Title: Bringing Honor Home I Timothy 5-6:2 1 Timothy 5 is about building a culture of honor in the church and in the home. It begins with a general call to honor and respect others followed by the specific call to honor widows, elders, and masters. 1 Timothy 5:1 (NLT), “Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. 2 Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.” • The emphasis in this opening statement is on respectful talk with the men, and respectful treatment with the women. • Definition of Honor, “...to value rightly and treat with appropriate reverence and respect.” – Adam Ramsey, Honour • Upward Honor: God, parents, authorities. • Outward Honor: Widows, elders, masters. • A culture of honor permeates our speaking, providing, protecting, teaching, correcting, and overall treatment of others. Honor Widows 1 Timothy 5:3 (NLT), “Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. 4 But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.” Question: The church is not to be a welfare net for everyone in every situation, so who will the church financially support? Widows without family (3,5,16) Widows with family (4,16) Widows who are wasteful (6) Younger widows (11) Answer: Only widow 1 qualifies for church support! There are four reasons given in this chapter. She has no family. She has seniority (at least 60 years old), she showed fidelity in her own marriage, and she is known for her charity and good deeds. • 1 Timothy 5:8 (NLT), “But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.” • Christian families should excel in care for the family, and extended family – whether young or old. • And if there is to be honor among Christians, we must take care of the members of our own family. Otherwise, our faith is a fraud too. Honor Elders 1 Timothy 5:17 (NLT), “Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, ‘You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.’ And in another place, ‘Those who work deserve their pay!’ 19 Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church.” • The elders described here are church leaders – especially the ones who publicly preach and teach. • Much of 1 Timothy tells us the responsibilities of elders to the church. • Here we have the responsibilities of church to the elders/pastors. • There is one condition: That these elders/pastors do their work well. • If that is the case, the church should provide for them four things: honor, support, protection, and accountability. • These verses can apply not only to the lead pastor and elders, but also to other paid staff in a local church. Honor Masters 1 Timothy 6:1 (NLT), “All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching. 2 If the masters are believers, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. Those slaves should work all the harder because their efforts are helping other believers who are well loved.” • It is said that the Roman Empire had 50 million slaves. • This being the case, there may have been many slaves and masters coming to Christ and worshipping together in the early church. • 1 Timothy 1:10 has already condemned slave-trading, so something less sinister and more civil is in view here in this master-slave relationship. There is room for honor in this system. • Some slaves were household servants, farm laborers, clerks, teachers, managers, craftsmen, and soldiers. In many cases, slavery was a bond-service to pay off debt, or labor with a contract, or prisoners of war. Chattel slavery owned people as property. That kind of slavery is not in view here. • In this case, this passage can apply to employers and employees too. • Slaves who have believing masters should serve with greater effort. They should not take liberties or take their bosses for granted because they are believers. Instead, they should work even harder to be a blessing to the business and their bosses who are loved by God too. • One of the simple ways we show honor in the workplace is just being on time and respecting other people’s time. CONCLUSION “Honor one another above yourselves.” - Rom. 12:10 (NIV) • What unites every Christian in the church? The young and old, the men and women, the widows and elders, preacher and the people, the slaves and masters? It is the way we value, respect and honor one another. • The Lord is honored when we honor and respect and value and treat others as image bearers of God, and as brothers and sisters in Christ.