Reflecting on Deuteronomy 24 14-21, Ephesians 6 5-9, and 1 Timothy 6 17-19

This week we’re studying three texts, Deuteronomy 24:14-21, Ephesians 6:5-9, and 1 Timothy 6:17-19. All of them have to do with the regulation of relationships between the rich and the poor, the served and the servants, the haves and the have-nots. The “social teaching of the Christian church” these texts are inviting us to reflect on is, in honor of the lessons of 100 or so years ago, “the Christian spirit in industry.”

How that description might even possibly relate to these texts, that emanate from a historically pre-industrial socio-political and economic situation with a thoroughly different mode of production than the industrial capitalist one, could be a reflection in itself. [So says the former sociology major in me.]

Assuming sociology isn’t our main concern when it comes to these texts, we are probably going to want to think about what ought to be our own attitude towards work and income and wealth, in light of these texts. And what ought to be our own disposition towards using the resources we have, and acquire, and the purposes towards which we use them? And why?

In particular, perhaps, how do those of us who employ others embody Christian commitments and principles in our behavior as employers? Or, perhaps, fail to do that? And, why do we make the choices we make, and practice the practices we practice? And do we sense any call to change what we’re doing, and if so how, and for what reason?

Some notes on Deuteronomy 24:14-21 are here and some notes on Ephesians and 1 Timothy are here. Here are a couple of additional questions we might want to think about or to discuss in class:

What does the presence of instructions like this in the Bible tell us, about human beings, and about God?

How much can we use these instructions, or texts like these, as a guide to the way “a Christian society” ought to be organized? Why?

What do they seem to be telling us about how a good society ought to be organized? What makes us say that?

[more personal, perhaps] What do we see as our responsibility when it comes to the organization of society? How much influence should Christians be exerting, or trying to exert, on society, and towards what ends? Why do we say this, and how do these texts influence our thoughts on this matter?

[more theoretical, but also practical] How “political” would we say these texts are? Why would we say that?

Image: “Conversation on a village street,” Odoardo Borrani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Studying Ephesians 6 5-9 and 1 Timothy 6 17-19

This week we’re studying three texts, two of which are Ephesians 6:5-9 and 1 Timothy 6:17-19. These are two brief excerpts from Pauline instructions, to the church at Ephesus, and to their young pastor, Timothy. [Some notes on the other text, Deuteronomy 24:14-21, are here.] Here are a few notes on these verses:

Ephesians 6:5-9 – BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The letter to the Ephesians is one of the Pauline letters whose authorship is often disputed, due to the different style of the letter’s prose from that of the undisputed letters. The most noticeable feature is the long sentences that crop up in Ephesians. But there’s some difference in vocabulary, too, and arguably some difference in the theological concepts included. Not so much, however, that Ephesians doesn’t fit comfortably into the Pauline collection.

In any case, the larger text is a letter, addressed to an early Christian church in Asia Minor, which begins with praise of God and an eloquent prayer for the congregation, and then moves on to discussion of their unity in Christ, and instruction in the new life they are to lead as Christians – in particular, as gentiles who have renounced pagan ways. That brings us to the famous household code, and then to the instruction to “put on the whole armor of God” – along with an inventory of that armor – which closes out the letter.

The instruction in our text – “slaves, obey your lords in the flesh with fear and trembling” – would be something we wouldn’t know was in the Bible if all we knew were the lectionary. Whether the fact that yes, it is in there is something we’d really like to forget or not might be an open question, but either way, Bible Content Examinees, be warned.

CLOSER READING

The longer instruction to slaves / servants (vv5-8) is neatly structured rhetorically, setting up a parallelism between the way they should serve their according to the flesh lords and the way they should serve Christ. In both cases, the author urges them not to please men in appearance only, but substantively, and ultimately with an eye to do the will of God and to please the Lord (i.e., Christ).

The word translated “heart” in v6, in the instruction to servants/slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, is the Greek psyche, from which we get our word “psychology.” It refers not so much to a physical organ, but to the whole inner person.

V8 then goes on to remind the servants of what they know (here, the eidō kind of knowing, arguably, leaning to the kind of knowing based on observation): that there will be a reward for whoever does anything good. Whether the doer of good is slave or free.

Then there’s a verse of instruction to lords or “masters,” to reciprocate (“the same do with respect to them, i.e., the slaves/servants), and specifically giving up threatening. That wouldn’t need to be said if it weren’t happening. This probably reminds us that it’s hard to start acting like a Christian in real life. The lords are reminded to know something, too: they themselves have a lord, the same one their servants have, in heaven, and partiality is not in his repertoire. So their high social status on earth will have no bearing on their status before Christ.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The pastoral letter to Timothy is also, we think, written into the Ephesian context, and is less disputed as to its authorship than the letter to the Ephesian congregation. The instructions to Timothy range from theological to practical, and include instructions for the congregation as a whole, and various categories of members thereof, that will need to be given by Timothy, as well as instructions for Timothy about how to conduct himself as a minister of Christ. The instructions Timothy is to give to “those who in the present age are rich” are among the last.

These verses show up in the lectionary, perhaps reflecting the consciousness that most contemporary western Christians fit the description of “those who in the present age are rich.”

CLOSER READING

Timothy is to command or perhaps warn the rich not to be high-minded – presumably something like arrogant – and not to have hope on riches, which are uncertain. The word translated “uncertain” has an interesting etymology, coming from the kind of uncertainty we experience when we can’t make out exactly what we’re seeing. Which might remind us that the uncertainty of riches is not only that they can be mighty impermanent, but also that we might not be able to see all that clearly whether they are a good thing or not, or are as good a thing as they look to be to our warped senses.

The rich [implicitly, as well as the poor] are to set hope on God, who provides all richly unto enjoyment. Then, the rich are to do good, to be rich in good/lovely work, to be generous in distributing things, ready to share – a word we tend to associate with community or fellowship, but which here reminds us that it includes the practical kind of sharing of food and clothes as well as time and conversation – treasuring up for themselves a good/beautiful foundation in the future. So that they may take hold of the real life. The word that describes life here is related, by having the same root, to the word for “being” that gives us our English word “ontology.” That is, there is the life that really IS, that has the substance of life. That’s the life to get.

The number of times the word or root for riches shows up in these three verses is remarkable, and the message is clear: real riches are not what we think they are; they are from God, and they are seen in, and gained by, what is done to provide for the well-being of others.

All in all, we’re seeing in these two short texts a set of instructions being given to people who are – at this moment in history – in the minority of their community, living in a world characterized by social arrangements that have not been shaped by hundreds and thousands of years of Christian consciousness. The slavery and the extreme inequality of the ancient world are facts of life. How are these new Christians going to live, as Christians, in a world like that? Answer: as generously as possible – whether as the victims of the injustice of the world, or as those who have benefited from it, and are in a position to ameliorate some of its consequences.

Some questions on these texts are here.

Image: “Casa de Convalescència, arrambador ceràmic” Enfo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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