The Church
Deacons: Servants Who Guard the Church’s Godliness
Deacons are often misunderstood as mere administrators, but Scripture presents them as guardians of godliness within the church. In Acts 6, the early church faced division when Hellenist widows were overlooked in the daily distribution. The apostles responded by appointing “seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” —not because the ministry needed better logistics, but because it needed godliness. 1 Timothy 3 reinforces this by listing character-based qualifications rather than skill-based ones. Deacons serve like Christ, the ultimate diakonos, who “came…to give his life as a ransom for many” . Their work preserves unity, protects the vulnerable, and ensures every ministry reflects the heart of Jesus. This sermon explores the origin, nature, and necessity of deacons—and why their quiet, faithful service is indispensable to the church’s witness.
Good morning everyone. And it is very right, just as Jess has shown us, that the body really is a great image to describe the church. Because particularly when you think about it, most of you guys know we can actually survive with one kidney. So there are, you can actually get rid of one kidney and I think most of you are thinking of a certain kidney in your head right now you'd like to get rid of. Right? There's that one person in the church, you're like, yeah, can get rid of them. But anyway. Let's begin in prayer. We dive in. Father, we ask, Lord, that you would just grant us eyes to see and ears to hear. Lord, that you would just grant us a clarity together as we read your word to be able to understand what you have for us today. So Lord, grant us that knowledge and understanding and that wisdom and just transform us from one degree of glory to the next. Father, as we hold the glory of your son in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Beautiful. So. We have taken a break from Genesis doing this series on the church, which doesn't seem that exciting, but it very much is. thing's been messed around. There we go. Sorry, having one technical difficulties. right? Whatever, I'll manage. Beautiful. So yeah, so we're doing this series on the church, what it's meant to look like, why has God actually given us guidance on how it should appear, what it should look like, how it should be structured. Last week we looked at elders, right? Those men who were put in positions within the church to care for the church, to bear the responsibility of shepherding the people of God. And now we come to the other side of it, which is deacons. Right, so this is another, we refer to them as offices within the church, but they're just different roles within the church. And so we looked at it last week from 1 Timothy 3. Now I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 3 again, because it continues on with qualifications for them as well. So we'll read from 1 Timothy 3. Verses eight down to 13. Sorry, it won't be up on the screen. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, nor greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons. If they prove themselves blameless, their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderous but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one woman, managing their children and their own household well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. So, we looked at elders last week and now deacon, another role that is made up in the church. And so outline for the sermon today. We're going to first look at the origin of deacons, where they come from. Number two, then how was Jesus a deacon? how the whole church is called to be deacons, and then if everyone is one, what is the purpose of having deacons? So, we first wanna look at the origin. That is our first thing that we wanna look at, which was the passage that we read out earlier. So you see, a issue had arisen in the early church, Acts six, right, this is a couple chapters, there may be week or two in to the early church being born as Peter has preached the very first sermon, right. Thousands of people have come to faith and everything's just amazing. Everything is going so well. And then as always, a problem rocks up. This is just a reality of the church. When things are going well, there's always something cooking in the background that will rear its head at some point. And so what is it this time? Well, there was this issue that had arisen within the church because they had this historical practice of caring for the poor, right? The church has done this for 2000 years. And how it was set up in the early church was that there was a daily distribution. There would normally be a list or something of that sort and listed on it would be those who were widowed, those who were poor, those who were in need of food. And so many people in the church, they would give out of their harvest, out of what they had, and maybe they brought money and then that would be used and distributed each day to the poor. But what's the problem? It was that these people known as the Hellenists, brought up a complaint to the apostles. Now, Hellenist is just a fancy word for Greek speaking Jews who didn't come from Judea. So they're just kind of from a bit further out. Whereas like with the civilized people, it's kind of like the ones from Tara. So it's like people just a bit further out from civilization. Sorry, anyone from Tara. Again, we're all loved in Christ. And so, what they claimed is that their widows were being overlooked. Mostly because the people who are in charge of it were likely people from Jerusalem and so they saw these people they didn't really know and here you've already got this second class kind of coming in. Well, they're the people from Judea. They're a bit more important and then the women and children that were from outside of that area were seen as second class. And so we have favoritism, right? The people who are in charge were favoring those who they liked and so inevitably then these outsiders were being neglected. And so then this division occurred. So then what was the apostles' solution to that dilemma? Well, they said, out seven godly men who will be able to ensure the fairness of this ministry. Now, the reason they did it was because, for the apostles to step in and deal with the logistics of this daily distribution would mean they would have to stop preaching, would mean they'd have to stop teaching. So them as the apostles and the elders said, pick, you know, we're not the only ones in the church. Hey, there are other godly people here. Why don't we set them aside to be able to care for this ministry? And then better yet, we will be able to continue to labor in what God had primarily called them to. And so they pick out seven godly men and then they put them over this distribution. Now it's very important because now this is labelled, sorry, all... the aspects of the church to continue to function well. It wasn't right to take the apostles away from the primary calling Jesus had given to them. Apostle means to be a messenger, to be one sent to declare the word of God, to take them away from that would be irresponsible. There are many other men and godly people in the church and so they pick out these men to take care of this. So they take care of the physical and logistical needs of the church so that the apostles and the elders can focus on the preaching, teaching and prayer. So again, that is the origin. That's the first place that deacons come from, that we find. So now we go on to our second point. We're kind of gonna do a biblical overview of deacons. So the Greek word where deacons come from is called diakonos. If you wanna learn a bit more Greek, always fun. Do you know what it directly translate to? It just means servant, someone who serves. It's not a special title. It literally just means, servants. And so, you see, it refers to someone who out of what they've been given seeks to serve the needs of others. This is why we're going to go on in a bit and see that in many ways, every single person in the church is called to be a deacon. But first, we want to look at our prime example, the best model that we have of a deacon, which is Jesus Christ Himself. We can read from Matthew 28 to see that fact. and to give his life as a ransom for many. You see, in this moment, when Jesus came down, he displayed something about God that none of us could have ever conjured up with our minds. The idea that the one with all power, with all authority, would come down to this earth and vanquish all his enemies, no? Would come down and establish his right and his rule, no? He came down to serve. He came down and he washed people's feet. He healed people, he fed people rather than feeding himself. He did all these different things. And so you see, and he did it completely up into the point of laying down his own life and dying for his enemies. And so you see the service of Christ, his deaconship extended even to the laying down of his own life for people who did not deserve it. You see, this is the thing that we can struggle to understand about God. One of the things that's very hard to understand, God is all-sufficient, right? Do you guys remember the story of the burning bush with Moses? It was a burning bush, but yet the bush wasn't burning. Why was that? Because normally when you burn, sorry, when there's fire, what does it need? It needs some kind of fuel. It needs some kind of wood source, right? But God was the fire and He didn't need the bush. Why? Because He had... the energy already. He didn't need something outside of himself in order to have energy, basically. So, it's pointing, painting this picture that God is all-sufficient. He doesn't need anything. You see, we are always interpreting this view of God that sees Him as needing something from us, right? Our relationship with Him is transactional. The hardest thing for us to understand, the hardest thing for us to comprehend with Jesus coming down is that He came down and then actually did everything for us. He didn't come down demanding something from us. He came down to display the very truth of who he is, which is says, I don't need anything from you. Better yet, he came down to give like he always does. Just read it here from Matthew 11, 28 to 29. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you'll find rest for yourselves. Again, does the Son of God come down demanding service? Demanding that people obey His every command? Yes, they will come in time. But first, what does He do? He doesn't say, and give something to me. He says, I've come down to give you something. I have come to give you rest. Again, do you not get this picture of someone who is just filled, they don't need anything else, and so the only thing they can do is overflow in giving to others. And so you see the servant heart of Jesus. He is gentle and lowly in heart. He welcomes all to come to Him. He's not high and mighty demanding obedience from all people. He is filled with compassion for those who are weary and He gives without requiring anything in return. He just gives and gives and gives. And so you see, we need to paint this model and this picture first because if we don't, understand where this servant-heartedness comes from, we won't be able to do it ourselves. That which we are called to, we will be unable to do. But you see, now that we see that it is Jesus who has done it, that the God who empowered Him to be able to give so deeply is the same God that gives to us, and the same heart that Jesus had is the very same heart that is being worked in us through His Spirit. And so now, we seek to replicate His posture of self-sacrificial giving. And so we go on to the next point, that the whole church is called to be deacons or servants. And so now we specifically look at the passage that was being talked about, that Jess talked about in the kids talk from 1 Corinthians 12, 27. Now you guys are the body of Christ and individually members of it. So you see, he's talking about the fact that when all of us come together, we are like a body, right? Dan is a kidney. Not the one we throw out, the one we keep. Roy over here is a set of lungs. Chris over here, he's probably an eyeball or something like that. I don't know. He helps us see but not much more. No, he's good. Everyone here is good and helpful and useful. Every person is necessary. So you see, that's why it says all of us together are a body. When you're missing a part of your body, you can't function. And all of us are individually members of it. So each of us make up... we work together. And so you see, this picture, this image is displaying the reality of the church, that every single person is equal. All right? A church is not made up of just its leaders, or its elders, or its deacons. Every single person is necessary. You see, this is often the hard part because we just naturally as humans tend to see, well, the people up the front are the ones that kind of do the things, or keep the things running. That is in no way the case. Goodness, if this church was just left to me to run, it would fall apart in a second. because I suck at so many things. I am skilled in very few areas. But you see, all together, we have many gifts and skills to be able to build up the church, but yet often they are done in ways that may not be that visible. May only be visible to one or two. so all of us are essential. But you see, it doesn't just refer to us as a body, but the body of Christ. So, when all of us gather together, when we all come together, when we all seek to serve out of the goodness of our own hearts, what is it meant to look like? Just a bunch of people serving out of the goodness of their own hearts? No, it's meant to look like Jesus, right? So, when we all come together, when we all seek to love each other, when we all seek to unite together, when we all love the gospel, we all look like Him. Betty, as we gather as a church, all those parts of us that definitely don't look like Him are slowly being made to look more like Him. And so you see, as we have as a church a responsibility to look like Jesus, to appear like Him to the outside world. And so therefore, as Christ, we reflect His actions as well. What was His primary mission? To proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. What is our primary mission as a church? to proclaim the gospel to ourselves and to those around us every single day. But was that the only thing Jesus did? No. Right? He spent hours healing people. All the stories of Him multiplying the bread to feed the 5,000, the 4,000. He didn't have to do that. His job was to preach, to share the message of the gospel. The amount of times that He sat with people, and comforted them. see, His ministry was more than just preaching and teaching. Yes, the preaching and the teaching was foremost, but He had a secondary task to meet the immediate practical and physical needs of people. And He actually cared about those things. He cared about healing people, people who were going to die anyway. But you see, He does care for the immediate and the temporary things. And so, as a church, we are meant to care for those things as well. We are meant to care about the temporary things going on in our lives. But yet, Jesus condemns us if we do not do these things in Matthew 25. Longer passage, bear with me as we read it. Then he will say to those on the left, apart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and imprisoned and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to the one or the least of these, you did not do it to me. What are you saying there? He says, yes, I may not be here bodily, but as you minister to my church, as you minister to the people that come into your life, you are ministering to me. You are serving him. So the brother that rocks up saying, have no place to sleep tonight. We can't turn them away because that is to turn away Jesus himself. To turn away the person who needs finances, who needs help with money. To turn them away is to turn away Jesus himself. And so you see, gospel preaching is of un-primary importance, but caring for those around us who need help is indispensable. You see, just think about it like this. It would be wrong for the breadwinner in the family to not go out and provide for the household. But does that mean that the laundry doesn't have to be done? No, right? It may seem like a lesser task, it may seem secondary, but if you don't do it, you might have all the money in the world, be able to provide everything. But eventually your laundry room is gonna overflow and there's gonna be clothes everywhere, right? These things still need to be taken care of. These things are still important and without them, the household still falls apart. And so we are commanded to serve those within the household of God and also those outside as well. You guys have been given so much, let alone in a world like, in a country like this, where we are so abundantly blessed. We are called to serve others. Every gift has been given to you for the benefit of others. Did you know that? It particularly struck me when we went through the series on prayer and I just thought about the fact it had never crossed my mind that maybe we've actually been given access to the throne room of God to pray for him, not just for our sake, but actually for the sake of others. So every gift you were given in this life, not just your skills and your talents, your money, your time, your family, your everything has been given to you, not just for your own benefit, but for the benefit of others. And so you see all these things help us to display Jesus to the world. And so that brings us on to the fourth point, why we need the official office of deacon. Because the reality is right. I've shown you, we have this great example, this great model in Jesus and better yet, He's given us a Holy Spirit that is able to empower us to live it out. And better yet, now I said, all of you are servants, you are all called to serve. So why do we actually need deacons then? If all of us are deacons, why do we need these specific people set apart to be servants, basically? And so we go back to our original story, right? In the early church, right? They had this division that had occurred over this distribution. inevitably the devil had gotten in there. He had used the animosity that they had towards people from outside Judea and used it to worm his way into this ministry of the church. The apostles have protected their primary calling and they've set these deacons aside now to preserve the harmony of this ministry. But I want you to look at something. What kind of men does God, sorry, do the apostles ask the church to bring forward? You read it in verse three. And better yet, if you go and read through the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, notice it is all character based. Is it not funny? Would you not think that it would be right to ask someone to oversee this ministry who actually has some skills, actually has some ability to be able to administer all these things? Yes. Of course they should. That's a smart thing to do. But the first and priority thing is that they have godly character. Because the reality was, was the daily distribution suffering from an efficiency problem? No, it was suffering from a godliness problem, from a lack of it, right? And so you see, the early church faced this problem. What they didn't need was people who were better administrators. They need godly administrators. People who were able to go into this ministry and ensure that it would align with the character of God. And so I want to take this to point out what is one of the most important roles that our deacons in this church have. Those who are called out, set apart, is that they do ensure that all the ministries of this church align with godliness, with the character of God. It is not just about making sure that the bank accounts don't fall out, that everything's budgeted for. It's not just about making sure that there's plenty of food on tables or anything like that, but that all of these things are done. with godliness. And so you just think about it, right? Our finances are handled by our deacons, but it is done in a way that is transparent and done with a heart that seeks to serve God. Because we wish to take this money and not just squander it on anything, but to use it for the mission that God has called us to. Better yet, we spend a lot of time nowadays as deacons on things like child safety, right? Kind of boring and a lot of paperwork it seems, but why are we doing this? Because God has said, let the children come to me. And we are to call to care for those who are vulnerable. All right. And so we do that by protecting them from those things that may cause them harm. And so you see, it is so important that the godly witness of this church is kept godly. That we are showing the character of Christ. into this community. And that is why we desperately need our deacons, because they oversee the ministries of this church. And so, it is incredibly important that they remain godly. Because when we step away from that aspect, suddenly then we have ministries that continue to go on purely because they're successful. When the whole push of a ministry, when the whole reason we keep it going is because it seems successful, or because the church has always done it, but yet it's actually left behind the gospel, that's not a good enough reason to keep doing that ministry. The only reason... that we should continue to do something is because it is godly. Because when we leave that behind, when we prioritize success and always having done something over that, we lose the power of the gospel that empowers everything. And so you see that is why we desperately need our deacons because the elders of this church cannot watch every aspect. and we would not want to take them away from the calling they've been called to. But our deacons are most importantly not just there for practical reasons, but for theological spiritual ones. And so look, kind of wrapping this up, there's just a few quick clarifications that I wanted to bring up about the office of deacon. So one, just to clarify, I know last week I spoke on the fact that within eldership, only men are permitted to be elders. Again, if you would like to speak about that, happy to talk about it. With deacons, men and women, anyone can be a deacon. There's absolutely no restriction on that because it doesn't adhere to the realities of teaching or exercising authority over the church. But now, another point I wanna make. Deacons are not elders in training, okay? We sometimes have a thing as a church or just as people in general, where we like to kind of build hierarchies, right? Where we kind of sit there and think, Well, you can use this to elevate yourself above people. I'm someone who, I don't know, all my children attend church and other people don't. So look, I'm higher up in the hierarchy. We can use these kind of all the time. We're trying to structure ourselves into categories to make ourselves feel better, to make ourselves look better. And so also we seem to do the same thing in the church, where we kind of view church hierarchy as this kind of ladder that must be climbed, right? Here are the church body and then there's deacons and then there's elders. That is not the case. All right? Because sometimes elders make horrible deacons. They do not have the administration skills that are needed for that position. And sometimes some deacons would not make good elders because the reality are they are different skill sets that are required to do those things. And deacon is not some entry-level position to climb up to. It is actually its own set apart sacred role. And we shouldn't diminish it by saying, they're just fellas in train. But no, there is actually great importance to it. There is great overlap. We may have deacons who are elders, but they are separate roles and should be treated that way. And so too, the deacons do function under the authority of the elders. Now, I'm careful to talk about any kind of authority structure in church because it changes all the time, right? Typically, the church does fall under the authority of the elders, but then when the AGM comes around, who is actually the one who has the final say? It is actually the congregation. that sits over everything. They are the one who votes in who are the deacons and who are the elders. But typically, it does happen that the deacons are to fall under the authority of the elders. Now, they are given much autonomy to be able to do what they've called to because if the elders are micromanaging everything, then what's the point in having deacons? They are given much autonomy, but ultimately the responsibility and the ones who are hold accountable are the elders at that. But again, it's a teamwork thing. Number three, holding the office of deacon doesn't alter the church membership. doesn't alter the fact that these people are church members. See again, we seem to create these hierarchies and the different things. If someone is a deacon or an elder, that doesn't mean they are somehow more favored by God. They've simply been given as a gift to the church. Everyone is still church members. Everyone is still equal before God. We're all children of God. Being elder doesn't make someone closer to Him, right? They've simply been given as a gift to serve the church as it is same with the deacons as well. And so then, just a final thing as we wrap up. I feel it is only right to acknowledge those who are currently serving as deacons. Rick Whittle, have here, Margaret Back, who wasn't here this morning, Dan Rogers, Dan Felton and Ian Pakes, who's hiding and I don't know where he is. Probably preparing morning tea. These people serve behind the scenes in so many ways. In so many ways, our church could not function without these people. because of all the work they do. You can almost call them like the ninjas of church, because you don't see them a lot of the time. But the work they do is integral to the working of the church. And so, I would just ask, would you thank them? Would you just be grateful to them for the work they do? If you don't know what work they do, maybe go and talk to them about the work they do, because plenty of these dudes work overtime and they don't get paid a thing. And so, I would ask as a church, Would we express gratitude to these people? But really, would we express gratitude to all those who serve? We should be doing this as a church. This is actually what helps to unite us together. And I don't mean serving on the roster just. I mean serving in any way. I mean someone brings you, know, someone walks around with a morning tea after church and hands you a biscuit. Just say, thank you for bringing me some morning tea. Just be thankful to the people who serve in every little way. Big and small, it does not matter. Because big or small, all of it, it is needed. And all of it builds up the church. See, just as I am here up preaching, yes, that is part of what Jesus came to do. Yes, that is part of how we image Christ. But also in the same ways, the people who bring along a bucket of lemons for people to take home is also part of serving the body of Christ. It is all a gift and is all being used for the sake of others. So please, I would urge you, encourage one another in your service.