Text: Acts 6:1-7, Title: Table Servers and Bible Servers, Date/Place: NRBC, 9/23/07, PM
A. Opening illustration: select a few jokes from the Pastoral Search Committee thing
B. Background to passage: If you were here this morning you know the context of the growing church carrying out the mission of evangelism, and the problem of the widows being neglected. I felt like there was so much in this text related to church government that it really needed to be dealt with separately. So tonight I want to look at this text with relation to the church offices of Pastor/elder and deacon. Other passages and texts deal with their qualifications, but indicate little about their job descriptions. An interpretive issue is that the apostles are different from a pastor, and these seven men are never called deacons. Explain. Preface the comments made tonight with a few remarks about local church autonomy, congregational authority and accountability, as well as Christ’s headship. Also comment about the fact of good commentators disagreeing on the dogmatic points of church government. Affirm liberty and the right to be wrong. And confirm that my intention is to be as biblical as we can.
C. Main thought: In our text tonight, we will look at the job descriptions of pastors and deacons.
A. Bible Servers (v. 1-4, 6)
1. The text indicates that the apostles perceived the reality of the problem, but as mentioned this morning, they evaluated what the priorities were based on the amount of time that a pastor had in a week. And they decided that for pastor/elders, their duties were two-fold—praying and preaching. They did not indicate that the ministry of serving tables was unimportant, or even of lesser importance. In fact for ministry to continue both had to be accomplished. But as a calling, their primary duty was to spiritually feed the sheep and direct the flock. Preach and pray. And so they have a responsibility to preach the word, and to the authority to lead the flock. They are the ones that decided the priorities, summoned the congregation, instructed the congregation, and then ordained the seven deacons. By the way they were plural then, and they should still be plural now, as they are in almost every NT occurrence of the word elder, which is used over 35 times to speak of the office. These men acted as God’s representative for leadership within the congregation. Therefore they have a call to pray to seek God’s direction, and a call to lead with authority. These are not the full extent of a pastor/elder’s duties, just the main ones that our text indicates.
2. 2 Tim 4:2, Eph 4:11-12, Acts 20:27-28, Heb 13:17, 1 Tim 5:17, 1 Pet 5:2-3, Titus 2:15,
3. Illustration: Pastor, at home, to his wife: "When I told the board I spent one hour of study for every minute of my sermon, they voted to cut back my hours from forty to thirty!" A prophet once came to a city to convert its inhabitants. At first the people listened to his sermons, but they gradually drifted away until there was not a single soul to hear the prophet when he spoke. One day a traveler said to him, "Why do you go on preaching?" Said the prophet, "In the beginning I hoped to change these people. If I still shout, it is only to prevent them from changing me." On my first pastorate, I had requested $20 per month from the board to pay someone to mow the lawn and care for the flowers on the church’s property. "The former pastor did that himself," the oldest board member quickly pointed out. "I know," I replied, "But he doesn’t want to do it any more."
4. The expectation in our day sometimes does not line up with biblical expectation for pastors. Praying and preaching are their primary ministries. Churches should guard their preaching pastor’s time to pray and prepare for preaching. Church members should keep their expectations biblical about their pastor’s job. Churches should do whatever is necessary to provide the resources and flexibility for a pastor to prioritize that part of ministry. A quality pulpit ministry is essential to growing a church, making disciples, and advancing the kingdom. Interesting that a lot of investigation is done into a pastor’s preaching style and ability, but usually few questions are asked about his prayer life. But isn’t internal power from the Holy Spirit because one is close to God more important that one’s ability to communicate well? Another benefit of having a plurality of pastor/elders is that you can have agreement in prayer. Secondly, sufficient authority should be given for a pastor to lead. The congregation calls a man to fill the position of pastor/teacher/overseer (explain the biblical words and definitions for the office of pastor) and they should allow him the freedom to do so. We must remember that in matters of church operation a pure democracy is an American import, not a biblical directive. This is not to say that it is bad, just maybe a little overused. We must be careful about the traditions that we import, maintain, and hold dearly to.
B. Table Servers (v. 2-6)
1. The work indicated by this text is that deacons are to be the church’s official ministers of mercy. They relieved the apostles of duties that kept them from praying and preaching. They acted like a ministering arm to further the apostolic ministry, the church ministry, and the kingdom agenda. The word for tables here can also be used to speak of money tables or finances in general. The word translated business can also be translated “need.” Since they were to handle money, their character and spiritual qualifications are mentioned briefly here. So the apostles and the church saw fit to appoint seven men as church servants (that is the translation of the word) or ministers of mercy. They were to see to it that all the people’s ministry needs were being met and cared for. Ministry to the poor, needy, widowed, and orphaned was a huge ministry in the first century, but it was also huge in the ministry of the OT. And it should still be a big ministry in the modern church.
2. Philip 1:1, 1 Tim 3:8-13,
3. Illustration: In about 150A.D., Justin Martyr described a church meeting: "And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. “some churches wrongly elevate deacons to the position of executive board members, others mistakenly reduce deacons to building managers, glorified church janitors, or sanctified groundskeepers.” -Strauch
4. The church should view the deacons as ministers and leaders, but not as the primary spiritual leadership or decision makers. They are to be thought of as more ministerial and less directive. They should not be an advisory board, but a servant body. The deacons should carry out the role of serving the poor, widowed, needy, and orphaned in the church and outside as well. A church whose deacons do not fill this role will likely fail to minister adequately to the poor and needy within the church and the community at large, and thus forsake a ministry that is close to God’s heart. They probably should be the primary financial advising body, especially as it relates to the distribution of the benevolence fund. As leaders, they should be examples for men in the body to emulate. They should work together with the pastor/elders in the administration of the ministry of the church. They should be in close contact with members of the church, and be prepared to help when needed. They can also serve as watchdogs to catch the undercurrents of church conflict, and put an end to and/or bring it to the attention of the pastor/elders.
A. Closing illustration: A little boy just got saved and sat on a bench next to old man who looked upset. The little boy said to the man, "Sir, do you need to get saved?"
The man startled said abruptly, "I’ll tell you I’ve been a Deacon in this church for over 30 years and Chairman of Deacons for 15 years."
The little boy responded, "Sir , it don’t matter what you done, Jesus loves you and He’ll still save you!"
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
