Restoration of Respect

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Paul writes, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.”

Let me get up on a nostalgia soapbox for just a moment. Remember TV shows like Leave It To Beaver, Andy Griffith, The Brady Bunch and even The Addams Family and the Munsters? They were shows with some amount of respect for family and the children, while still being children in their mischievous ways, respected their parents. Turn on any show on the Disney channel or other stations for that matter and you will see TV shows where the kids run the world and that all grown ups are idiots. There is no respect for family and certainly no respect for parents, if they are even around. There is a visible and tangible breakdown or distortion of all things family. I know that we cannot go backward, but a reasonable renewal of respect for family is needed. I shall now climb down from my nostalgia soapbox.

Paul is writing a letter to a young pastor, Timothy. He is giving some basic instruction about how to address the people of the congregation. It is all about respect. God had placed Timothy in this congregation and he was to treat all of the people with purity and respect. Those men older than he, he was to treat as fathers. Those men younger, he was to treat as brothers. Women older than he, he was to treat as mothers and the younger women as sisters. Respect, love, honor and purity.

How do we treat our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Or even those outside the church? Do we treat them with respect, love, honor and purity or are we arrogant, disrespectful, antagonizing and impatient? How about in our own family? It’s difficult to hear Paul’s words and not think, “I wish it were like that.” But we long for the day when the respect for family is restored, within the church and outside the church.

Jesus was told once that his family was waiting to see him. He replied that his family consisted of those who heard his word and kept it. Family means different things to different people and in different times. But Jesus died for all people, of all times, in all situations and in all families, which includes you, me and even those who have no regard for family.

We pray that the Holy Spirit, through forgiveness and reconciliation will restore and renew the respect, honor, purity and love that are missing so often. And as those through whom the Holy Spirit works, that forgiveness and reconciliation begins with us. May it be so, Amen.