What's the Big Deal About a Deacon?

Introduction: The Significance of the Deacon's Office

0:01 The following sermon was delivered at a deacon's conference which was held at Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey, in April 2003. The preacher is Pastor Chuck Volo from the Reformed Baptist Church in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. The title is, What's the Big Deal About a Deacon?

0:25 Well, men, perhaps you've taken note of the title of the message, that it is rather colloquial and popular. What's the Big Deal About a Deacon? And I want you to know that when I chose the title, I wasn't so much looking for something that was catchy, popular, or attention-grabbing, but the title grew out of my own reflection upon the office of deacon and the awareness that in biblically aware and sensitive churches, such as I trust we are seeking to be, that deacons are made a big deal of in such churches. When I gave this sermon originally, it was for an installation service for a deacon in one of our sister churches.

1:09 And they were making a big deal of the recognition of this deacon. They had considered this man for the office for many months, if not years. The elders, in the course of their general pastoral visitation, were seeking to discern the mind of the people of God regarding the qualifications of this man for the office. The biblical qualifications.

1:31 The biblical qualifications were preached from the pulpit. There was a special meeting called to vote on this man as a candidate for deacon. And when the vote was unanimous, there was an unmistakable joy and enthusiasm that rippled through the congregation at the thought that God was adding another deacon to their assembly. A special worship service was devoted to the ordination of this man.

1:56 Many friends of the church were invited to this special event. And there was an extended time of thought. Fellowship and refreshments afterward, at which the atmosphere was one of pervasive rejoicing at God's goodness to this flock. Well, knowing this was the case in this particular church, and is the case in church after church in our circles, it struck me afresh that we do make a big deal out of deacons.

2:25 That observation might be extended to our present gathering. You men have taken advantage. A day and a half or two days out of your already very busy schedules to be here. Some of you travel, having traveled a number of miles to be here to give attention to the matters of the roles and responsibilities and qualifications of deacons.

2:47 Most of you being deacons yourselves. And all of this begs the question, what's the big deal about a deacon? Dear men, my thesis in this opening address is that, not only do we make a big deal about the office of deacon in our churches, but we ought to. What I aim to show you from the scriptures is that the office of deacon does nothing less than to reveal to us some significant truths about the character, the ways, and the purposes of Almighty God, the living and true God who is the creator and judge of heaven and earth.

3:28 In other words, behind this rather inauspicious, office of deacon are realities that are of universal and cosmic significance. And I aim to point you to those great realities. But before I do, I think we do well to consider some basic presuppositions, things that I am assuming to be true. And these matters, I am convinced, don't have to be belabored among us.

Foundational Presuppositions for Understanding the Deaconate

3:53 I am confident that we are of one mind concerning these things. Presupposition number one. The Bible is, as it claims to be, the word of God. A completely accurate, thoroughly trustworthy self-disclosure or revelation of the infinite personal God who has chosen to make himself known through select individuals at select times in human history.

4:20 And the Bible is our only sufficient guide for what we are to believe about God, about ourselves, and how we are to live. All scripture is God-breathed and profitable, for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Presupposition number two. The Bible speaks clearly to the matter of church organization and church officers.

4:47 Included in the adequacy of the God-breathed scriptures is sufficient information as to how the church of Jesus Christ is to conduct her affairs on the earth. The apostle says, as you know, in 1 Timothy 3.15, Paul saying to Timothy, but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. That instruction includes instructions about the kind of officers the church ought to have and what their qualifications and functions should be.

5:26 Presupposition number three. What the Bible says about, the office of deacon includes the following. Deacons are one of only two offices in the church of Jesus Christ. One office is that of pastor, shepherd, slash elder, slash overseer.

5:45 And these men watch over and care for the flock spiritually, teaching and preaching the word of God, counseling in spiritual matters, managing the church's worship, her corporate fellowship and evangelism, and generally ordering and acknowledging the life of the church under the headship of her ascended Lord, Jesus Christ. And for this, we would point to texts like Acts 20, where Paul, in verse 17, gathers the elders of Ephesus at Miletus, and in verse 28, he says, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 1 Timothy 5.17, Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who, who work hard at preaching and teaching. Hebrews 13.17, Obey your leaders and submit to them. They keep watch over your souls as those who will give account.

6:40 In 1 Peter 5.1-3, where Peter, as an elder, addresses his fellow elders, and he tells them to shepherd the church of God among you, and then he tells them how to do that. That's the one office, the office of pastor, slash elder, slash overseer. The other office in the church, the only other ongoing office, is that of deacon.

7:03 Deacons are distinct from elders and complementary in function. Whereas elders oversee the church's spiritual life, deacons are managers of the material and benevolent concerns of the church. They're called to care for the physical and temporal needs of the people of God, and even occasional benevolent needs outside of the congregation. More specifically, their task includes, your task includes, managing the finances of the church.

7:30 Overseeing the care of the building and grounds. Tending to the temporal material needs of the pastors, especially those who make their living from the gospel. Tending to any special material financial needs of the believers in the church as they arise. And, in mercy and with wisdom, occasionally serving those outside of the church who may have an acute need that the church deems good to meet in the name of Christ.

7:56 Remember Galatians 6.10, do good to all men, especially to those of the house, the household of faith. And the role of deacons includes any function in the church which would help to free the pastors so that they might give themselves to their primary function of preaching and prayer. And how do we know that this is the sphere of a deacon's duty?

8:17 Because in Acts chapter 6, where we have the first instance of deacons being appointed, although the name deacon is not used, the noun deacon is not used, their task was to serve food to widows, leaving the apostles of that task. And we know that this is a deacon's role as well because in the qualifications for deacons, what is notably absent in contrast to the qualifications for elder is the ability to teach. Further, we might say about a deacon's role and responsibility, deacons operate with authority in those spheres mentioned, but are under the general oversight and authority of the elders. These are not two separate deacons, but equal boards.

9:02 It is not a system of checks and balances with the elders, nor are deacons quasi-elders, what I call ecclesiastical centaurs, as they are in so many churches. You remember the mythical character, the centaur? He had the head and the shoulders of a man and the body of a beast. And in many churches, typically Baptist churches, deacons are these ecclesiastical centaurs.

9:27 They're half elder, half deacon. They're spiritual elders, they're overseer, and they also do these temporal duties. Well, that's not the portrait we get in the New Testament. They have a separate sphere from the elders, but they are under the oversight of the elders.

9:44 Further, we might say that the office of deacon is to be filled by men of eminently godly character, as outlined in 1 Timothy 3.8 and following. They are not glorified janitors. They must possess some of the same graces required of elders as given earlier, in 1 Timothy 3.

10:02 The one notable exception is that overseers must be able to teach. And, though deacons need not be able to teach in a public setting, we have the examples of Philip and Stephen, which tell us that there are some deacons who are gifted beyond the realm of the diaconate and are able to teach and preach. And as we live there in southeastern Pennsylvania, we have been grateful for years for what I've called the preaching deacons of Lumberton. Lumberton.

10:31 As the church there in Lumberton, New Jersey, has had several deacons, which have come and very ably filled our pulpit and fed our people with the word of God. Although they are deacons, they are Philip-like, Stephen-like deacons. Now, much more could be said about this office of deacon, but that will suffice to give just a general overview. With these assumptions behind being granted as truth, I want to go on to demonstrate that the office of deacon is not something, of human origin, as an ecclesiastical tradition, nor is it of narrow and parochial significance, but rather, the office of deacon has been ordained of God for his church and bespeaks some grand and glorious realities and truths about God himself. And there are three such realities I want to present to you this morning. First, the office of deacon demonstrates the compassionate heart of God. The office of deacon illustrates the paradoxical ways of God.

The Deaconate Demonstrates the Compassionate Heart of God

11:36 And then finally, the office of deacon facilitates the saving purposes of God. First then, the office of deacon demonstrates the compassionate heart of God. Consider first under this, the heart of God is moved to pity the poor, the needy, the oppressed, and those who are bereft of resources. We don't have to travel far in our Bibles before the heart of God is revealed to us as a heart of pity and compassion for the oppressed.

12:10 It was an oppressed people that God delivered out of bondage in Egypt. We read in Exodus 2, 23 and following, now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died and the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage and they cried out and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up and fell on the ground. It rose up to God. So God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God saw the sons of Israel and God took notice.

12:45 When God then formed Israel into a nation, we note that he made very special provision in his law for the care of the poor and needy among his people. Such care is reflected in a number of passages. Let me just read a sampling. Deuteronomy, chapter 10, 16 and following.

13:05 There we read, Circumcised then your heart and stiffen your neck no more. For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow and shows his love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. So show your love for the alien for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

13:32 We see here God's concern for the orphan, the widow, the alien, those who are bereft of the usual means of support and protection. Further, Deuteronomy 24, 14 and 15. You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land, in your towns. You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets for he is poor and sets his heart on it.

14:02 So that he may not cry against you to the Lord and it becomes sin for you. Again, we see that God is protective of the poor and needy. Likewise, in verse 17, you shall not pervert the justice, do an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge. And then finally, verse 19 and following.

14:23 When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten the sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the alien, for the orphan and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the alien, for the orphan and for the widow.

14:45 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again. It shall be for the alien, for the orphan and for the widow. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing.

15:00 We see that the Israelites are told, not to so thoroughly glean and reap their fields as to leave nothing, but they're to have a thought for the needy ones who may come up and pick up some of the leftovers. God has a concern for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the alien. When we come to the book of Proverbs, we see God's determined identification with the poor and needy, which by the way, poses a serious threat to any who would oppose such as these. We read in Proverbs 14, 31.

15:32 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors him. If someone oppresses the poor, God takes it as a personal affront against himself. Proverbs 22, 22 and 23 read, do not rob the poor because he is poor or crush the afflicted at the gate for the Lord will plead their case and take the life of those who rob them. And in Proverbs 29, And verse seven, the righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor.

16:07 The wicked does not understand such concern. God's righteous people are to be a reflection of his own heart of compassion and concern for the poor. And then when we come to the New Testament, we find this same heart of pity and compassion in the son of God. And well, we might expect it.

16:27 Jesus is God incarnate. He is the complete and perfect exegesis of the father. He could say to Philip, he who has seen me has seen the father. And so we would certainly expect that the compassion and concern of God for the poor would be fleshed out in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

16:46 And that's exactly what we see. The great and pitying heart of the Lord Jesus toward the poor and needy is seen throughout his ministry. At times we are told he is moved with compassion. He is moved with compassion for the multitude because their needs are spiritual.

17:02 And so he teaches them in Mark 6, 34, for example. And when he went ashore, he saw a great multitude and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. But at other times he looked upon the multitudes, not in their spiritual needs, but in their physical needs and was moved with a similar compassion.

17:24 And so just a chapter and a half later in Mark 8, 2. Jesus says, I feel compassion for the multitude because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat. The same compassion that caused him to look upon them as shepherdless sheep and in need of teaching moved him to look upon them in their physical needs. And as we shall see, moved him to meet those needs.

17:51 Luke in his gospel especially likes to highlight Jesus' concern for the destitute and needy. In one passage, here will suffice Luke chapter 7, a very moving and poignant incident in the life of the Lord Jesus. Luke 7, verse 11. And it came about soon afterwards that he went to a city called Nain and his disciples were going along with him, accompanied by a large multitude.

18:17 Now, as he approached the gate of the city, behold, the dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow and a sizable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord said, He felt compassion for her and said to her, do not weep. And he came up and touched the coffin and the bearers came to a halt.

18:40 And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. And can't you just picture the face of the Lord Jesus beaming with delight as he gave back this dead young man now alive.

19:00 The only son of this widow. Can't you just see him beaming with joy to be able to do this work of mercy for this poor widow.

19:09 But brothers, one of the most poignant illustrations to me of Jesus concern for the despised nobodies of the world is that event recorded in Matthew chapter 20, beginning at verse 29. Consider it for a moment with me. It says, as they were going out from Jericho, a great. Multitude followed him.

19:32 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. And the multitude sternly told them to be quiet. But they cried out all the more, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. And Jesus stopped and called them and said, what do you want me to do for you?

19:57 They said to him, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened. And moved with compassion. Jesus touched their eyes and immediately they regained their sight and followed him. Now, brothers, we have to pause and just get the sense of what is happening here.

20:15 Here is the son of God. God incarnate. The Lord of glory. And he is on his way to Jerusalem.

20:24 He has set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. And what awaited him there was the cross. And that event, which was to become the pinnacle of human and redemptive history. There he will die for an innumerable host of people, all of whom will occupy God's heavenly kingdom for all eternity.

20:46 This is the event to which all previous redemptive history points forward. All subsequent redemptive history looks backward upon that event of the cross. And that's what Jesus is about now with his entourage behind him, setting his face. To go to Jerusalem, where the cross awaited him on that occasion.

21:06 The Holy Son of God would become sin for his people. He will experience such an inky blackness of despair and grief upon his own soul that the prospect of it will make his capillaries burst so that he will sweat blood in the garden. He has a lot on his mind. This is lofty.

21:25 The Lord of glory. God incarnate on his way to die for a race of rebellious men. But in his path lie two blind beggars, men who are on the very bottom rung of the social ladder. In that day, they were despised outcasts.

21:42 And here they are crying pathetically from the roadside, hoping to be heard by this renowned rabbi. Here you see, we have the lofty. We have the loftiest and we have the lowly. We have the lowliest.

21:57 And what happens? The pathetic cries of two blind beggars. Two blind beggars in the gutter, as it were, stop the Lord of glory in his tracks and he tends to them. Does that grip you like it grips me?

22:13 This lofty point in redemptive history. God incarnate going to die for the sins of the world. Two nobodies lying in the gutter, crying for mercy. The entourage wanting to hush them up.

22:26 He has more important things on his mind. He's going to establish the kingdom and it stops the Lord of glory. Dead. In his tracks and he tends to these two blind beggars and meets their need and heals them.

22:38 Brethren, to me, that says it all that speaks for itself. If that doesn't reveal the immensely large heart of the Lord Jesus toward the poor and the needy and the resourceless and the helpless, then I don't know what does. And the rest of the New Testament echoes with the same voice of concern for the poor. We see Paul going up to the Jerusalem Council meeting with the other apostles.

23:02 And he says, they added nothing to me so far as the content of this of the gospel. The only thing they wanted from Paul is to remember the poor. And he says in Galatians to tend the very thing I was eager to do. We read in first Corinthians 126 that God populates his church with the not many wise and not many powerful, the not many noble.

23:22 We hear James and James to five saying, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith? And so we see that the heart of God. Is moved to pity the poor, the needy, the oppressed and the bereft. But secondly, the heart of God is moved to provide for the poor, needy, oppressed and those destitute of resources.

23:45 You see, God's pity is not powerless. God acts upon what he feels. And so God, who looked with pity upon his oppressed people in Egypt, moved to deliver them from that oppression. God, who looked with pity upon the poor in Israel, made provision in his law.

24:01 For his old covenant people to be cared for, God resolves, as we see in the book of Proverbs, to personally defend the cause of the poor and to protect and provide for them and the son of God, when he is moved with compassion inwardly, he acts outwardly to relieve the oppression. And so he raises the dead and he opens blind eyes and he cleanses outcast lepers and he delivers people from demonization. Before I go on. It is appropriate to mention here what I will repeat again, and I hope you understand to be true.

24:38 And that is that in God's purposing to give relief to the poor and needy, there's a clear priority that is given that is to be given to God's redeemed. Do good to all men, Galatians 6, 10, especially to those of the household of faith. But thirdly here, and here's where the point is really made and it comes together. Consider that the office of deacon in a heightened way demonstrates.

25:02 The compassionate heart of God, we've seen from the old and New Testament that God has a heart of compassion for the poor, the needy, the widow, the orphan, the alien, the bereft. God is moved with compassion. The son of God on earth is moved with compassion. The office of deacon, your office in a heightened way, demonstrates that compassionate heart of God.

25:25 Now, we might say that all of God's people are to reflect their God. We're all to be like God in this. All are called to be like Christ, to walk as he walked. And so James could say in James 2 to all of the brethren in the church, if some rich guy comes in, you don't give him the best seat in the house while you say to the poor guy, stand over there, sit at my feet.

25:46 Has not God chosen the poor of this world? God rebukes the whole assembly for being unlike God. And Jesus in Matthew 25, when he comes again and separates all humanity between into sheep and goats, the sheep on his right, the goats on his left. What's the distinguishing characteristic?

26:05 Those who saw him or representatives of him in their need in prison and visited him sick and tended to them, et cetera. They're the ones who are put on his right and marked out as sheep. All of the people of God are to reflect the compassionate heart of their God and of their Lord Jesus. But in a special way, in a heightened way, in a public way, in an official way.

26:32 Your office of deacon demonstrates and declares the compassionate heart of God and of his Christ. Is the office of deacon a big deal? Is it a big deal to appoint a man, a deacon in a church? Well, it's only as important as the compassionate heart of God toward the poor, the needy, the oppressed and the destitute.

27:00 Brethren, it is a big deal. Because it reveals. It reveals something very significant about the heart of God and of his Christ. And before I leave this point, let me say something else about it.

27:12 Lest we get the view of God that he is a bleeding heart, political liberal who favors compassion without moral and social responsibility. Let's dig a little deeper and understand why it is that God so pities the poor and the oppressed and the destitute. I venture to say that it is because there is. Often a connection, often a correlation between one's outward condition and one's inward disposition.

27:41 Often, though not always, it is those who are poor and needy in this world's goods who are made to feel their need more acutely in another area, in the area of their souls. It is more often the materially poor than the materially comfortable and well off who sense their spiritual poverty. And that's why God says in Isaiah 57, 15, I dwell in the high and holy place and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. That's why Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Deaconate Illustrates the Paradoxical Ways of God

28:24 And that's why James could say in two five, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith? Because often the materially poor are those. Who sensed their spiritual poverty? Secondly, let's go on to consider that the office of deacon illustrates the paradoxical ways of God.

28:44 Why do we make a big deal about a deacon? Because that office illustrates the paradoxical ways of God. Consider first that the ways of God are contrary to the ways of man. They're paradoxical.

28:59 You remember what a paradox is? It is a seeming contradiction. It's not a. Real contradiction, but it's a seeming contradiction.

29:07 Well, God's kingdom is filled with paradoxes, ways that don't make sense to the natural mind, but they make perfect sense to God and to those who are in the kingdom of God. I'll give you some examples of these paradoxes in the kingdom of God. The way up is down. You know that in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, after telling about the proud Pharisee who was.

29:33 Rejected by God and the publican who went down to his house, justified Jesus makes the point. Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled. He who humbles himself shall be exalted. Do you want to be humbled by God?

29:47 Do you want to find the way down? Just exalt yourself with a sense of self-sufficiency and God will bring you low. Do you want to be exalted by God, even exalted to his salvation? Present yourself as low and lowly before him.

30:01 You see, in the kingdom of God, the way up is down. And the way down is up. That's a paradox. Further, the way to receive in the kingdom of God is to give.

30:13 Luke 6, 38.

30:16 Give and it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. It shall be poured into your lap. And you say, what?

30:24 The way to receive is to give? That doesn't make sense to the natural mind. The way to get is to go after something and acquire it and to hoard it. But not in the kingdom of God.

30:36 You factor God into the equation and the way to receive is to give. Give and it shall be given to you. Why? Because God is the one who supplies seed to the sower.

30:46 He doesn't supply seed to the hoarder, but to the sower. Paradoxical. The way to joy is sorrow in the kingdom of God. How do you become happy in the kingdom of God?

30:59 You've got to become sad first. Blessed are those who mourn. They shall be comforted. Blessed, makarios.

31:05 Happy. Happy are those who mourn. They shall be comforted. Why do so many people grope for peace and happiness in their souls?

31:13 But they never seem to find it. It's because they don't understand the ways of God. Blessed, happy are those who mourn. We must first mourn over our sins.

31:22 We must become poor of soul before we can be blessed with the riches of fellowship with God and his salvation, which alone can make us truly happy. One more paradox. The true royalty. The true royalty of the world are the world's nobodies.

31:39 Christians are royalty. We are called a kingdom of priests in 1 Peter 2.9. And yet, who has God chosen to populate his kingdom again?

31:48 1 Corinthians 1.26. Not many wise of this world. Not many powerful.

31:51 Not many noble. They are the royalty. They are the excellent ones of the earth. The great ones are the nobodies in God's kingdom.

32:03 So the ways of God are contrary to the ways. Consider, secondly, very briefly, the ways of God are wiser and better than the ways of man. One of the Proverbs 14.12 says, There's a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is the way of death.

32:23 Man's ways are fallen ways, darkened ways, wrong ways. God's ways are right. God's ways are good. His ways are the ways of wisdom.

32:35 Which Proverbs? Three tells us are pleasant ways, paths of peace, a tree of life. And consider now the clincher in regard to our topic. The ways of God are illustrated by the office of deacon.

The Deaconate as a Paradoxical Office of Exalted Servanthood

32:53 These paradoxical, seemingly contradictory ways of God are illustrated in your office, men, as deacon. And let me show you how. First, consider that in the church of Jesus Christ, there are only two offices, and one of them is the office of deacon. Now, that's significant.

33:14 The new covenant church's polity is rather simple. It does not multiply offices. Therefore, those that do exist should be considered meaningful. We might make a parallel to the ordinances of the church.

33:29 The new covenant is not choked with a lot of ceremonies compared to the old. Under the new covenant, there are only two ordinances. Only two ceremonies, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Well, that should magnify the significance of those ordinances.

33:44 This is not an age of ceremonial ordinances. This is the age of the ministry of the Spirit, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3. We don't have a lot of ordinances, not a lot of ceremonies. It's a uniquely, distinctly spiritual era.

33:58 Well, how important then must it be when God ordains ceremonies in His church in this non-ceremonial age? Well, in parallel, in a church polity which is rather simple, which doesn't multiply officers. Now, my church I inherited multiplied officers, and the old church constitution had everything from a flower committee to a church historian to you name it, it had a committee for it. But those offices weren't drawn from the Bible.

34:30 Biblical church polity is rather simple. Only two offices, and consider that one of them is your office. You're only one of two standing offices. You're only one of two offices in the church.

34:41 Further, consider that deacons are to be exemplary in their character. They are to be especially godly men. They are called to meet fairly stringent requirements so far as their personal character and their family life. Very much parallel to the qualifications needed for a pastor in the church.

35:02 For these reasons, deacons are to be honored. They are to be held in high esteem. They are exalted, we might say, above the foot soldiers of the church, the privates of God's church, to become officers in the church of Jesus Christ. The deaconate is therefore a place of dignity and honor and esteem.

35:24 And yet, do you know what a deacon is? I think you know that it simply translates the Greek deaconos, and it means servant. The deacon is a servant. His uniform is the wash basin.

35:43 And the towel draped over his arm.

35:46 And you say, what? We're making a big deal out of a servant? One of the only two offices in the church of Jesus Christ is the office of servant? Why are we doing that?

36:01 Well, I can tell you the world does not do that. The world makes a big deal out of those who have power and might and wealth. The ones who are made much of and honored and revered in the world are the ones who have others sitting at their feet, the great political leaders, the great entertainers, the great athletes of the world. But who are the great ones in God's kingdom?

36:25 Again, it's paradoxical. It's backwards. It's topsy-turvy. It's upside down in God's kingdom.

36:32 The great ones are the servants. And you know the passage I'm thinking of now, Matthew chapter 20 and parallels, where Jesus says, beginning of verse 25, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles, lorded over them and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

37:00 Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. This teaching comes on the heels of the disciples fighting over who would be greatest in the kingdom. They're elbowing each other to try to get the positions of honor in what they want to do. They're elbowing each other to try to get the positions of honor in what they supposed to be his glorious kingdom, which was about to ensue.

37:20 And Jesus needs to set the record straight. They needed a 180 degree turn in their thinking about true greatness. And he says, my kingdom is not like the world of sinful men. In this kingdom, in my kingdom, the greatest are the servants.

37:36 And Lenski, the commentator, puts it so well when he says, and now the Gentile idea of greatness is inverted, turned upside down. The pyramid rests on the apex. The great man does not sit atop the lesser men, but the great man bears the lesser men on his back. The great ones are the diakonoi, the servants.

38:04 And I don't think it's by mistake that the very next event that follows is the one I referenced earlier, Jesus tending to the two blind men. The Lord of glory setting his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. Two blind men. To stop him in his tracks and he meets their needs.

38:20 He asserts the importance of servanthood and then he demonstrates it in his own life as the great exemplar of the servant. And so why do we make a big deal out of the office of deacon and the calling of a man to be a deacon? Why do we make a big deal out of an office which calls a man to take time away from an already busy schedule to do extra things in the church? Inglourious.

38:46 Inconspicuous. Inauspicious things like arriving early to open the building, staying late to close the building, making sure the preacher has a cup of cold water under the pulpit, making sure the sound system is working okay, making sure that everybody in the church has enough to eat and enough clothing and heat in the wintertime to keep warm, taking time to count the weekly offering in some back room and seeing to it that it gets deposited on time at the bank, attending to the books of the church, making a budget, attending on the pastors willing to do their bidding in any way that would relieve them to fulfill their primary calling. Why make such a big deal out of such a lowly, inauspicious position? Because this office wonderfully illustrates the wise and the world-confounding ways of God who said, My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways. My ways.

39:48 This office wonderfully represents him who said, The greatest among you shall be your servant and who then embodied that servanthood in his own person. God's ways are not man's ways in anything. God doesn't esteem what man naturally esteems. God doesn't save those who think themselves most worthy of his salvation.

The Deaconate Facilitates God's Saving Purposes: Freeing for Preaching

40:14 And in a vivid way, making a service, serving one of the only one of only two offices in his church by this, God wonderfully illustrates his own transcendent paradoxical but powerful ways. That's why we make a big deal of the deacon because it illustrates the wonderfully paradoxical ways of God. But finally, the office of deacon facilitates the saving purposes of God and in two ways that I would call your attention to. First of all, deaconal ministry directly facilitates the preaching of God's saving gospel.

40:55 I trust that you know well that God's primary ordained means for the salvation of sinners in the world is through the preaching of his word by official heralds. And the two texts that we typically point to, to which I will point you are Romans 10 and first Corinthians one Romans 10, 13. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How?

41:17 Then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach unless they are sent in first Corinthians one and verse 21 for since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe God has appointed. To save the majority of his elect by means of the official preaching of his word, the gospel and deacons play a crucial role in the dissemination in the spread of this saving gospel in that they free up those who are called to preach to give themselves to that priority. In Acts chapter six, a need arose to correct an inequity between the Hebrew and the Hellenistic widows at the serving of food. It was a practical mundane matter. And yet the ongoing peace and unity of the church depended upon its resolution.

42:22 The apostles remember, declined to do that work, not because they were too proud, not because it was beneath their dignity. After all, they were the followers of the one who had washed their own dirty feet. Why did they forego and declined to do that? Because they were jealous to guard their own God given priority.

42:41 We must give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And here is the prototype. The deaconate, these godly servants, these seven men shouldered responsibilities that would relieve other men to do what God had called them to do, namely to preach the word. And it is not by accident that we read that as a result of assuming that responsibility and carrying it out nobly, we read in verse seven and the word of God kept on spreading and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith of God.

43:17 Because the deacons relieved the apostles to do their work of preaching and prayer, the kingdom of God expanded. And so the office of Deacon greatly facilitates the preaching, which is God's means to the great end of saving his people. And deacons do many things which might otherwise encumber pastors and siphon off valuable time from praying and ministering the word. But not only do deacon serve God's saving purposes in that way, But secondly and finally, diaconal ministry powerfully illustrates the truths of God's saving gospel.

The Deaconate Facilitates God's Saving Purposes: Illustrating Gospel Truths

43:55 Consider the gospel message that is preached. In the gospel, we tell men that there is a God in heaven and he cares for men. He cares for sinners and he so loves sinners, he sent his son to die for them. Well, then in faithful diaconal ministry, resulting in the blessed reality we read of in Acts 4, where it says there was not a needy person among them, the care of God for his people is illustrated.

44:25 People come into the church and they hear the gospel from the preacher. The preacher says there is a God who is just and holy, but there is a God who is a God of love and mercy. And he is so loving he sent his son to die for people and to purchase a people. And he is a God who has blessed his people with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

44:46 What a love! What a loving God, what a gracious God we have, that he so loves sinners.

44:52 And then they look around in the assembly they are visiting. And sure, they see a social and economic diversity. There are some who are perhaps very well off and some who are less well off.

45:06 But in a church where there is faithful diaconal ministry, the testimony is there is not a needy person among them. And if they hang around long enough and they listen to enough people and enough testimonies, they are going to hear about the way. The people of God care for each other, how they share and swap and the hand-me-downs that they have been given and how the deacons organize the work day for brother so-and-so to put a roof on his house. And they will hear if they hang around long enough the testimonies of God's people of how the brethren and how the church in the name of Jesus has met my needs.

45:39 And I may not have as much as brother so-and-so, but there is not a needy person among us. As long as there are haves, there will not be have-nots in the church. And so faithful diaconal ministry illustrates, underscores the message of the gospel. There is a God in heaven who loves his people.

46:00 And anybody who will care to look and give attention, they will see. Yeah, the people of God are well cared for. And the love of God is manifested through his people to his people. And spearheading that ministry, perhaps not doing everything but setting the tone and the tenor for that ministry, are faithful deacons who are representing the compassionate and loving heart of their God.

46:25 In the gospel, we tell men that God is not only concerned for their soul, but God is concerned for the whole man. And in the gospel, God saves the whole man. And one day, God will actually raise up our bodies and glorify our bodies. God's concerned not only for our souls, he's concerned for our bodies as well.

46:42 In faithful diaconal ministry, that concern for the whole man is fleshed out in a visible way. In the gospel, we tell men that there is a God in heaven who is sovereign. And working all things according to the counsel of his will, he is a God with a plan. And that plan includes a gracious plan to save a people out of this fallen race.

47:05 And we tell them in the gospel, God is not haphazard and whimsical. He's not capricious and fickle. He is a God of order. He is a God who has a plan.

47:13 Well, in faithful diaconal ministry, the orderliness of this God is reflected. In a well-ordered, well-maintained building and grounds. In well-ordered circumstances of worship. In a well-ordered budget and financial situation.

47:31 In the church, which is the pillar and support of the truth. Physical and material and financial concerns are often a great source of strife and disunity. And can distract the people of God from one of the primary functions of reaching the lost. It can disrupt the unity.

47:50 And it can call them away from the dissemination of the truth. But in faithful diaconal ministry, those problems are foreseen. And they are handled with wisdom and grace as they were in Acts chapter 6. So as to stave off the inroads of strife and disunity.

48:08 And to preserve the health of the church. So it can continue in its focus on winning the lost without damaging and distracting in fighting. It's deacons who head off the paths at those problems. And keep the church on course.

Conclusion: The Grand Realities Behind the Deacon's Office

48:25 So not only do deacons directly facilitate God's saving purposes by freeing other men to devote themselves to preaching. But diaconal ministry itself adorns and illustrates aspects of the gospel's message. So brothers, what's the big deal about a deacon? Behind this office.

48:45 And dictating the existence of this office. Stand grand and glorious realities. The compassionate heart of God and Christ. The paradoxical ways of God and His Son.

48:59 The saving purposes of God and Jesus Christ. I hope that these things are a big deal to you. And may God give us to think His thoughts after Him. In all things but in this matter of the diaconate in particular.

49:16 And may God give you. As deacons. A renewed zeal to demonstrate these realities in your practical ministry as deacons. May you have a heightened sense of the significance.

49:28 The cosmic significance of your seemingly inauspicious mundane duties. Dear men. There are grand and glorious realities being proclaimed to the world by your humble ministries in your churches. And one more thing.

Postscript: The Grace of God in the Deacon's Life

49:44 That makes the office of deacon a big deal. This is a postscript, not in the outline. And that is the men who are called to this office. Many of whom in earlier years wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

50:00 Some of whom, some of you, would not darken the doorway of a church. Men whose character in many cases was anything but godly. Is that some of you? But men who have experienced an invasion of the grace of God.

50:17 And who by that grace alone have risen to such a character. As to be exemplary among the people of God for their godliness. I'm sure that all of you here. If you were to be truthful.

50:33 Might have to say with the Apostle Paul. As he said it in 1 Corinthians 15 10. Comparing himself to others. But I labored more than all of them.

50:41 Like old Walter Brennan used to say. No brag, just fact. Paul said I worked harder than all of them. You got to do it.

50:49 You got to be a deacon somehow. Because you've worked hard for the kingdom of God. And perhaps if the truth be told. You'd have to say in all honesty with Paul.

50:58 I worked harder than others in the church. But I believe that you'd also be constrained to say with the Apostle Paul. Yet not I but the grace of God with me. And but by the grace of God I am what I am.

51:14 And this too points to a grand and glorious reality. That the God of grace. Is able to take natively God hating. Sin loving selfish men.

51:25 And not only make them new creations. But exemplary to others. In their godliness. And so I'm sure that all of you can say with the Psalmist.

51:36 Not to us. Not to us. But to thy name give glory. Let's pray together.

Prayer

51:47 Our Father. We ask that you would seal these perspectives. In so far as they accurately represent your truth. To the heart of every man every deacon here.

51:57 That he would have a heightened sense of the significance. Yea the cosmic significance. Of the humble duties that he has undertaken. And that you would strengthen the heart of every man.

52:11 To pursue those duties with greater energy and zeal. Zeal even for your honor and glory. In so far as their office. Reflects these glorious realities.

52:24 About your person. Your ways. And your purposes. Accomplish these ends.

52:30 We ask for your greater glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.