All right, well this morning we are continuing our journey through 1 Timothy.
It is a letter in the New Testament that was written by the Apostle Paul on behalf of the Lord Jesus
to Timothy, who was stationed in the church at Ephesus.
And in this letter we receive instructions about how the church ought to conduct itself.
Last Sunday we heard about how the church should be led.
We heard Paul lay out the requirements for overseers.
And we looked at a number of other passages in the New Testament,
which when we take them all together, give us a clear framework for leadership in the church.
We saw how the church is to be led by a group of men called elders or overseers,
whose primary responsibility is to shepherd or pastor the church,
to lead, to teach, to protect, and to care for the people of the church.
And we saw from several passages that overseers are to have authority in the church
and that the rest of the church is to submit to and follow their leadership.
So Paul has laid out the requirements for overseers in the church in chapter 3, verse 1 to 7.
And now he will do the same for the official position of deacon from verses 8 to 13.
Let me read it for us straight out of the Bible.
1 Timothy 3, 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.
Now it's very important at the outset to know that when the Bible speaks about deacons,
it is much less clear than it is about elders.
Aside from this passage that we just read, there are only two other mentions of deacons in the New Testament,
and they're just mentions.
There's no job description given for deacons in the New Testament.
The passage we just read is not a job description.
It doesn't tell us the role of deacons.
It merely states the requirements to be a deacon.
And so because the role of a deacon is much less clearly defined in the Bible than elder or overseer,
we should be much more charitable and gracious with other Christians
who come to a different understanding and practice on this matter.
Let's look quickly at the other two passages which mention deacons.
The first is Philippians 1.1.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
to all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi,
together with the overseers and deacons.
So this is just Paul and Timothy addressing a letter to the church in Philippi,
and they mention the overseers and the deacons as being recipients of the letter.
However, there's not a whole lot to learn about deacons here,
but there is something.
Overseers and deacons are two distinct groups.
They're two distinct roles or offices in the church.
They're not the same thing,
which means that deacons are not the ones that oversee,
direct the affairs of the church.
As we saw last Sunday, that's the role of the overseers or the elders.
So the role of a deacon is not to lead or direct the affairs of the church,
and it must be something other than that.
For one reason or another,
and I think this is more common in Baptist churches than in some others,
many churches today have slipped into a form of church leadership
where they're being led by a board of deacons.
And it's kind of confusing.
Some of these churches don't even have elders.
A group of deacons has kind of become the authoritative decision-making group in the church,
like a church board.
And in some cases, they're functioning like elders,
or they're trying to,
even though some of them may not meet the qualifications of elders.
And then there are fights and power struggles happening between pastors and deacons boards.
And this is what can happen when we don't carefully follow the instructions
and the pattern given us in Scripture regarding elders and overseers in the church.
Whatever deacons are, they're not the overseers of the church.
The second mention of deacons happens in Romans chapter 16, verse 1.
Paul's writing to the church at Rome, and he says,
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Centuria.
I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people,
and to give her any help she may need from you,
for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
And here's where the debate and the lack of clarity begins.
Some of your Bibles say Phoebe, a servant of the church in Centuria.
Some say Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Centuria.
Why the difference?
Very simply, the word deacon is the word servant in Greek, diakonos.
And so the question is, is Paul referring to her as an official deacon of the church,
or is he referring to her just as a humble servant of the church?
This also raises the question of whether women can be deacons in the church,
and we're going to get to that later.
But you can see how the clarity for us already isn't there.
These are the three passages that speak of deacons in the New Testament.
So how can we get to an understanding of the role of deacon?
Well, there are some clues and tidbits that we can bring together
that will at least rule out some things and narrow it down
so that we can get something of an understanding of this role.
As I just mentioned, the word deacon is just the word servant.
So that's a place to start.
And it seems obvious from this list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3
that it was an official role or designation which some were given.
So an official servant of the church.
We already saw from Philippians that it's not the role of overseer.
And we see that here too because there's a separate list of qualifications for elders
than there is for deacons or for overseers than deacons.
So an official servant of the church who is not among the authoritative leadership of the church.
And then next we could do a bit of a study on the word for servant in the New Testament
and look at its various forms, verb, noun, masculine, feminine.
And this has all been done by Christian commentators and scholars.
And there's some good insight to be gained here as well.
First, we see that the base meaning of this word, deacon or serve,
has the meaning of, according to William Mounts in his commentary,
to wait at table.
So we're kind of talking about serving like a server in a restaurant kind of serving.
where a person does kind of a lowly job of service for another person
just for their benefit, to meet their need.
But then we see as we go on that this word was generally applied to all kinds of service
where a person was doing something for the benefit of others.
The apostles referred to themselves as servants of Christ, servants of God.
Some translators use the word minister or ministry to translate this word.
It's used to refer to the work that Tychicus and Timothy and Epaphras did for the churches,
supporting or serving the cause of the gospel.
This word's also used to describe rulers and law enforcement
and what they do for the people.
In Romans chapter 13, they are servants.
The majority of uses reflect this kind of lowly work done for the benefit and need of others,
but it can refer to all kinds of things as well, even leadership kinds of roles.
And so all of this suggests that the role of a deacon could be a variety of things.
It suggests that it isn't limited to serving tables kind of service,
but likely includes any kind of need-meeting role that's done for the benefit of others.
Now there's another piece here that can kind of guide us into an understanding of this role,
and that's when we continue studying this word serve or servant in the New Testament.
We very quickly bump into this fact that every Christian is called to serve or to deacon.
Jesus said it this way, speaking to his disciples.
He said,
The greatest among you will be your deacon,
for those who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Or the Apostle Peter, writing to the churches,
said,
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to deacon others
as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
And so, logically, we infer from this that the official position of deacon in the church
is about more than just serving in the way that we're all called to do.
Otherwise, why would there be these specific requirements?
In 1 Timothy.
Many of you serve in various ways in the church,
but we don't all need an official title or role for every little thing that we do.
Can you imagine if at November meeting we had to elect the deacon of alive for the first week of every month,
or something like that?
You know, it'd just be ridiculous.
We are all called, we are all commanded as followers of Jesus
to serve,
to wash the feet of one another,
following Jesus' example,
to use whatever gifts and abilities God has given us to serve one another.
But this official role in the church of deacon is something more than that,
for only a few.
Let's look at the specific requirements that Paul lists here.
In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect.
That was the same word that Paul used above to describe the way that an elder must manage his family,
in a manner worthy of respect,
a dignified manner.
So an elder and a deacon, both, must have a good reputation.
A deacon must be sincere.
Quite literally, he must not be double-tongued.
A person who speaks out of both sides of his mouth,
or who says something but doesn't really mean it,
this is about integrity of heart.
A deacon must be sincere.
A deacon must not be indulging in much wine.
That's just another way to say what Paul said about the elders.
Not given to drunkenness.
And so addictions or substances would disqualify a person.
A deacon must not be one who is pursuing dishonest gain.
So he's not a person who's shamelessly greedy for money,
or material things,
or a person who will do anything to get ahead,
to get more money,
more possessions.
A deacon must be a person who is holding
to the deep truths of the faith,
with a clear conscience.
And deep truths, I think,
is a really good translation here.
This refers to the things that God kept hidden in the past,
but has now revealed.
There are a good many mysterious truths of our faith.
Things that are unpalatable to this world,
with its wisdom.
Things that God has kept hidden for generations,
and then now has revealed and made known
through his son Jesus,
and through his apostles.
A deacon must be a person who is holding
onto those things,
present,
continuous,
with a clear conscience.
So they're not a person who's filled with doubt,
or skepticism about
the things that are revealed in God's word.
Verse 10.
A deacon must first be tested,
and then if there's nothing against them,
let them serve as deacons.
Now most translations render this the same.
They must be tested first.
But there's nothing stated about
what the test should be.
What kind of test is this?
Is it a task that they must do?
Is it a responsibility to look after
for a period of time?
Or is it a written examination?
The word here means
to make a critical examination of something
to determine its genuineness.
At the least,
this means that we should not be in a rush
to fill positions,
or to put someone in an official role of service
in the church.
There needs to be time
allowed for a person to be known
what's really inside them.
Is there good fruit coming from their lives?
Fruit that shows the genuineness of their faith.
So I would suggest that this is not so much about
coming up with some kind of a test
for this person to do,
or something that we do to them
and see what's inside of them.
Maybe more like a careful examination.
We look at their character references.
We talk with them.
We talk with those who know them.
We give time for their true self to come out.
We ask them questions about their spiritual life.
And we listen carefully.
We watch them closely
to see how they conduct themselves.
Do they actually meet these requirements
laid out in the scriptures?
We're going to come back to verse 11,
but let's go down to verse 12.
A deacon must be faithful to his wife
and must manage his children
and his household well.
These are the same requirements
that were given to elders.
We heard this last Sunday.
Sexual purity and faithfulness
in the marriage to his spouse are required.
And he must manage both his children
and his household well.
And it's here that I think we get another hint
of what the role of a deacon is.
Do you remember what Paul said
to the elders about this?
He said that they must be men
who manage their households or families well
because how can they take care of God's church,
which is a larger family,
if they can't even manage
their own immediate family well.
So Paul's already given us the reason
for why this is required for elders.
And it's logical that a similar rationale
now applies to deacons.
Something about their role
involves skillful managing of people,
skillful managing of a household.
The implied logic here, I think,
is that the person must be skillful
at those things in the home
because those skills are required
for deaconing in the church.
So this is another clue.
A deacon is an official servant of the church
who's not among the authoritative leadership
of the church,
but whose service may include leadership
or coordinating or administration
of some kind for the church.
And this good character and reputation
probably means that this is a kind of service
where it's important to have a trustworthy,
designated person in charge.
Some measure of financial stewardship
may be involved.
Or perhaps it was important
that some need be met quite regularly
and consistently.
So this would not be the same as,
you know, a person signing up
to do church cleaning twice a month.
This is probably more like the person
who oversees the whole schedule
for church cleaning
and ensures that it's getting done every week
and that the supplies are there
for the volunteers when they come to do it.
There's more of a leadership
or coordination of people
and administration involved.
We are all called to deacon,
but it proves very helpful at times
to have someone in the church
appointed to an official role of service
where regular leadership is necessary.
Or where we need to have
a designated, trustworthy person.
We could go a Sunday or two
or even three
without vacuuming the sanctuary carpet.
But if part of our church's ministry
was the weekly delivery of meals
for people in our community,
well then we would need to have somebody
that's overseeing that very closely,
ensuring that those are delivered every day
for those people that rely on that.
Now we might at this point wonder,
well, why don't the elders just do that?
They're leaders in the church.
And this is where our final passage
pertaining to deacons comes in
and offers wisdom.
Now this passage in Acts chapter 6
doesn't mention deacons,
not by name anyway,
but as you'll see,
it gives some wisdom.
It leads us in a direction, I think,
about what deacons and their role is to be.
Acts chapter 6 verse 1,
In those days when the number of disciples
was increasing,
this is just after Pentecost,
as the church was first being established
in Jerusalem,
the Hellenistic Jews among them
complained against the Hebraic Jews
because their widows were being overlooked
in the daily distribution of food.
So the twelve gathered all the disciples together
and said,
It would not be right for us to neglect
the ministry of the Word of God
in order to wait on tables.
Brothers and sisters,
choose seven men from among you
who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.
We will turn this responsibility over to them
and will give our attention to prayer
and the ministry of the Word.
This proposal pleased the whole group.
They chose Stephen,
a man full of faith
and of the Holy Spirit.
Also Philip, Prochorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas.
They presented these men to the apostles
who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the Word of God spread.
The number of disciples in Jerusalem
increased rapidly
and a large number of priests
became obedient to the faith.
So the church in Jerusalem
in its earliest days had a problem.
Some widows in the church family
were missed on the daily distribution of food.
And the twelve apostles
called the whole church together
and they proposed a solution,
a kind of work that was required
and the word there is,
it's the word deacon,
deaconing,
a role of service.
But the apostles also knew
that they had been specially charged
with deaconing the Word.
That's also the same word there,
the ministry of the Word,
the deaconing of the Word of God.
And if they were to take their time
to distribute food each day,
that would be taking away
from the time that they needed
to do that job
that Christ gave them to do
of teaching
and instructing
in the Word of Christ.
And so they came up
with this solution.
They proposed that a group
of spirit-filled men of faith
be appointed to look after
this responsibility.
And at this time,
the church in Jerusalem
was well into the thousands.
So likely,
these six men alone
were not even able
to look after all the widows.
They probably would have had to
get others to help
and be in a bit of a coordination
or leadership role
to see that it got done.
Now, these men were not called deacons,
but it seems very clear
that they did the work
of a deacon.
And probably this is meant
to give us wisdom
about the purpose of deacons
in the church.
Now, in the church,
we have elders.
We don't have apostles.
And we won't even think
of ourselves close to that.
But we are charged
with shepherding the flock
and with teaching
the Word of God,
with preaching,
with directing the affairs
of the church.
And other important needs
in the church
that rise up
can easily divert
or pull our elders away
from that job
that they're supposed
to be doing.
And this seems to be
where the wisdom
of the apostles here
in Acts 6
really kicks in.
By appointing people
into official roles
of service,
qualified people,
solid in their faith,
people who can take
an area of responsibility
and look after it
and provide the necessary
leadership or coordination
or administration,
the overseers,
the elders,
can then focus
on overseeing
and the ministry
of the Word,
the overall leadership
of the church.
Matt Smethurst,
in his book titled
Deacons,
says,
deacons are shock absorbers.
He says,
not only was there
a pressing need
in the church
here in Acts 6,
but there was a threat
to unity.
And these men
were able to
kind of come in between
and serve
so that that threat
to unity
was resolved
and so that
the pressing need
was met,
which then freed up
and allowed
the apostles
to do the work
that Christ
had given them to do.
So according
to this logic
or wisdom
from Acts 6,
deacons not only
look after
an important area
of need
or responsibility
in the church,
but they support
the leadership
of the church.
They help keep
the elders focused
on church leadership
and teaching
by serving
in areas of need
that would otherwise
draw the elders
away from that.
I hope that a picture
of what deacons are
is beginning
to come clear
and emerge
in our minds
as we think
through this.
A deacon
is an official
servant of the church
who is trustworthy,
dependable,
skillful in managing
people and the affairs
of the household.
They're not the overseers
of the church,
but they seem
to support the elders
by looking after
particular needs
and responsibilities
within the church
so that the elders
can focus
on teaching
and preaching
and overall
church leadership.
So what kind
of service
or needs
are we talking
about practically
here?
I think the Lord
has probably
in some ways
left the job
description
a little bit
ambiguous
or vague
for a reason.
Could it be
that the role
of a deacon
is made to suit
all kinds of needs
that may arise
in whatever community
that we find
ourselves in?
All kinds
of service.
Matt Smether's
little book
on deacons,
which is available
in the church
foyer
on the mailboxes,
is full of
real life examples
of deacons,
both in modern times
and in church history.
They do everything
from overseeing
soup kitchen
outreaches
to hospitality
in the church
to facility
maintenance
to various types
of regular member
care for people
with disabilities
or for the elderly,
for widows,
meal train
coordination,
secretarial
or administrative
work.
Probably the question
that we need
to ask ourselves
is,
what are the
pressing needs
of our church
or our community
that we're called
to meet,
but that in doing
so it would
pull the elders
away from their
primary work?
That's where
having deacons
makes sense
and enables
the church
to grow
and to continue
to move forward
and minister.
And it's probably
worth stating
that with this
understanding
of a deacon,
there's not a need
for a deacon
board
or for them
to kind of
gather every month
and have meetings
together.
Each deacon
would just be
overseen
by the elders,
those authoritative
leaders in the church.
There's no evidence
in the Bible
of there being
kind of two
power blocks
in the church
like,
you know,
elders here
and deacons here
and like
Senate,
Congress.
It's not like that.
This is the diagram
that I came up with
and it's just
my own thing,
but you've got
the local church.
Jesus Christ
is the head
of the church.
He is the chief shepherd
and then he has
instituted that there
be elders or overseers
who are responsible
for shepherding
the congregation,
the church members
and then in and among
the church members
are deacons.
They are in those
support roles.
They're mobilizers.
I didn't put them
in between elders
and church members
because it's not like
a hierarchy structure
like we see
in the Catholic
church with
bishop,
archbishop,
cardinal.
It's different
than that.
To give an example,
if there's a serious
problem in the church,
you wouldn't go
to the deacons
and then the deacons
go to the elders.
Any church member
would just go
straight to the elders.
Unless,
of course,
it's something
that pertains
directly to what
the deacon
is responsible for.
This is not a serious
problem,
but let's say
that a light bulb
burns out somewhere
in the church.
Would you come
to the elders
or to me?
But if we had
a deacon
in charge of
overseeing
the maintenance
of the facility,
you would go
to him.
And that would
keep that from
even going
onto the elders'
plate.
That's really
the point of a deacon.
But if you find out
that there's somebody
in our community
who's in urgent
need of something
that costs
thousands of dollars,
you wouldn't go
to the deacon
who serves
as treasurer.
You would go
to the elders.
That's a big decision.
That's something
we really need
to talk about
as a leadership team.
Let's come now
to this verse
that we skipped over,
verse 11.
And this is where
we really open up
the debate.
In the same way,
the women
are to be
worthy of respect,
not malicious talkers,
but temperate
and trustworthy
in everything.
Now this verse
causes all kinds
of debate
because some of you
sitting here now
are looking at your Bible
and you're wondering,
why does my translation
say something different?
My Bible says
their wives
must be all
these things.
It's been translated
in two different ways.
Depending on
which one you have,
it'll look
like one of these two
on the screen.
So are these qualifications
for the wives
of the deacons
or are these qualifications
for women deacons?
And most translations
have a footnote
at this point
just to let you know
that the other way
of translating it
could be the correct one
or at least
is a valid one.
What's going on here?
If we peel back
the English here
and we look at
the original Greek,
the first three words
here are
gunaikos,
hosautos,
semnos.
Quite literally,
women,
likewise,
dignified.
So you put that
into the flow
of the context.
A deacon must first
be tested,
then if there's
nothing against them,
let them serve
as deacons.
women,
likewise,
dignified.
Not malicious talkers,
but temperate
and trustworthy
in everything.
So the Greek word
for women here
can mean both
woman
or wife.
They actually only had
one word
and it did double duty.
In English,
we have two distinct words,
woman and wife,
but back then,
just a single word.
And usually the context
makes it really clear
whether it's
woman
or wife.
And so translators
have been making
their best guesses here
as to which is meant.
And most of the
translators at least
acknowledge that
this is a guess
and the other translation
could be the right one.
So that's why
the footnote.
So either Paul is giving
the qualifications
for deacons
and then in the midst
of this list
acknowledges that
in the case of women
who come to be deacons,
these are the requirements.
Or,
he's saying that
one of the requirements
for deacons
is that their wives
must meet this
small sub-list
of requirements
in order for their husbands
to serve
as deacons.
And you can imagine
this has translators
and commentators
divided
because issues of gender
and the role of women
are really
hot-button issues.
So I'm going to put
before you very quickly
both cases
and I've borrowed
significantly from
that book on deacons
that's in the foyer.
There's a very helpful
appendix at the back
that covers this.
The case for wives
of deacons
in this passage.
first of all,
in Acts 6,
the Jerusalem church
chose six men
to serve the widows
and only men.
Second,
all other uses
of this word
in the chapter
are translated
as wife
and not woman.
If Paul really means
female deacons,
why not use
some kind of feminine form
of the word deacon?
Why wouldn't he just
refer to women
generally like this?
Paul gives
marital faithfulness
standards for elders
and male deacons,
but why not
for female deacons?
Why doesn't he say
she must be
the wife
of one husband?
Then there's
the flow
of this whole section.
It seems strange
to kind of
go all over the place
and have elders,
then male deacons,
then female deacons,
then back to male deacons.
Some people describe
this as you get whiplash
trying to read
through this section here.
Some argue
that since deacons
have servant-like
responsibilities,
they would often
call on their wives
to assist them,
and so the wife,
too,
had to meet
the requirements.
when it comes
to Romans 16.1,
this side
of the argument
says,
well,
Phoebe,
she wasn't a deacon,
she was just a servant,
because that word
is usually
translated servant
in the New Testament.
And finally,
people have noticed
that the kind of work
that deacons do
often requires
having a measure
of authority
over men,
and that would put
women in an awkward spot
when we look back
to what Paul said
earlier in 1 Timothy
chapter 2,
verse 11 and 12.
When I summarize
all that,
I have to admit,
that's a pretty cohesive
and reasonable-sounding case
for why deacons
should only be men,
and verse 11
refers to their wives.
But then let's hear
the case
for female deacons.
First of all,
Scripture never forbids
women deacons.
It does forbid
women teaching
or having authority
over a man,
which would clearly
exclude them
from being elders
or overseers,
but deacons
are not an authority
over the church.
And nowhere in the Bible
does it say
submit to your deacons
like it does
to elders or overseers.
They keep watch
over your souls.
It doesn't say that.
It only says that
about elders or overseers.
So why forbid
but the Bible doesn't?
The side says
Paul never meant
deacons' wives
in this passage
in Timothy.
If he did,
there were clear ways
to say
the wives of them
or their wives
or their own wives
must be.
They had possessive pronouns
in Greek
as well as articles,
but Paul didn't use them
because he wasn't
referring specifically
to their wives,
but to women
who likewise
could also
be deacons.
Every time Paul uses
this word for women
in the plural
in this letter,
it's always translated
women
and not wife
or wives.
The last time
Paul said women
likewise
in chapter 2
verse 9,
we all recognize
that modesty
was a principle
for all women
and not just
for wives.
So why don't we
read it the same way
when we come to
this passage
about the deacons?
Number 5,
while the structure
and flow
does seem
a little bit
like whiplash,
it is still
orderly and logical.
An overseer
must,
here's the requirements,
a deacon
must be
and three things
listed.
Likewise women,
in the case of women
who are deacons
and three things
listed.
Back to the men
for a second
and then a general
blessing for all
who serve in this role.
Number 6,
why would Paul
list qualifications
for deacons' wives
but not for
elders' wives?
Can Paul really
mean that only
the wives of the
church's official
servants should be
carefully scrutinized
and not of the
church's authority
bearing leaders?
Many people
will argue
that a man's
wife,
her character
could make
or break
whether he
could be
a deacon,
whether he
was suitable
for the role
and if that's
the case,
well then how
much more
should Paul
have stated
this same
requirement
for the
elders
right out
of the
gate?
Therefore,
this makes
much more
sense if
Paul is
referring to
women
deacons.
Number 7,
we're almost
at the end
here,
Paul could
not use the
word deacon
with a feminine
form because
that word
didn't exist
yet.
The feminine
form didn't
come into use
until later
and at
this time
it meant
service or
ministry.
And so
this was
the brief
logical way
to refer
to female
deacons
at the
time.
As far
as Romans
16 verse 1
goes in
Phoebe,
people on
this side
point out
that Phoebe
is called
the deacon
of a specific
church.
Most of
the times
where a
servant
is used,
it's more
generally
referring to
a servant
of God
or a
servant
of Christ.
But in
this case
it's a
servant
of the
church
of
Centuria
and I
find it
persuasive.
Even though
Phoebe is the
deacon of
this church
specifically,
right now
she's in
Corinth where
Paul is
writing from
and she's
being sent
to Rome
and Paul
is saying
that she's
been the
benefactor
of many
so it
seems that
she's
serving all
over the
place,
many different
churches,
and yet
she is
the servant
specifically
or deacon
of the
church of
Centuria.
It's more
likely a
reference to
her official
position or
title than
to her
humble
attitude.
Then we
look at
how women
are entrusted
with great
responsibility
and leadership
within the
home and
the family.
Read
Proverbs 31,
the description
of a wife
of noble
character.
Look at
all the
things that
she does
in that
chapter
for the
household.
Because she
is trustworthy,
she does
all kinds
of things
for the
benefit of
her family.
She earns
money,
she invests,
she trades,
she sells,
she buys
a field,
she starts
a side
business,
she watches
over the
affairs of
her household,
literally.
Verse 12,
and she is
to be honored
for doing
all this.
Her husband,
who is the
head of the
home,
praises her
for these
things.
And when we
look at
1 Timothy,
it seems
that Christ's
main command
is that we
should function
like a family
in the
church.
many
Christian
men
entrust
their
family
finances
to
their
wives.
They
praise
them
for
the
good
job
they
do.
Can we
not have
women
serve as
a
treasurer
in the
church?
Finally,
to all that
we can add
that in the
history of
the church
that followed,
they had
female
deacons
right from
the earliest
days after
the New
Testament was
written.
It's as
though they
didn't see
a prohibition
of women
or a
reference to
deacons'
wives at
all.
We have
historical
documents
dating back
to within
20 years
of the
Gospel of
John being
written that
refer to
deaconesses.
And so
there's quite
the case to
be made
either way.
I certainly
don't condemn
or judge those
who go the
other way,
but I think
that the
case for
women
deacons in
these passages
is a little
stronger.
And what may
be surprising
to some is
that there
are a good
number of
respected
conservative
Bible
preaching
Christian
pastors
who agree.
This isn't a
left versus
right issue
or a woke
versus traditional
kind of issue.
As long as
we're defining
the role of
deacon in the
way that the
scriptures point
us, not as
overseers or
the board of
the church,
but as official
servants who
coordinate,
manage,
administrate to
meet a
particular need
or serve a
particular group,
I believe both
men and
women can be
deacons in
the local
church.
And if there
is a need
for someone
to be a
deacon and
it's a kind
of ministry
that involves
teaching or
counseling or
discipling men,
well, we look
back to chapter
two and we
just put a
man in that
role instead.
Otherwise, I
don't see why
women can't be
called upon for
this role in the
church today.
there's lots
more that could
be said about
elders and
deacons.
This is kind
of our church's
one-time go
through this
portion of
scripture.
If you have
more questions
or thoughts
or wonderings,
we have some
helpful little
books in the
foyer called
Elders and
Deacons, and
you're welcome
to take one of
those home and
read it, and
when you're done
with it, you can
just bring it
back to the
church.
We're going to
cut the discussion
of deacons off
at that point,
and we're going
to turn now
to the Lord's
table.
With all this
talk about
deacons and
authority and
leadership in
the church, I
hope that it
affects the way
that we see
Jesus.
Consider a few
words from
Jesus' own
mouth.
The Gospel of
Mark.
When the ten
heard about
this, they
became indignant
with James and
John.
Jesus called
them together
and said,
you know that
those who are
regarded as
rulers of the
Gentiles,
lorded over
them, and
their high
officials exercise
authority over
them, not so
with you.
Instead, whoever
wants to become
great among you
must be your
servant, and
whoever wants to
be first must be
slave of all.
For even the
Son of Man did
not come to be
served, but to
serve and to
give his life as
a ransom for
many.
Two of the
apostles had
their mother put
in a good word
for them with
Jesus.
They wanted
greatness and
glory.
They wanted to
sit at Jesus'
right hand and
his left hand in
his kingdom.
And when the
other ten heard
about it, they
got angry.
They were
fighting over
this.
In their minds,
they craved the
position.
They wanted the
status.
They wanted the
title.
They wanted to
be in leadership
and have that
authority alongside
Jesus.
And this jockeying
and fighting over
position went right
up until the
moment of the
Lord's table.
We hear in one
of the Gospels.
They were fighting
at this over the
Last Supper.
And Jesus just
sliced through all
this pride and
vanity and selfish
ambition.
He said, no, you
guys are not to be
leaders like they
do leadership in the
world.
Greatness is not
to be found like
that.
Greatness is found
through servanthood,
through deaconing,
through meeting the
needs of others.
For even the Son of
Man did not come to
be served, but to
serve and to give
his life as a
ransom for many.
Jesus was the
ultimate deacon.
Even though Jesus
is the Son of Man,
the glorious Son of
Man foretold by the
prophets, the Son of
God, the King, the
Messiah, he saw our
great need for
forgiveness, for
atonement, for a
ransom to be paid,
and he came down into
our world to serve
us, to meet that
need at the cost of
his own life.
He set us free from
our sins when he
died on the cross,
and it was a gift of
love for all who
will seek God's
forgiveness, for all
who believe.
We are all called to
deacon.
We're all called to
serve one another in
love, and the truth is
that we have all failed
to be as we should.
Just like the
disciples, we've all
stood there waiting,
waiting for somebody
else to get down and
wash our crusty feet
while we put them
up.
But Jesus stands in
stark contrast.
He is holy.
He is radiant.
He bends down and
washes our feet.
He bends and carries
our cross.
He is innocent, and
we the guilty.
And beneath all of
this service is his
love for us.
I encourage you in
these moments to
think back just over
this past week, over
all the ways that we
have blown it.
All of our failings,
all the times that we
fell short of God's
glory and goodness,
all the moments where
we could have been
deaconing, but instead
we chose to live
selfishly for our own
pleasure, our own
pride.
But now look to this
table, which reminds
us of the cross.
The bread reminds us
of Jesus' body, which
was broken for us.
The cup reminds us of
Jesus' blood, which was
poured out for us.
It was at the cross
that all of our sins,
failures, and guilt
were forever forgiven
and atoned for by
Jesus, the one who
came to serve us.
And so let's reflect on
that together as the
elders come forward and
pass out the bread and
the cup.
And if you believe this,
please join with us and
partake with us.
We'll wait until
everybody has been
served, and then we'll
eat and drink together.
Thank you.
pour with you,
not work.
Thank you.
For our forgiveness.
Thank you that we don't need to earn it, but that you offer it as a gift.
May you be glorified.
May you be in our remembrance and our celebration.
Amen.