  This is a relationship that cannot be severed by any storm that this earth has to offer.  If Jesus is in the boat we need not wake him with the words, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?” [according to Mark]  Yes, he cares.  They don’t know it yet.  But, his caring goes so deep that he will hang on a cross for them to show it.  The beauty is that even when we are desperate and failing in our faith, He will still help those who are following Him.  We need to trust God.  But trusting God involves calling out to Him for help in our time of need.  And, at the same time, we can know that He will work all things to the good for us.  If Jesus would be willing to go through the cross for you, do you think He is going to fail you? 

This brings up the question of what I will call “The Martyr’s Storm.”  Jesus had a perfect relationship with God the Father and yet, on the night he is betrayed he goes through a storm that would claim his life the next day.  However, even here He knew that God would work it all to the good.  In fact, if Jesus had not died we could not be saved from our own sin.  No one understands the why and when behind the call to give the ultimate sacrifice to be a witness for God.  Yet, even this storm, ends when the martyr enters into God’s presence.

Thus Jesus brings up the issue of fear.  Fear undermines our faith and drives us to unbelieving actions.  We feel that we are losing and that God has failed us.  If left unchecked it will cause us to leave Christ at the very moment that we need Him most.  Somewhere Judas let fear of where Jesus was leading divert his course.  Thought they traveled together, somewhere their paths diverged and the two never came together again.  Don’t let this be you today.  No matter what storms have come in the past or you are experiencing today, God has a plan that you can trust.  As the Scriptures say, “Trust in the Lord forever, for in the LORD is everlasting strength!”  Trust God even if it requires you to lay your life down because He has your greatest good in mind.

Hearing God’s Word

Have you ever been given something that was very important to the person who gave it to you?  When I was about 13 years old my grandmother let me borrow a book that was very important to her.  It was an historical look at Russia’s last Emperor, Nikolay, and the brutal murder of his family at the hands of the communist Bolsheviks when they took over.  She had wrapped it up in a small white garbage bag so that it wouldn’t get wet.  I took it to my house and began reading it.  However, one day it went missing.  I looked everywhere and could not find it.  At that point, I had that sinking feeling you get when you know you have to face the music.  I never knew what happened to that book.  But, I learned a lesson about how to take care of those things that are valuable to another. 

Two weeks ago we looked at the Parable of the Soils, which pointed out that we need to take care how we receive God’s Word.  God’s Word is precious to Him, not just because it is His, but also because of what it can do for us.  We can be guilty at times of flippantly receiving something that is incredible important to God.  In today’s passage we will see this again with another parable and a visit from the family of Jesus.  Let’s look at Luke 8:16-21.

Parable of the Lamp

In verses 16-18 Jesus tells a parable that is very simple.  It is a picture of what it is like to receive the Word of God.  In the previous parable God’s Word is likened to a seed being broadcast onto soil.  Here God’s Word is likened to the lighting of a lamp in a room.  Now the lamps of those days would be oil lamps that would have a hole or a narrowing on one side and they usually had a wick.  Thus, just as God casts out seed, so here, God is the one who lights the lamp.  He does this by giving Truth to us.

Now a lamp needs oil in it in order to sustain a flame.  Throughout Scripture oil is a type of the Holy Spirit.  Now God is always working through His Spirit to prepare hearts to receive the Truth of God. In this sense God is supplying oil.  However if we do not retain this supply it will never fill us up in order to sustain a light.  Thus we need the Truth of God and the help of the Holy Spirit to ignite a light within us.  This will enable us to “see” the reality of life all around us.

Once a flame has begun, the light will immediately fill the room.  Light by its nature spreads out as far as it can.  Thus our life and its sphere of influence is like the room that the lamp is in.  We will not only be able to see better for ourselves, but anyone who intersects our life can benefit from this Truth of God burning in our life.

Now Jesus points out that the light is not lit in order to be hidden.  God has a purpose in putting this light in our life.  It is meant to reveal and make things known to us and those who are around us.  It is revelation by nature.  It is not enough to have good feelings towards God inside us.  When His light is operating in us, it is intended to be acted upon and thus give light to others.  If we fail to express God’s Truth in our life then we are contending with the very purpose of God.  Thus Jesus warns in verse 17, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be know and come to light.”  What God gives to me in secret devotion should be revealed by me in my life.  But, if not, then the day will come when it will be revealed against me at the judgment seat of Christ.

In both parables we notice this; if the Word is not taken care of it will be squelched or lost.  Here we must keep the oil level high enough, monitor the wick, and protect the flame.  If we do this then we will bear fruit by patiently guarding and nurturing the light of God’s Word in our life.  However, if not, even what light we have received will be lost.  How do I receive God’s Word?  It is an extremely valuable thing.  Without proper value, we will find ourselves losing the light that God intends us to have.

My Relationship To Jesus…

Now at this point word comes to Jesus that His mother and brothers are outside.  Although this seems to be an interruption, it ends up emphasizing the point that Jesus is making about what He is teaching them.  Luke most likely shares this in order to strengthen the point of our need to properly hear the Word.  Family is one of the closest relationships we can have.  Yet, the brothers of Jesus did not believe in Him.  This lack of believe and the strange things that Jesus was doing no doubt enabled them to stir up maternal fears in Mary.  “He’s crazy.  He’s going to get himself killed.  Why doesn’t he settle down and marry a good Jewish woman and start a family?”  In another place we are told that his family tried to even make him come home at one point.  Now, the point of this story is not that Jesus wouldn’t see his family.  No doubt, he did after he made his point.  But it presented a perfect time to emphasize what he had just been teaching.

Jesus basically says that those who hear the Word of God and do it are his mother and brother, i.e. family.  Thus our closeness to Jesus first depends upon hearing the word of God.  To be close to Jesus is to first be close to the Word of God.  We cannot divide it into parts we like and parts we don’t.  Neither can we make distinctions like only reading the words of Jesus as opposed to the apostles.  Some even try to go through the words of Jesus and determine what they think he really said.  This is not being in relationship with Jesus.  This is trying to manipulate the Word of God to our own thinking.  If I want to be close to Jesus then I need to receive all of God’s Word.

Yet, I must also put it into practice.  How I receive the Word is just as important as having it, if not more.   When we act upon the Truth its power is unleashed in our life and makes a difference for us and for those around us.  Now it would be easy to make this about simple obedience.  However, the relationship of a mother and brother are not those who must obey us.  Rather, this is about love.  Even if I don’t love what Jesus is saying, my love for him can help me to do the right thing anyways.  “Nevertheless, because You ask us to, we will throw our nets out again.”

In 2 Thessalonians 2:10 we are told that people perish because they refused to receive a love of the Truth.  Everyday God is trying to give us Truth and a love for it.  The problem is not on His end.  It is on ours.  This is a difficult Truth that many who have been inundated with God’s Word have never truly known Him because they refused to embrace it in their life.  Yet, many who have had precious little Truth embraced it whole heartedly.  May God help us to be that light which he has made us to be in this nation and this generation.

Mother’s Day: Honor

This weekend was Mother’s Day.  So, we are going to take a break from the Gospel of Luke and look at 1^st Timothy 5:4-16.  But, first, let me remind ourselves of the 5^th commandment in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”  Honoring our mothers is just as important to us as it is for our mothers.  So as we talk about honor today it would be easy to say that we are no longer under the Law of Moses.  However, just in case you might be tempted to think this is optional, I would remind you that we are under the Law of the Spirit.  Thus Paul in Ephesians reminds us of this commandment.  The Spirit is calling all believers to be people of honor in how we live, but also people who honor others.  Christians are those who follow the Spirit of Christ who makes it clear that he wants us to honor.  So this is not optional.

Today’s passage looks specifically at widows and how we ought to honor them within the Church context.

Churches Must Wisely Honor Widows In Need

The Scriptures tell us that the Church should be a place in which we all honor one another.  Now honor is one of those words that has both internal and external implications.  In this passage honor is being used for the specific, external action of financial support.  Financial support is a practical expression of the internal honor that we have for someone.

Now that brings up the issue of what Honor is.  At is root, honor means to value.  So how much do I value someone?  Do I value them at all?  This brings up a big issue because historically a woman who is widowed has little value to offer society, especially if she was older.  It has been said that the true test of a civilization is the way it treats its old people.  Keep in mind that the United States of America is beginning to experience a transition as the Baby Boomers become senior citizens.  By 2030 it is projected that around 25% of Americans will be over 65.  Add to this the fact that women, in general, outlive their husband.  So this might not sound like a big issue today, but it is, and it will only become increasing more important. 

Widowhood has always been a problem for women.  On one hand they are grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one and yet, their immediate financial situation may be in jeopardy.  They have often found themselves alone, unwanted, without finances, and uncared for.  If we truly value someone, we will do all we can to keep this from happening.  Even if the world around us doesn’t value them, Christians dare not turn their back.  In our current world there is an increasing mentality that if a person is old and cannot take care of themselves, or is in need of a lot of medical attention, it would be better for them to euthanize themselves.  We see this even on the opposite side of the age spectrum with babies who have illnesses like Down’s syndrome and the like.  In fact a twisted moral argument can be made that it is selfish for these people to use most our resources when they will not produce for society.  The problem in this thought process is how we define value.  God’s Word tells us that the helpless, weak, and even infirmed have great value because they show us what our strength and abilities are really for.

Now Paul points out that the Church should not financially support widows who have family that could do it.  Of course if the family members were not Christians and refused to help that would be a different story.  Here Paul’s concern is that care for a widow is primarily the responsibility of her adult children. 

Paul also points out that our piety or godliness starts at home.  In other words there is no room for a person to neglect this duty and then come to church and “praise the Lord.”  We need to be godlier at home than we are at church, otherwise, we are just pretending.  Even deeper than this is the fact that we need to be godlier in our inner life than in our home life.  Righteousness and godliness need to flow out of an inner life that is lived with the Spirit of the Lord.  Anything other than this is just fakery.  Can we really be in danger of doing good everywhere but in our own home?  Whether your mom moves in with you or not, you have duty before God to care for your mother and father in the years that they cannot care for themselves.  This is true religion.

In verses 5-7, Paul points out that a true widow is someone who is alone and trusts upon God for help.  This is contrasted to a widow who is tempted to use carnal means to help her situation.  Those who pursue a luxury do not have the things of God in mind.  Thus he tells Timothy to teach the widows to not pursue the passions of their flesh but instead turn to God in prayer.  In verse 10 he adds to this list that they give themselves to good works for others.  An example of this can be found in Acts 9.  A close reading of the passage will make it clear that Tabitha was a widow who would make clothes for the poor.  Thus being a widow does not mean God has forsaken you and your life is over.  This transition was a time that some widows would walk away from the faith and go into immorality.  The church should not support such widows who walk away from the faith.  It may sound like a cliché to tell widows to trust in the Lord and pray, however, this is exactly what the Spirit is saying to them through Paul.  God can give a grieving widow the inspiration to know how to move forward and the church should do its best to make sure they are cared for, even if that means meeting with some adult children and reminding them of their duty.

Now in verses 9 through 16 we need to give a little background.  Admitting widows into “the number” was something that developed in the early Church.  Widows would pledge to give themselves to prayer and ministering to others on behalf of the Church and the Church would feed, clothe and shelter them.  This pledge to not remarry and instead serve as ministers was considered to be a serious thing, not a “try it for a little while” type of thing.  We see this in Acts 6 where a complaint arose in the Jerusalem Church because certain widows were being neglected in the “daily distribution.”  Here we see that someone was in charge of distributing (food, etc…) daily to the widows who had no one to care for them.

Now not all widows are widowed at an elderly age.  Young widows would have two problems here.  They could be tempted to make a pledge to become a part of “The Number” to quickly settle the concerns for their future.  Yet, it would be most likely that they would eventually change their mind and desire to remarry.  To make such a vow and then want to turn against it would create a very negative spiritual condition within the widow.  Thus Paul says to not admit young widows into the Number.  Rather, encourage them to remarry.  This doesn’t mean the church couldn’t help them on a short-term basis.  What is being talked about here is an ongoing long-term commitment.

Let me just close this by speaking to widows.  Even if you have family, you most likely feel alone and wonder if God has abandoned you.  Please understand that God has a special place in Heart for you even though it doesn’t feel like it.  If you will turn to Him in prayer and petition Him daily, He will help you.  Part of that help will be in the form of a Church that values you, not because of your age and ability to produce as this world thinks of it.  But simply because you still have much to offer both in helping others and spiritually giving us a picture of one who is completely dependent upon God. 

In the USA many widows are not as helpless as they have been in the past and in other cultures.  However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have an obligation to ensure that no one falls through the cracks and that all are valued.