SCRIPTURE
14I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, 15if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. 16Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:14-16, NRSV)
WHAT
Timothy is in Ephesus, Paul is in Macedonia sometime probably in the early 60s A.D. Paul has assigned Timothy the difficult task of straightening out the Ephesian church, which – apparently led by some of its own elders – is veering off track, becoming attracted to some of the ideas of the philosophy later known as Gnosticism. Paul hopes to join Timothy in Ephesus soon (1 Timothy 4:13), but if he is delayed (which he apparently was) he wants Timothy to at least have these written instructions as he attempts to lead the wayward yet highly influential church back on track.
Paul has just laid out the qualifications of leaders in the church in Ephesus, for both episkopē (bishop/overseer) and diakonos (deacon). One of the qualifications for deacon he specially identified, and though not mentioned, would certainly apply to bishops/overseers (and elders) as well:
…they must hold fast to the mystery (GREEK: mystērion) of the faith with a clear conscience. (1 Timothy 3:9, NRSV)
Paul is about to spell out in the rest of this letter to Timothy “how one ought to behave in the household of God.” He begins that process by reciting what was probably an early Christian hymn about the “mystery of the faith” to which all were to hold fast.
The Greek word translated “mystery” here is mystērion. You can easily see how our English word “mystery” comes straight from this Greek word. In modern English, when we encounter the word “mystery,” we think either of an Agatha Christie “murder mystery novel,” where the suspense builds until the “whodunnit” is revealed at the end, or we think of something that just cannot ever be known despite years of trying. Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart and her Electra aircraft or Malaysian Airlines flight 370 are called “mysteries.” After years of searching, even with the best technologies, both aircraft remain missing. Their fates are therefore described as “mysteries.”
The Greek word meant something similar to the second meaning above, but with a twist. A mystērion was something that was not knowable alright, and could never be known – unless it was revealed by a divine being.
The world of Paul and Timothy was filled with what are known as “mystery cults.” These were religions which worshiped pagan gods that promised their devotees an inside track on how the world really worked, and how to live a life of true happiness and eternal security. The “secrets” to such a life had been revealed by a deity and would be divulged to the initiate through his or her participation in a series of rituals and prayers which brought insider knowledge that had been revealed by the deity on the meaning of life, the universe, the divine, and thus the secret to a successful life. In other words, these mystery cults promised their followers the hidden clues unavailable otherwise; “secrets” that would make sense of everything and bring peace of mind, salvation, or whatever else the follower was seeking.
The attraction of all this in a world of political and economic instability is not hard to imagine, much like the attraction of conspiracy theories and misinformation that circulates today, promising inside information “they” don’t want you to know. They all promise to make a person an “insider” to what it really going on, to give people a leg up in a world full of unknown threats. And Ephesus was a place teeming with these mystery cults.
So it’s probably no coincidence that Paul chose this particular Christian hymn which celebrates the mystērionavailable in Christ to be the foundation for his instructions to Timothy.
Without any doubt, the mystērion of our religion is great:
He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit,
seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
(1 Timothy 3:16, NRSV)
Without specifically naming him, the hymn is certainly focused on Jesus as the Christ, the crucified and risen Messiah. What is a hymn? As William Barclay reminds us, a hymn is a setting of belief in Christ to poetry and music. A hymn is thus a creed in song. “We cannot expect from poetry,” says Professor Barclay, “the same precision of statement for which we would look in a creed…” Never-the-less, there is much to learn here, especially about how Paul and the early Church saw Christ Jesus. Interestingly, this hymn that Paul quotes appears as no. 889 in the creed section of the United Methodist Hymnal.
N. T. Wright believes the lines of this poem aren’t meant to be in any particular order. In that sense, this little hymn is not like the hymn in Philippians 2:6-11, which tells the story of Jesus in order from the time before his birth through to his glorification. But in this little hymn, Bishop Wright sees each pair of lines having been chosen to balance its neighbor: flesh/Spirit, angels/Gentiles, world/glory. “Each pair invites the reader,” he says:
“…or perhaps we should say the pray-er, since a little formula like this was certainly meant to be prayed, not just thought about – to mull it over in the presence of God, to allow the strange contrasts to demolish the normal assumptions about how the world worked, how human life worked, how (so to speak) God worked, and to build up a new picture with Jesus at the middle of it.” (Emphasis mine)
Let’s look briefly at what Bishop Wright finds in each pair.
· “Revealed in flesh and vindicated in spirit (or ‘the Spirit’)” The idea of any divine being making an appearance in human form would have been exciting enough for most people in the ancient world (and ours). “But Christians went further. The one they worshiped had actually become flesh, become genuinely human, capable of laughter and tears, of suffering and dying. But after this death God had vindicated him, by the creator Spirit through whose power Jesus was raised from the dead.” Thus the mystērion opens with the core or foundational beliefs of Christian faith. From these core beliefs will follow “how one ought to behave in the household of God.”
· “Seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles” “Jesus has gone ahead of his people into God’s sphere, into heaven, until the time when he is revealed once more. There he is to this day, in the place where the angels live. But this doesn’t mean he’s absent, just a distant memory. No: he is ‘proclaimed’ among the Gentiles as the one to be worshiped and obeyed, as others worshiped and obeyed not only other gods, but Caesar,” who arrogantly and falsely proclaimed himself to be “lord and savior of the world.”
· “Believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.” The word “believe” is a rich one for Paul and the early Christians. The Greek word is pisteuō, which comes from the word pistis, which Paul used for “faith.” To “believe” involves acting in trust and loyalty as well as what we call “faith” as intellectual assent to particular doctrines. And the hymn celebrates the fact that Jesus wasn’t just being announced to the wider world; people were giving him their trusting allegiance as the one who, having been exalted to glory, was now already ruling the world as its genuine Lord.
Notice again the reason Paul gives Timothy for why he is writing this letter: so that if he is delayed in returning to Ephesus, “you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”
This is what Paul wants Timothy to teach the church, especially its errant members and leaders, those tending toward belief (i.e., trust and behaviors) contrary to the gospel. The Greek word translated “behave” by the NRSV is anastrephesthai. “It describes what we might call a person’s way of life and conversation,” writes Professor Barclay. “It describes an individual’s whole life and character, but it especially describes people in their relationships with others.” (Emphasis mine)
Notice that Paul uses four phrases to describe the Church:
· “household of God” The Greek word translated “house” and “household” is oikos, and it referred to the extended family living together under one roof in the typical Greek and Roman-era family, and to the house they lived in. The oikos was the basic unit of society. Most of us are familiar with the prefix ecos. It forms the basis of words such as ecology, economics, and ecosystem. These words all share the same Greek root, ecos, which derived from oikos, meaning “house or household.” That Paul would use this word to describe the local church tells us that he believed, and instructed Timothy to teach, unless a church is a family, it is not a true church at all. “Love of God can exist only where mutual love exists,” writes Professor Barclay. We all think growth in our local church is a good thing to be sought. But ought we to ask based on this passage, “How big can a local church get and still be an oikos with oikos-type relationships?”
· “church of the living God” The word translated “church” here is ekklēsia, which derives from two words: ek which is a prefix meaning “out” or “away from,” and kaleo, which means “call.” So put them together and you get “called out” or “called away from.” Paul understood the Church to be “the called out ones.” It does not mean “the selected ones” or “the handpicked ones.” The call goes out to everyone, but only some respond. They are the “called out ones,” called out of the world to comprise the Church.
· “the pillar” The Greek word is stulos. In Ephesus was located the Temple of Diana, or Artemis. “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” Luke tells us the Ephesian pagans cried out (Acts 19:28). It was one of the seven wonders of the world. One of this Temple’s main features was its magnificent pillars, some of which are still standing today. The Temple of Artemis contained 127 pillars, every one of them the gift of a king. All were made of marble, and some were studded with jewels and overlaid with gold. “The people of Ephesus,” observes Professor Barclay, “knew very well how beautiful a thing a pillar could be.” He goes on to suggest that Paul had the idea of the display function of a pillar in mind more than it's supportive function because he specifically called out the latter in his next word, “bulwark”. Often, the statue of a famous person is set on the top of a pillar so that it may stand out above all ordinary things and so be clearly seen, even from a distance. The idea here, notes Professor Barclay, is that the Church’s duty is to hold up the truth in such a way that all may see it.
· “bulwark of the truth” The fourth and final description Paul gives the Church is “bulwark of the truth.” Some translations have “buttress of the truth.” Here Paul clearly has in mind the supportive function of a pillar. The hedraiōma is the support of the building. It keeps the building standing intact. “In a world which does not wish to face the truth,” note Professor Barclay, “the Church holds it up for all to see. In a world which would often gladly eliminate unwelcome truth, the Church supports it against all who would seek to destroy it.”
Next Paul begins to get very specific in his instructions for what Timothy is to teach the church in Ephesus regarding “how one ought to behave in the household of God.” We’d better listen carefully.
APPLY
“How big can a local church get and still be an oikos with oikos-type relationships?”
PRAYER
O Lord, help me to behave as one who is in the household of God. In Christ. Amen.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Why did Paul begin this part of his letter of instruction on “how one ought to behave in the household of God” by apparently quoting a hymn celebrating the mystērion of Christian faith? What was a mystērion in Paul’s and Timothy’s world?
2. Comment on William Barclay’s statement, “A hymn is thus a creed in song.” With this definition, is there a difference between a hymn, a Christian song, and a praise chorus typically sung in modern contemporary worship services? (Note: this is not meant to be a question about preferences, just substance.)
3. Compare and contrast the words and concepts in each pairing of the hymn. When you are finished, end with a prayer based on your reflections.
4. Discuss how each of the four phrases Paul uses to describe the Church relate to life in the modern local church. Discuss Bob’s question, “How big can a local church get and still be an oikos with oikos-type relationships?”
How can you apply these insights in your life?