The Office of Deacon
We believe (chorus)
Call to worship:
Pastor andrew loginow
Isaiah 52.13-53.12
song:
Let your kingdom come
Historical reading:
pastor zachary mcguire
Apostles' creed
song:
Great is thy faithfulness
Confession & Pardon
pastor brett eckel
song:
Doxology
song:
See the destined day arise
Sermon:
dr. alex loginow
The Office of Deacon
1 Timothy 3.8-13
Introduction
What happens when you sneak up behind a church? You scare the deacons out of it. We don’t want to scare the deacons out of Christ Community Church. We love our deacons here at Christ Community Church. We need our deacons here at Christ Community Church.
As we continue our summer series on the theology of the church this morning we’re considering the office of deacon. For the months of June and July we’re looking at the essential elements, the nonnegotiable facets, of the church. What makes a faithful church? So far we have considered the preaching of the Word of God, the sacraments, church membership, and Elder rule; this morning – the office of deacon.
In order to help us see why the office of deacon is essential for the local church we’re going to ask five of the most basic question we can ask about any topic – what? Who? Where? When? And why?
What?
The first question to ask is what? What is the office of deacon? The title, “deacon” is a transliteration of the Greek word διάκονος, which means, “servant or minister.” Theologically, in the New Testament, the title speaks to one who serves God by serving others, especially those within the church. Biblically speaking there are only two offices in the church – elder and deacon. In Scripture there are no Senior Pastors, Lead Pastors, Associate Pastors, Youth Pastors, Music Pastors, treasurers, superintendents, moderators, committees, or any other offices; the church has two offices – elder and deacon.
The office of deacon exists to lead the church in serving. Elders lead in preaching, teaching, doctrine, and discipline. Deacons lead in serving. It is in Acts 6.1-7 that we see the origin of the office of deacon. Listen to Acts 6.1-7:
6 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. 2 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. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 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. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 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.
In Jerusalem the Greek widows were being ignored; no one was tending to their needs. The Apostles (functioning as elders in the earliest days of the new covenant) were right that the most important thing they had to do to shepherd God’s people was to give themselves to preaching the Word and prayer but the physical needs of God’s people – especially widows and orphans – had to be met as well. And so in God’s timing the office of deacon was established. From the very beginning the office of deacon is and has always been about serving the church. Deacons are those who serve, give mercy, help, and show hospitality.
Some churches have confused the office of deacon with the office of elder. Deacons do not have authority of oversight that elders do. Deacons are not called to lead in doctrine or discipline. Deacons are called to lead in serving. Deacons lead the effort in meeting the physical needs of the congregation.
Because our church owns a building part of modern deacon ministry is caring for the property. Again, the Elders give directional oversight and often times may be involved in different elements of the work but deacons should be leading the effort to meet the physical needs of the property. But the needs of the building and the property are 1,000 times less important than serving the people. Deacons take the lead in serving the members of the church.
This starts first and foremost with the orphans and widows – especially widows who don’t have children to look after them. It can be as simple as giving them a ride or helping them with a need around their home or car. It can be more relational: spending time with them, or caregiving to some degree. Deacons must lead the way in the local church of meeting the needs of the least of these. Widows and orphans; elderly care; abortion and adoption ministry – these are the first tier priorities for deacons of a local church.
The second tier of deacon ministry is serving the body in general. Our deacons at Christ Community Church prepare and clean up the Eucharist. Our deacons show up for people. They go to funerals of family members of church members merely for support. Our deacons serve funeral meals when we host funerals here at the church. Our deacons teach children’s ministry and serve in music ministry. Deacons lead the church in serving.
The third tier is the least urgent and really applies to all Christians but deacons especially serve their neighbors outside of the church. All Christian are called to love and serve their neighbors to the best of our abilities and deacons lead the way for us in this as well. They model faithful service to us as they lead us in serving in the church and we take that example to the world. All Christians follow in the pattern of Christ – the pattern of self-sacrificial servant leadership – and the deacons lead us in that example.
Who?
We’ve answered the first question – what? What is a deacon? Deacons lead the church in serving. Now we must ask the second question – who? Who are called to be deacons?
Our answer comes in our text we read at the beginning of the sermon: 1st Timothy 3.8-13. We will comment on a few notes from this pericope. First, notice verse 8 says, Deacons likewise… Verse 8 immediately follows the pericope that Pastor Kevin preached last week concerning the qualifications for elders. Remember that besides the ability to teach and the restriction against recent converts, all of the qualifications for elders relate not to skill but to character. Now the Bible says, Deacons likewise…Like the elders, deacons must display godly character.
Unlike elders, deacons are not required to possess the gift of teaching, but deacons must believe the gospel. Verse 9 says, they must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. Deacons are not mandated to teach like elders are, that doesn’t mean deacons are forbidden to teach. That is certainly not the case. We have deacons that teach but the ability to teach is not mandated for deacons. But deacons must genuinely believe the gospel. Along with meeting the moral qualification for deacon one must also affirm and not deny the basic tenets of orthodox Christianity – what we confessed earlier in the Apostles’ Creed – if one refuses to affirm or in any way denies Christian orthodoxy, they are unqualified to serve as a deacon.
Another difference between elders and deacons is that the office of elder is restricted to men; the office of deacon has always included both men and women. Notice in verse 11 the ESV says, their wives likewise… The word likewise in verse 11 is the same Greek word used in verse 8 (ὡσαύτως). So the Holy Spirit is telling us that just as verse 8 connected to verses 1-7, verse 11 connects to verses 8-10 in like manner.
The ESV is my favorite translation of Scripture but 1st Timothy 3.11 is a bad translation. The word that the ESV translates as wives is the Greek word γυναῖκας, which can mean either wife specifically or woman generally. There are a couple of reasons it is unlikely that Paul meant wives here by the term γυναῖκας. First, the recapitulation of the word likewise – just as Paul uses likewise to compare and contrast deacons with elders, he does the same thing in verse 11 to compare and contrast male deacons with female deacons.
Second, Paul does not give any qualifications for elders’ wives so it logically follows that the qualifications in verse 11 are not for deacons’ wives but for women deacons. Elders have a higher responsibility in the church than deacons and so it does not make sense that there would be qualifications for a deacon’s wife and not for an elder’s wife. It more logically follows that γυναῖκας means woman here and not wife. γυναῖκας is not used in the pericope about elders because women are not qualified to be elders. It is used for deacons, not because there are qualifications for the wives of deacons, but because women can be qualified to be deacons.
Romans 16.1 says, I recommend to you our sister Phoebe who is a deacon in the church at Cenchreae. Of course many translations (ESV included) translate this verse, as servant instead of deacon but it’s the same Greek word. The word used to describe Phoebe in Romans 16.1 is the same word we see for deacon in 1st Timothy 3.8-13 (διάκονος). The office of deacon has always been available to both men and women.
Where?
So we have noted what the office of deacon is – it is one of two New Testament local church offices (elder and deacon) distinguished by leading the church in serving. We have also noted who the deacons are – men and women who meet the qualification of 1st Timothy 3.8-13. The next question we must ask is where? Where do deacons serve? As we noted earlier, all Christians, deacons included are called to love their neighbors as themselves, but deacons specifically fulfill their office when they serve in the church.
We have already seen from Acts 6 where the office of deacon was given by the Apostles to serve the widows in the church. We then looked at 1st Timothy 3 where the qualifications for deacon are given. 1st Timothy is a letter written by Paul to a Pastor of a local church. Listen also to how Paul begins his letter to the Philippian church:
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 1.1-2).
As the Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to write the epistle to the Philippians, which would be canonized in the eternal Word of God, Paul addresses the church in general and then specifically the overseers (pastors, elders) and the deacons. The office of deacon is a sacred office in the church and has been for 2,000+ years. God values the office of deacon and so we should rightly value it too. We should not despise the office of deacon by making it something it’s not meant to be – deacons are not elders; they are two different offices. We despise the office of deacon when we treat deacons like pseudo-elders.
Another way we despise the office of deacon is by saying things like, “I’m happy to serve, but I don’t need the title.” More than one of you has said that to me before. If you don’t want to be a deacon just say so. There’s nothing wrong with that. We don’t want deacons who don’t want to be deacons anyway. But don’t despise the office that God created for his bride – the valuable office of deacon.
The office of deacon is valuable precisely because the deacons serve the bride of Christ. Jesus is the king of creation and the church is his queen. Deacons serve Christ’s bride. Deacons lead in caring for the actual body of Christ. Deacons are stewards of the temple of the Holy Spirit. If a church does not have deacons or rightly esteem deacons or if a church has deacons that aren’t leading in serving the church then it is not a healthy, biblical church. But that is not the case here at Christ Community Church. We are so thankful for our deacons who lead CCC in serving.
When?
We have answered the questions of what? Who? And where? Now we ask when? When is the office of deacon necessary? And the answer is until the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
From the inauguration of the office of deacon in Acts 6 until Jesus returns to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new, the office of deacon is essential to the local church. We have looked at four different passages in this sermon about the office of deacon (Acts 6.1-7; 1st Tim 3.8-13; Rom 16.1; and Phil 1.1-2). There is an important hermeneutical principle that we must remind ourselves of at this moment. The Holy Spirit inspired all of Scripture to apply to all of the church in all generations. That means there is no passage in the Bible that only applied to people in the past but does not apply to us now. There is no passage in the Bible that will only apply to believers in the future but does not apply to us now. Every pericope in Holy Scripture applies to all of God’s people in every generation.
So both the descriptive and prescriptive passages pertaining to deacons in the New Testament apply to every generation of believers until the Lord Jesus returns. That means, at least in part, that we always need to be training the next generation of deacons. We should raise little boys and girls to see the office of deacons as valuable and respectable and even encourage them to aspire to the office of deacon. If you’re in your thirties or twenties or a teenager, let me encourage you, aspiring to the office of deacon glorifies God. Maybe God won’t call you to the office but the character and service that mark the lives of deacons are commendable and there are few honors in the world as high as serving as a deacon in a local church.
Why?
The final question we must ask is why? What is the point? Why did God establish the office of deacon in the local church? We have seen some of the results or benefits of the office of deacon – care for widows and orphans, leading the church in serving – but these are merely the results; they are not the reason. The reason, the why, of the office of deacon is found in passages like Pastor Andrew read from Isaiah 52-53 in our call to worship.
Isaiah 52-53 points us forward to YHWH’s suffering servant who will be crushed for our transgressions. And this is a universal truth: there is one true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who created humanity, male and female, in his image. In Adam all of humanity sinned against God and because we are born with a sin nature we sin in thought, word, and deed. We sin by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We do not love God with our whole heart; we do not love our neighbors as ourselves. These are our transgressions Isaiah spoke of.
But Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering servant would be fulfilled when the time was right as the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God would be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15). It is by his righteousness that we are saved (2nd Pet 1.1) because as Jesus died on the cross he offered up his righteous life to God in the place of our sinful lives, and Jesus bore God’s wrath against our sin. After he died Jesus was buried and on the third day he resurrected from the dead fully defeating sin and death and inaugurating his new kingdom.
Now everyone who will repent of their sin and trust in Jesus alone will receive the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. To repent of your sin means to confess that you are a sinner; it means to agree with God that you have missed the mark of his holiness. And it means to turn from your sin and toward Christ. To believe in Jesus entails three facets: (1) knowledge, (2) assent, and (3) trust.
Knowledge of the gospel means you know who Jesus is and what Jesus did. If you have been listening to this sermon you have all of the knowledge you need. Assent means you don’t receive the knowledge of the gospel with indifference; it means you actually believe what the gospel says about who Jesus is and what Jesus did. And the third facet of faith is trust. You assent to the knowledge of the gospel and you transfer your trust to Jesus Christ alone. You rest the full weight of your righteousness and resurrection on who Jesus is and what Jesus did.
And this is why the office of deacon is so essential – it is grounded in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the suffering servant. Jesus said he came to serve not to be served (Matt 20.28). Listen to Romans 15.8:
For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy
The word servant here again is διάκονος - deacon! The text literally reads, for I tell you that Christ became a deacon (λέγω γὰρ Χριστὸν διάκονον)…Jesus’ self-identification of his incarnation and mission was that of self-sacrificial servant leadership. Jesus is the true and better deacon; he is the eternal deacon. The office of deacon derives from the very character of Jesus Christ himself. Deacons are essential because the office of deacon correctly institutionalizes one of Christ’s most intrinsic characteristics – serving the church.
Conclusion
As we prepare now to dine with our Lord Jesus at Holy Communion, first can I have all of the deacons stand. Kevin Osborn currently leads the deacons and they are a gift to Christ Community Church. Thank you for your service to Jesus and Christ Community Church. And for the rest of the congregation – whether you’re young, you’re a kid or a teenager, or in your twenties or thirties, or even if you’re older – you should aspire to this. Aspire to the character and service of the deacons. Follow them as they follow Jesus the true and better deacon of our souls.