Deacons: The Servants of the Church

Transcript

Well, good morning Trinity Church. I am glad y’all can hear me, yeah? Okay, good. I’m glad I do not have a winning streak with this microphone, so this is, it’s good that you can hear me. It’s an absolute joy to be with you. There is no place I would rather be than to open up God’s Word with His people and gather around and worship. This morning we are in our second sermon series, or a second sermon in the series entitled, The People of God, and the prayer of the pastors is that our serious focusing on the church will stir up all of our hearts towards greater love and appreciation for God’s design for our life together as His body. Now, in this sermon series we will zoom in on different but equally important parts of the church with the hope and the prayer that as the local church

becomes aware of how God designed it, what will emerge is a beautiful song of unity, a song of hope, faith, and love that gives much glory to our King. So brothers and sisters, let’s first start by seeking God’s help in prayer. Would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, we come to you as the head of the church, the one who is preeminent, who is to rank first and foremost in everything that we do. We thank you for your wisdom that is put on display in the church. We thank you for this community that you have brought together in this city. We thank you for all the local churches that are faithful to you and continue to declare your glory and your salvation. And Lord, we pray that you would use us to be an instrument in your hands, that sinners would come to you, that you would save people from death to

Who Are Deacons?

life, and that we as a church would build each other up in our most holy faith. We pray this in your name. Amen. What comes to mind when you hear the word deacon? For many of us that word stirs up ideas that we frankly don’t really know what to do with. We’re not exactly sure what deacons do, why deacons exist, and we’re not even sure why and how someone qualifies to be a deacon in the first place. In his book on deacons, Matt Smothers lays out some well-meaning but wrong ideas that people tend to have about what deacons are. I’ll share some of these well-intentioned but wrong ideas. Smothers points out that some people fall into the trap of seeing deacons as elders in training. They see deacons as a sort of seat warmer role until someone finally graduates to elder. But biblically speaking, the office of deacon has been

given to the church to be filled by qualified men and women. Now some people think that deacons are really fundamentally practical people, where a can-do attitude and a knack for fixing things usually wins the day. Others look to deacons to be the common-sense gurus of the church, giving good practical advice about finances, business, and parenting. And still others see them as the customer service representatives of the church who are supposed to fix every complaint with a smile. The truth is that all of these examples fall short because they miss the main point. The word deacon is a Greek word that we have in the English language that no one bothered to translate on the way over. And that’s why many of us don’t know what it means, but the Greek word just means servant. The office of deacon is the office of servant. But this role is

more than service. It is a calling to serve in imitation of King Jesus in meeting the felt needs of his people. The Bible’s vision for deacons is actually deeper than the boring alternatives that many people have. This morning we will explore three different passages to get a fuller picture of what God’s Word speaks on this particular subject. Now each passage answers a different question about these exemplary servants of the church. First, we will look at who deacons are in 1st Timothy. Second, we will look at what deacons do out of Acts. And third, we will look at how deacons serve out of John chapter 13. So let’s start with who deacons are. So please open up your Bibles to 1st Timothy chapter 3. We’ll be reading verses 8 through 13. If you have one of the pew Bibles, that would be page 933. You will see the ESV. It’s the main translation of

Trinity that we use projected behind me. I will actually be reading from the NIV and that will become more clear in a little bit. So God’s Word to us regarding deacons says in 1st Timothy chapter 3 starting with verse 8, in the same way deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, this

is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. In these verses to Timothy, Paul gives a list of life characteristics that qualify a sister or a brother to serve as a deacon. Now there are some overlapping qualifications with elders here. I will not dive into those specifically this morning. Thomas did a wonderful job explaining many of those qualifications that overlap with the deacons here but I want to focus in on how the list of their qualifications is different and it is different in three important ways. Now before considering what the Bible says about these qualifications, we need to be honest. The Bible really doesn’t say a whole lot about deacons. This particular passage is the biggest and clearest teaching on deacons in the entire Bible. That’s true. So because the Bible doesn’t say much, it’s really important to pay attention to what the Bible does say because God’s Word is

actually sufficient to teach us on this subject. The Bible cares much less about what deacons do than about who deacons are, about their character and maturity. Now it’s undeniable that character and faithfulness always rank much higher in God’s sight than amazing gifts and raw talent. The Lord tells Samuel, for the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. The first difference between elders and deacons is that deacons can be both men and women. So look down at verse 11. If you have the ESV, this reads, their wives, kind of sounds like the wives of deacons, their wives likewise must be dignified. Now I’m not a Greek scholar but this verse can also legitimately be translated in a completely different way and it really depends on the Greek word that the ESV translates as wives because that

particular Greek word can also mean women. Most scholars agree with the NIV’s translation which reads, in the same way the women, meaning female deacons, are to be worthy of respect. Now what does all of this mean? It means that the women mentioned here are not the wives of deacons but are actually deacons themselves. Paul is talking about the specific qualifications for female deacons in verse 11 in the same way that he talks about the specific qualifications for male deacons in the next verse over in verse 12. I think this makes the most sense of this passage. And now think about it for a moment. Why would Paul go out of his way to talk about the qualifications for the wives of male deacons, like the ESV would translate, if he doesn’t talk about any qualifications for the wives of elders? That’s kind of an interesting conundrum there. And other

parts of Scripture show us that sisters serve in this particular office of deacon. Romans 16 1 says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. Now from the beginning of the church, some of the most prominent servants were women. Did you know that? Just think about the stories of Jesus where women take center stage. There’s the famous story of dutiful Martha who is busy and distracted with her work and her sister Mary who just wants to bask in the presence of Jesus. We have the story of the woman who came and served Jesus by washing his feet with her tears and who dried his feet with her hair. We have the story of Jesus when he was crucified and it was women who were there serving him and caring for him and exercising empathy for him in his affliction. We also have the story of the resurrection where many of these

same women on Sunday morning were the first to hear that our King Jesus was raised from the dead. This is the witness of the Bible, is exceptionally strong to show that our sisters can be and often are wonderful servants. Now the second main difference is that deacons are not required to teach. Deacons don’t have to be theology experts. They don’t have to lead a small group. They don’t have to ever teach a class of any sort. Instead, deacons have to have a good grasp of the gospel and Christian doctrine. Now why is that important? Here’s why it’s important. Because a good grasp of the faith needs to be the foundation of their service. If deacons don’t serve motivated by Christ and his gospel, they will not serve faithfully. Now practically this is also important because while they serve, deacons will encounter saints in all seasons of life in a variety of

different circumstances and they will be called upon by God to bring his truth to bear in the many interactions that they have with the saints. Some of these will involve sitting with suffering saints and deacons have to know the good news of Jesus as it applies to the different and various seasons of life to be able to give a good word of encouragement to those who are discouraged. Deacons must also be able to hold on to the faith so that they are not quickly shaken by many of the doubts and the temptations that afflict the people that they serve. So lastly, deacons must be tested in verse 10. Again, this is not a paper and pencil test of doctrine. No one is trying to quiz them on how much knowledge they have. Rather, this testing is a process of discernment, both about the character and

the type of service these deacons exemplify. Prospective deacons are observed to see if they have the consistent character qualifications, not just seen on a Sunday morning, but in day-to-day life. Do they already serve others in the church in a sacrificial and consistent way? Are they in a particular season of life where they can be serving as deacons? Now, for those deacons that serve well, the Bible gushes, brothers and sisters, with benefits and rewards. Many people have this idea that it’s bad to want the rewards of doing good, but brothers and sisters, God’s Word doesn’t shy away from these glorious rewards, and neither should we, honestly. Verse 13 says, those who serve well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. Do you notice the two rewards? Excellent standing from the congregation, and the other is great assurance in their faith given by none other than Jesus.

What Do Deacons Do?

This is a great encouragement for our deacons because so much of what they do is, frankly, thankless. It’s hidden work that only the Lord notices the vast majority of the time. Their faithful service will lead to a greater and greater sense that the Lord is serving His people through their efforts. Now, brothers and sisters, what greater joy than to know that God uses sinners like us to bless those around us. Amen? Faithful service for all God’s people will increase our confidence in the faith, but this is especially true for our deacon brothers and sisters. All right, so let’s move on to what deacons do. Flip in your Bibles to Acts 6, verses 1 through 7. Now, this is the passage where the blueprint for what deacons do comes from. Acts 6, verses 1 through 7. Hear the word of the Lord. Now, in these days when the disciples were

increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers and sisters, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples

multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Now, this chapter drops in on a really exciting time in the life of the church. Jesus is risen. He ascended into heaven. Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit. The church is exploding healings, signs, miracles. The whole works is happening, and people are coming to the faith from all kinds of backgrounds. But cracks begin to show up in the unity of the church in the form of ethnic prejudice. Now, there are two ethnic groups here. First, there are the Hellenists. These are Jewish people that move back to the land of Israel after hundreds of years of living in the Greek speaking Mediterranean world. These Hellenistic Jews didn’t speak the local language well, and they usually worshiped in the Greek language instead of Aramaic with their own specific traditions. Then there are the Hebrews

who are the Jews who never moved away from the land of Israel, and they speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. These Aramaic-speaking Jews are the majority group in the church who has the power and the biggest cultural influence in the church. Now, this was a time in the church where they held all things in common, meaning that the resources of the church were pulled together and then distributed to specific areas of need, and one of those areas was distribution to the widows. Somehow, we’re not told the reason, ethnic prejudice against the Hellenists started to show up because the widows from this particular community got the short end of the stick with the food. Now, the way that the community treats its poorest and most vulnerable members shows what it thinks God is like. This is a witness of scripture. How we treat the least among us shows us what

we think God is like. James says, religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Now, the Hellenists notice how badly their widows are being treated, so they bring up this complaint. But brothers and sisters, this is more than just a complaint. It’s an issue that actually undermines the gospel. If this pattern of discrimination continues, it’s easy to see how many of these Hellenistic Jews would have felt marginalized, unimportant members in the community of Jesus just because they happen to come from a different culture. Now, if this was allowed to continue, this ethnic prejudice tears up the church by creating an in-group and an out-group in the Christian community, which basically denies that Jesus died to create for himself one people out of all the people

of the world. So, by God’s intervention, he leads the apostles to call all the church together. Notice verse 1, calls all new believers disciples. So, this is a mixed group of men and women, of people of all ages, and all levels of Christian maturity. The apostles call on the entire church to pick seven men from the mix to oversee the distribution of the food and the resources. Now, here’s the thing. Even though this issue has huge potential to cause deep division in the church, the apostles call on the congregation to discern who God is raising up for this time of need. That’s interesting. Now, why do they do that? Why don’t the apostles just figure out the issue themselves? Well, because biblically speaking, all Christians have God’s Spirit dwelling in them. We are all living stones and priests in the spiritual temple of God, and as such, God’s Spirit

is at work in our life together. And here’s the wonderful thing. The congregation is legitimately empowered by God to discern who can carry out these duties. Peter did not get a divine download of the names of the seven one day when he was praying. This is all of God’s work through the congregation. Now, let me bring it back to Trinity. This is why, brothers and sisters, your pastors love it when you bring to our attention people who are good candidates for deacons or elders. We love it when you take charge of what God has empowered you to do in observing what is happening around you and encouraging your brothers and sisters in the Christian life. Now, this is also why whenever we consider ordaining deacons or elders, we bring them before you and ask you to fill out evaluation forms. Now, this is not an empty ritual. I can’t

stress that enough. This is the elders wanting your input into the candidates we bring to the congregation. And you providing that input affirms the responsibility that God has given you as a Christian and as a member of this local body. Now, the Apostles want these men to serve in this specific area so that they can devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. The Apostles consider food distribution important enough to call on the congregation to choose men that will bring unity and healing throughout the body. All the seven men that are chosen by the congregation are from the Hellenistic community. We know that because they all have Greek names, which means that the entire diverse church chooses men from the disadvantaged community and puts them in charge to make sure that the community resources are distributed to everyone fairly. Now, this is a beautiful picture of gospel

reconciliation between different communities. The service of these seven men frees up the Apostles to devote their best energies to the task of preaching, of prayer, and shepherding the entire flock. Now, here’s the thing. Elders in the church are not Apostles. The office of Apostle no longer exists. And these men aren’t called deacons, but they do serve an exemplary servant-like kind of role in the church. And there are takeaways for us. In short, deacons serve by undertaking many of the practical felt needs of the church so that the elders of the church are freed up to continue preaching, prayer, and pastoring. Now, here’s the thing. When deacons step in, the effectiveness of all kinds of ministry only increases. As the gospel is preached, the saints are built up. Sacrificial service becomes the rhythm of our life together, and the lost are evangelized and saved. And ultimately, it’s Jesus that deacons serve when they serve His

How Deacons Serve

blood-bought people. Did you know, brothers and sisters, in Matthew 25, Jesus so identifies with His people that to serve His people is to serve Him, and also that if you persecute His people, you also persecute Him. It’s this beautiful recognition that Jesus identifies closely with His people. All Christians are called to look to Jesus as our model for how to serve others. So for Jesus, the example of service, turn in your Bibles to John chapter 13, our last passage in our third point. How deacons serve. I’ll be reading from verse 3 of chapter 13 of John. I’m going to start reading once the page rustling has quieted down. Perfect. All right, verse 3. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around His waist.

Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. Verse 6, He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. Look down at verse 12. When He had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master,

nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. I love these verses. And it starts with verse 3, where Jesus, fully aware of His authority and power over absolutely everything, gets up from supper like a king from his throne, only to kneel lower than He was before to wash the dirty feet of His disciples. This is not just a humble action, though it is, this is chosen humiliation. The disciples knew it. They felt awkward to see their Lord in such a despised, lowly role. Now all of them, if called on, would have been glad to wash Jesus’ feet. That was the normal order of things. Disciples washed the feet of their teachers. They would never, however, wash each other’s feet because peers, fellow disciples, did not do that to each other. You would have someone else in the social order, someone lower than yourself, do that lowly task.

Now you can imagine the shock. No rabbi ever washed the feet of his followers because there were plenty of servants around in that society. You can feel the discomfort in Peter’s voice. Lord, do you wash my feet? As if this wasn’t painfully obvious what Jesus was intending to do. Now the other disciples are silent. They don’t bother to say anything. So Jesus proceeds to wash the feet of all of His disciples. He washes the feet of Peter who will deny Him. He washes the feet of Judas who will betray Him. And He washes the feet of the rest of them who will abandon Him in His darkest hour. D.A. Carson writes about this passage, With such power and status at His disposal, we might have expected Him to defeat the devil in an immediate and flashy confrontation, and to devastate Judas with an unstoppable blast of divine wrath.

Instead, He washes His disciples’ feet, including the feet of the betrayer. But here’s the thing. Jesus doesn’t do this to leave His disciples with clean feet that are going to get dirty again. Instead, He leaves them with two things, an example and a symbol. First, the example. He’s saying to His disciples that following Him looks like doing the kinds of self-denying things for others that Jesus did for them. It often looks like a gentle word to a harsh accusation, a prayerful blessing to a disobedient child, forgiving your enemies, treating with kindness those that despise you. Jesus says to us now, For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. When Jesus bends down to wash the feet of His disciples, John gives us this beautiful detail. Jesus takes off His outer garment. Jesus is dressing down to look the part of a slave, the lowest of the low.

And a few days later, Jesus stoops even lower. When nailed and bloodied on a cross, He hangs between heaven and earth, bearing the justice of God for sinners. Jesus is the Passover lamb that dies in our place, the atoning sacrifice that takes away our sin, our condemnation, and our uncleanness. Jesus chose this willingly, like He chose to wash the feet of His disciples. Now, this is the purifying power of your Messiah that is symbolized in the foot washing. On the cross, Jesus humbles Himself to wash our guilty and sin-ravaged souls at the cost of His life He makes us clean. Paul, who is a converted terrorist who wrote the part in 1 Timothy, he says about the work of Jesus for Christians. He says, you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Brothers and sisters, seeing how Jesus has served you is the only motivation that can keep you doing the things the Lord calls you to. Do you remember, think back, do you remember how Jesus met you in your sin the first time? Are you aware of how Jesus meets you even now? Do you see His humility? Are you thankful that though He fully sees you in all of your sin and your failure, He loves you so much that He gave His life so that you might live with Him? Now, this is the only thing that can melt our proud and self-reliant hearts to serve others sacrificially day in and day out. His power at work in us through His gospel becomes the fuel for our sacrificial care for one another. A gauge for our love for Jesus is how willing we are to die to ourselves

so that others might live more fully. Now, this is your calling as a Christian to serve people through all kinds of ways for their good. In the wisdom of God, He’s given to the church deacons, model servants who by the grace of God do the work of serving the saints in a public way. They are given to the church by God’s design as an example to watch, to learn from, and to imitate as the church walks the Christian life together. Now, consider how you’ve been ministered to by deacons and the ministries that they oversee. Just two small examples this morning. When you parked your car, you have peace of mind that your car will not be broken into. This is Portland. Stuff like that happens, but you have the peace of mind that your car will not be broken into because a deacon is overseeing and serving to make sure

that you don’t have to worry about security and that when you come into service, you can focus on the worship of the Lord. While in church, a deacon oversees the technology ministry which makes our common worship all the more delightful because we can unite together around songs. And in that way, our congregational life is all the more beautiful and richer. Now, deacons along with many other folks who serve sacrificially allow us to gather on Sunday mornings to worship God and that’s the very thing that we were created to do. Every person in this church, that is all of us, all of us in this church are incredibly blessed by the service of many other people on our behalf, often by their service that we don’t even notice or take time to observe. So my encouragement to you would be to take the time to appreciate when you see it done.

Observe the deacons around you. Observe their manner of life and how they serve. Pray for them. Thank God for them and seek to encourage them because like all of us, they are human and often get discouraged in their serving. And most of all, pray that God would keep the gospel near their hearts so that our deacons always love their Savior more than their service. Amen? Let’s pray. Lord our God, we thank you for your wisdom that is put on displayed in your church. Thank you for deacons whom you have raised up and whom you are empowering to serve us and to make our experience of gathering together as your people all the more easier and more joy-filled. We ask that you would keep them faithful. We ask that you would bless them with your presence, that you would draw near to them and minister your gospel to them every day.

And Lord, we ask also that you would use them to acknowledge that all their service is ultimately for your glory and by your power. We thank you, Lord, for how you love us, how you’ve given yourself for us. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.