The Appointing Of Deacons

NOTE: This submission includes in this order: 1. Deacon Ordination Sermon, 2. Deacon Ordination Service, 3. Sermon Footnotes.

DEACON ORDINATION SERMON: "The Appointing of Deacons"

The term “ordain,” which is often used in Baptist and other Christian circles, never occurs in the New Testament. The Greek word translated “ordain” in the King James Version is better translated “appoint.” When Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you” (John 15:15); He used a word, meaning “to appoint” or “to place.” The New King James Version renders it this way. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, leaders were “appointed” or “set apart” for ministry. For example, Paul and Barnabas were set apart as missionaries by the church at Antioch (Acts 14:23); and in Acts chapter six, which we are going to look at this morning, seven men were appointed as deacons. So, let us get started with this passage by first looking at verse 1.

Some Overlooked Widows (v. 1)

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.

We read here about trouble brewing among the disciples; the term “disciple” being a designation given to believers before they were called Christians at Antioch.(1) A complaint arose against the Hebrews by the Hellenists; a complaint that threatened the unity and growth of the New Testament church. The Hebrews were traditional Jews, while the Hellenists were Jews who had adopted Greek customs and language.(2) The daily distribution of bread was being neglected among the widows of the Hellenists; so, they were offended, viewing it as intentional discrimination.(3)

Now, I need to pause and point out something. The Greek term for daily “distribution” is diakonia, which can also be translated as daily “service.” Diakonia is where we get our English word “deacon.”

Now, the distribution of bread worked like this: There were appointed collectors who received every day from every court, a piece of bread or any sort of food, or even money from whomever offered it; and then they divided that which was collected, in the evening among the poor, giving every single person his or her daily sustenance called the “Tamchui.”(4) This distribution of bread became a huge task as the number of new converts grew into the thousands; therefore, people were being neglected, not because of prejudice, but for a lack of human resources, or rather man power.

Many of the disciples considered the distribution of bread as an “apostolic” responsibility; meaning, something that the apostles should have been taking care of. They felt that this task should not have been neglected for any reason; and as we can see, this turned into a misunderstanding resulting in people feeling devalued and underappreciated. The root cause of both problems – the problem of insufficient distribution, and the problem of hurt feelings – can be traced to a lack of understanding concerning the main calling and responsibilities of an apostle.

Similar misunderstandings occur today when church members lose sight of the primary responsibilities of church leadership, especially those of the pastor. For example, many church-goers believe it is the main task and highest calling of the pastor to visit every single church member in their homes, in the hospital, and during times of crisis; which is somewhat possible in a smaller congregation, but as the membership grows, one person simply cannot do it all. If he tries, he will have to neglect some other important tasks and responsibilities related to his pastoral calling.

The Ministry of the Word (vv. 2-4)

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.”

So, the problem identified here is that there were not enough people helping to make sure that all the tables were being served; and simply stated, the twelve apostles could not do it all by themselves. Now, I need to pause again and point out how the word “serve,” in verse 2, is translated from the Greek word diakonein, which again, is where we get our English word “deacon.” So, the twelve apostles called together all the disciples and told them that they, themselves, were unable to “deacon all the tables.” They needed help with the “deaconing” or “serving.”

“Dwight L. Moody used to say that it was better to put ten men to work than to try to do the work of ten men.”(5) In verse 3, the apostles told the disciples, “Seek out from among you seven men . . . whom we may appoint over this business.” So, the apostle’s solution was to simply recruit more help. This sounds like a reasonable plan from our perspective; but to those who were present, it did not make sense without further explanation; and so, the apostles elaborated on why they could not perform this task all by themselves. They used this dilemma as a teaching opportunity to share about the apostles’ primary responsibilities.