God’s Special Servants: Deacons
I found this interesting illustration that is appropriate to today’s celebration of our new deacons…
**Bruce Larson, in his book "Wind and Fire," points out some interesting facts about Sandhill Cranes:
He says: These large birds, who fly great distances across continents, have three remarkable qualities. First, they rotate leadership. No one bird stays out in front all the time. Second, they choose leaders who can handle turbulence. And third, all during the time one bird is leading, the rest are honking their affirmation and encouragements.
That’s not a bad model for the church. Certainly we need leaders who can handle turbulence and who are aware that leadership ought to be shared.
But most of all, we need a church where we are all sounding off encouragements to our leaders. **
To that I would like to add a fourth thing. These Sandhill Cranes also do something else, without which they would all be lost. They all follow the God given direction that he placed within them, their instinct. The reason they can lead is because of their ability to follow.
In our text today (Acts 6:1-7) we will be briefly looking at one of the earliest appointments of leadership within the church from among those who have become some of the best followers of Christ.
But before we go to Acts 6 let’s look again at the clearest text of scripture we have concerning the qualities of those who receive the roll of “special servant” or “deacon” in the Lord’s church.
1 Tim. 3: 8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,
9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.
11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Did you listen to those qualities? We are talking about men who follow Christ closely here. These are qualities that rub off on those who walk with Jesus. This is what happens to one who spends time looking at him, listening to him, learning from him, living like him… One who works for and worships Christ. Item number one in reaching this calling of ministry is FOLLOWING CHRIST: humbly, patiently, and persistently.
Sandhill Cranes don’t have a choice in whether or not they follow the directions God gives them. He stamps it into them by instinct. But for we to whom God has trusted his greatest treasures, there is a choice in the matter. God doesn’t drag us, he calls us. He doesn’t stamp this into us by force, but he calls us according to our giftedness and or practice. These men who have been appointed here today have made choices in their lives that serve as models to the rest of us. Their service here will be blessed if they continue to follow Christ and if we support them in the works that they are appointed to perform.
Don’t miss that last blessing in 1 Timothy 3: 13… For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Certainly we see this good standing and great boldness in Christ when we consider the deacons or servants in Acts 6:1-7.
6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The Church was growing! Responsibilities were multiplying along with the number of members within the church. One of the ambitious ministries of the early church in Jerusalem was that of taking care of the widows. James, who served there in Jerusalem would later write: (James 1:27) This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. He wrote that from experience as well as from inspiration.
In Acts 6 we see that the apostles have a problem. What happens when you have more jobs than you can do or even keep up with? Is it better to do the work of 10 men or put 10 men to work? As we are growing here at Signal Mountain, we have more and more jobs to do, more people to take care of, more opportunities to serve and more mission opportunities! This is God’s way of saying that he trusts us! Jesus said, “28 ’Therefore take the talent from him, (who had one talent and buried it instead of putting it to work for his master), and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ’For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Do you hear that? We are going in one of two directions! To whom does God give more? To the one who is growing because he is putting to work that which God had given him!
God is giving us more! This is a trust. We are being blessed with increase and along with this increase we are being blessed with workers to handle the responsibilities this increase brings! And the more we have, the more we must put to work what God gives us, and the more we do this, the more he will give us!
Is that a little scary to you? It was to them too. The other option is to bury the talent God gives us and face him some day and offer excuses for our neglect of his gifts. God didn’t call us to comforts. God didn’t call us to safe soft self-serving. It’s actually very simple: God’s call is to follow Jesus and serve one another and influence others to do the same.
We must not neglect our widows or the needy or weak. We must not neglect our missionaries or our local outreach to this community. We must not neglect our worship and the quality of our services and facilities. We must not neglect our youth and the needs of our young families. We must not neglect our personal spiritual growth as individual members of Christ’s body. There are many works of service that the Lord’s church has to do. These works are not just the preacher’s and elder’s job these are everyone’s responsibility. They must to be organized and administered by those who have wisdom and the Holy Spirit.
God’s word calls us the body of Christ! Individually we are members of that body. God is building us up to Christ’s fullness!
If you want to be a part of a Church that takes following Christ seriously, welcome! If you are looking for a comfortable pew where you can clock in on Sundays and then disappear until next time, I want to make you uncomfortable and stir you up to see the high calling of Christ on your life. Jesus didn’t pay in blood so that you and I could live in ease. Jesus died on the cross so that you and I could see how to carry ours. His life is our life. He is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus call to you and me is heaven’s call to self-denial and self-sacrifice where we let go of temporal, unimportant things so that we can enjoy the everlasting glories of eternal life with God. Don’t get stuck in the mire of this world. Don’t love the world or things in the world! If you do there will be no room for the love of God in your hearts.
Look up to Jesus Christ. Listen to him. Learn from him. Live like him. Love like he loved. Serve like he served. Follow the greatest servant who ever has or ever will walk this earth. Follow Jesus Christ!
