Deacons Matter

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and turn to the book of 1 Timothy. We’re continuing our topical series on the church. Normally, what we do is we go through books of the Bible, usually alternating testaments. We walk through that passage verse by verse to see what that author intended, what God intended us to hear in various different books. We made it all the way up to Genesis 37. We’re taking a break, though, to spend the last couple of months and in the upcoming weeks thinking about the doctrine of the church.

Often, church is something that we assume that we do in life. We kind of go to church because it’s what we’ve been taught to do, and those weekly rhythms are good and healthy for us to practice. At the same time, the reason why we do church isn’t just because it’s the way we’ve always done it. It’s actually because of what the Word tells us about how we’re supposed to live our lives in obedience to Him. We’ve looked at how the Word is the forming principle of how we do things in our church. We don’t do things based on tradition or preference or even practicality, but we make decisions as a church based on what the Word of God says. We looked at how the gospel message itself is the substance on which we build, that we build on the rock that is Christ, Him dying for our sins and rising from the dead. And then we looked at how that plays itself out through church membership and discipline and how we make decisions together as a church, as a congregation. Last week, we looked at pastors. This week, we’re going to look at deacons.

We’re going to be looking at 1 Timothy chapter 3, starting from verse 8 to the end of that section. If you don’t have a Bible, you can use the pew Bible in front of you. If you don’t own a Bible, we would love for you to just be able to keep that Bible. Consider that a gift from us to you. We would love for you to have a copy of God’s Word that you could read for yourself and see what the Lord has to say to you. Again, 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 8.

Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. Wives, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

— 1 Timothy 3:8-13 (CSB)

Let’s pray. We do pray, Lord, that as we think about this office of the church, this treasured office of the church, that You would help us to be able to see Your glory and Your goodness, and that You would continue to build our church up. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Last week was an uncomfortable sermon for me to preach because I talked about my own job qualifications, the expectations that you’re supposed to have for me as your pastor. This week may be more uncomfortable because I’m supposed to tell other people what they’re supposed to do and what they’re supposed to be. I just want you to know that there is no loaded gun behind this pulpit. This is not subtextual. There is no backhanded insult or expectation that I’m levying against the deacons here this morning. I love our deacons. I just want you to know I’m so grateful for the way that they provide service here. Even looking at our church books, if you go through our church minutes, you can just see the names that show up over and over again, whether it’s Orly and Sergio, or Allen, or different people that have dedicated their lives to serving this church and this body. So don’t take this sermon to be any kind of backhanded insult. This is an affirmation of the men that you have already recognized so far to serve as your deacons. They are godly men that are worthy of your affirmation and respect.

At the same time, if you’ve grown up in the church at all, or if you’ve been to multiple churches, you’ve probably heard some really terrible horror stories about deacons. People that end up tripping on their power or utilizing their leverage or their legacy at the church to grab a church by its reins and yank it in their own desires or their own directions. The irony of all of those stories is that the word “deacon” means “servant.” It means servant. A deacon is primarily, by definition, by word, designed to serve. And in that service, I think deacons get to exemplify something unique about the gospel that I actually don’t even get to exemplify in my role as a pastor.

For those of us who were here a year ago, this sermon may feel familiar to you as we’re walking through the book of 1 Timothy. For I think over half of the people in this room, though, it is a completely new sermon, something you guys haven’t heard before. I think it’s worthy for us to take our time to be slow to think about what a deacon is and what a deacon is supposed to do. So I want us this morning to be able to determine our deacons, to be able to designate what their jobs are, what their role is supposed to be. We’re going to look at three parts. First, we’re going to look at a deacon’s job, what a deacon is actually supposed to do. Second, we’re going to look at a deacon’s qualifications, just like last week when we looked at the pastor’s qualifications, we’re going to just walk through a deacon’s qualification. And third, unlike pastors, we’re going to take a look at the deacon’s reward. What the Lord promises to those who have decided to serve as deacons in the church. God promises in verse 13 that those who serve well as deacons have a great reward. But how do we determine whether a deacon has served well?

The Deacon's Job: Preserving Unity and Facilitating Service

You may have been to tons of different churches where deacons have lots of different hats that they wear. Well, we’re going to take a detour from this passage here in 1 Timothy and go back to the first example in the church of deacons showing up, which happens in Acts 6. So turn back in your Bible to Acts chapter 6. We’ll go back to 1 Timothy after we look at what these examples of the first deacons did in Acts chapter 6. Acts is just after the Gospel of John. Acts chapter 6, verse 1.

In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

— Acts 6:1-7 (CSB)

The church in Jerusalem is continuing to grow. You see this example of the first church in Acts chapter 2. Peter stands up, he preaches the gospel right after Pentecost. Three thousand people turn from their sin and trust in Christ, are baptized, and become members of this church. As this church is growing, they run into an issue. There are two groups of widows: one with Jewish backgrounds, Hebraic backgrounds, and one from Greek backgrounds. The Jewish widows are being fed and the Greek widows are not. As a result, there is tension. Not only is there tension, this is a division along racial lines. This division is so severe that the church is ready to split over this issue.

So the apostles summoned the disciples, the crowd of the congregation, and they say two things. The first is that this issue is not a priority for them. Can you imagine that? I’m going to call a church meeting and tell you, “This is not worth my time.” That’s exactly what the apostles do. And stuff like this happens all the time in the church, doesn’t it? Different needs come up, practical needs. Half of our air conditioning isn’t working, right? There are all sorts of practical needs that pop up in the life of the church. If a pastor or an apostle dedicates all of their time to just taking care of whatever immediate need seems most urgent all of the time, then I will be stuck playing perpetual whack-a-mole for all the problems that exist in the life of the church. The apostles are saying, while this is an important issue, this is not the issue of priority. Not because it’s unimportant that widows aren’t being fed – I think that’s extremely important in the life of the church – but because there’s a priority of the preaching of the word and prayer. Of the preaching of the word and prayer, that if a pastor spends all his time serving tables instead of serving the word, they are not fulfilling their duty as a pastor. There’s a division of labor here. There’s a priority that your pastor is supposed to have. If I come up behind the pulpit and I preach a lackluster sermon as a result of taking care of table duties, I’m actually not doing my job faithfully for you as your pastor.

Second, while this issue isn’t the first priority for the apostles, it’s still a priority for the church. Notice what the apostles aren’t saying. They’re not saying this issue is so unimportant that those Greek widows should just suck it up. That’s not what’s going on. They need to be cared for. And so, they tell them, they tell this crowd, this church, to choose from among them seven men of good reputation, who can perform this duty. And that’s exactly what they do. It pleased the crowd, and so they recognize these men, these seven men. And all of their names are Greek names. I love that. I love that example because they recognize men that would be particularly sensitive and attentive to this need, to this need of these Greek widows. And so the crowd recognizes them, and then the apostles prayed, and then they laid their hands on them.

So in this example of the church acting together and recognizing these seven men, we get an idea of what deacons are supposed to actually do. They do two things. The first thing that deacons do is they preserve unity. The issue around widows being fed is more than just the logistics of widows being fed. The reason why this issue is significant in the life of the church is because it is causing divisions within the church, within racial lines. You have racial preference in the way that these different women are being treated. As a result, the office of deacon is created in order to address this issue and help bring about unity inside of the church. In other words, this division happening in this case in Acts 6 wasn’t primarily doctrinal. This isn’t an issue of heresy kind of pervading in the life of the church. It’s actually practical. The brass tacks was that you had hungry, older women that desperately needed care. And that happens all the time in the life of the church, doesn’t it? Sometimes conflict doesn’t happen because there’s some deep moral issue or because the gospel is at stake. Sometimes the fight happens because the trash wasn’t taken out, or because there was feedback on the speakers again, or because someone isn’t getting the attention that they need in order to be able to find their daily bread. And deacons are functioning like shock absorbers. They pay attention to the areas of the church that bring tension, and then they work to be able to lessen that burden. They are supporting the life of the church together.

Second, deacons facilitate practical service. The word that’s used here for waiting on tables and the ministry of the word are actually the same word. It’s service. The apostles tell the church, “Find someone to serve tables because we are going to pray and serve the word.” Can’t serve tables because we’re supposed to serve the word. Two different categories, the same verb. There is a clear bifurcation of responsibility here. I as your pastor should not be spending all my time on the practical stuff that pulls me away from the word ministry. In fact, have you ever played the game Mad Libs? You have a little booklet with the blanks and you ask someone like, “pick a noun, pick a verb.” You write them down and then once they’re all done, you read them this insane, silly story and you get to laugh together. You could play Mad Libs with Acts 6 to think about what a deacon does. “It’s not right for us to serve tables when we’re supposed to serve the word.” If you could replace that word “tables” with something else, and that sentence makes sense, it’s probably a good idea for a deacon to do. “It’s not right for me to serve counting, when I’m supposed to serve the word.” “It’s not right for me to serve sound when I’m supposed to serve the word.” “It’s not right for me to serve children’s ministry volunteer scheduling when I’m supposed to serve the word.” If that sentence makes sense, it is proper for deacons to come in and fill in those responsibilities for the sake of the ministry of the word. Deacons serve the church by removing those barriers that prevent the word of God from being prepared and presented to people. And that goes for all servants, regardless of whether or not you have the title deacon.

Part of the reason why we run a really tight ship here as a church, the reason why we don’t have tons of events that are happening all the time, isn’t because we don’t want to see a vibrant life in the church. We absolutely do. But the reason why we run a tight ship is because we want to make sure that all of the service that we assign to members of the church have a direct connection to the primary ministry of the church. I’m so grateful for brothers like Larry or Miguel or so many others that help serve in sound. You know why it’s important that they serve in sound? So that you don’t have to think about sound. So you can hear the sermon. So you can actually pay attention. There are all sorts of things that happen in the back. I believe that one area of demon activity is still in church sound systems. Why do they pay attention to those things? Not because they themselves get to benefit spiritually from the act of moving a fader. But because in their service to you, you get to pay attention to the word. You get to encourage one another in the pews. And by extension, any volunteer that serves in our church gets to directly connect whatever fruit you are able to produce as you provide the word, as you hear the sermon together, that is their reward because they were able to focus on a task that you no longer have the burden of bearing yourself.

Now, that doesn’t mean that deacons are the only ones that are doing the work here. This doesn’t mean that deacons are the only ones that are personally providing this food for all of the Greek widows. The point is that these men are the ones that are facilitating the work of the ministry. In other words, they are the ones that are responsible for feeding these Gentile widows. If someone came up to the apostles and said, “Hey, my great-aunt, neighbor, who’s a Greek widow, isn’t being fed.” The apostles will respond, “You’re not supposed to talk to me. You should go talk to Prochorus or go talk to Parmenas or any of the other deacons to address this issue.” In the same way, a deacon alleviates the responsibility from teachers of God’s word to themselves. And they organize and they facilitate under the authority and the oversight of pastors. That is an important work. It’s a vital work. And it’s precisely because that work is so important that Paul then wants to make sure that these servants reflect a character that’s worthy of that work. So that’s point number one, a deacon’s job. Here’s point number two.

The Deacon's Qualifications

A deacon’s qualifications. Turn back to 1 Timothy with me. I’ll just walk through these qualifications that Paul gives to a deacon, similar to the qualifications that you see for an elder. Here’s the first qualification: that they are worthy of respect. You can see that right there in verse 8. In both the qualifications for being a pastor and for being a deacon, they are to be persons who are worthy of respect. Often when we think about service in the church or about getting things done in the church, we focus on the amount of needs that exist, the amount of work that needs to get done. We measure our need for volunteers or even need for deacons based on the length of our to-do list. We need children’s ministry volunteers or folks to fold the bulletin, which we don’t anymore because our printer does it for us. Amen. Right? Or folks to help with the sound. But when looking at the office of servant or deacons, Paul begins by focusing on their character. They’re to be men or women worthy of respect. Because Christians aren’t utilitarians. We aren’t built around the bottom line. This is not a capitalist factory inside these doors. It’s not that the moment that you become a Christian or you get baptized, you become another cog in the volunteer chain that begins to churn in order to continue the institutional work of the church. We don’t just care about our ability to get things done. We care about who we follow. That the character of the people that facilitate this kind of work matters just as much as the amount of work that gets done. Character matters. A deacon’s qualifications begins with his character, not competence.

Qualification 2: not hypocritical. A deacon has to live a consistent life. They cannot be a hypocrite. The word for “hypocrite” isn’t just talking about what they do, it’s also talking about what they say. That word hypocrite is talking about being “double-tongued.” That a deacon can’t be fake. Smiling, shaking hands, talking sweet to folks while shanking them in the back. This is especially important given that deacons primarily play a supporting role. They don’t operate in the front, they operate in the back. Those who operate in the front like me are those who labor in preaching and teaching. I have a very public responsibility, but deacons primarily do their work that other people don’t notice and see. And when you’re shrouded in mystery or in isolation or privacy, it is easy to start whispering, to slip in a little word here, or a little word there. And James chapter 3 says that “a small fire can set a whole forest ablaze.” These men need to be marked with a selfless, consistent character. It’s talking about women who serve as deacons who wield their words responsibly.

Qualification 3: not drinking a lot of wine. A deacon cannot be dependent on any substance that would impair his judgment. If you think about the responsibility that deacons have in Acts chapter 6, they’re tasked with taking care of the least of these in the church, the needy widows. And one easy test to see whether or not someone should serve as a deacon is whether or not you would trust your loved ones with them. The simple answer is that you should not trust your loved ones with a drunk. I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t let my babysitters get wasted as they care for my kids. I need caregivers to be alert and ready to assist. They must be sober-minded.

Qualification 4: not greedy for money. Greed is a sneaky sin because it’s difficult to discern. You could have someone who amassed a lot of wealth and yet exhibits extreme generosity and open-handedness with spirit. And you can have someone who is poor and yet is consumed by their love for money in their own heart. It is easy to point out if someone is embezzling money or cooking the books in order to take advantage of themselves, but greed lurks inside of the heart. And it’s unbecoming of a deacon. Because if your job involves meeting practical needs, especially those who are needy in your church, and you desire money for selfish gain, you will serve with ulterior motives. Think about the example of Judas in John 12. After Mary breaks the alabaster jar on Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume, and Judas says, “Why didn’t this money get used for the poor?” But verse 6 in chapter 12 reveals his intentions. He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money bag and would steal a part of what was put in it. You can’t love the poor and your pocketbook at the same time. You can’t do it. And you can’t have a deacon who’s greedy. This is particularly important because there are so many delicate, difficult issues to answer in the life of the church. You need to have reputable people of character being able to make decisions like that, because it is so easy for selfishness to get baptized in some kind of other motive. And often times, those motives are also true. You may sincerely think that a certain decision is better for the life of the church and also secretly desire something that’s better for yourself. Our hearts are so despicable, so hypocritical, that we convince ourselves that our selfish gain and our selfish service can mix together all the time. You don’t have to be a deacon to struggle with that. Which is why it’s especially important for your deacons to make sure that they have a consistent character in their heart, which leads to qualification 5.

In verse 9, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. Pastors are called to teach the mystery of the faith, the gospel. Deacons are not called to teach the mystery of the faith. But they are called to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. Deacons need to know the gospel. This isn’t about creating a hard line between those who are spiritual and those who are practical. Deacons are necessarily involved in practical work. But here’s the difference: deacons are practical, but they are not pragmatic. And this is what I mean. They are not using what works as their primary compass by which they determine what should get done. We talked about in the very first sermon in our series here on the church that we’re not primarily ruled by what works, but by the Word. By the Word of God. They need to know the Word of God. They need to love the truth of the gospel. They need to delight in the gospel in such a way that they could hold it with a clear conscience without any reservation. George Washington was a committed member of his church. He was even appointed as a vestryman and a warden in his Episcopal Church and was tasked for caring for the poor. Did you know that George Washington before every communion service at his church would leave early to go home? In fact, historians would say that his faith was often not really considered to be Christian at all, but more deist. You probably have more brothers and sisters in Christ in the slave house on his property than you do in Mount Vernon. And it would be easy to see why George Washington would be appointed a position of authority in his church, wouldn’t it? He’s articulate, he’s respectable. By all accounts, he was a really boring guy, which is part of what made him such a great national leader. Articulate, wise, good stature, rich. And he was disqualified from the ministry. His belief in the gospel is murky at best, and his conscience wouldn’t even permit him to partake in the most basic Christian practice, which is communion. And it doesn’t matter how great a man may be, even if he is the commander-in-chief, if he can’t hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, he should not be a deacon. So let me ask you, do you know the gospel? Is this something that you know or something that you assume? Are you able to believe with your heart with no reservation that Jesus Christ died for sins and rose from the dead? That He’s forgiven your sin by His grace? Do you believe in that gospel? Do you know it? Do you hold it in such a way that that becomes the determining factor by which you determine all that you do in the life of the church, whether it’s practical or not?

Qualification 6: they must be tested first. If they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. The qualification to be blameless is not one that means you have to exemplify perfection in everything. If that were the case, we would have zero deacons. But they are to live their lives in such a way that they are characterized by godliness, not sinfulness. Not only do they have to be blameless, they actually have to be proven blameless. In other words, we need to actually evaluate someone’s character. This isn’t something that’s just assumed. It’s something that’s evaluated. That’s why we don’t just knight people to become deacons overnight. There is a process for it. And the process is pretty simple, similar to the way that we would appoint a pastor to be at this church. I would ask you if there’s anyone that you think is qualified to be a deacon to please talk to me. Whether they exemplify the godliness that you think is becoming of a deacon or a deaconess. Or they exhibit the same kind of care and service that you think is befitting of a servant of God. And after a while, if I start to hear the same names, we would meet with them privately, the same way that we would a pastor candidate, and we would ask them about their life. Maybe details would come up that would prevent us from being able to appoint them to be a deacon. Maybe everything seems fine and they do want to serve as a deacon. If that ends up being the case, we will present them as candidates to you at a members meeting. And then you would have two months before the next meeting to be able to vet and evaluate that person, and then be able to vote them in as a deacon in the following members meeting. Why do we go through that process? Why go through every single step in order to be able to take our time before we appoint a deacon? Because we want to test them. Not meaning an exam, but we want to have honest evaluations about them and their character. It is loving to expect your leaders to be able to exemplify godly behavior. And if there are reasons why a deacon would not be above reproach, then we shouldn’t recognize them to serve as deacons.

The Role of Women Deacons

Here’s qualification 7: for faithful women, they are to be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. That’s there in verse 11. Paul here isn’t just calling men, but calling women who are deacons to be faithful in their own lives and to be qualified to serve as deaconesses. And there’s much debate in church history and today as to whether or not women may serve as deacons. And the reason for that is because for many churches, they treat deacons as though they are leaders that serve in a position of authority. Especially those who serve in a structure. This isn’t the way our church is structured based on our bylaws of 2008. But there are some churches that structured this way where you have a pastor, and you have a deacon board that almost serves as a check and balance to each other, where they serve as the ability to say no to the pastor, or even churches that have no pastors, where the deacons end up inadvertently filling up that vacuum of authority that’s left for the sake of serving their people. And in that case, I would say that those deacons are functioning like pastors or elders. You can call them deacons in the way that they direct the direction of the church. And for most of those churches that have that kind of setup, they needed those deacons. I am not saying that any of those men or women who have served in those capacities did any of the work that they did out of anything but a sincere, genuine, God-glorifying love for their church and their people. And if you have ever served in that kind of capacity, or if you’ve been part of a church that functioned that way, I just want to praise God for that kind of selfless service in the church. You know how hard it is to be part of a church for decades and see pastors come and go, generation after generation, and you know that the buck ultimately stops with you? That is a heavy load to bear. That is a heavy responsibility. And I have seen so many examples of generations of deacons going out of their way to faithfully serve in that kind of capacity. And I am so filled with gratitude. I think the Lord is honored by that kind of service.

At the same time, biblically speaking, that’s not what deacons primarily do. They’re called to serve, they’re not called to lead, they’re called to serve. In fact, deacons support pastors in their leadership, similar to how a wife supports her husband’s leadership. Not that they’re of lesser dignity or worth, but that they fulfill different functions in the life of the church. In fact, you see that in 1 Timothy itself. Women are called to manage their households. That’s not subverting a husband’s authority. That’s just a woman operating in support of the marriage and of the family. There are distinct roles that they have. A husband leads, a woman supports. In the same way, a pastor or pastors are called to lead the church through the authority of the Word. Deacons support the ministry of the Word through their practical service and supporting the unity of the church, and the congregation as a whole keeps the church as a whole accountable to the gospel and its gospel work. And given that, it’s no surprise that Paul would then provide qualifications for women serving as deacons as well. So here are just a couple of buckshot reasons for why I think the Bible supports having female deacons. Okay, first, the word for “wife” in the Greek is the same word for “woman.” Now, I’m very slow to talk about Greek behind the pulpit, and the reason is because my Greek professor in seminary taught me very thoughtfully that your original language work should be like underwear. It should support you and nobody should see it. Nevertheless, that Greek word for woman is the same here used for wife. In fact, every single time in 1 Timothy that this word is used except for chapter 3 in relation to husbands directly, that word is always referring to women generally. Number two, the qualifications for women here are the exact same as the qualifications that you see for deacons. The requirements both start with the same qualification, being worthy of respect, followed with three overlapping similar qualifications: not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.

Reason number three, Romans 16 gives us an example of a female deacon named Phoebe. Phoebe is identified in Romans 16 as the deacon of the church in Cenchreae. Now normally, it would be one thing if she was just designated as a servant or a minister in a more general sense, right? A servant can kind of mean all sorts of things. We are servants for your good, right? You can use that word minister or servant to mean all sorts of things. But she’s identified with a specific role at a specific church. She is the deacon at the church in Cenchreae. That would be like me saying, “I am the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Artesia.” I’m not just saying that I’m a pastor generally or that I’m a shepherd who tends to sheep throughout the week. I’m identifying myself based on my office that I have at this specific church. And the same thing is happening with Phoebe here in Romans 16. Reason number four, deaconesses are supported by church history. Unlike female pastors, which can come off like it’s a more live debate today, there has been no debate over female pastors in 2000 years of church history. It doesn’t matter how much you point to Junia or anyone else tried to make an argument for female pastors, you just look at the pattern of church history and this hasn’t even been an argument. In a similar way, you have female deacons dating as early as the second century, just a few decades after this letter in 1 Timothy was written. You have female deaconesses that are serving God’s people. From secular governors to early church fathers like Clement of Alexandria and Chrysostom, deaconesses were regularly recognized by the early church and continued to be recognized throughout church history. In fact, deaconesses were usually the ones who prepared women for baptism. I don’t know about you, I don’t think a dude should be doing that. So I think that the Bible wholeheartedly supports women in this supporting role of deacon.

Now, if at a church or at this church, deacons function with authority, let’s say they have pastoral oversight in the way that they function, even if the title is allowed. I don’t think that it would be that helpful for that church to have female deacons. I think it makes a lot of sense for them to recognize the authoritative function and to lean away from having female deacons at their church. If you have questions about that, you can go on our church website and look up a sermon that I gave in 1 Timothy on 1 Timothy 2:8-15, talking about the role of men and women in the church. But I think that when the office of deacon is understood rightly as this supporting role, I think it’s actually a beautiful and good thing for women to be actively serving the church the way that Phoebe did. I pray that the Lord would raise up many respectable, not slandering, self-controlled, faithful deaconesses at this church, who could support the work of the ministry here. Not so that they supplant or replace leadership, but so that they support them.

Qualification 12: deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. If deacons are to be the model for Christian living, then they ought to model themselves in their own lives. They need to be faithful to their own spouse. They can’t give into sexual immorality or neglect their responsibility to their parents. This isn’t just a command given to men; it’s given to women as well. In 1 Timothy 5:14, Paul instructs younger women to manage their households. Your house is like a window into how you would handle the house of God. Especially if you’re going to be facilitating the practical needs of the church, you need to be able to facilitate or to manage the practical needs of your own family. You have to be a well-oiled machine like that. And deacons, like pastors, are called to be godly examples of the church.

Now all of those qualifications that we just went over probably feel remarkably similar to what you heard last week when we talked about pastors and what they are called to do. And for good reason, it doesn’t matter if you’re serving as a pastor or a deacon, you are called to be godly. That first and foremost, your leaders or officers in the church are called to exemplify who Jesus is like. But Paul adds an additional statement for deacons, and it’s not another qualification. It’s actually a promise. Brings us to point 3.

The Deacon's Reward and Jesus' Example of Service

A deacon’s reward. Look at verse 13. For those who have served well as deacons, acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying, if you serve well as a deacon in the church, your reward is great in heaven. Your reward in heaven. Pastors don’t get this promise. Deacons do. Deacons get a reward, good standing for themselves and boldness in the faith. That’s an incredible promise. They gain good standing for themselves. They earn the respect of the people. You gain the opportunity to display influence and godly reputation, not above the people, but amongst them. You get to display the beauty and worthiness of Christ in a way that stands out. And you don’t do it by teaching publicly. You do it by modeling. Your life gets to operate like a sermon. People see your life and they gain an understanding of what godliness is supposed to look like. They gain an understanding of how they’re supposed to serve faithfully. Not only that, they display great boldness. Not just boldness, but great boldness in the faith. Not just in the faith, but the faith that is in Christ Jesus. In other words, deacons, you get to display the gospel of Christ Jesus with your lives. In fact, I’d argue that you’re able to display the gospel in your life in a way that pastors simply cannot. At least not to the same degree. I have the privilege of being able to serve publicly in the teaching of God’s word. I get to hear, you know, a couple good sermons after every time that I serve. Most of what I do is public-facing. People aren’t that confused about the work that I do. I’m interacting with people regularly, they get to see it. They get to be grateful. I receive a lot of prayers. I wonder how many of you pray for your deacons that aren’t seen, that serve in the background, that care for you in all sorts of ways that you don’t notice until things go wrong.

And I think in that way what deacons do with their lives more closely resembles the heart, disposition, and ministry of Jesus. In Mark chapter 10, James and John go up to Jesus and they ask Him if they can sit at His right and His left hand at the kingdom, right? It’s them maneuvering their ten other brothers, right? And the disciples are furious about it because they know that James and John are essentially asking to be number two in the kingdom of God. And Jesus calls over the disciples and He tells them this:

Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to 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.”

— Mark 10:42-45 (CSB)

Do you want to embody the mighty, authoritative, kingly power of your Savior Jesus Christ? Do you want to be considered great in the kingdom of heaven? Have high standing with your Lord and Savior? Obtain a position of status? Christ’s answer is for you to deacon or to serve. That when you serve, when you serve God’s people and place their needs above your own, when deacons take the active role in serving God’s people and facilitating these practical needs to free pastors for the work of the ministry, when they proactively submit themselves for the sake of the rest of the body, when people are willing to divert their attention, their energies for things that are utterly thankless in this world, you are demonstrating true greatness. In fact, you’re displaying the exact heart of Jesus in choosing not to be served, but to serve. I would not be shocked if the five men that serve this church have greater rewards than me in the kingdom of heaven. And that act of sacrificial deacning, of service is just a faint glimmer, a small but tangible reminder of the ultimate diaconate work of our Savior Jesus Christ. His work wasn’t just one of authority, but one of service. Giving Himself up, dying for our sins, paying the penalty of sin in full. Even though we had nothing to offer Him, and rising from the dead, paying that price in full. We worship a Savior who models directly for us what a deacon is supposed to look like. Because He is the greatest servant by being the Savior of all. That is the good news of the gospel.

The Deeply Spiritual Nature of Practical Service

If you’re not a Christian and you’re here this morning, I wonder if you have a God like that. Is money willing to give up himself for you? Is comfort willing to give up himself for you? Can anything in this world lastingly, eternally, be able to provide for you something that only Jesus can? In giving you something that you will never deserve, despite all of your best efforts for all of your life, that the good news of Christianity and what it offers you is a Savior that knows exactly how despicable and unlovable you are and demonstrates His extravagant grace by presenting Himself, taking on the form of a servant, a deacon, and dying for your sins. You can trust in that kind of Savior. And church, every time that you serve, whether you’re a deacon or not, every time that you go out of your way to embrace discomfort for the sake of serving someone else, you are serving as a practical reminder. Your action is a physical sermon reminding everyone around you that Jesus loves you, and will serve you to the very end. The practical needs are deeply spiritual. This is something that we talked about in our preaching workshop last Wednesday that the law of Christ is broader than any rule that the Bible could possibly give you. That you are called to love God and love your neighbor. Think about the analogy of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Is there any verse in the Bible saying that he’s obligated to stop on the road and take care of that man? And yet if you understand the law and the love of Christ etched into our hearts in the new covenant, how could you not? How could you not go out of your way to love others? Every small act of service that you do is an eternal reminder of the value of every Christian and the ultimate value of Christ.

Matt Smethurst’s book on deacons tells us the story of Deacon Lawrence in the third century. His task was to oversee the church’s money and the distribution for the poor. Very important news. In August, Decius’s successor, Emperor Valerian, has issued a chilling edict: all bishops, priests, and deacons must be rounded up and killed. Lawrence is soon taken before the magistrate. They offer, “Surrender the treasure of the church and you will be freed.” The deacon agrees. He only requests three days to retrieve it. Leaving the court, Lawrence wastes no time. He entrusts the church’s money to safe hands. And then gathers together the sick, the aged, the orphaned, the widowed. At last, he returns to the court, pitiful band in tow. Incensed by the commotion, the magistrate demands an explanation. Lawrence responds, “Sir, I have brought what you’ve asked for.” And gesturing towards the people he gathered, he declares, “These are the treasures of the church.” Subsequently, sentenced to a martyr’s death, the deacon endures the flames with startling calm. Even quipping to his executioners, “You can turn me over, I’m done on this side.” The spectacle of Lawrence’s profound courage makes a great impression on the people of Rome, leading to many conversions. It doesn’t matter if your acts of service are as large as Lawrence’s or as small as giving someone a ride to church. I pray that we all serve. May we all deacon with the same kind of heart. The same kind of value because we love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s pray. Lord, we do thank You that all of our needs are met by Your sufficient merit and grace. We thank You that You’ve deacond and served us by dying on a cross for our sins. We do ask, Lord, that You would raise up more deacons in our church, who could serve this church body. Pray, Lord, that You would help all of us to be able to embody the same kind of spirit of being willing to give up ourselves for the sake of helping our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.